BruceVC

But in certain cases its an excellent way to motivate people and corporations to adhere to certain laws and social responsibilities For example in SA we had a real water crisis in Cape Town so there was a " water tax " on all water consumed in Cape Town to ensure people used water sparingly and in most cases it worked People tend to be very committed to doing the right thing when they know its going to cost them

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/emmanuel-macron-signals-for-frances-pm-to-suspend-fuel-tax-hikes-after-violent-protests/ar-BBQsGCf?li=AA59G2 Im disappointed that Macron had to suspend the fuel tax but I also can sympathize with him considering the violence and broad public support around this anarchy He probably felt he had no choice

Obviously it will be headed by Louis XX, beloved of the people and legitimate King of France, we do know that much. Shame the Brits dropped their claim to the throne, otherwise we could almost manage a super union of France/ Spain/ Britain. France will come home to absolute, divine-right monarchy any day now. Pierre knows that he was wrong about democracy, and they're terribly sorry for killing Western Civilization. Nothing unusual for you to be hoping for any Western institution to fall apart but as normal with your prognostications of " the end of the EU\Western culture " you will be disappointed and wrong when things stabilize and the EU continues to seen as an excellent union of how countries can unite behind common trade and human rights values Sorry Zora but thats just how the world is, its best to accept the West isn't going anywhere The protests have been going on for a while, in more prefects than this weekend's Paris. This climate change tax doesn't hurt those urban ponces, but the rural and working class that leoliberalism has abandoned for capital without borders. Unlike the people who are trained to talk like the marxists in your sig box, real people cannot just go home and buy new eco cars. Many have real work to do, requiring actual motors. If governments wanted to ameliorate global warming, they would quit accommodating masses more onto the power grids from Sand World, cranking their heat up every winter, but they do not care about global warming or plastic. Macron had one job: bread and games, but he can't even do that. Looks like his government want to give, they really have no other choice: http://www.linfo.re/france/politique/edouard-philippe-annoncera-un-moratoire-sur-la-hausse-des-taxes-carburants You raise some interesting points and I would like to respond but before I do I just want to understand your context, where do you live and overall what is your stance on political\economic ideologies? I absolutely believe in Western culture as the most effective and efficient ways to govern and to ensure sustainable governments that offer overall the best solutions to economic and social prosperity. This is a complicated subject with many levels but in summary what that means to me is You need governments elected by the people and accountable to the people You need effective governments that maintain there institutions You need governments that respect the rule of law and order You need the free market to drive local and the global economies In the interest of full disclosure I have strong ties to the banking sector and support the important role the global financial sector plays in global economic stability and growth but this is in a reasonable and constructive way

Nothing unusual for you to be hoping for any Western institution to fall apart but as normal with your prognostications of " the end of the EU\Western culture " you will be disappointed and wrong when things stabilize and the EU continues to seen as an excellent union of how countries can unite behind common trade and human rights values Sorry Zora but thats just how the world is, its best to accept the West isn't going anywhere I see you still dream about marxist Europe, it will not happend as long as V4 have some say in it . Funny how westeners are starting to flock to east europe for 'Western' style of life How can you possibly call the EU Marxist, can you name some things that are Marxist about it and what do we define as Marxist ?

Nothing unusual for you to be hoping for any Western institution to fall apart but as normal with your prognostications of " the end of the EU\Western culture " you will be disappointed and wrong when things stabilize and the EU continues to seen as an excellent union of how countries can unite behind common trade and human rights values Sorry Zora but thats just how the world is, its best to accept the West isn't going anywhere

Why? Isn't that something to strive for? Or do you think the American way is what we should aim for? Agreed, more hours doesn't mean more productivity ...but on the flip side I used to work for a French company and they treated us non Euros like crap so **** those guys! Pardon my French That is then better than most French companies as they usually don't like anybody who isn't French especially if they don't speak French. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/28/emmanuel-macron-keeps-france-climate-change-tax-de/ There have been several agreements to make France more " ozone friendly " and Macron is simply following what was agreed to in the Paris accord. These violent protests cannot be acceptable and it seems incongruous that we are fine with this violence because.....French companies like there staff to speak French. All the private sector companies I have ever worked for have an English language policy. If you dont speak English you wont get employed, thats how it is France needs to address this anarchy or agreements like the Paris accord become moot, to quote Macron from the link “You cannot be pro-environment on Monday and then when Tuesday comes be against rising fuel prices,” volo, dont be ungrateful....think of all the good the French have done for Canada. You should be condemning this break down of the rule of law and order in France

Take a look at this video and how Pence has become use to immediately pandering to anything Trump says, even if he is not sure if Trump is being sincere Pence was actually prepared to raise his hand in some sycophantic gesture to what Trump said

Ah, the revision begins. I'm sure the usual, priestly talking heads are busy sanctifying the man, they earlier this year fell on with #metoo shenanigans, because Americans have the attention span of gold fish and the memories of gnats. I'm also certain we're knocking on his big dream of a friendlier, social credit America policing itself into oblivion. No. In reality, he and Cheney were and are disgusting sycophants. You a big fan I gather ?

Guys watch this video and please comment, I agree with most of what Jordan Peterson is saying and how the usage of unnecessary pronouns can lead to the undermining of free speech and doesnt help the transgender community in the long run. Especially when people leave university Sorry if this has been discussed before

I never had an intense dislike of Bush but I did have some criticism for him but after some of the Trump antics I am battling to think of any real issues around Bush

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/michael-cohen-latest-donald-trumps-former-lawyer-pleads-guilty-to-lying-to-congress-a4003896.html This story has potential to create more consternation for the Trump presidency, in summary Cohen previously mentioned that the Trump project to build a tower in Moscow ended in January 2016 but apparently these discussions continued into June 2016 ...Trump has always denied this I would suggest we get some popcorn and watch the theatrics unfold but there simply is no more Trump popcorn, its been used months ago with all the alleged scandals

@ GD What an informative food website, I am seeing dozens of excellent recipes and gastronomic suggestions I also appreciate the way the recipes seem to be not overly complicated

I am seriously considering buying a console like you did just so I can play games like RDR 1&2 How did you find the game, worth buying a console ?

Now that is my type of meal, I love Venison and I thoroughly enjoy stews as the leftovers can be stored and frozen for later I am going to bookmark that recipe and make it when I get back to JHB from my coastal trip, I am leaving on Monday for Durban

Yummy, I wish we had a Thanksgiving day in SA as it appears that the food is as delicious, complex but rings like comfort food....so its like Xmas which I absolutely love Which day do you guys prefer and how would you celebrate each day typically ?

I do concur that she is hot, articulate and very educated....I want a girlfriend like her Her name would occasionally be mentioned in most international channels I always follow because of her age. She also was automatically and ostensibly aligned to the predicted " Blue Wave of Democratic women " who would sweep the Democrats to victory in the House and hopefully the Senate ? I watched one interview with her on CNN and then mostly due to that misplaced attempt by the Democrats to stop Brett Kavanaugh. Large numbers of women in the USA voted to support the Democratic party and there success was really galvanized and increased by anti-Trump sentiment that was targeted towards Trump and Kavanaugh. There is a real fear and concern that now that Kavanaugh was elected to the SC there would be an attack on laws and general progressive values like the right to choose I dont believe Trump will do this but its got the Democrats anxious and active

Actually there are real alternatives to death that may be working in the next 20-30 years ? Would you be prepared to be a participant in a scientific experiment in a time period where you are in your 60's, the entire process would be explained so there is nothing surreptitious or insidious about the outcome which is basically a method to extract your consciousness only into a PC or some kind of electronic system But your body dies but your sense of awareness lives on for an eternity and there would be a way to communicate as you have all your basic cognitive abilities and you can think and you are aware Better than death Volo......I hope you can see this and would volunteer for this process to escape death ? And yes there would be a chance you may not survive the initial extraction of your consciousness but this could be seen as any risk around a complicated medical procedure....so this could be seen as normal ?

Is this really the consequences, its very extreme and paints a grim picture of the USA and the potential damage to many aspects to civil society? But I didnt absorb much of the content, its not my strong point and I find I lose interest. I relied on a pseudo form of speed reading so I can ratiocinate and consider the consequences. Maybe someone else can study it in detail and summarize the salient warnings ? Consider the quote at the end "If we're going to run this country like a business, it's time to address climate as the threat multiplier we know it is before more lives are lost," said Robert Bullard, an environmental scientistat Texas Southern University. "In Houston, communities of color have endured back to back major weather events without the acknowledgment from Washington that climate change is the cause. We've known for years that it's true and it's important to our organizing and our local policy efforts that information like this is not only considered, but believed and acted upon."

Depends on whether she's receiving classified information on it or deleting stuff that needs to be preserved? It wasn't just the receiving emails on her server that was the problem with Hillary, it was why she was doing it that way and what she did with it (and it being unsecure). Hope Donald actually does nominate Ivanka for ambassador to the UN, the reactions would be a thing to behold. According to news she has done classified government correspondence through her private email and those emails have not been recorded as law demands. So quite similar to what Hillary did. By known information neither Hillary's or Ivanka's emails have not been compromised by party who has not given lawful access to said emails. I am of the opinion that it is the responsibility of the White House security team to ensure all members of the Presidential support team understand how there various devices work to ensure there data usage inst compromised So in other words I dont blame Ivanka or Hilary for not understanding some of the security requirements around IT, its easy to make these types of mistake around security protocol

I understand your view on SA, just to clarify what are your honest issues with SA. I can guess based on what you mentioned in the past but I am just wondering if you can reiterate them?

There has always been an "anti-Saudi " sentiment from some members on this forum, its basically the same criticism towards Saudi Arabia and how they have either exasperated Islamic Extremism, fund it or actually are the " real baddies in the ME " As usual with these types of comments I find people conflate issues and unintentionally seem to ignore developments in the ME since 9/11 where we should recognize the good Saudi Arabia has done Saudi Arabia has been an ally to the USA in the war on terror and have made several important initiatives to eradicate extremism in the ME, yes they initially probably wanted to stay out of it but when they were targeted by Al-Qaeda after 9/11 the Saudi monarchy realized that there own existence was threatened so they logically aligned with the West which was the right thing to do So in summary, why is the Trump and Saudi relationship relevant and important As you mentioned Saudi Arabia is basically OPEC due to its influence on the other Gulf States, they have a critical role in ensuring continued oil supply They are opposed to the type of Islamic Extremism that has plagued the world since 9/11 They are fundamental in the Shia\Sunni conflict that needs to meet a conclusion in the ME. They represent the side that I really believe offers the ME the best option for stability and economic sustainability

That is quite a racist attitude you have there I must say. The implication is that he does not want to live around people with whom he shares no interests or values and who also happen to be white, but don't let that stop you from clutching your pearls. I think you are misunderstanding something that I learnt from the Trump victory, Trump highlighted some real changes that the general global SJ movement was unintentionally ignoring or sometimes just willfully dismissing. The point may sound hyperbolic but trust me its axiomatic in nature You cannot say "Personally, I did not want to live in a Republican neighborhood of White people with whom I share no interests or values, but my wife talked me into moving there " because he doesn't specify what values he assumes white people have or dont have . He is also unintentionally generalizing about all white people by that statement due to his studious lack of details Yes you could argue we cannot assume what he means but I find that type of speculative optics intellectually lacking and utterly unconvincing He knows exactly what he means and is insinuating, he has disdain for groups of unnamed and unmeasured Republicans for one reason only...there race Im not sure I can say its racist but its offensive and would be seen as unacceptable publicly in the USA, Trump supporters could easily use this as an example of " racism and offensive rhetoric from the Democrats " It helps feed Trump support and needs to be rejected by those of us who support healthy but robust debate

GD I can understand a sense of exasperation because you feel you repeat certain points but on a forum like this occasional repetition is useful as it reminds us of the views, particularly anecdotal, of normal citizens in countries like the USA I have gained several new insights and changed certain political views I had because of the views of members like you, for example my entire view on Gun Control in the USA changed after understanding your overall argument and why you objected to the Federal government trying to force people to comply So dont think posts you make are a waste based on the general sentiment that its been repeated before because people still find value from most comments members make

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/us/elections/women-elected-midterm-elections.html Guys here is another good read around the success we have seen around women winning positions in the 2018 midterms I also see that 49% of all registered voters turned out for these elections, this is ostensibly a very good number but what about the other 50 % of registered voters, I am surprised they didn't vote ?

" A blue wave that was stopped by a red wall in the Senate " ? But the Democrats have benefited immensely by there control of the house and women candidates have done exceptionally well so the results were also a victory for gender equality https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/women-politics-records_us_5b9a667ce4b041978dc0a969