BruceVC

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

Im genuinely interested in how Silicon Valley is adding to the left being docile? Because its normal to buy PC hardware and software if that is one of your hobbies So in other words how is commercialization of any sector or industry responsible for reducing activism? You can do both ....we can " walk and chew at the same time " as some people say in the South Africa political and social narrative

Zora I was hoping 2020 would be a good year to not be selective and revisionist about geopolitical events and developments For example its patently untrue that the press hasnt reported about the slave markets in Libya, it was CNN who first broke the story with Freedom Project at great personal risk to there own journalists. How else do you think you even know about the Libya slave markets which were mostly controlled by the ISIS faction. Its the same as the slavery we see Boko Haram involved in https://edition.cnn.com/specials/africa/libya-slave-auctions Comments like the media is biased I have always found to be inaccurate due to the fact the media isn't some monolithic entity controlled by the Jews/Illuminate " puppet masters " And finally the entire collapse of Libya was not because of the West. It was a outcome of the Arab Spring and the fact Gaddafi, like Assad, refused to allow all his citizens to be part of the economy or share in any kind of economic transformation. This is on them, not the Western intervention

Gorthfuscious I am assuming the general view is that the severity of these types of fires are due to climate change and this is now a reality that going forward the country has to contend with What are the strategies and ideas that government and civil society have come up with to reduce the damage and length of these disasters, I have heard massive fire breaks is one solution ?

Nah, Obama didn't lose election. Obamas final approval raring was 60 % percent so despite the general anti-Obama sentiment on this forum more Americans liked him and his views and policies than disliked him. I am a huge supporter of Obama because of the reality of the USA when he became president and what he had to address. He left the USA in a much better place than when he became president, I do accept certain domestic and foreign policies he implemented or tried to implement were well meaning but misplaced https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/president-obama-final-approval-rating-60-poll-shows-article-1.2949260 There were 2 primary reasons Trump won Hilary Clinton simply wasnt the right candidate for several reasons There was a real concern that the USA was going in both a political and social direction that was not what many Americans believed or rather supported. This meant many Trump supporters found solace and real identity in what Trump stands for. Never forget Ktchong no one chooses to be born a certain race, its fine to be white. I have no issue with my race and we decide for ourselves how we live our lives and treat others. We should have an understanding of the past and we can have views around addressing perceived historical injustices but we not defined by it I do think there is a real chance Trump can win in 2020 but that is because I am not convinced with the overall Democratic message and I am very concerned with the far left views of the likes of Warren and Sanders. It also cannot be denied the overall strength and growth of the USA economy under Trump which will add to his election story I still maintain Biden is the best Democratic candidate to beat Trump and hopefully he wins the Democratic nomination 😎

I had a very eventful and enjoyable NY night. Firstly the lunchtime restaurant we went to on the 31 was amazing, its offerings and quality of off cut meat really didnt disappoint. It had rustic decor which was part of the charm and ambiance. Massive portions of food but extremely tasty, they also had numerous drink specials where you get 4 tots for the price of 2 on all spirits that included Brandy and Whiskey Then the Mexican restuarant which was the main event also was great, they has a live band which played Spanish music from about 10 pm which added to the vibe. This particular restaurant obviously also had a massive Tequila selection. I love Tequila which suited me fine but this also created the only real problem for me of the evening, The manager focused on our table particularly to offer us free and different Tequilas, some of course we paid for but we had at least 3-4 free But then he came to me personally with a unique " Ghost pepper Tequila " which is suppose to be hotter than the hottest measurement of the chili Scoville rating. I have never understood, or really respected it, the Scoville rating system for heat in chili's because it seems to jump around a lot to values in the millions but basically he said to me this is extreme heat contained in the shooter. He let us dip our finger in a bit of the Tequila to sample it I was inebriated at this stage of the evening but in a very good way and full of Dutch courage and it really didnt seem that hot....I decided to have one. He asked me to sign an indemnity form which I did and then I downed the Tequila.... What a mistake it was. 30 seconds later I started sweating and I had to rush to the toilet to down about a litre of water, I returned to the table but for the next 20 minutes my entire body and stomach felt like it was literally on fire 🔥 It literally sobered me up and almost ruined my appetite I will never do that again and learned an important lesson about not eating food or drinking something on that heat level because the experience was not pleasant at all 😎

Happy NY everyone 🎉 Here is to a great and prosperous 2020