BruceVC

You make some reasonable points and I agree with some of them But just to share something with you around the global immigration problem and how regions and countries deal with it. There are different levels of abuse and sometimes not much abuse of immigrants as the immigrants also benefit For example you mentioned the ME and countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, this region has been notorious for unfair labor practice for years in certain economic sectors like construction and house keeping, I have travelled many times to the ME and this is true. But this is not the same reality as citizens in countries like USA, EU, Australia or SA face around illegal immigration The ME brings in laborers and workers but they fly into the ME and only once they start working or sometimes at the airport there passports get confiscated and they have no choice but to accept certain work contracts which can be very unfair However with the other countries I mentioned immigrants dont fly into these countries because obviously the fact they dont have papers would be determined at the airport and custom checks and they would be refused entry. So the difference is illegal immigrants arrive at borders and enter the country illegally...but they are not prevented from working for different companies or taking daily jobs because there passports aren't necessary but the work is all in the informal sector in the example of the USA or where companies break the law and hire people without papers But the good news is the ME countries are changing slowly and committing to fair labor laws and recognizing workers rights https://www.bwint.org/cms/qatar-bwi-welcomes-important-progress-for-workers-rights-1997

I enjoyed the second season, I am not sure more or less than the first season . Its like I mentioned earlier, sometimes I would think I was watching a teenagers series but I still kept watching it so I clearly was enjoying it But how do you know they poured money into the second season, I didnt think the budget seemed much more than the first season based on a guess around costs of filming and props ?

Its a good question and is different in different types of business but in your example each stage of the product sets its margin\markup\profit but its actual price is dependent on the stage before where applicable because there would generally be a cost for all stages of the creation of the bell pepper, like the farmer who grows and harvests it . But you will find Amazon has large back to back contracts with transport companies and possibly exclusive rights with farms. So basically the farmer sells the pepper to Amazon for $1 but he has costs to produce that pepper like wages, housing, electricity and water so he makes 30c /[pepper Amazon can almost absorb all other pepper costs and sells it to us for $1.50 so they make 50c /pepper But if this is tied to farm workers both Amazon and the farmers really have a legal and ethical responsibility to the farm workers....Amazons is more ethical as the farm is probably independent

You may be right but I think you will find this is a global concern that all countries share around the immigration problem, many people have legitimate concerns around resources and how these resources are allocated to citizens and to people with papers. But all governments have to balance there commitment around integration and allowing legal immigration to there own economic and social commitments to there citizens...but I am not familiar with the US Agribusiness so maybe they should be doing more But its more about resources and not just what people get paid which is definitely part of the debate. You have to consider factors like housing, healthcare and schooling

Yes and you are correct there will definitely be examples of abuse but not everyone in the informal sector is abused through unfair labor practice, like underpaying someone But we have no real data on the degree of abuse as its the informal sector and in many cases people dont keep records for wages or payments and people dont generally complain as its also to there advantage as I mentioned

They are in the sense they gain access to free public healthcare and free public sector schools despite the fact we really cannot afford it and some of our public sector institutions are in an appalling state and completely under resourced ..but these services are provided to any person both legal or illegal And the illegal immigrants do work in the informal sector, its a valid economic definition and not me grandstanding https://borgenproject.org/the-informal-economy-in-south-africa/ So when I say the " illegal immigrants are happy with this " they would definitely prefer to be able to work legally but as I explained we cannot give millions of people papers as we simply dont have the resources of economy to sustain this

I tend to agree with that, since there is no control of some types of illegal immigration I dont think we should get too involved when illegal immigrants accept certain work conditions In SA we are experiencing this, its called the informal sector where many people, not all, are illegal immigrants and work in small companies or day time labor that dont follow labor law and the illegal immigrants are fine with it as they cant get jobs in the formal sector because you must have papers and FICA ( Financial Intelligence Center Act ) documents to work in most countries legally So the terrible suggestion raised by groups who represent the illegal\undocumented immigrants is " give them papers so they can work legally and contribute towards the tax base like everyone else "....the problem with that well meaning but flawed suggestion is that would mean millions of foreigners can now compete for jobs with actual South African citizens in an economic environment that is terrible ...we have about a 35 % unemployment rate normally and now during the virus its 50 % Imagine now you allow millions of non-South Africans to get jobs that should always be accessible to South Africans and people here with papers ...you will destroy our economic transformation and add to real, unfair but understandable issues many people have with not controlling immigration or somehow thinking " our immigration problem can be fixed if we just allow citizenship to everyone who just arrives in your country "

What more violence than the months of anarchy and lawlessness we see in some US cities.....surly you jest I am not concerned that Trump will be able to legally prevent a legitimate Democratic victory but I was watching an interesting discussion on Al Jazeera today and one of the commentators did raise a concern I never considered. On the day of the USA election we will see the normal votes coming in and normally within 24 hours you can see the final result. But this election will be unique in respects both Biden and Trump can initially think they have " won " based on the typical counting of in person votes But with mail voting the final result could take several weeks due to the mail voting counting logistics, think about all the grandstanding and populism we will see from some people on both sides while we wait for the final outcome. If you think the current US political environment is partisan and antagonistic wait till after the elections while we wait weeks for all votes to be counted But once all the votes are counted I expect to see the normal transition as either Trump or Biden wins....its just getting there that is going to be rough

This part of your post I agree with particularly and aligns to certain concerns I have around how some institutions, like Universities, have become both political and ideological battlegrounds when in fact students should be focusing on there degree primarily and how they can become better people with a degree and then once you have your degree you can contribute towards society and advocate certain changes. As the erudite Jordan Peterson says " clean your own room first " ..to quote him "My sense is that if you want to change the world, you start with yourself and work outward because you build your competence that way. I don't know how you can go out and protest the structure of the entire economic system if you can't keep your room organized." https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/jordan-peterson-clean-your-room?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2 But we generally havent seen this around certain BLM outcomes or objectives. Some protestors and activists are not interested in a debate or even the real contribution a particular person has made to the society. We see this sweeping objective of " taking down all statues that ostensibly are racist and not inclusive " ...even if the statue represents the fact the country fought against injustice and real ideologies that are much worse in our modern world than historical injustice For example the recent failed objective to " take down Winston Churchill statues " in the UK

Malc you have made similar comments when you ask questions like " well its not like city xxx is Mogadishu " ....but thats one of the main reasons and point of the law and why we enforce the law. There is no need for any city in the world to deteriorate due to lawlessness and anarchy from a functional city to become an utter disaster like any city in Somalia The enforcement of the law doesnt work like that where you keep ignoring the breaking of the law until the institution collapses.....you enforce the law when its broken unless there are extenuating circumstances Socialist movements have there own nebulous economic and political objectives and thats normal ...but they must adhere to the laws of the land when they do things like protest and demonstrate due to unpopular court rulings

But your accolade is well deserved and fair, people do indeed love cat pictures and jokes

Which games have you modded before, Mods are not supposed to change the fundamental narrative and they cant change certain gaming mechanics but they can add huge variation like character choice, new companions, extra monsters, harder monsters, rewrites of combat style , additional guild quests....the list is long But this applies to mostly Bethesda games or rather how I have extensively used them Here is the current list of official games that Nexus offers Mods for, there are 1074 games supported https://www.nexusmods.com/games

Absolutely, some of these Mods are pure genius and you often wont notice they not part of the original game With the Nexus Vortex Mod Manager you have such variety around your gaming experience. I tend to use adult and non-adult Mods but you can only use 254 Mods maximum which is more than enough.. But I only use Mods that are themed to the game and RP experience, for example I wouldnt use Star Wars Mods and integrate them in an Elder Scrolls game I remember using about 200 Mods in Fallout 4 and I had a great time, I spent about 200-240 hours on this game and it was well worth it

Oh yes I forgot any Elder Scrolls game

Mods just refine and enhance most games, many games are good without Mods but they can always be better through Mods

Great information, thanks for sharing and the comparison to Finland is appreciated and applicable

I just started on another gripping series but this time its about WW2 Its called World on Fire and is more of a drama and how it impacts different groups of people in relevant WW2 countries . Its set in the tumultuous times of pre-WW2 and then the actual war. Only one episode in but its got huge potential https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_on_Fire_(TV_series)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-vote-by-mail-explainer-idUSKBN2482SA Here is good read why vote by mail has always worked in the USA and addresses current concerns

I cant give you answers to all those, I am expecting Gromnir to respond with actual data and links and reasons why what you saying isnt a concern But this I do know, the USA has had many states that for years have had mail-in vote and its been fine. There have been examples of " mail voting fraud " but its seriously small like 1 % compared to the total number of legitimate votes So if mail-in vote has always been a part of how some US citizens vote there is no reason it cant work overall effectively in November ?

So many games I am looking forward to but from " most aniticapted " BG3, Vampire, Dragon Age 4 , Dying Light 2 and Cyberpunk

I watched a good interview last night on CNN Business with the Microsoft Xbox global manager and they discussed the Bethesda acquisition, I use to work for Microsoft and I hold them in very high regard and consider them easily one of the most successful companies of all time. I also dont believe they will harm the Bethesda brand at all and I can easily see how they could only make things better with additional funding of various Bethesda current and planned projects Anyway the Microsoft manager confirmed this during the interview, he didn't go into much detail because they honestly wouldn't know certain details around " what does this mean for the future of Bethesda " but he explained that Microsoft owns over 30 development studios and Bethesda is an important and prestigious development studio and how it can only add to the growing "Microsoft Gaming " brand So its all good news for those of us who are huge fans of Bethesda and specifically Elder Scrolls

Second season of Project Blue Book is out and it appears to be as entertaining as the first season 📺

man-colds are the worst, women dont realize that man-colds have been scientifically proven to be much worse than women-colds Thats why we always feel so much worse when we get flu...man-colds are MUCH worse

Tonight I having delicious German Blood Sausage and buttery mash potato 🥘🥘

What do you mean, I have no idea what you are referring to ?