BruceVC

For those following the Budweiser marketing disaster in the US they have released a new video to address the fallout and plummeting sales figures I am surprised that Budweiser didnt think of the consequence to the original Dylan Mulvaney video, current culture wars in the US means that a transgender activist representing beer culture is obviously not going to go down well

Wormie I have decided to buy the CE of BG3 when its released I have only been following the official updates and avoiding early access feedback but I loved D:OS2 and Im confidant Larian will deliver on BG3 🐲

Sure but he is also talking about basic maintenance which should be done?

https://www.technology.org/2023/04/18/americans-surprised-by-what-they-saw-inside-the-t-90a-tank-photo/ @Gfted1 you will appreciate this with your interest in military hardware

@Azdeus and @Pidesco Thats why Sweden needs to join NATO asap or you guys will be the first ones invaded by Russia in its magnanimous objective of ridding the world of Nazism

I dont believe China wants increased tension with the US\West for several reasons and they want to focus on there own geopolitical ambitions. If they supplied military aid to Russia they would only increase Western criticism towards them Also I think they were hoping for a quick Russian victory but the numerous failures of the Russian military strategy has ended this. I believe they want to stay out of any military connection to Russia because it would also undermine there stated comments that they want to help find a peaceful solution and if they provide military aid it will only prolong the war and they will appear as hypocrites

https://apnews.com/article/china-taiwan-weapons-germany-ukraine-2a51d2c64c12fca75683d20fbafba475 This is a few days old but its the " official " view from China that they wont provide lethal aid to Russia Im not sure if it can be trusted but it does give more credibility to China wanting to be involved in finding a peaceful solution

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreas-yoon-opens-door-possible-military-aid-ukraine-2023-04-19/ SK is more than likely going to start providing military aid to Ukraine, now Im not a conspiracy theorist but one of the " leaks " was about the mild criticism the US had towards SK not providing military aid And now they going to when the " leaks" went public ...makes you think how the leaks actually could be helping the Ukraine war effort

Sorry I realize my point was lost in translation I dont think Sweden is becoming a Neo-Nazi country and I dont think the US or any Western country is becoming a Neo-Nazi country . But there are people in the media and general commentators who define the success of the SD party in Sweden as " Sweden is becoming Neo-Nazi " when in fact most people in Sweden voted for them because they not happy with current immigration policies and the increased crime and gang violence linked directly to immigration And my post was related to a previous discussion we had where its become normal to say " look its Neo-Nazi " when often thats not the reason for an event or political development Here is another example of media hyperbole with the headline " How Sweden Became a Thriving Base of neo-Nazi Ideology"...yes there are Neo-Nazi in Sweden like every EU country but its not "thriving base " IMO https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/2017-12-30/ty-article-magazine/.premium/how-sweden-became-a-thriving-base-of-neo-nazi-ideology/0000017f-f90d-d47e-a37f-f93ddfb50000

Dont you know about the success of the Neo-Nazi political party in Sweden? https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/16/sweden-election-far-right-democrats/ They dont support illegal immigration, they clearly Neo-Nazi

Talking about iron ore production for the Nazi war engine from the Nordic countries, I watched a movie called Narvik about the same thing happening in Norway. Its a really good movie https://www.whattowatch.com/features/is-narvik-a-true-story-the-real-details-behind-the-netflix-world-war-two-drama @Azdeus @Pidesco Maybe this is why Sweden is becoming a Neo-Nazi country, historical ties to WW2?

The last 4 games I have played are IWD2, KC:D, ELEX 2 and DA:I and I have an important gaming rule where I dont play the same genre more than 3-4 times in a row. This means I dont get bored or unnecessarily cynical or critical about one type genre So I am playing Mafia 3 now, it should be a nice change from my favorite games which are fantasy RPG

I agree, from what I have seen its nothing that we dont already know or has been raised from one source or another. Also what difference does it make if the Ukrainians have lost more people than they are open about, why would that change anything? They the ones fighting against an invasion @Keyrock but as far the public should be aware of confidential military or secretive reports. No country in the world has a policy like that so I dont see why the US should. And the leaks were confidential for a reason

I also cant imagine you doing it, do you own a gun?

So you talking about crack cocaine being free then people wouldnt commit crimes to feed there habit? There is an argument to that logic

Whats UFD, Universal Free Drugs?

Yes, you make some good points here and my research and every interview I have ever listened to reveals the same outcome. Defund the police was never implemented properly or it has been abandoned but there is reason it has been abandoned It created real problems with police budgets being cut and police were retrenched in certain Democratic controlled cities. For some advocates of Defund the police I believe they were genuinely well meaning with the objective that budgets cut could be allocated to other city projects that could help with crime prevention But that wasnt the outcome and crime increased in the US in most of these cities that tried to implement these changes so irrespective of the reasons it failed because citizens felt less unsafe. So its not just politicians saying " defund the police is bad " it had real consequence on levels of crime that were attributed towards it Here is a last link about this, it highlights many of the systemic failures with the overall program https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/07/20/democratic-mayors-defunded-their-police-while-spending-millions-on-their-own-police-protection/?sh=4fd3018d86b4 And I know we wont agree on this but its unfair to call the US police a paramilitary force. But I am not suggesting that police shouldn't be held accountable around there actions and illegal police activity must obviously be prosecuted

Have you researched how many states in the US have successfully implemented defund the police? We know it was an objective in many Democrat states and cities but its not a raised or primary objective anymore Why do you think that is? I appreciate that link but its from May 2021. But now in the year 2023 how successful was that objective?

Yes but I have acknowledged that right-wing extremism is more established and has more resources But thats no reason to ignore left-wing extremism like Antifa or think the radical left dont exist. We should be concerned with both types of extremism. And its not BS to point out the reality of any group on the left or right that believes violence is acceptable

Isnt that already happening in China where certain websites and views are blocked within the country?

Lets try to keep this debate about facts and historical realities and not big words like " overton window " that just add degrees of unnecessary confusion There are historical and current examples of left-wing extremist groups but they were more prevalent in the Cold War and they include communism/socialism/Marxism groups and anarchist groups This link discusses this in the US @Lexx you will find this link relevant to understand what are examples of left wing extremism https://www.counterextremism.com/content/far-left-extremist-groups-united-states Antifa is also considered a left-wing extremist group because they believe violence is acceptable But the radical left that I often mention is not necessarily an example of left-wing extremism but they espouse radical left leanings views like defund the police and revisionist and selective history like " take down Winston Churchill's statue in the UK because he was racist " But I do agree there is a current and obvious difference between right-wing extremism and left-wing extremism. The former is more violent and organised in the sense there are militia groups in the US that are aligned to right-wing extremism like KKK or Neo-Nazi But that doesnt mean the radical left doesnt exist and it does have a pernicious and insidious influence within our various countries

Yes but we have discussed this, what should I refer to them as? The left ....but they not the left because they have extreme left views

Thats not the problem, its that the description gets overused by certain liberals and the radical left whenever someone disagrees with there particular political and or ideological views. And I say certain because not all liberals do but a vociferous minority with media attention are guilty of this And what ends up happening is exactly the reality now in the US and other countries, like SA, where people dont take it seriously anymore because " everyone becomes a Nazi" Let me give you 2 examples of this, Jordan Peterson was accused of being a Nazi because of his views on pronoun usage. And if you ever watch his videos you will see he is not anything like someone who believes in Nazi ideology which is a type of white supremacy IMO And then the Canadian truckers protest, people were calling them Nazi when in fact most truckers were not Nazi at all but they were involved in an illegal, ill-conceived and pointless protest. But that doesnt mean they Nazi Thats what I mean by abuse of the word Nazi

I dont know who he is but here is another link on this topic, its originally from Bloomberg https://www.sharesbazaar.com/news-article/RT248ZDWRGG001

Absolutely but this forum is minor compared to other places and forums where certain people on the left and right have completely abused the definition of words like Nazi or Socialist. Its got to the point where people throw these words around when someone simply disagrees with you or supports a different political party. It does make me laugh depending on what forum I notice it I remember the first time I noticed how for some people they have lost the ability to disagree or engage in a constructive way and they dont engage in good faith It was on CNN in 2016 when Trump won the election and there was still shock from the Democrats. The CNN news anchor interviewed 2 people, a young black women Democrat who was from Africa but obviously American now and a white man, maybe 60+ or so, and a Trump supporter And the anchor asked " is Trump racist " and this is how the conversation went ( Im summarizing it ) Democrat : Yes he is Republican: No he is not Democrat : You have no right to comment on racism, you dont understand lived experience Republican : Oh, so now I cant comment on racism because Im white Now both of them were wrong and didnt debate very well. Firstly anyone can have empathy and comment on any type of bigotry, for example you dont need to be gay to believe homophobia is wrong. So of course a white person can comment on racism, its just got to be honest. So she was wrong to say that But the Republican ended up playing the victim card and saying " oh so now I cant comment on racism" . He should have just ignored what she said and kept his composure and he should have stuck to his views. So he was wrong in how he responded But the point is the entire exchange between them became this cringe invective and if you were watching you didnt gain anything from it