BruceVC

What do you think the NATO military objective would be in a war with Russia?

Its been sensationalized a little IMO, we know all about Russian red lines But what Putin did say was "Russia would be forced to take what Putin called "appropriate decisions" based on the new threats. " Thats vague and typical Russian. If he wanted war with NATO then he should be unequivocal and say " Russia will declare war on NATO " or something similar

https://www.yahoo.com/news/russia-spend-over-half-billion-123000075.html Russia to be implementing more measures to control and block what Russian citizens can view on the Internet. Copying a page from China and its repressive control of information " In 2019, Russia introduced legislation that permits the country to totally disconnect from the internet in what it calls a "campaign to preserve digital sovereignty". Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin reportedly banned some foreign social media and internet corporations, however many sites are still accessible via virtual private networks, or VPNs. By upgrading the technology, Russian authorities will be able to better block access to VPNs. As traffic volumes increased, new equipment was purchased on a yearly basis beginning in 2020. "

Sure but perceptions are reality and sometimes perceptions dont align with the reality So if you take the perceptions of the US economy and this particular voting issue most Americans think Trump can do better job at handling the economy than Biden. This poll is few months old and might have changed now that Biden is gone but its one reason why people would vote for Trump. Harris might not changes these views https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/50051-trump-biden-americans-perceptions-who-would-better-handle-biggest-problems-inflation-corruption-poll "A new survey finds that the problem that Americans are most likely to consider a very serious problem in 2024 is inflation — and they’re more likely to approve of Donald Trump’s handling of the issue than Joe Biden’s handling of it. Other problems that a majority of Americans consider very serious, including corruption and drug abuse, also are ones that they feel Trump has done a better job handling than Biden. The poll was conducted after Donald Trump's conviction on 34 felony charges, and before the first presidential debate." And I agree about the GOP destroying the border deal because Trump wanted to make this a political issue so I dont consider Trump serious about dealing with the border either but the argument to this is " the Dems had years to take the border seriously and only in the last 12 months did they act ". Its not a convincing justification to torpedoing the border deal because this should have been a bipartisan objective But let me ask you a question, you said you would never vote for Trump. Can you share 2-3 reasons why you would never vote for him I realize these are legitimate considerations for you but I am interested in what they are And I ask this because it goes back to your original question, undecided voters are undecided for different reasons to you but it doesnt make them stupid

The reality of the important undecided voters is unique around its influence in the USA and how they can swing elections, I say unique because of the size. They make up anything from 10-15% of registered voters and they literally make up there mind within the last few days before the election. Thats one of the main reasons why USA midterm and presidential polls have often been wrong because polling data almost never includes this group, how could it if they dont know who they going to vote for? And then you ask " why do they even exist? How can anyone be undecided between Trump or Harris " But thats easy to answer, they not influenced and they dont follow the SM drama, media and hyperbole around politics. They vote on outcomes and its easy to identify 3-4 key realities\perceptions that are ostensibly worse in the US and have not improved under the Dems and Biden. And these could be crime border and illegal migration economy and inflation Harris was part of the same government that contributed towards these things as VP so there is legitimate GOP argument to say " if you want to see change in the US how can you vote for the same person that has failed to address these problems over the last few years " But then Trump was also part of the same government 4 years ago so its a similar criticism So in summary, they going to vote on policies and problems that resonate with them and which candidate they believe is better to address those things. They not influenced by subjective views similar to " OMG, you cant vote for Trump because he is racist" Which is why these presidential debates matter to them, its interesting because I was watching an interview with a group of undecided voters on CNN after this debate and several of them are still saying " we not sure who we going to vote for. We not convinced by either candidate yet "

I think overall Harris had a much better debate than Trump Trump did well in the first 20 minutes and then he got triggered by her and couldnt stay on point about what he should have been focusing on You can see she is an intelligent and formidable debater who had done her homework and preparation around how to debate Trump and what to focus on Much better outcome for the Dems than the last one

The presidential debate is tonight, Harris vs Trump Its significant for the Dems considering the outcome of the disastrous last one with Biden I also think this debate will matter to undecided voters. I will end up watching highlights because its going to be at 3am local time

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/one-of-the-most-strange-and-cruel-survival-sandboxes-ive-played-has-sold-23-million-copies/ Because Im about to play Kenshi I found this interesting sales update It reached 2.3 million sales by April, great success for a small company

I have watched many excellent series lately but these 2 I must recommend if you like horror and supernatural From : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_(TV_series) Best way to describe it is its like Lost but with much more horror and supernatural themes. Absolutely enthralling and S3 is about to be released Servant : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_(TV_series) Basically its an excellent and completely unexpected story that you think is a drama but turns out to be much more than that. 4 seasons in the entire completed story but each episode is only 30 minutes so its quick viewing

I have read Fire and Blood and GOT and I loved both of them but preferred GOT because its a story as opposed to the historical account from different people around how F&B is written And F&B also has a much longer history and different characters that aren't in TV series But my biggest " criticism " with F&B is trying to remember all the names of characters and who they are because they seem to reuse names or have similar names GOT was much easier to follow because its the same characters in the same time period, Jon Snow is Jon Snow throughout the narrative

What additional rights do you get now as an Oz citizen, can you now vote? What are the main differences compared to your current work visa which I assume you have ?

I have some exciting news I have just bought Kenshi and I have decided to play it as my next game, I have heard very positive comments about it and it appeals to me around its open-world and sandbox design. Those are some of my favorite types of designs and preferences in any game. I dont know anything about the lore or best strategies to " win " but from what I have read it doesnt have a main narrative and you literally create your own journey and adventures. I am still busy with Sunless Skies but I will be completing that in about a week or so and then I will start with Kenshi Any mod suggestions would be appreciated but I will do my own research as well around recommended mods and use Nexus as a good source of information

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/young-men-failing-nyu-prof-120743112.html https://www.profgalloway.com/boys-to-men/ This insight from Scott Galloway raises some very real societal realities in the US around how young men are marginalized and discriminated against both overtly and covertly in society. This would also apply to countries outside the USA To summarize his view "New York University professor Scott Galloway appeared on “The View” on Thursday, arguing that young men are experiencing a social crisis that is going unnoticed by most of society. Globally, the cohort that has ascended the fastest is women. There are more women now seeking tertiary education globally than men. The number of women elected to parliaments around the world has doubled in the last 20 years. That’s an enormous mark of our achievement globally. In the United States, there is no cohort that has fallen further faster than young men,” argued Galloway, a professor of marketing at the NYU Stern School of Business. “Four times more likely to kill themselves, three times more likely to be addicted, 12 times more likely to be incarcerated. And because of the advantage that I received as a white heterosexual male and my father received, we have a lack of empathy for them. One out of three men under the age of 30 hasn’t had sex in the last year.” Its not an attack on women and gender equality which matters. Its an observation on how many modern societies have abounded the importance of also supporting young men The first link is a summary of his views and the second link is a much more detailed analysis of this problem I would encourage everyone to read both links to understand the concerns he is raising

https://apnews.com/article/brazil-musk-x-suspended-de-moraes-46c9d5c5c895e17d9adfac43e6ac20fd Further updates on the Brazil Twitter ban, this part summarizes the issue for me "I’ve used VPNs a lot in authoritarian countries like China to continue accessing news sites and social networks,” Maurício Santoro, a political science professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said on the platform before its shutdown. “It never occurred to me that this type of tool would be banned in Brazil. It’s dystopian.”

But thats not what the post was about, it was about the banning of Twitter in Brazil and this is a decision that most authoritarian and one-party states take when they decide to control the flow of information and specifically criticism of the state Its about the regression of basic freedoms as you can see from the list of countries that bans Twitter. You perfectly entitled to think Twitter is garbage but it is often used constructively, for example it functions in many non-first countries as a way for people to galvanize and organize protest in a legitimate way, its a medium of freedom of speech and banning it is never a good idea because why would any government feel the need to ban it?

I knew there had to be an interesting story to your views, it makes sense considering your lived experiences And most people tend to relax there more extremist views as they get older. So when I say "you have anarchist views " I doubt its the same degree of anarchist views you had in your 20s

Yes great idea, ban Twitter because you dont like what some people say Like these admired and prestigious bastions of freedom and human rights China - North Korea - Iran - Russia - Turkmenistan - Myanmar - Venezuela

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4yg0k976lo https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/al-qaeda-branch-says-it-killed-300-fighters-not-civilians-burkina-faso-attack-2024-08-29/ 300 civilians have been killed in a single attack by insurgents in Burkina Fuso and Russia is pulling out some Wagner troops to deploy them to Kursk This is another example of the failure around security in this region. The French were kicked out and Wagner was bought in to address the insurgency, the Russian military deployment has been an epic failure and the insurgency has got worse since the French left in Niger, Mali and Burkina Fuso But the worse thing about it is the military generals will continue to stay in power, presiding over failed states with no future or voice for the citizens because the institutions of Democracy dont exist anymore because these countries are ruled by military Juntas who cant even deliver on there primary mandate which was about security and stabilizing there countries But hey at least rent a crowd mobs can burn French flags and wave Russian ones, thats something I guess ?

Great to hear, I always knew that CDPR would fix most of the main problems from the terrible launch of Cyb2077 I think its time I played this game

Great photos, they captured nicely your holiday and where you grew up I do have a question, I looked up Esbjerg and its a small town with 100 k population and it looks like a very traditional Danish town. Life there I imagine was simple but pleasant So how did you become an Anarchist? What motivated this rebellion against established society

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/8/29/brazils-top-court-threatens-to-ban-elon-musks-x Brazil threatens to ban Twitter, another great example of a BRICS member demonstrating its belief in " making the world a fairer and better place by giving the global South a seat at the table "

It looks good and something different around lore and the Japanese setting, worth keeping an eye on

Dont forget to take photos and share interesting things I remember my brothers trip to Estonia last year and what a good time they had

https://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_debate_(September_10,_2024) This is a little bit of old news but its confirmed, Trump and Harris in a presidential debate on 10 September Im going to be watching this one especially after the disastrous last one for the Dems and Bidens terrible performance

We call them rate payers association (RPA) and I assume its the same thing? People that live in the areas have monthly meetings and they discuss issues that are relevant to everyone But in our case you pay a small fee to be a member and then RPA handles general issues with the municipality like a burst pipe or some update around security. And then you get SM updates and they keep minutes after the meetings so you can track issues and concerns Its a good initiative to be part of if you want to understand whats going on in the community you live in