BruceVC

Yes you raise some valid points and I don't disagree with everything you are saying Africa hasn't had the same economic evolution events that European countries had, like the Industrial Revolution, or major wars that united the continent under a certain ideology. Also the early colonial states that the Europeans established were about the abuse and extraction of economic resources in some countries at the expense of local people But the reality is most colonial control ended in the 1960's especially amongst the British and French colonies, these colonies were handed over to new African governments to govern by themselves. And the new African leaders were all educated in excellent Western universities and they did understand economics and what good governance was. They just decided not to follow it and rather enrich themselves and their supporters and tribe. So by the 1980's almost every single African country was bankrupt and needed loans from the IMF There are several African countries that do a relatively good job at trying to maintain government institutions so that they can provide important services to their population, like healthcare and education, but there are more countries that have failed miserably and this is a direct result of the actual governments and their disinterest in good governance. If you look at Zimbabwe this is an excellent example of how an African country can effectively destroy its economy through government policies and also its a good example of how the AU has failed to condemn Robert Mugabe and allowed him to continue to rule his country as a dictator. So the AU in its current form needs to be challenged for not enforcing its own policies around the principles of Democracy and what its says it stands for If you are interested in why Africa is in the state its in I recommend reading the book " The State of Africa " by Martin Meredith. Very interesting and relevant

Holy Smoke, that would have completely frustrated me. How many hours did you spend playing the game to the point of the crash?

Often when people try to, they are murdered. The powers that be generally want the African continent subjugated under a friendly to them tyrant or in turmoil if a friendly tyrant can't be found. Robbing it of it's resources is much easier that way. And there are numerous players on the African chessboard. Many of them ruthless. The AU is the organisation responsible for the stewardship of Africa and its member countries This whole " western countries are robbing Africa of its resources" is so 1960's and really irrelevant to the obvious problems the continent grapples with. These problems are corruption, lack of governance and a failure of the AU to enforce its own manifesto within its member states But just for record who has been murdered in Africa by Western powers in order to gain some economic benefit in the last 20 years?

This, QFT

Here is an interesting link where one of the attackers tries to justify his actions, you tell me if this makes any sense. Its the same illogical diatribe against the West that we often see and hear from radical Islam http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/10/world/france-market-shooting-scene/index.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30761963 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/boko-haram-deadliest-massacre-baga-nigeria Both these links have been posted but I wanted to repost them just to highlight how completely out of control this situation in north-eastern Nigeria is Over 2000 thousand people massacred and we don't hear anything from the AU around how there is going to be a consolidated campaign from Africa to address this military threat from Boko Haram 20 people die in the Paris attacks and the whole of Europe is united in condemnation and outrage. When will the African continent actually start addressing its own problems in a meaningful way ?

He's not making sense there. That's not how the attacks are happening. However, it looks like he's a PvPer. Maybe I'll run into him in DoTA like I did Kim, and perhaps he'll make more sense there. Edit: He looks and sounds like a weird art dealer that might try and slip me some roofies at an afterhours party in Manhattan. I bet he's got a pet monkey. Then how are they happening? We know these guys were trained overseas. And why do you think he has a monkey? Magic. Seriously. Wizards! We do? Well then who trained them overseas? Couldn't be the U.S. or one of the NATO allies training them could it? I mean, I know someone over there right now expressly for the purpose of training military folks of all types, and the U.S. is sending more later this month. Wonder where the guns came from.... hmmmm.... Why I think he has a monkey is because he reminds me of someone I met once. A freaky art dealer (or that's what he said he was anyways) that tried to slip me something (probably roofies) at an after hours party in Manhattan, who had a monkey. Looks and sounds a lot like him. Maybe it is him. Politicians are often seriously messed up folks. Why do you feel the need to try confuse every single issue when it comes to these types of developments ? Can you not just accept something for what it is? Two disenfranchised French Algerians ( plus the other guy )who have explained why they did what they did. Its not hard to understand, its not hard to see what happened. Its not hard just to say " yes I can see this was an attack from a small group of Islamic extremists" And despite the fact the entire worlds security services have the same view of this attack, including Muslims groups, you somehow have a different story and expect people to actually take this seriously? Is that what it is? Evidence Sir Bruce! Present it! Oh, and again, evidence, not the words of someone on TV. Pretend we're in a courtroom, and you've got to convince a jury. Lay out your evidence that has so convinced you and should convince everyone. As for the entire world's security services..... did they all do an investigation? That's amazingly quick and comprehensive police work if they did. Also amazing team work. I'd have thought they'd get in each others way. Where's their report? Did you know one of the lead investigators on the French team committed suicide before filing his report? I will accept something for what it is when it is clear what it is. You on the other hand just accept on faith what the media, government agency X, or politician Y throws at you as if they never lie. Tip: They're notorious for lying. See, there's a saying that I've found to be true: 'Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.' You seem to enjoy being fooled all the time. Now, as I've said, I'm not sure yet. It might turn out that what's being reported in the media is largely true. But they've been shown to have lied and pushed propaganda on this story, so it would be wise to question things. And even if the reported suspects are 100% guilty of what they are said to have done, there are still things worth questioning. I realize that's hard for you to understand, as you want the things the media and your favorite government agency tells you to be nice, neat, and true. But the world is much different and more complex than advertised. You'd realize that if you ever stepped outside your box. How many times do you need to be lied to before you actually stop trusting someone or something? How many times do you need to be lied to before you question what those who have lied in the past say? I can agree that at times we are mislead by certain government organisations. The invasion of Iraq and the justifications for it we now know weren't true. The imminent and possible attack of the UK by Iraq missiles and the link to Al-Qaeda with Saddam Hussein were obviously embellished and untrue to get public support for an invasion But as you well know the world has moved on since the days of the Bush rhetoric, " you are either with us or against us "...those types of comments and actions just don't exist anymore. Western countries now respect the decisions of the UN security council. This has of course created its own set of problems, like the lack of decisive intervention in Syria which lead to the indirect creation of ISIS as the civil war dragged on. So yes I agree with you that ISIS is an indirect creation of the Syrian civil war but it was not something that the USA and other Western countries wanted or could have predicted would happen But my issue really is this constant refusal from you to see certain things for exactly what they are. This attack in Paris is exactly what it appears to be. And it won't be the last as there is a real and viable threat from this type of Islamic extremism that most Western countries face

Oh you must be relieved, you have found a justification to also jump on the " lets ignore BruceVC on this thread bandwagon " And the reason, well its very serious. He used the word censorship in the wrong context !!!! I meant to say you are avoiding/boycotting/ignoring certain websites and that means you aren't getting a balanced view of certain topics. Exactly how I cannot explain to you properly about removing the hookers in GTA, you don't understand my reason and you refuse to read the link which explains the point But I get thats not really important to most people on this thread, whats more important is a medium so you guys can vent and express outrage. But you aren't really interested in dissenting opinions, which is why you will notice that very few people outside of the normal contributors are active in this discussion But at least you found a way to ignore my posts, that pesky word " censorship ", well done

He's not making sense there. That's not how the attacks are happening. However, it looks like he's a PvPer. Maybe I'll run into him in DoTA like I did Kim, and perhaps he'll make more sense there. Edit: He looks and sounds like a weird art dealer that might try and slip me some roofies at an afterhours party in Manhattan. I bet he's got a pet monkey. Then how are they happening? We know these guys were trained overseas. And why do you think he has a monkey? Magic. Seriously. Wizards! We do? Well then who trained them overseas? Couldn't be the U.S. or one of the NATO allies training them could it? I mean, I know someone over there right now expressly for the purpose of training military folks of all types, and the U.S. is sending more later this month. Wonder where the guns came from.... hmmmm.... Why I think he has a monkey is because he reminds me of someone I met once. A freaky art dealer (or that's what he said he was anyways) that tried to slip me something (probably roofies) at an after hours party in Manhattan, who had a monkey. Looks and sounds a lot like him. Maybe it is him. Politicians are often seriously messed up folks. Why do you feel the need to try confuse every single issue when it comes to these types of developments ? Can you not just accept something for what it is? Two disenfranchised French Algerians ( plus the other guy )who have explained why they did what they did. Its not hard to understand, its not hard to see what happened. Its not hard just to say " yes I can see this was an attack from a small group of Islamic extremists" And despite the fact the entire worlds security services have the same view of this attack, including Muslims groups, you somehow have a different story and expect people to actually take this seriously?

Those were originally bred for hunting lions, right? When I was stationed in Jacksonville my neighbor had one of those. Giant, beautiful, friendly dog and I love how the fur on the spine runs counter to the rest of the coat. I think I once read that they instinctually attack from behind so it always made me a little nervous how it would follow me to the pier and watch me fish. Yes you are correct, thats good general dog knowledge They are very effective hunting dogs, my dad has a huge garden and over the last 20 years all he has ever got was Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Jack Russels ( I love little tenacious Jack Russels ) But the ridgebacks make excellent guard dogs and they can be highly intelligent, when they decide to attack they don't even bark....they just bite

Awesome news, there is a new season of Banshee that has just been released

I would really advise you guys stop using these strange justifications to avoid having a debate in a meaningful way, its looks really bad from an outsiders perspective You can easily make an exception to your "GG boycott " and read the link I posted , its not like your avoiding of Polygon has made any difference to them being in business so it should make no difference to reference this information quickly. But I refuse to do the work for you and post even an archive link , if you care about this debate then you need to read the link yourself. Thats what everyone else does I also did try to explain the article, in essence the writer says that hookers are already victims in RL due to their lifestyle choice and its unnecessarily cruel to have them in the game and to be killable. So he suggests removing them, but no one seemed to understand that point. Now I realize why, I don't think many people read it because its on Polygon. But you need to read it to understand the point as its more complex than what I mentioned and the truth is I can't get the message across as effectively as the article does So read the article !!!!

You make me laugh .." "don't worry, my dog is friendly," says the jogger " That's so true,,,and I have stupidly thought that about one of my dads dogs who ended up biting a guy that came to look at the phone lines....I said to him " its okay the dog won't bite". The dog was a Rhodesian Ridgeback

Nice, I'm going to play this game next

I'm truly shocked that there people who have decided to not play W3, guys this is one of the MOST anticipated fantasy RPG we have ever seen. Its going to be bigger than Skyrim...imagine how exciting it's going to be exploring that land I beg you to reconsider any decision to not play this game

I know there are a few people on these forums who subscribe to conspiracy theories but I find them completely irritating and unhelpful. Its like they exist so people have an excuse to not realize the obvious truth and therefore don't have to worry about a solution Do you know there are people who think that ISIS is an American and CIA created and supported organisation, thats right the same ISIS that the Americans are currently fighting in Iraq

People who are EU-sceptics and in the right wing ideologically will use this incident to highlight the failure of multiculturalism. But this terrible event definitely doesn't mean the end of multiculturalism., but it does raise an issue that countries like France now face. Firstly almost the entire global Muslim community has condemned this attack, so its not a case of " Muslims actually support this type of action ". We know this terrorism was committed by Islamic extremists and they don't represent the broader Muslim community And finally France is one of those countries that is an active target for fundamentalists. This exists for many reasons like their history with Algeria, there support for various UN campaigns like Libya and some of the recent laws they have passed that are seen to some as "Un-Islamic ". They have the largest Muslim community in Europe and add to that there social structures ( lots of disenfranchised Algerians live within France) and geographical borders you can understand how they can easily become a target for various extremist groups My thoughts go out to the families of the victims of this senseless violence

Their dogma has survived quite nicely Good lord. Makes me sick. Torch those f*ckers. Burn them like weeds. Yes it is utterly reprehensible And what frustrates me even more is the AU is completely disinterested in resolving this problem despite the fact this is an African problem. And people wonder why the continent doesn't reach its full potential

Oh I forgot, you don't read certain websites because they don't follow the " GG code of etiquette " Ironic that, you are all about freedom of information but you actively practice censorship....and you expect me to tell you what that article says...no I don't think so. If you want to engage in a mature informed debate then you should learn to read all sources of information. Just because you personally don't agree with a website there is no reason it can't provide an interesting perspective. You have now effectively " cut your nose off to spite your face " . Thats sad, I'm glad I don't automatically refuse to recognize certain websites ...whats next? Maybe you can burn some books you don't like ? As far as the sex industry is concerned thats not one of the SJ campaigns I am actively involved in. I can't be involved in all SJ movements Nonek so I focus on issues I can impact. And as I have said twice the solution is to legalize sex work and protect the girls rights. Thats the best we can hope for because you will never make it go away. So I'm not sure what more you really expect me to say? And finally we generally don't use the word " whore" ...it is in fact demeaning . Its obvious who has the less respect for their lifestyle ...try to refer to hookers in a less insulting manner

Now, now Nonek. Lets try not to get too sententious. You need to accept that sometimes you don't have all the information to formulate an opinion about someone's motives....a good example is how wrong you are in this post and my connection and opinion of the sex industry You just need to ask me if you want my view or reason I have done certain things in my life ( yes sometimes I do miss the questions..just remind me ) I never judged the sex industry, in fact I said legalize it and give the girls proper registered jobs so they pay tax and have legal rights But that doesn't mean I'm not acutely aware that escorts don't have great lives relative to most of us. I have been friends with certain escorts through the years as I use to be part of regular dance group and every weekend we would go to the same clubs, there was this club called ESP that only opened on a Sunday morning and use to have a roof that opened so you danced in the glorious sunlight ..anyway I met many escorts at this club so I speak from personal experience And I'm disappointed in your laziness, I explained exactly why I wanted hookers removed from GTA Its because of the article below , I would encourage you to read the whole article so you understand http://www.polygon.com/2014/12/10/7364823/gta-5s-vicious-misogyny-ought-to-be-addressed-not-ignored

Okay not wrong about everything

Thats proper passive agression and derailing of topic and then you are suprised when someone just dont have enough energy to constanty feed you with ammo Really, I always thought passive aggression was where you were actually annoyed with someone or something but you generate that hostility in an indirect way I could lie to you and say I was annoyed by Longknife post but the truth is I'm not, not at all He was completlely wrong around his opinion of me. I don't want to be rude to him and systematically dispute his points because I would have to be a little harsh and I don't feel like doing that. But lets just focus on his accusation of me " derailing the thread " ( and now you are also believing in it) " You are derailing this thread " waaaaaaaaaaaa.......seriously its the Internet, every single thread I engage in there is always an element of people going off topic. So what ? The fact that people want to discuss it should tell you its relevant to some. All these topics are on level connected to GG and SJ causes whether Longknife wants to believe it all not. Now is he suggesting that only topics he wants to raise people must discuss. Sorry, its not going to happen. What a silly thing to say to someone ...." you are derailing this thread " I can't change his mind. So

All they had to do is pretend for one day that terror doesn't work.And we couldn't do even that. Wow what a long, convoluted and pseudo-intellectual speech to make just to avoid saying " we too scared to show the cartoons " But I don't blame them, I would also agree its better not to show those types of cartoons. Its not like they represent real news so in the interest of not offending 1.2 Billion people rather focus on other news stories. And that doesn't mean I would give the Muslim community a pass and not report on real criticisms if required.

Is it? This guy is singlehandedly (well not quite, Volourn goes hand in hand here) responsible for the thread devolving into irrelevant tangent discussions about sex work, and I think you would find that if you polled every person in this thread, more people have had their questions dodged by Bruce than those who have not. And to top it all off, there's the audacity to make the claim he did (the one I was responding to is just ONE example of the same stuff) while not actually ever owning up to or responding to every question he's been faced with. It's hypocrisy, and my gut is screaming "passive aggressive alert, don't bother with this guy cause he knows better." GG has nothing to do with this. I didn't even read your post, I saw the last line. I don't care what the post even says, because quite frankly I'm done discussing things with you period. There's a difference between "sometimes" and "all of the times." You are an "all of the times." I have all the patience in the world for someone who sincerely doesn't understand something or didn't see something. I do NOT have the same patience for someone who, before answering a question, has to walk me through every agonizing step where I first have to throw a giant fit to get their attention, then I have to repeat the question, then I have to CLARIFY the question, and then I finally get a "that makes sense" non-answer that, quite frankly, in no way proves or suggest you even READ my post. And hell, that seems to be the case, no? Because you're claiming to have never seen a big post that was addressed at you. And you claim that every time. The impression is obvious: you do not read or listen to things that don't fit your own mantra, you do not want to have to confront those, and yet you care a whole ****ing lot about your image. So every time someone calls you out on something, you reply, but you reply in the same passive aggressive non-answers that ultimately do nothing. I could write up a giant wall of text right now and the only response would be "excellent points. I can definitely see where you're coming from, but I disagree " without bothering to explain how or why. It's warped, it's messed up, and I - quite frankly - try my best to avoid dishonest people like the plague. I've no idea if you're being dishonest with us or dishonest with yourself, but it all spells trouble to me regardless. But don't worry, I'm not going to tell you to screw off like I once did. I'm going to leave and stop discussing this stuff here, because quite frankly, I'm tired of making a point I consider strong, and then I have to spend a good amount of effort just to tell everyone "hey the stuff Bruce is talking about is pretty irrelevant and he's actively dodging points by bringing up that discussion," only for it to re-occur every ****ing 3 pages. Have fun convincing people prostitution is awful and you care a lot about poor women stuck in sex work even though you also admit to purchasing their services and thereby perpetuate the occupation by providing it with demand. I'll be off trying to find a productive discussion. (bitter irony that video games could provide a SAFE alternative that provides people with a way to get their rocks off while not encouraging an ACTUAL trade that puts women in a bind, which could help break down the very occupation you claim is so toxic while also reducing STD spread. But nah, logic is so 20th century) Is it? This guy is singlehandedly (well not quite, Volourn goes hand in hand here) responsible for the thread devolving into irrelevant tangent discussions about sex work, and I think you would find that if you polled every person in this thread, more people have had their questions dodged by Bruce than those who have not. And to top it all off, there's the audacity to make the claim he did (the one I was responding to is just ONE example of the same stuff) while not actually ever owning up to or responding to every question he's been faced with. It's hypocrisy, and my gut is screaming "passive aggressive alert, don't bother with this guy cause he knows better." GG has nothing to do with this. I didn't even read your post, I saw the last line. I don't care what the post even says, because quite frankly I'm done discussing things with you period. There's a difference between "sometimes" and "all of the times." You are an "all of the times." I have all the patience in the world for someone who sincerely doesn't understand something or didn't see something. I do NOT have the same patience for someone who, before answering a question, has to walk me through every agonizing step where I first have to throw a giant fit to get their attention, then I have to repeat the question, then I have to CLARIFY the question, and then I finally get a "that makes sense" non-answer that, quite frankly, in no way proves or suggest you even READ my post. And hell, that seems to be the case, no? Because you're claiming to have never seen a big post that was addressed at you. And you claim that every time. The impression is obvious: you do not read or listen to things that don't fit your own mantra, you do not want to have to confront those, and yet you care a whole ****ing lot about your image. So every time someone calls you out on something, you reply, but you reply in the same passive aggressive non-answers that ultimately do nothing. I could write up a giant wall of text right now and the only response would be "excellent points. I can definitely see where you're coming from, but I disagree " without bothering to explain how or why. It's warped, it's messed up, and I - quite frankly - try my best to avoid dishonest people like the plague. I've no idea if you're being dishonest with us or dishonest with yourself, but it all spells trouble to me regardless. But don't worry, I'm not going to tell you to screw off like I once did. I'm going to leave and stop discussing this stuff here, because quite frankly, I'm tired of making a point I consider strong, and then I have to spend a good amount of effort just to tell everyone "hey the stuff Bruce is talking about is pretty irrelevant and he's actively dodging points by bringing up that discussion," only for it to re-occur every ****ing 3 pages. Have fun convincing people prostitution is awful and you care a lot about poor women stuck in sex work even though you also admit to purchasing their services and thereby perpetuate the occupation by providing it with demand. I'll be off trying to find a productive discussion. (bitter irony that video games could provide a SAFE alternative that provides people with a way to get their rocks off while not encouraging an ACTUAL trade that puts women in a bind, which could help break down the very occupation you claim is so toxic while also reducing STD spread. But nah, logic is so 20th century) Wow that wasn't quite the response I expected, are you in a bad mood? Do you want to talk about it, I'm a good listener

Well, it'd achieve as much as anything else on this forum. No other reason why people like you, shirty, or Tale or whomever will hang around in this thread, as well, idea is to score a blow or two. What will be gleaned from your questions anyway, other than giving you potentially ammo. You're deeply curious about understanding GG ? You've already asked these question of people before, as well, and should probably have a good grip of what they think or so on. Well, it'd achieve as much as anything else on this forum. No other reason why people like you, shirty, or Tale or whomever will hang around in this thread, as well, idea is to score a blow or two. What will be gleaned from your questions anyway, other than giving you potentially ammo. You're deeply curious about understanding GG ? You've already asked these question of people before, as well, and should probably have a good grip of what they think or so on. Okay, now I understand some of the resistance to my initial 3 questions You think I want to use this undermine GG, yes I can understand how you may think this as I am largely and openly opposed to the movement. But thats not why I asked the initial 3 questions I am not so dogmatic to dismiss an entire movement, for example there are many people on this forum who support GG and make relevant points about the issues that GG raises For example Orog has raised real issues about the independant developers society ( whatever they are called, I forgot ) and how people who are victimised for not being opposed to GG Longknife posted that very relevant video of that pornstar getting judged for her work and how her money wasn't good enough Examples of women supporting GG and having to hide there identity I get this discussion is nuanced, which is why I am interested in the 3 questions I asked