BruceVC

Isnt it an interesting type of thought pattern us gamers seem to demonstrate at times when we feel almost guilty about dropping the difficulty level of games As I mentioned in my Bards Tale 4 review I sometimes drop the difficulty level on some games, not all games like RDR2 single player or Bioware games , and even though I consciously do it under no manipulation or coercion I always feel guilty ...always. Like I am breaking some kind of code and I am betraying some principle which I dont really know how to explain how or what I am breaking

This has got be one of the funniest things I have seen around what happened

Elerond remember the police were caught off-guard during this violence. It wasnt done on purpose to allow this anarchy The resources allocated during BLM protests were arranged and organized in advance in many responses to areas of violence that had been seen in almost every BLM protests by small groups of agitators and extreme elements So I can understand your concern but their is no evidence the police were part of what happened or intentionally allowed things to spiral out of control

Yes I tend to agree, a lack of education can lead to these types of events but this is more than that on both sides Its not just about lack of education. I cannot quite explain it because its unique in the world around what I have seen in the last 20 years in numerous countries. I have a real vested interest and support several global developments and ideological movements in the world outside of my support for the USA and its influence on certain things that matter to me. I have also done things or shared similar ideological views, like the Neocon views of early 2000's that contributed towards the invasion of Iraq, that I am not proud of and realize I was wrong to think like that or act in a certain way. I have changed my views in a much more constructive and consistent way through the years, or try to, as I have learnt several painful life lessons Anyway the point being I have traveled to countries in Africa and the ME where many people are not educated. And I mean really not educated as in no schooling or limited schooling maybe up to grade 6. You can understand how in some of these countries a lack of education can lead to citizens being easily influenced or manipulated by certain ideological views and then acting on these views. I am not justifying the violence I have seen in certain places because in these very same countries most people who are also not educated are not committing violence and are normally victims of the more extreme element in their own country So the first salient point I want to make is people make choices based on there own views and agendas and then decide to act in certain way, it a choice they make and you dont need an education to make the right choice and say " no to anarchy and violence " So then we look at the USA reality of the last 4 years. Most people on both sides who can be accused of violence I am sure have at least a grade 12 or similar degrees of education. In some cases with the mask-denialists and anti-vaxxers there are people with degrees and University education that deny the effectiveness of a vaccine and the reality of the virus !!! You cannot, for example, have a reasonable debate and ever agree with people who dont even accept the existence of the virus or think masks are about the Deep State So in closing, the " perception on the ground " point is nuanced and complex and manifests itself on the groud in the USA and other countries in different ways on both sides ...buts its not just about education. I wish it was that because that would be easier to understand and address

As usual you make a good argument that is based on facts but what you are ignoring is there is absolutely a real view from some people on the right that "BLM is allowed to run riot in Democrat cities so violence from our side is okay " This is the perception on the ground from some and perception is reality. So even if you are 100 % correct about overreach from Federal agents and Barr being guilty of unconstitutional behavior that is not how people see it And many Trump supporters would have less justification to commit there acts of violence if there was consistency from the police in all states in dealing with violence

Everything I am about to say in the post below is not some kind of innuendo or veiled attack on anyone personally, this is my real observations around the Trump presidency and how certain developments occurred and patterns of behavior were allowed on both sides and some of this accumulated in the violence we saw yesterday. And as usual peoples comments are appreciated and always welcome as we unpack what happened You know Trump will never resign even though that would be a good decision , part of Trumps meteoric rise to power is this unusual stance he took where from the beginning where he has refused to apologize and said he doesn't believe in being " politically correct " (PC ). Despite the fact being PC is very easy and normal in public commentary and just means you make a point in public using diplomacy and you dont insult or offend people by your choice of words. Being PC is normal for politicians and is part of the expected decorum and protocol for anyone in government I will never forget how that really started in his 2015 campaign where he openly attacked the media and called CNN pejorative names like " fake news " and " terrible people " and " you cannot trust the media " Over the last 2 years we have seen different degrees of violence and anarchy from both sides, all this violence should have condemned and dealt with effectively from the beginning. But when we see months of protests being allowed to continue in places like Portland this sets a bad precedent and then the other side starts thinking " its okay to use this strategy to justify our political objectives " Another example was from your own state where BLM protests occupied a police station in Seattle and the police ended up evacuating there own police station !!! I am not trying to put you on the spot as I genuinely dont understand how anyone can be fine with this especially when we see the anarchy continue to increase as people on both sides become emboldened by lack of action But your view on this would be appreciated as I consider you a well informed and reasonable person and just want to understand how you feel about the Seattle police station being allowed to be occupied? I believe you have to be consistent with the application of the law and how the police deal with violence. If you dont do that you allow extreme elements on both sides to push the boundaries and act with impunity and we see the appalling outcome of this in what we witnessed yesterday Your comments and others comments will be appreciated as we try to understand how we can prevent this type of behavior from happening again and this can occur in any country, not just the USA. In SA we often have violent protests but never have I seen an attack on our government buildings

This really made me laugh, I have to say the whole " cosplay" comparison is very apt

That seems like an unreasonable thing to ask for ?

Oh no Antifa was involved in months of violence and criminal behavior, its seems silly to compare them because they both guilty of criminal acts but Antifa is much worse because of the length of time they committed violence

Thats a clever comment and funny too

If the National Guard needs to be deployed then they must definitely do it One guy even got onto the floor of where they were debating, he was arrested

Elerond !!! Im shocked by your anti-American sentiment....I thought we agreed we would only be anti-American when it was absolutely necessary ....please dont be naughty again

The police were initially overwhelmed by the sheer numbers but they will get it under control, they also have to consider and first protect all the members of the Congress This has nothing to do with race but an initial lack of resources and they were surprised by the level of violence and caught off-guard

Its a disgrace how long it took Trump to comment on this violence and criminal behavior ...and it wasnt even a real admonishment of the anarchy And as Hoonding mentioned now Pence needs a real security unit to be escorted from the building

Fair enough. But just for the record what would you call the 3 months of protests in Portland where shops were closed and some were vandalized, cops were injured and attacked, protestors were injured and some arrested for breaking the law and Federal buildings were also vandalized. What would you call that ?

GD werent you impressed by McConnell's speech, he reminded of the dignity and decorum we use to see before Trump?

Malc does this mean you finally support me when I called for swift police action to arrest anyone breaking the law during BLM protests or the protracted anarchy we saw for months in places like Portland ?

I am very impressed with McConnell's speech, he is doing the right thing and I respect him immensely for this and pointing out the hypocrisy with what Trump wants to do

Holy Smoke, I am watching the electoral collogue ceremony and they have adjourned to discuss the FIRST objection....how long is this going to take if they can apparently debate for 2 hours per objection? This could go on for a whole day at this rate ?

You 100 % correct, it wont work. Has this become a talking point in Oz, are people annoyed by the Chinese encroaching on your waters? What does the current government think ?

Thats not true in the direct way you framing it. The USA provided funding and surreptitious support, through CIA operatives, during the USSR Afghan war,1979-1989, to the Afghan Mujahideen, Afghan tribal fighters , who were actively fighting the Soviets as the Soviets were trying to occupy Afghanistan. They only did this as this was the Cold War and the USA and Soviets fought numerous proxy wars during this time In other words the USA and the West would generally always supports countries and governments opposed to Communism and vice versa for China and the Soviet Union. Bin Laden was one of the foreign fighters who came to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets so yes the USA did train and fund people like him but that was before AQ even existed and no one could have predicted what Bin Laden and AQ would do after the Afghan war ended in 1989, only later was Al-Qaeda created And the USA didnt fund ISIS, they funded or tried to fund the Free Syrian Army and groups like the Kurds who were fighting ISIS ISIS always had its own revenue and access to weapons and later on when they created there false Caliphate they had oil revenue streams which provided real funding until the Caliphate was destroyed by a united Arab army finally in 2019 https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/23/middleeast/end-of-isis-caliphate-intl/index.html

How did Obama escalate tension in the ME? He pulled the USA military out of Iraq in 2011 and refused to send troops back until the USA helped prevent ISIS committing more massacre's like the wiping out of the Yezidis in Syria 2014/2015 The USA had to intervene because no else was prepared to help the ME countries fight ISIS https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/17/barack-obama-sends-troops-back-to-iraq-as-crisis-worsens https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yezidis-sinjar-massacre-rape-iraq-isis-fighters-children-a9037126.html

You cant count Syria as a war, the USA provided some military and training resources for the Free Syrian Army but it was a disaster because it actually needed more direct military intervention to help the Syrian rebels overthrown Assad. Obama refused to do that because China and Russia vetoed any military intervention back in 2014 . I supported Obama and he did the right thing around Syria because he refused to intervene militarily in basically any military conflict unless supported by the UNSC or there was a direct threat to the USA. Of course the outcome and carnage of the Syrian conflict being allowed to continue has been terrible and its still ongoing over one last remaining Syrian province, Idlib. But you cant blame Obama for that because he ultimately respected the veto of the UNSC Iraq and Afghanistan are examples of wars the USA is involved in but not Syria, that I would define as a military intervention like Libya

That Simpsons cartoon is classic, really funny

You are the undeniable master of brevity....you know that right