BruceVC

I have been following this outrage on Codex from Trump supporters and the arguments are generally unconvincing. People tend to say things like " this is just another Mueller inquiry targeting Trump and its purely political " But we need to separate previous allegations from this, he definitely has charges to answer in this case. And I always wonder if Obama was being charged what the same people would be saying?

Pidesco what would you say to people who believe this is a witch-hunt to stop Trump winning in 2024?

I dont want to hijack this thread with an Iraq debate as @Gorth mentioned but I do think its related to Ukraine because its about the integrity of Russia and then its about the justification of an invasion, is it ever justified for example? And this is a debatable topic so I appreciate peoples opinions even if I already know what most peoples views on this are So going back to Iraq, I dont think anyone would argue the reasons for the invasion was valid, they werent and they were a combination of misinformation and lies. I did believe them at the time but from about 2004 onwards it was clear they werent true But I was talking more about the nature of the invasion and how the US conducted themselves within Iraq compared to the Russia invasion of Ukraine, they not the the same at all if you think of the military strategy and decisions the Ruskies have made and things they doing like the illegal annexations of parts of the Donbas My point being not all invasions are the same because a big part of how we reflect on invasions is how the invading army conducts themselves and what they do within the country they invaded Im sure we would all agree on that?

There are other real differences between the invasion of Iraq and Ukraine. The US and its allies spent months trying to motivate and justify the invasion in the UN, they never once said " we dont want to invade Iraq " Russia built up its troops on the border and claimed " its just a training exercise, EVERYONE knows you cant trust US\Western intelligence. " https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/19/russian-military-build-up-continues-despite-moscows-promises-of-a-drawdown-00010372 So like everything else in this war it was just more Russian lies and doublespeak because they were expecting a quick and decisive victory

Zora will tell you there is NO logical reason for the Russians to blow up the dam, the same as there NO logical reason to blow up the Nord pipe or invade Ukraine Russian and Vatnik cope never ceases to amaze

Yes I dont think anyone senior in government would be involved if its true I mentioned before that during Covid the SANDF ordered thousands of untested and unauthorized vaccines from Cuba using their own budget. So its definitely possible they acted unilaterally. But then they still need to make the inquiry public to settle this and ensure accountability and consequence for whoever is involved https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-01-26-back-to-cuba-sandf-returns-irregularly-procured-covid-drug-worth-r228m/

Im glad its amusing to you, at least someone finds these allegations funny. But a person working for the NSA and having a signed NDA is not the same as the allegations of selling weapons to a country that invaded another country especially when there has been denialism from the government about those weapons sales and the country is claiming to be neutral Nice try but really weak equivalence

Well thats exactly what most South Africans are going to think and also what most international observers would think. Domestically this has become a very contentious point and the simplest way to settle this would have been to be open about the inquiry

https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/da-to-challenge-ramaphosas-plans-to-classify-inquiry-findings-on-lady-r/ We our own worst enemy around our foreign policy decisions, the inquiry into the Russian ship outcome is now classified This is being challenged but its incredibly frustrating because after the US ambassadors allegation there was this huge denial and outrage and this inquiry was established. But now government wants to classify the findings. Why? Make the findings public and settle this thing once and for all

I agree and its not whataboutism because I agree that would be several hundred Western\NATO advisors on the ground helping the Ukrainians. I expect and support that But there is also an official Ukrainian foreign fighters regiment in Ukraine, I have immense respect for anyone prepared to fight and die for the freedom of another country. They number in the lows thousands but I doubt anyone cares about foreign fighters in Ukraine considering the point you made about the Donbas conflict and the reality of the Russian military involvement and then you have many examples of the Wagner group operating in Africa and how Wagner is closely associated with the Russian government https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/23/europe/ukraine-foreign-fighters-vuhledar-donbas-intl/index.html

Absolutely and I have raised this before. But thats part of the annoying inaccuracy of when people in SA say " Russia helped end Apartheid". It wasnt Russia, it was the USSR And it was during the Cold War, it wasnt because they were really our friends. It was ideological

But the Russians are in charge of the dam and I cant see why the Ukrainians would blow it up? Apparently 22k people in Russian's controlled areas will be affected by the flooding and 16k in Ukrainian controlled https://apnews.com/article/kakhovka-dam-ukraine-russia-war-whats-at-stake-a417dafefa79462bef5e4e63c0a94c8c

https://bnn.network/world/serbia/serbia-supports-ammunition-shipments-to-ukraine-as-it-shifts-focus-westward/ Well done @Sarex, its good to see Serbia doing its part to help Ukraine. Keep it up

Its a valid question, no Western company is leaving SA and there are no real talks of anything like sanctions because that would be unreasonable unless SA did something that was in contravention of sanctions and I dont think that even exists around Ukraine. In other words countries are buying Russian oil and the West isnt sanctioning them But investors in any African country have very little appetite to risk so just the allegation of SA supplying weapons to Russia impacted our economy because of the potential of what might come if SA has been lying about being neutral because you cant say you neutral if you supplying weapons to an aggressor or invading country Thats why our government is sending these representatives, to clarify that we are neutral or at least explain what that means to us

Personally I agree that being neutral is "helping " Russia but then its more complicated than that for a country like SA. And why I say that is there should be no debate around condemning the invasion, SA condemned the US invasion of Iraq and this invasion and the illegal annexations within Ukraine is much worse But in defense of SA we part of BRICS and most BRICS countries have taken the same stance of being non-aligned My biggest concern is always the reality compared to the ideological comments from SA and our foreign affairs and how they dont seem to understand the economic structures of SA We do R15 billion a year trade with Russia and we do R1.3 trillion with Western countries. Russia trade and what we gain from Russia is irrelevant and you would assume the Russian sympathizers in the ANC would realise this but they dont and there support is literally based on the Cold War reality where the Soviets " were our friends and helped end Apartheid " (we have discussed this before ) Also what meaningful role could SA play in the war? It doesnt matter what we publicly say its not going to change or influence Russia or Ukraine and why would it. Lets be honest if we cant even stop current civil wars, military coups and conflicts in Africa what credibility do we have? We need to focus on our numerous domestic problems, like the energy crisis, and not do anything to jeopardize investment and job creation.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-06-06-ramaphosa-embarks-on-attempted-course-correction-of-sas-russia-stance/ SA is sending various representatives to the G7 to clarify our position that we are not pro-Russia Our mixed messages and ostensible support for Russia has already impacted our international investor portfolio with investors selling SA bonds, currency and equities This impact to our economy is self-inflicted and hopefully we can change the view in the G7 that we are not pro-Russia and that we are neutral

And this to me is the most relevant data for the EU because it represents the new reality which is how the EU use to be dependent on Russia energy and therefore more concerned with foreign policy decisions but its now moving away from most dependency on Russia for energy. And thats because of the invasion of Ukraine and how you simply cant trust Russia to be a reliable and consistent provider of energy

My point is that not different from what you saying, I just dont agree with you but maybe I am not explaining it properly Let me ask you a different question, what should the EU have done differently over the last 20 years to ensure it was not swindled according to your view of the trade relationship with Russia? And to add context 70% or so of the worlds oil comes from OPEC and most of the ME countries have very little regards for the important human rights that matter in our countries and include what you mentioned that is common in Russia which is no "transparency / free trade / democratic institutions ". Yet we all buy oil from OPEC The point Im making is most countries dont get to choose where they buy energy from as there are established markets and you can only go so far with telling other countries about their domestic policies if you trade with them and want good international relationships So what should the EU have done differently, should it not have bought energy from Russia and if so what markets should the EU have traded with over the last 20 years?

I dont think we debating the same point, having a reliable trade partner for energy is not about corruption, its about an energy source. And that partner will benefit from the revenue sales The EU didnt buy energy from Russia because it wanted corruption within Russia to flourish or for that corruption to be exported but that did occur and it embolden Putin and it made the EU dependant on Russia for energy until it found new energy sources But the historical trade that use to exist between the EU and Russia should be considered a good thing if Putin hadnt become the warmongering autocrat he now is because it benefitted both regions I dont see how the EU was swindled by buying energy from Russia, in what way was it swindled? And then there is a standard Vatnik narrative that says " the West has always wanted to control Russia and wants Russia to fail " and thats not true in many ways that include buying large amounts of energy from Russia because supporting an economy is the opposite of wanting a country to fail

It makes sense but its another example of the Vatnik standard fake news which basically is now about how the West\EU has always wanted Russia to fail and Russian nationalists peddle propaganda like " this war is about our survival " The West\EU until the invasion wanted Russia to be a responsible and sustainable member of the international community. And buying energy from them is one way to demonstrate that belief. The relationship with the West is now irrevocably broken while Putin is president but that didnt use to be the case

Mamie and others let me know what you think if you play STASIS 2, the feedback seems positive so far from Codex at least

Thats nothing, try having the Vikings as your neighbours...the Vikings !!! Gorthfuscious you may not believe this but Piers Morgan and other commentators have also raised reparations due to the terrible carnage inflicted on the Saxons by your ancestors Watch this video from 9:40 onwards ...its happening I tell you. Our shared objective is gaining momentum

I completed both the Fighting Fantasy Legends and the Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy, these games are from the same studio Nomad. They good fun but very different to Warlock of Firetop Mountain These games use a set top down view of maps with a RNG type mechanic for encounters and its straight dice for combat and all other encounters They have a clever and interesting way of progressing, when you gain XP you can either upgrade your skill or luck dice with an additional success marking. Normal dice have 1 lucky marking out of 6 sides but with upgrades you have up to 3 success marks per dice Both games have similar enemies and themes and overall quests to the Fighting Fantasy books and that was appreciated and nostalgic They get a solid 60/100 on the globally praised " BruceVC game rating system "

Doesnt seem very realistic or reasonable at the moment, if Russia had the military advantage Ukraine may accept some of these terms but I doubt it?

Thats a good video and its a perfect length, its not unsurprising to see the different views and how the war has shaped those views. You hear everything from normal fatigue to warmongering I found the PTSD guy particularly evocative and haunting with views on life and how war has changed his world view