BruceVC

Provocation Ukraine not wanting to be part of the great reestablishment of the failed Soviet empire is not provocation Its sovereignty, dont you believe that Democracies get to decide what countries they align with? I thought we were all opposed to Colonialism ?

As much as I support your understandable concerns with Putin and this type of provocation I dont think thats a good idea ....we want to avoid a Western conflict with Russia because of nukes. If it wasnt for nukes I would be advocating for Western troops being deployed to Ukraine and a strict no-fly zone Its clear Putin only respects things like force and real consequence. But unfortunately nukes prevent the likes of the US from intervening militarily

Here is the full 15 minutes Starfield gameplay video I mentioned earlier, I am have not sure if you have watched the whole video including Todds comments? Watch it now if you havent and then tell me if your expectations are still low?

This is significant, first time since 1998, and is another sign of what is coming for the Russian economy and its sustainability and growth due to Western sanctions

You still need to ensure you fund your own resources and your own military , I remember during the Cold War Czechoslovakia was well known as a country that produced effective weapons and other military armaments for the " stinking Commie subversives " During wars like Angola their were Czech military advisors working with the Soviets and supporting the failed and false narrative of Communism. And like the Cubans they were feared and respected So the point I am making is Czech mustnt undermine its history of being a reliable arms producer

Correct they are, did you see the highlights of the G7? Biden and Scholz having a Bromance and Johnson and Macron with their arms around each other It was nice to see even if grown men hugging is a bit awkward

The main OPEC countries werent impacted in a huge way by the Arab Spring and wont be impacted by the Ruskies weaponizing famine. The starvation risk will be towards very poor countries like Yemen, Sudan and Somalia that are dealing with other things like drought and civil war so the Russian wheat blockage just exacerbates their current situation

I agree with most of this. Western sanctions will remain, its a long term game. At least until Putins gone and we see a more reasonable and responsible leadership in Russia And the only countries that will recognize the " new Russian controlled eastern states " will be the normal Russian friends that vetoed UN resolutions which are the worlds must autocratic and failed states like NK, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria. Not sure what stance Serbia will take when they not still going on about Bosnia and Kosovo (time to move on guys ) And it doesnt matter if China and India are "neutral " and buy energy from Russia, their own self-interests will understandably come first. You need UN support to ensure the Donbas becomes a recognized and functional member of the international community and I doubt that is going to happen because of Putins War

Oh yes thats the same as the SA media, we had lots of attention on this disease and lack of real information. Including misinformation through SM as usual with some people saying " its a gay disease, only the gays can get it " and then false outrage about " why are only black people being shown in photos in the Western media with this disease when their are no cases in Africa " Monkeypox has been around for decades and was first observed in West Africa. And as usual with all diseases and viruses like Corona and HIV any human being can get a virus. It makes no difference what your race is I remember when Corona first started their were people in SA saying " only rich white people who go skiing in Italy can get this virus "

Great link and it raises some pertinent points like who will pay for the rebuilding of occupied and destroyed regions of eastern Ukraine? Russia will continue to become indebted to China if its going to do this and since they destroyed cities like Mariupol they would have to carry the cost. Its not going to be Western aid under illegitimate Russian occupation and self-proclaimed " independence " ? If the UN doesnt recognize it you will battle to get the funding and reconstruction aid

Oh definitely, its the same as their is no racism in Russia and China We should all immigrate to these countries

Yes I have decided to go with BG1 EE and I just checked now on Steam and I have the Dragonspear DLC I will start playing it tomorrow

I have some updated gameplay information about Starfield, its looking good

But remember these viruses are transmitted differently. Monkeypox is through physical contact and apparently quite a lot of physical contact Corona is through invisible molecules that linger in the air, its respiratory

This has been going around for a while now, its such a ridiculous statement " guns have more rights than women" Its just culture wars rhetoric and conflating gun control with abortion is unhelpful

The overturning of Roe vs Wade may not cost the Republicans anything, we will see in the midterms We mustnt assume that every women supports abortion, millions dont.

Guys Im looking for some feedback around what I should play next, I have been through my GOG and Steam unplayed game list and I have narrowed down my choices to 2 games DA:I BG1 I have already started doing some research on mods for Dragon Age: Inquisition and I have the EE edition for BG1 so I dont know if I need to mod it? All advice is welcome but ideally Im looking for input from people who have played both and why you recommend one over the other

@Pidesco I just watched another discussion on CNN about " is Trump going to be prosecuted " and one of the commentators is Daniel Goldman who is a lawyer and has been council for the WH. He is now saying based on the various testimonies at the impeachment hearings that their is enough evidence to prosecute Trump and it sounds like it will be for the crime of willful ignorance. I get bored in most legal discussions and dont really follow them but Goldman is very articulate, intelligent and convincing. Now you need to find a prosecutor who will want to charge Trump? So you may be right and Trump will face criminal charges. If thats true and Trump is found guilty that really works for me because that will remove him from 2024 and we can get behind another GOP presidential candidate for those who support the GOP So if he is found guilty its good news for both the left and right but not necessarily the far right or radical left https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_S._Goldman

I watched the 15 minute gameplay video on Starfield and Im confident this is going to be another entertaining and worthy game from the prestigious Bethesda studio. Some take-aways the highly talented and helpful modding community will take the game from fun to superlative as usual the narrative is interesting where you have to explore numerous planets to find artifacts the combat reminds me of ME which I thoroughly enjoyed. The implementation of jetpacks is a nice touch I like the way you can customize your ship the design of having a 1000 planets is great for those like me who enjoy exploring and being rewarded. It was mentioned by Todd that some of the planets will only have mineral resources and some of them will have life. That's exactly what I expect and again its similar to ME where not all the planets have structures or aliens or living creatures I dont particularly care about all the character customizations like hair color but its nice for those who do enjoy those types of mechanics Im not going to give this game a "day 1 purchase for sure " as I will wait for reviews and player feedback but I predict this game will be a huge success And in closing, all the planets really open up the creative side of the modding community so I cant wait to see what mods we get @kanisatha and other people excited about Starfield, its going to be a good game

The lockdowns took many things away from our societies and what many of us require to be mentally healthy and happy One of the things I missed was the ability to see peoples faces and have random conversations with strangers in lines at supermarkets and in bars. I really enjoyed talking to strangers yesterday and we all agreed how happy we were that masks are not mandated anymore I am not planning on ever wearing my mask again unless its enforced because in SA private sector businesses can still enforce it but Im not seeing that

Great news guys, last night in SA they removed the mask mandates so its now optional I walked into a mall yesterday and for the first time in over 2 years I didnt wear my mask I really disliked wearing my mask and hopefully I never have to do it again

GD I think its time you acknowledge the established US parties have let you down and you voted for someone else I know its not a nice thing to accept but have you heard about the Libertarian party?

Thanks for this but remember polling data is not always accurate particularly around voting patterns Remember BREXIT and the 2016 US elections which didnt include the undecided voters who really can swing the US election either way

I remember the first time I played F:NV and I was following the standard mission where you dont immediately get to travel to NV and you go to other places on the map as part of side quests After about 12-16 hours I was short of ammo, wounded and lost in the wasteland with a sniper companion when we were attacked by deathclaws....in order to survive I fled and left my sniper companion behind to make a final stand. His death screams will always haunt me but his sacrifice was appreciated It was night and the deathclaws started running after me and I realized death was imminent but then I went around a hill and in front of me I saw something that was the greatest sight I have ever experienced in any RPG....the lights of NV city, green and welcoming ...I was saved I have never been so happy to see a city, I entered NV and naturally did the most obvious thing any man would do who looked into the face of the Grim Reaper and survived. I immediately visited the brothel and took full advantage of my adult mods. Life never seemed so good

But I still dont understand how 1500 people polled can be considered " what Canadians think "? I have never really understood how that type of sampling can ever be considered accurate. Its interesting and I am not suggesting we handwave it but what does it really represent? Their are 38 million people in Canada so that number represents 0.0039% of the total population And where you live in a country could have a massive influence on your views, for example Volo lived in the rural areas of Canada. That influenced some of his unusual opinions At the very least I would expect this type of poll to have people from the different regions in Canada? And then the title of the link says " millions of Canadians say the election was stolen " but the truth is they asked only 1500 Canadians and only 16% of that number think that?