BruceVC

Shady what does your wife feel about Communism...I imagine coming from Baltic states she must be very concerned ?

Volo since when do you support Sanders ?

This article summarizes the underlying problem with some young people and possibly many of Sanders supporters They dont understand or dont care about the true insidious nature of Communism. They have created there own definition of Communism, if they had any real inclination they really could even rent an historical movie to see the true nature of Communism.....the real problem with this view is you will start being blocked by normal financial regulations and Constitutional laws if you go too extreme to the left But I just dont see how Bernie will beat Trump, I feel Trump will manipulate him into some crisis

I have always supported Biden as the best candidate to defeat Trump because he supports a moderate view of politics and is aligned to the Obama legacy But I am not sure he is the right candidate as he does seem a little ....dazed at times but lets see

I am watching Van Helsing and Narcos Mexico .....both new seasons and both very good Oh and next season of American Gods my favorite, the characters are complex and leave an indelible impression

Ironically both you guys supporting Sanders concerns me the most about where his base come from and what would they expect from him if he somehow did win. And I am not criticizing you guys because you can support anyone you want if you have a valid reason for what changes you believe they can implement and what happens if somehow Sanders cannot deliver on something like " I want to breakup the banks from 2008 " ....I think he has dropped this thankfully. So if he cannot deliver on him promises how would you feel considering it has been raised by many people he has created very populist policies that normally dont get implemented in countries that are like the USA And I know you guys from this forum so I have come to understand your views on the USA which have always surprised me as they came across as unnecessarily negative about the good the USA has done and also guys how many people are desperate to immigrate to the USA for a better life despite the rhetoric about how terrible the USA is under Trump ....the reality being people outside the USA see things very differently. Sanders to me has created this list of " I am going to address this problem in the USA that has only been a problem since I have identified it as target of populist rhetoric who blame it for inequality " ....I am joking but his list is things like cancelling student debt, why cant students pay back any debt if they took a loan?Each case should be identified separately but we see this in SA in our universities where students are seem to think they can just make demands about not paying historical debt because.....they dont have money But he has a good website of what his policies are going to be, https://berniesanders.com/issues/ As I always mention I like Bernie personally and dont like Trump personally yet I truly believe Trump must beat Sanders because his policies can potentially cause real harm to the US economy which impacts everyone. Finally the large number of populist views from Democratic candidates are being spawned by the Trump vitriol and perceived rejection so you can argue that Trump has created these Democrat policies because he has caused such anger ....so maybe Trump knows he will destroy Bernie exactly because he is so extreme. We must ask who is the best candidate to defeat Trump.....lets at least vote for that person?

What do you think is strange about my view, it is true around these negotiations but I am not explaining it properly....but what is your opinion on troops in Afghanistan and the future of the USA involvement. But just to set some context which I assume we would agree on, the invasion of Afghanistan was 100 % legitimate and had to happen because the Taliban were sheltering AQ and refused to hand Bin Laden over. So its important this truth because it can change how we think about Iraq and Afghanistan. So basically now there is a real question about how much longer the USA needs to be in Afghanistan, because there is real and progressive society changes in Kabul only but not in the wilderness I am always concerned if anyone who has served there country in the military disagrees with me around the ME because you actually went there on the ground....now this doesn't mean you are authoritative about the current war in Afghanistan and how to end it The reason I have to ask this is sometimes historically comments on this forum and outside only seem to care about any deaths the USA may cause in some campaign and how the USA is " slaughtering civilians " yet when we see countless civilian deaths by ISIS or the Russians bombed hospitals and Aleppo to the dark ages we hardly heard any concern? Guys the reality is we dont need to entertain the false narrative that says " The USA must leave the ME and stop interfering in the affairs of ME countries ...also the USA must stop involving itself where its not wanted ....by 2010 I believed this and was very supportive of how Obama was getting troops out of the USA." I was very glad this was happening because I was very jaded at the time and was tired of the constant criticism and endless repetition of how people always ignored the sectarian violence in Iraq but considered the USA the enemy The USA did leave Iraq but came back years later because Netanyahu played Trump like a master.....so the USA now is back in the ME and is preparing or planning some Iran invasion but there are serious calculations before anyone takes a military decision So in closing, I believe the USA should leave Afghanistan because the realistic mission is done....but lets see what happens

It is unlikely this going to lead to any lasting peace from the Taliban, they dont understand progression and sustainable, happy citizens with governments that deliver services and real quality of life. Like the Gulf States in the ME The Taliban hopefully should mess this up and force the USA to stay for a while longer but they have to leave at some time. Bin Laden is dead and the Taliban hide in the Western areas of Pakistan in villagers that are hostile to foreign interlopers so its difficult to defeat them militarily I just dont believe the Afghan army will be able to defeat the Taliban on there own if the Coalition leaves Afghanistan

I am very concerned with the support Bernie has been gaining, I cannot see how he is the right Democratic candidate if you serious about beating Trump I am really starting to like Bloomberg but he been labelled by the " we dont want another Billionaire as a president " brush so him winning once you face this type of general public sentiment is unlikely

I have been working on a project the last 4 weeks that involved lots of inter-city travelling, it was important but tiresome Anyway I got back on Friday and its been great relaxing this weekend and doing some socializing

I am fully immersed in RDR2, I am loving the game so far and the Western narrative makes a refreshing change I have spent about 100 hours so far in the game and look forward to another 100 hours

Narco's Mexico and Van Helsing....both good shows Oh and Vikings, amazing as usual

People dont need to hate Marxism. You can see how it has failed to become a relevant alternative to Capitalism or the free market., you can see how the genesis of Communism was created by people who had real criticism for there government....but there is the problem. Russia had an appalling government, the Russian monarchy wasn't competent on a number of levels and fundamentally failed to transform the lives of there citizens... Tzar Nicholos was a terrible leader and wasted millions of Russian lives in the First World War So the Communist manifesto was ostensibly about a better way of government but it was a comparison to a flawed and corrupt monarchy .....so Communism was always going to fail because of what Lenin thought was the normal way of government

Sorry, its just I have never got to set games like GTA4 on maximum graphic settings so its great being able to do it now

RDR2 on PC, I have just started it and Im loving it so far. I am running the game on Ultra settings with my Geforce RTX 2080 which just adds to the overall excellent gaming experience

Back at work this week Monday after an excellent end of year holiday 2020 is going to be a good year, I have to study a different cloud based technology but its the future so Im very excited and Im back at gym this week after 1 month laziness\break Gail force winds in Cape Town at the moment , apparently this is unprecedented for this time of the year https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/watch-windy-weekend-weather-has-capetonians-defying-gravity-40836417

Fair enough, I understand this argument and it is reasonable. Its not about unnecessary bashing of wealthy people which seems counterproductive But just to add something else strange about the 1 % statement. Its suppose to represent a good news story about the achieved wealth and journey of certain successful Americans Yet it can become a negative story and people make real and unfair comparisons to financial challengers in there own personal life, so just see it as a positive and legitimate reality of the USA

I hear you, that was my general view of him from what regular members thought about him. One of the things I was confronted with growing up at the end of Apartheid and voting at the age of 18 in the new South Africa is sometimes you will be confronted by people who automatically dislike you or have a negative view of you because of your race and historical events like Apartheid, they assume all white people in South Africa are responsible ...you dont take it personally because its based on real events in our history and you never encounter it from people in RL But in SA people at least give you a reason, for example people who want land reform/expropriation assume all white people stole the land but in SA only 8 % of white people are farmers... But Ktchong wasn't subjected to Apartheid laws and denied an education or a limited one so I would be very surprised if he cant support China based on what he believes. Thats what a debate is, we present our views and people can decide for themselves. I loved debating at school....I was useless at sport so these types of subjects gave me an identity which is important for young people

I am hoping he will respond to this question, for me its not unusual to encounter anti-white sentiment sometimes. Its something I just ignore as it normally lacks historical accuracy and tends be about sweeping generalizations that are impossible to justify But I still would believe ktchong can explain his China view, that should be simple if he is being sincere is his misplaced belief ?

ktchong I normally read yours posts and sometimes I find your views to be anti-white or rather your points dont make sense to me but I think I should be offended but I dont know why ...and sometimes I want to understand what you mean as Im interested in the topic Are you supportive of China in the sense you think it has a better, or rather sustainable economic model than the USA? I almost feel embarrassed to suggest that anyone could make a real comparison with the USA and China. I remember for example you once made a post comparing the level of Media professionalism or knowledge between China media and USA....you suggested China is the better example of good news coverage ...I wanted to comment but I forgot You immediately lose any reasonable debate about comparing China media to any country with a free media as China obviously controls the media narrative within China. It works for them but its not something most people would ever support.....but even more unusual is trying compare state sponsored media integrity to normal media like the USA

I am very sorry for how the conservative, hard line element in Iran unfortunately run the country. To ensure Iran has the progressive and sustainable future for the majority of its citizens this had to be addressed at some stage.....yes you face some real challengers in the next few years but I absolutely believe Iran will come out it with a government that truly believes in the overall well being of all its citizens and spends much less time concerned with ensuring Shia hegemony in the ME But the hardliners will need to go and that is something that creates huge concerns with how this will be done and how to do it effectively Do you mind if if I ask you question and I will understand if you have no opinion on this topic. Do you think its important and necessary for Iran to fund and aid countries in the ME that have large a Shia population. I understand this objective of countering Sunni dominance but its not necessary if you think of possible outcomes as far as what Iran represents. Iran will always be Iran and nothing will change its important history and role it can play in the ME

volo this is a valid observation around the actions and or decisions we see from the Iranian government. There behavior on certain things may seem inconsistent with the outcomes you would assume they would want , in the last 15 years we have seen this but in this case it make sense One of the positive realities about geopolitics nowadays is how many people cannot understand the way Trump thinks or how significant his tweets are as real policies views ....he constantly operates in his own way around presidential decorum and what US presidents do say and or dont say in public. Of course he also has his real positive things he supports and says like his funding for the US military so he isnt all bad but due to his general unorthodox comments and things he says its very hard for most non-English countries where Trump has focused his attention to know when he is being serious about threats and also how to intimidate him This killing of the general was an unexpected move by the USA but definitely not unwarranted or without justification. The USA has never responded to any attack on there soldiers or embassies since 1979.The Iran hardliners response despite all there normal theater, bombast and general anti-American rhetoric is reduced in certain ways but most importantly they dont want to provoke Trump and cause him to now attack Iran directly. So they launched the missiles as a " response " but they were designed and intended to not cause any casualties on purpose. The shooting down of the Ukrainian plane was a mistake .....not surprising considering the tensions in the area

Why do you really want to learn Russian my friend? Are you sweet on a Russian stripper and you want to impress the parents....nothing wrong with that, I have been in the same situation numerous times

This is concerning, its currently been extensively covered by Al Jazeera for those interested and its a good, objective way to follow this development as you see views by numerous people on both sides

You raise some good points but there is a fundamental inconsistency in the argument " that Libya was better off under Gaddafi " Clearly the majority of the actual Libyan citizens disagree with that view because the Arab Spring uprising in Libya was initiated by Libyan tribes unhappy with the dictatorial rule of Gaddafi. The original intervention of the Western bombing campaign was to break the siege of Misrata, the planned attacks on Bhengazi and to prevent the massacre of tens of thousands of Libyan rebels and civilians by Gaddafi forces. The intervention was also the basis for the UN resolution 1973 ( even if you dismiss WIKI links you can use the links below as a basis for other articles outside of wiki links, I am just posting them as reference and convenience ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1973 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Misrata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2011_military_intervention_in_Libya I am not suggesting the Western bombing campaign didn't extend its UN mandate but they didn't cause the original instability and were not responsible for the causes of the Libyan civil war Finally people criticize the West for helping to defeat Gaddafi but then not playing any meaningful role in helping to rebuild the new Libya. But the rebuilding of Libya was never part of the strategy or a realistic expectation for several reasons. Primarily the fact that many of the anti-Gaddafi tribes also didn't like the West so Western countries couldn't be seen as any kind of occupying force after the initial failures of the 2003 invasion of Iraq Compare Syria to Libya now and ask an honest question, what country has a better future or is more likely to be rebuilt in a quicker and more sustainable way? That is my example of what happens when you dont have Western intervention and things are left to be resolved by the likes of Russia or other players