BruceVC

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/17/africa/africa-eswatini-trump-us-deportees-intl There is such a ridiculous and sensationalized story in our local media at the moment Basically 5 criminals have been sent from the US to Swaziland to be incarcerated, Trump has done this a few times in other countries like El Salvador For those who dont know anything about Swaziland its an absolute Monarchy where the king has 11 wives and lives a lavish lifestyle while most of the country lives in abject poverty But its a sovereign country and obviously the US is paying Swaziland to incarcerate these criminals The funny part is all the South African drama and comments from some people about this "A South African government source told CNN, “There is a feeling that some inside the Trump administration could be using this (the deportation of prisoners to Eswatini) to destabilize South Africa,” given its porous borders and Eswatini’s struggling economy. " Just to be clear, 15% of our prison population is foreigners so thats about 25k people who are in prison for many of the same crimes and we have millions of people in the country illegally but somehow 5 people are going to escape from Swaziland and ......" destabilize our country "

You really depressing me, whats going to happen first? Nuclear holocaust, re-emergence of the medieval Black Plague or Great Depression v.2? Or do you think they will all happen simultaneously

Yes, this entire Epstein scandal and list has become one big confused conspiracy theory with all these different opinions and allegations I hear people suggesting Epstein is still alive because he was a Mossad agent and Trump\DOJ wont release the list because he is controlled by Israel and then people suggesting " if there is no client list what is Maxwell doing in jail " But as you said, Epstein was a well known socialite and he had hundreds of parties and hundreds of people and celebrities attended these parties through the years but that doesnt mean everyone who knew Epstein or who attended the parties committed a crime Epstein and Maxwell were both charged and guilty of sexual exploitation around underage sex and sex trafficking, you dont need a client list for someone to be charged for these crimes https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/jeffrey-epstein-charged-manhattan-federal-court-sex-trafficking-minors " announced that JEFFREY EPSTEIN was arrested Saturday and charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. The indictment unsealed today alleges that, between 2002 through 2005, EPSTEIN sexually exploited and abused dozens of underage girls by enticing them to engage in sex acts with him in exchange for money. Epstein allegedly worked with several employees and associates to ensure that he had a steady supply of minor victims to abuse, and paid several of those victims themselves to recruit other underage girls to engage in similar sex acts for money. He committed these offenses in locations including New York, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida. EPSTEIN is expected to be presented in Manhattan federal court this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman. " But Trump and the likes of Bondi made things worse because they keep flip-flopping on the client list and was there a client list and now they saying "there is no relevant client list to release " No wonder conspiracy theorists are having a field day Bondi initially said there was a client list on 21 February https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/07/politics/bondi-epstein-files-client-list-suicide-memo " During a February 21 interview on Fox News, host John Roberts asked whether DOJ would release a “list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients.” “Will that really happen?” Roberts asked. Bondi responded: “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review. That’s been a directive by President Trump. I’m reviewing that.” In other words, Bondi didn’t commit to releasing such a list, but she affirmatively indicated it existed and that it was in her possession. And the question was specifically about the purported list – not other files related to Epstein. " I think there is a list of names and Trump\DOJ dont want to release them because certain people in Trumps inner circle will be implicated just by association and it will be embarrassing, Im not saying they necessarily guilty of sexual crimes I dont think Trump is a paedophile, I do think he had sex with women at the parties that Epstein arranged But a paedophile is someone who is attracted to pre-pubescent girls Its a very different type of sexual crime to statutory rape

Im about 20 hours into Darkwood and its good fun Its a tough horror survival and its definitely not for the faint hearted You basically have these 3 main map areas and you can only save in your hideout and there is 1 hideout per region. So if you die anywhere you respawn back in your hideout and you lose a percentage of your items in your inventory which you can go back and get Your survival is very dependant on crafting items and upgrading items so you constantly looking for resources And then at night you have to go back to your hideout where you get attacked randomly by about 5-6 different monsters in one night. So you might get attacked by human savages one night, or dogs, or undead banshee creatures and each requires a different strategy to survive the night. I mostly die at night unless its human savages And the map is RNG so when you explore the 3 regions you dont know where specific landmarks are until you find them and then they marked. But the map never tells you where you are unless you at a landmark so you have to use the main screen , like a fallen tree, to navigate Its very hard but exhilarating when you survive a night Overall, a very entertaining horror survival game

https://www.vice.com/en/article/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-has-a-concrete-2025-release-window-and-i-genuinely-cant-believe-it/ This is old but I didnt realize that Bloodlines 2 has an official release date, October this year I questioned if this game would ever be released ...good news. Lets hope it delivers on the much loved Bloodlines experience

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2025/elon-musk-business-government-contracts-funding/ Here is a good link just how much Musk benefitted from the US government

Im playing Darkwood now, its another Indie game and its a horror survival game There is very little hand holding about what you suppose to do but Im working it out and I have referenced some high-level " no spoiler " game guides about starting tips and advice I dont mind applying myself to understanding the objectives of any game but I prefer some basic guidance

This is a shocking suggestion and a terrible idea and something that Israel should not go forward with Its not confirmed yet and I doubt they would be so stupid https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/08/israeli-plans-for-forced-transfer-of-gazas-population-faces-challenge-by-army-reservists "However, experts say a political commitment does not mean Katz will be able to build the “humanitarian city” he described or force the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, even using coercive measures including controlling access to food. Alon Pinkas, an analyst and former top Israeli diplomat, said: “⁠The plan is by definition unviable and impractical, without even getting to the moral depravity of forcing a desolate million people into a de facto internment camp. “Katz has a tendency to make outlandish, unfounded, chaos-stirring remarks (on Gaza, on Iran) that have the life expectancy of a mayfly.” However, it would be foolish to dismiss the plan to turn Rafah into a camp as purely political posturing given reported investment into planning for mass forced transfers, Pinkas added. "

In any Constitutional Democracy where people have the right to protest legally I dont support any justification or excuse around criminality or lawlessness during protests You dont need to break the law to protest And I cant respond to those Russian questions because people cant protest or criticize the state in Russia Those are just basic freedoms that are denied to Russian citizens

You would assume he would stay out of politics after his disaster at DOGE and how the Trump bromance ended He is one of the worlds greatest business visionaries and he can implement those ideas in the private sector but he is a terrible politician and he never will be an effective or popular politician

Interesting, so it was DOD who initially said they weren't sending weapons to Ukraine due to stock concerns and not Trump?

I had never heard of this game but it looks good for a horror adventure game I like Frictional Games, I have played most of the Amnesia games so I will keep this one in mind

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8d6yrd798no The US is going to renew sending weapons to Ukraine, Trumps normal flip-flopping on issues is demonstrated again " Donald Trump has said the US will send more weapons to Ukraine after an announcement last week that Washington would halt some shipments of critical arms to Kyiv. During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he was "not happy" with Russia's Vladimir Putin and that Ukraine was "getting hit very hard". Trump also indicated the US would send primarily "defensive weapons" to help Ukraine's war effort. "

Yes but we not talking about the history of Colonialism We talking about the UK now and domestic protests and the UK acting against criminality by protestors like Palestinian Action Either you believe that protestors should be able to break the law or you dont? So if you believe Palestinian Action should be able to damage and attack UK institutions then just say that, you entitled to your opinion As I often say, I reject the suggestion that the majority of protests should be about any looting, criminality or damage to property. And anyone breaking the law in protests should be arrested. But thats just my opinion

Are you saying that you support violence and criminality in UK protests as a way to achieve political change or around disagreements how the UK government defines its geopolitical views? Would you support protestors attacking and damaging UK public sector institutions like Parliament or is it only UK military sites you support being attacked? And then would you support right-wing groups breaking the law in protests or is it only pro-Palestinian groups that should be allowed to break the law?

Palestine Action has a long list of crimes associated with there protest actions, its not just this one incident. House of Commons voted 385 votes to 26 to amend the anti-terrorism laws so it wasn't something Starmer decided on a whim. If an Israeli protest group is also constantly breaking the law then they should also get banned under this law And then the UK is definitely not Russia and how the rule of law and order is observed and enforced, thats a silly false equivalence But here is a list of why Palestine Action was banned, if they weren't actually constantly breaking the law they wouldn't be banned https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/4/palestine-action-what-has-the-group-done-as-it-faces-a-ban The group launched a series of break-ins at Elbit’s Ferranti site in Oldham, near Manchester in northern England. Between 2020 and early 2022, the site was repeatedly occupied and vandalised, culminating in Elbit closing the facility in January 2022 – an outcome Palestine Action declared as a major victory. In 2021, the group occupied the Leicester drone factory operated by UAV Tactical Systems, a subsidiary of Elbit. Activists chained themselves to the roof for nearly a week. Ten people were arrested, but later acquitted. Throughout 2022, PA’s actions became more frequent. In April, they blockaded another Elbit site in Braunstone, Leicestershire. In June, they broke into the Thales UK factory in Glasgow and caused more than 1 million pounds ($1.37m) of damage with smoke bombs and property destruction. Five activists were jailed. Following the launch of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, Palestine Action intensified its efforts. They targeted the BBC’s headquarters in London with red paint to protest against the broadcaster’s perceived pro-Israel bias, and blockaded facilities of arms manufacturers including Lockheed Martin, the US aerospace and defence group which has a base in London, and Leonardo, the defence and security group. Palestine Action has also expanded internationally. In November 2023, its newly launched US branch occupied the roof of an Elbit facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire, with three activists arrested and later released with misdemeanour charges. In August 2024, activists drove a van into Elbit’s headquarters in Bristol, stormed the building and caused extensive damage. At about the same time, they spray-painted the Ministry of Defence, in central London, red and defaced a statue of Arthur Balfour with tomato ketchup inside the House of Commons. Balfour was a former Conservative prime minister who, as serving foreign secretary in 1917, authored the Balfour Declaration which supported the establishment of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine. In June 2025, the group carried out one of its most provocative actions to date: infiltrating RAF Brize Norton, the UK’s largest airbase. Activists used electric scooters to breach security and vandalised military aircraft with red paint.

Yes, to be honest I ended up with the " bad " ending first And thats much worse than what happened with the good ending. The overall narrative was very clever and unexpected

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9vrjkev802o Nah, as usual it has nothing to do with Colonialism She was supporting a banned protest group, should the rule of law and order not be enforced? If you dont break the law during protests you wont get arrested in the UK "The group became a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000 on Saturday, making membership or expressing support for them punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: "It is not about protest. This is about an organisation committing serious criminality. A total of 29 people were arrested at the demonstration and have since been released on police bail pending further inquiries. The move to ban the organisation was announced after two Voyager aircraft were sprayed with red paint at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 20 June. It caused about £7m of damage, police said. MPs voted in favour of legislation to proscribe group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation on Friday. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper previously described the group as "disgraceful" and highlighted their "long history of unacceptable criminal damage Sir Mark was asked on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show whether it was a good use of police time. He said: "The law doesn't have an age limit, whether you're 18 or 80. "If you're supporting proscribed organisations, then the law is going to be enforced. "

@melkathi Melkie its over, I threw the book away and I ended up getting gobbled up by a giant sea monster !!!! Game over You didnt warn me, I dont know if I will ever be able to go into the sea again

Yes, the fishing is loads of fun and I enjoy the whole economy around the fishing. I end up making fishing decisions using the Encyclopedia and seeing how I can make the most money Its a entertaining game and it provided the perfect way for me to disconnect from the last 450 hours of completing the 2 Pathfinder games So great recommendation, well done Melkie

I have spent about 12 hours on Dredge and I'm about to go on the last quest because I have found the 5 items for the collector, its fun I really like the fishing mechanics and how you find resources and upgrade your boat Great game, its a pity its so short

That probably explains it because he came across as sincere and avuncular But he got asked a strange question, apparently an Austrian journalist said to him " why he was visiting a country with human rights violations against minorities." " Speaking through an interpreter, van der Bellen gave this short answer. "Yes, we discussed that it is absolute nonsense. If you can please communicate that to colleagues in the Freedom Party [of Austria]." https://www.ewn.co.za/2025/07/04/austrian-president-says-suggestions-that-white-south-africans-human-rights-being-violated-absolute-nonsense Which has to do with whole exaggeration around ''white genocide", I didnt think this was still something anyone really discussed anymore , even in SA we have moved on from the media and public interest in this Is this still something that is discussed in Austria as far as you aware? Maybe its right-wing groups that raise this

https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/austria-valued-partner-south-africa-president-ramaphosa @majestic I see there was a cordial visit from your President to South Africa and it was very well received, he doesnt seem very Nazi? " During a media briefing following officials talks between the two countries, President Ramaphosa reflected on the central-European country’s contribution to the fight against apartheid. “Your Excellency, it’s an honour to have you here and I welcome you to South Africa. This is the first time that an Austrian Head of State has visited democratic South Africa. “In our official talks, we took the opportunity to thank the Austrian people for their support during our struggle for democracy. “We believe that this solidarity they pledged to the people of South Africa as they struggled against apartheid has laid a firm basis for our bilateral cooperation. “Your visit marks a new chapter for the relations between Austria and South Africa, as we seek to deepen investment and trade between our two countries,” President Ramaphosa said. "

No its just a witty post and attempt to lighten your mood Did I succeed, did it make you laugh

https://apnews.com/article/russia-afghanistan-formally-recognize-taliban-3932240270463715f0338c0812cbe5a8 Russia becomes the first country to formerly recognize the Taliban Very progressive move, maybe Afghanistan should join BRICS because thats all about a better and fairer world and the Taliban represent that vision