BruceVC

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/california-governor-signs-law-to-ban-local-voter-id-requirements/ I initially assumed this was fake news but its real and I dont understand why California would pass a law specifically making it illegal around voter id requirements? This is the story and justification below " California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill into law on Thursday that bars local governments from enacting laws to require residents to show a valid form of identification in order to vote. " The right to freely cast your vote is the foundation of our democracy and Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy flies in the face of this principle,” Bonta said in a statement at the time the lawsuit was filed. “State election law already contains robust voter ID requirements with strong protections to prevent voter fraud, while ensuring that every eligible voter can cast their ballot without hardship. Imposing unnecessary obstacles to voter participation disproportionately burdens low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities.” But what stops someone pretending to be someone they not and how do you vote? I assume you need to be registered which requires your ID and proof of citizenship and then you arrive on the day to vote. But how do you then confirm you are the person. Does California use a voters role? @Hurlshort I assume you understand this logic?

Frozen pizzas in SA are always terrible, they never come out like they look in the photos and they dont taste anything like fresh pizza

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4956319-trump-says-hell-let-rfk-jr-go-wild-on-health-and-food-in-potential-second-term/ This is a few days old "Former President Trump said Sunday that he would let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild” in dealing with issues related to food, medicine and health in a potential second administration. I’m going to let him go wild on health. I’m going to let him go wild on the food. I’m going to let him go wild on the medicines,” Trump told supporters at Madison Square Garden. " @Lexx This is a good example of how Trump could really harm and erode a US institution like health. Put an anti-vaxxer in charge Its so absurd you must laugh

The difference is the Taliban havent changed since there formation and dont want to change unlike both groups involved in the "The Troubles " Its like saying is AQ or ISIS ever going to change and believe in meaningful negotiations or compromise in global conflicts they actively involved in? Extremist and fundamentalists groups don't often deviate from there core beliefs and how they act on them "The Troubles " ended because both sides had leadership prepared to compromise and that was influenced by the large numbers of Irish people who were tired of the decades of endless conflict

https://rockstarintel.com/red-dead-redemption-releases-on-pc/ RDR1 is finally released on PC this week, Im so happy I have waited over a decade to play this game The game runs at up to 4K resolution and 144FPS. If you have supported hardware to run the game at such quality and performance that is. This is a huge step up over the original game and even the PS4 port running on PS5. Previously, Red Dead Redemption was stuck at 30FPS on all platforms until a 60FPS patch for the PS4 version (when running on PS5) came out last year. Graphics settings such as draw distance, shadow quality and more can be changed. Red Dead Redemption on PC will also support aspect ratios such as Ultrawide (21:9) and Super Ultrawide (32:9). There will also be HDR10 support if you have a compatible display. Fans can opt to use a keyboard and mouse over controller if they wish to do so.

I think thats a definite consideration, Israel doesnt have endless resources or public appetite for war in Lebanon without some sort of achievable goals If Hezbollah agrees to stop firing rockets and withdraws from the southern Lebanon region Im sure Netanyahu will take that and claim it as a " win" ...until the next time The US elections are nearly over and that will play a huge part in how Israel addresses Iran, I cant imagine they can fight ongoing wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran?

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-826921 There could be an end to the conflict in Lebanon, I dont think Hezbollah is the same as Hamas with the whole " to the last Palestinian", most Lebanese and the Lebanese government never wanted a war with Israel "Despite Hezbollah’s declarations throughout the war, the terrorist organization has agreed to drop its demands and is ready to withdraw beyond the Litani River, Lebanon's MTV website, which is associated with Hezbollah opponents, reported Wednesday night. The report indicated that Hezbollah agreed to establish a demilitarized zone, with all its weapons to be moved beyond the river. It was also claimed that Hezbollah no longer insists on being directly connected to events in Gaza. MTV Lebanon noted that a three-day ceasefire draft is being discussed in Lebanon, and American officials are expected to present it to Israel in the coming days. It was also noted that Amos Hochstein, Biden's envoy to the region, told Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati that he sensed a change in Netanyahu's position, which gave him hope regarding the contacts. "

https://forkcat.com/ I know you mentioned this before, it looks like its got real potential Good to see

@Wormerine Wormie its got Romance, does that make it immediately better " And don't get me started on the romance dialogue. If you choose to do some very light flirting with a character once or twice, the game tries to fast track you into a relationship—complete with all the cliches. In a single hour I had not one but two stammering, bashful romantic encounters that turned the game into an antediluvian romcom. You know the ones: the "It's a date… no, I mean, not a date date" variety. There are some solid romantic encounters, eventually, but you have to trudge through a lot of rote rubbish to see them."

When you have played it make a detailed post about your experiences in this thread Im interested in an objective opinion

And again can you give examples of what you mean? Project 2025 is 900 page document, Im interested in what you think Trump will implement that will impact the entire world and could even create another great depression? Just 2-3 examples for clarity and be specific?

I will definitely play it but in a couple of years when I can mod it and when its on a sales special I play all Bioware games eventually

Every country changes as years go on and domestic and geopolitical events of the time influence that and then governments respond to that For example the US now is not the US of the Cold War and or the US when 9/11 happened The point Im making is another 4 years of Trump winning or Harris winning is not going to fundamentally change the US or the world But maybe give some examples so I can understand what you mean?

I dont think most statistics or some university study should ever be more credible or relevant than actual lived experience of someone who lives in a country. Its all about context Politics is typically about grandstanding and theatre and you hear complaints about things that often dont represent the reality for everyone In South Africa its common to hear things like " we the MOST unequal society in the world " as if we the worst country in the world around the reality of our economy and what that translates to for all citizens It doesnt really matter who wins this US election, the US is going to be fine and still standing 4 years from now despite the " end of the USA" predictions from both sides if the other side wins

The irony with any pro-Palestinian American voters is Trump will support Netanyahu around any escalation around Iran and will be even less concerned about the Israeli strategy in Gaza So they dont have to vote for Harris but then they mustn't complain about what happens in the ME if Trump wins

https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/10/27/trump-vs-harris-2024-polls-trump-up-in-3-new-surveys-harris-leads-in-2-others/ End of the day its still neck and neck and within the margin of error Is anyone prepared to predict who will win? Im not going to predict, its too close and the final influence from undecided voters too uncertain Exciting election in any regard

Im about 15 hours into Dark Messiah of M&M Im really enjoying it, I think the myriad of combat mechanics are well done and Im enjoying the overall narrative I like Xana, she makes me laugh and I have just found out who I really am. Very unexpected twist

I agree, the ME over the last 25 years has definitely been the most overall unstable and violent region on earth. The Israeli vs Palestinian conflict is just one aspect of conflict but you had the Arab Spring, Shia vs Sunni tension and then sectarian conflicts and Islamic extremism and then the US Iraq invasion in 2003 added to the chaos But then you find stable and prosperous countries like the Gulf States and you can live and work there. Almost no crime or outcomes of poverty that you find in many countries like South Africa or many Western countries But going back to the Israeli response , I think Israel had to respond after the Ballistic attack but not in a way that would force Iran to respond heavily which is why they were selective around military targets only and yes it was also psychological I also think Israel is waiting for the US election outcomes. Because Netanyahu wants Trump to win because then he will be guaranteed US support around any military decision Israel takes The Dems have lines and decisions they wont support Israel on What did surprise me is I was always under the impression that Iran had effective anti-aircraft defenses. I always assumed Iran would be able to shootdown some aircraft if they were attacked?

There are multiple articles about the Israeli response being targeted and specifically not about energy and nuclear sites https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/israel-iran-strike-retaliation-live-updates-rcna177303 Israel confirmed that it had launched "precise strikes on military targets in Iran" early Saturday local time. The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes were in response to "months of continuous attacks" from Iran. On Oct. 1, Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. The initial strikes appear limited to military sites and not Iranian nuclear facilities or oil fields, sources say. Because that would be seen as ramping up the escalation and then Iran feels compelled to respond but military targets are considered "acceptable " And this was what the US was expecting Israel to do if it retaliated after the Ballistic missile attack

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c704w7d3997o The long awaited Israeli response to Iran but it was a measured response and what the US wanted on military targets and not targeting energy or nuclear targets The "war ball " is now back in Irans court or at least until after the US election because I cant imagine Israel escalating its bombing campaigns without US support and only Trump will provide that

The Taliban controlled the country before 2001 and they were the main reason the country was unstable because they created the insurgency How would bringing back the ex king Zahir Shah helped placate or stop the Taliban in anyway? Would the Taliban allow him to govern the country peacefully?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c624m4kgrg3o An interesting, unexpected but appreciated BRICS development Brazil has basically vetoed Venezuela's attempts to join BRICS because of the rampant cheating and lack of credibility in the last election in Venezuela and Maduro is seriously butthurt " Venezuela has criticised Brazil's decision to veto its admission to the Brics group of emerging economies. Venezuela's foreign ministry described the move, which came at the group's summit in Russia attended by more than 20 heads of state, as an "immoral aggression" "The Brazilian foreign ministry has decided to maintain the veto that [former Brazilian president] Jair Bolsonaro has applied against Venezuela for years, reproducing the hatred, exclusion and intolerance promoted from the centres of power in the West," the Venezuelan foreign ministry said in a statement. "The Venezuelan people feel indignation and shame at this inexplicable and immoral aggression," it added. Venezuela had lobbied hard to join the Brics, with Maduro even making a surprise appearance at the summit in the city of Kazan and declaring that his country was "part of the Brics family". But whats also interesting is Putins comments about this " Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hosted the summit, said he agreed with Venezuela's position, but added that it would only be able to join the Brics if there was a consensus in favour among its members. We know Brazil's position. We don't agree, Venezuela is fighting for its survival," Putin said at a news conference on Thursday." And thats the perfect example of the Russian definition of how Putin sees the "new BRICS world order " He is basically saying free and fair and credible elections dont matter. As long as you stay in power thats all that matters The Venezuelan election was never about the survival of the country, it was simply about Maduro staying in power like all elections And its good to see BRICS members rejecting this type of sentiment from Russia

I always find this type of view to be the strangest criticism of US military campaigns and efforts over the last 20-30 years Its fair and legitimate to criticize the invasion of Iraq but the efforts to stabilize Afghanistan were real and substantial The US basically spent 20 years trying to stabilize Afghanistan, they spent something like $1 trillion dollars and for years Afghanistan had a legitimate and internationally recognized government They failed to end the Taliban insurgency for a variety of reasons and the country was never truly stable and then you had constant corruption and inefficiency within the new Afghan government But its hard to think of what more follow through the US could have done in Afghanistan short of making Afghanistan part of the US because end of the day only the Afghan government like all governments can truly stabilize the country And the worst reality is there were many people saying the US must leave Afghanistan and when the US did leave the new Afghan security forces collapsed and Taliban took control and the country is worse than ever with no economic or positive future for its citizens and particularly no future for Afghan women But the US had to leave at some stage. I support that and it couldnt indefinitely sustain Afghanistan Im really questioning what else the US could have done to support the new Afghan government after 2001 because hindsight is 20/20?

But most people arent really influenced by wars that they dont have lived experience around or direct experience South Africa was involved for decades in the border war and Namibia and I remember older people doing conscription, I lived through South Africa's wars during Apartheid the first 15 years of my life but it had no impact on me because I was too young or not involved I would argue many people forget very quickly or selectively dismiss why certain wars were necessary like the US invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11. You can find people in the US who claim that war was unjust and conflate it to Iraq 2003 But the invasion of Afghanistan was perfectly legitimate considering 9/11?

Thats interesting, as you might remember I played F:NV recently but it was a heavy modded game and there were definitely regions with enemies I couldnt defeat until higher level and that included Deathclaws