BruceVC

Yeah, I agree. Its a slippery slope if we allow unusually high-testosterone athletes to compete because where do you draw the line as you mentioned. Why not just allow people to take steroids and go for it

Today is election day in South Africa, I am registered to vote in JHB and since I have just moved to Cape Town I wont be able to vote provincially but I can vote nationally We have 48 parties to choose from....its a ridiculous, unnecessary amount and all the new smaller parties I dont think will get enough votes to play a meaningful role in national or provincial ruling I will be voting for the Democratic Alliance, I wanted to vote for the ANC but any Democracy needs a real opposition and after the corruption of the previous president and the last 8 years we need viable opposition parties to ensure accountability and the ruling party, which will be the ANC overall by a smaller margin, needs to be aware it can be challenged So my voting choice is not about the various polices but purely about the numbers game

It did seem rather detailed and long

Post some photos, I love puppies and dogs

Im watching on Showmax one of the most entertaining series I have seen, its called Fortitude and its set in a fictional town of the same name in the Arctic It has everything in it. Ancient parasites, supernatural, murder and all the intrigue of a small town where life is hard. Highly recommended https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortitude_(TV_series)

Tomorrow morning I am driving to Cape Town from Durban to start the next exciting chapter in my life, the drive is about 1000 Miles and we drive through numerous provinces with spectacular scenery. Take a look at this one mountain pass we may drive through on route https://princealbert.org.za/swartberg-pass/ We will do the drive in 2 days and typically spend 1 night in one of the numerous quaint Karoo towns, the Karoo is a semi-desert that also has great views and unspoiled landscape https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoo This is where we will probably stay tomorrow night https://beaufortwest.net/

Sup All I am interested in peoples views on this matter for those that have been following it, I will try to summarize the issue because it sets a new precedent for all female athletes competing in a race less than 1 mile Firstly who is Caster Semenya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_Semenya Good article to summarize the IAAF ruling against her https://dnyuz.com/2019/05/01/court-bars-women-with-high-testosterone-from-some-track-races/ My interpretation and view as a synopsis based on my limited medical knowledge of the human body and the overall Caster case is below Caster was born as an intersex person, the definition of this is someone who does not fit the normal definition of what defines male or female based on various sex characteristics like chromosomes or genitals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersex Her intersex trait means she has elevated, natural testosterone compared to other women. this is not her fault as she was born like this. We measure natural testosterone in the human body on nanomoles/liter. Women have between 0.12-1.79 nanomoles/liter and men after puberty have 7.7-29.4 nanomoles/liter Caster has over 5 nanomoles/liter and this means elevated testosterone so the IAAF ruling wants her take medication to reduce her nanomoles/liter to below 5 The final consideration could be " does testosterone make a difference in athlete performance" ? Most studies show that elevated testosterone on any race less than 1 mile (1600m ) leads to additional muscle mass, strength and oxygen capacity. So in order to make a level playing field the ruling wants Caster to reduce her testosterone Personally I think the ruling is unfair to Caster but fair to all other women who compete against her so it should be upheld and will be implemented going forward for all women who compete in most athletic sports as its based on science and reasonable output What do you guys think?

True but remember companies like Blackwater sign contracts and they bound by that . If they are seen as breaking that outside for example a certain time period, lets say 2 years, they will suffer reputational damage and there credibility will be destroyed So there is a sense of contractual commitment to complete the work or no one would hire them in the future.

This offer is true but it was rejected by the legitimate government of Guaido Nowadays, despite having some real strategic military value, " ,mercenary armies " are seen as overreaching and considered unacceptable forms of regime change

Hot women in Brazil and I imagine great ****tails and awesome sunsets ( I have never been but I have always wanted to )

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu The almost impossible has happened, I have discovered a cheese even I wont eat

Okay, I see what you getting at. I agree there may be a backlash from some of Maduro's supporters if he is removed and there could possibly be some kind of civil war or at least periods of violence which could destabilize the country further But if the army is behind the coup this wont happen or be less likely, of course this is hypothetical because the army doesn't completely support Guido However the sanctions or lack of real investment absolutely will not be dropped or reduced because of what Chavez did in 2007, this is fundamental to the collapse of the Venezuelan economy. Chavez nationalized the numerous oil companies that had been heavily invested in Venezuela for 80 years or so. No country can steal the assets and businesses of foreign investors and then expect foreign investment. If you don't diversify your economy and rely only on oil exports and assumptions of a high oil price for economic growth and sustainability , which is exactly what Chavez did and thought would work, then when the oil price started crashing from about 2014 there was no primary source of revenue...and no way anyone would make meaningful investments in a country where the rule of law and order isnt respected. My cousins who are investment bankers personally managed accounts of clients who lost millions because of the nationalization of the oil companies Here is an excellent link that summarizes this https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2017/05/07/how-venezuela-ruined-its-oil-industry/#4fb076cc7399 So to fix this you have remove Maduro who cannot be trusted and then you must reverse the nationalization of the oil companies, then you will start to restore confidence and trust and achieve FDI ( foreign direct investment ) to grow and build the economy

But you cant have an illegitimate government governing with credibility, the previous election was a farce and the outcome is Venezuela's continued political and economic demise. See the link below similar to the one I posted earlier https://www.dw.com/en/lima-group-recalls-venezuela-ambassadors-condemns-vote/a-43869375 If millions of Venezuelans cant live in there own country how can you suggest " we need to let them govern as they want " , its not sustainable. This is why the country is in the mess its in. There is a series of steps that need to be followed to address this which I will discuss under pmp10 post You right, the real conundrum is " how to get Maduro to step down ", personally I would support him being forced down through a proper military coup supported by the army. We have seen this ends other dictatorships recently like Sudan and Zimbabwe. So we have regime change but driven and perpetuated internally, the Lima Group and other countries can fund and support it but this should be done covertly so the regime change is not overly criticized

Im sorry to seem like Im criticizing you again but this post highlights a studious misunderstanding of how to address the Venezuela crisis and who the Lima Group is , you cannot just " hand wave " there significance and efforts Lets be logical and ask ourselves, " surly the countries in South America are the best arbiters in this debate ", as I mentioned earlier they have a vested interest in seeing Venezuela succeed Have you noticed the countries supporting Maduro? They aren't exactly bastions of " Democracy and human rights " and include " Russia, China, Turkey, Syria and North Korea "....yes South Africa Im embarrassed to admit also supports him but we are a new Democracy and dont understand effective foreign policy, South Africa tries but we constantly make incorrect decisions like joining BRICS thinking " they like us because of the Cold War ideological support from the Soviets during Apartheid and want to help us grow our economy " Anyway going back to the LIMA group, a final reason we should be taking them seriously is many countries around Venezuela have had to absorb million of Venezuelans who simply have no access to healthcare or any kind of economic opportunity. In other words its like a war zone where you have mass immigration. For the neighbors they have limited resources and this is not sustainable It boggles the mind that anyone would support Maduro and think the current illegitimate government is " doing a good job and we should leave it alone " ...no this is illogical and simply doesn't represent the reality on the ground. Change needs to occur in the interests of the majority of the Venezuelan people

Which master is this? Oh wait its the "evil, Imperialist, Capitalist " USA right ? What we should be asking is not what we personally think of Maduro but what do the countries of South America think of him since they have the most to lose or gain by getting him to step down or supporting him. The Lima Group was founded in 2017 to help end the Venezuelan crisis, it members represent 80 % of the South American countries and many Central American countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima_Group They should be the authoritative voice in this debate and guess what they think? The 2018 election in Venezuela was a farce https://globalnews.ca/news/4221992/canada-lima-group-venezuela-elections/ And Maduro needs to step down or have another fair election to affirm his legitimacy https://en.mercopress.com/2019/02/04/lima-group-meets-in-canada-to-plan-pressure-campaign-against-venezuela-s-maduro We must try not to let our personal bias towards the USA blind us to the reality on the ground in Venezuela, Maduro is not a legitimate leader and needs to step down immediately

But thats a real and serious indictment of Bernie, he doesn't understand how the economy works or rather he makes these sweeping, populist statements about " breaking up banks " with no consideration around the economic consequences and outcomes.

Oh I have watched all previous seasons, just not this one

This may sound like it has a malicious intent but the reason companies ask these types of questions is because they want to see loyalty in the sense " you not working just for money "...which is actually a primary reason people work, financial remuneration is an important factor. You just shouldnt always position the reason you work in a company in that way Its similar to getting a salary increase, the best way to demonstrate you should be earning more is you need to find a way to calculate your contribution towards the overall target. Typically you should contribute 150-170 % (or more ) than your salary to be seen as a " good employee who the company wouldn't want to lose" , so for example lets say you earn $8000/month then if you can show you earn for the company $12000-13600/month management would be hard pressed to deny you a good increase or bonus

I have not watched any of the new episodes of GOT, its hard because Im very tempted but I will binge watch once its complete What is even harder is avoiding any unintentional spoilers through the media and peoples general comments

Nice updated link to follow this event

https://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-says-attempted-coup-under-way-114752788.html;_ylt=AwrE189jV8hcA7wAhGxXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyZzZzdjBhBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjcyMzBfMQRzZWMDc2M- Attempted coup in Venezuela and its supported by elements of the army which is new. Its uncertain what the outcome will be but hopefully it will lead to the end of the appalling and destructive dictatorship of Maduro who has destroyed the Venezuelan economy with his continued myopic and flawed socialist policies of Chavez

I also enjoyed how much they really seemed to agree on generally, I was expecting another " Capitalism is evil and must be destroyed " from Zivek but the debate wasn't like that Peterson prepared around the intellectual argument and analysed the factual points of Capitalism vs Communism, he really knew the flaws with many of the Communist Manifesto's doctrine and what Marx and Engel seem to overlook but Zivek used a more high level view and seemed to focus on the happiness question of the 2 systems. Im not sure how to characterize Ziveks debating style, perhaps more philosophical ? But Zivek makes me laugh with the way he sometimes makes his argument, do you remember his classic " when people say to me to be positive and the light is at the end of the tunnel I respond by saying....yes and that light is another train coming straight towards us "

I dont have any real inconveniences and I think the new forum design is a real improvement on numerous levels but where is the Undo option, can this be added if it has been removed ?

I thought the Germans were the masters of efficiency

Yes Slavoj always sounds like that and you have to also accept his annoying habit of constantly touching his nose I agree that certain socialist ideas do work and are necessary, like social grants. But this can become a nightmare and drain on a countries revenue stream if not properly managed. In SA out of 56 million people only 13 % contribute towards PAYE which contributes the most towards overall tax which is 38 % 13-16 % of the total tax collected goes towards social grants, its not sustainable in the long term considering all our numerous debts and public expenses https://businesstech.co.za/news/finance/207631/this-is-who-is-paying-south-africas-tax/