JadedWolf

I agree it's a bit hypocritical to condemn people for killing animals, no matter how brutal it may look, for most of us - since most of us eat meat that doesn't grow on trees, obviously. That being said... I did a google search on Sea Sheperd and tuna fish, and this came up: http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2015/03/05/uk-supreme-court-victory-for-endangered-bluefin-tuna-and-sea-shepherd-1674 http://news.mongabay.com/2010/06/the-bluefin-tuna-wars-greenpeace-and-sea-shepherd-step-up-tactics-to-save-critically-endangered-species/ So at least the "hippies" are doing something against tuna fishermen?

When it comes to the hyper realistic style that seems to prevail in this thread, Don Lawrence. But my all time favourite comic artist is Franquin.

I hate to burst your bubble, but I googled Cuban woman rolling cigar and the first hit I got was...

I've been trying not to butt into this discussion. People on this forum have, in the past, pointed out that I have strong opinions on things which are based entirely on second hand information about things I have no real relevant experience in. I've come to accept that, really, they are absolutely right. So, while absolutely admitting that I've never been to South Africa and that my opinions may not be worth much, I'd still like to say some things. First, let me just say that it seems very lame to me to discredit someone's opinion on the basis that you think think they can't see things straight because of their skin colour. But on the other hand, I can totally understand why some black people in South Africa might take that stance - understand, I mean, not saying that they are right to think that way. From what I can tell, the social gap in South Africa is still huge, certainly not to be compared to things we are used to here in Europe. And if you are frustrated, feeling that you are being held back because of things you have no control over, it's easy to lash out at someone based on an easy to digest dichotomy. And the feeling of being held back purely because of skin colour isn't completely baseless. From what I understand, a lot of the fertile land in South Africa is, because of historical reasons, still in the hands of white people. And because of practical reasons -land reform in Zimbabwe has been a total disaster because land was taken from whites and given to people who had no idea how to manage the land- the status quo has not been changed too much. And if land is redistributed, it's the government that takes it. That doesn't make it right to start to dislike white people, but it does make it understandable. And with understandable, I mean, it's not something unexpected and odd to happen. It's also really a situation that in time needs to be resolved. If you close your eyes to it, then you risk that in South Africa eventually the same thing happens that happened in Zimbabwe. It's not just black people who play the race card, by the way. You have Afrikaners -that is white people of Afrikaner descent- that say that these days, white people can't get decent jobs anymore because of black people dominance - in fact there are insular Afrikaner groups, still longing for the good old days, who use this as an excuse to say that things were better when there was still apartheid. They are wrong of course, from what I understand white people are still represented far more in the upper classes than black people, it's just that simply being white just doesn't cut it anymore. Besides, not even in the good old days all whites were living in wealth. But yeah. What I really don't understand is why the A.N.C. still has so much power. Mandela was surely a great man, but surely such a corrupt institution can only really leech of one man's reputation for so long, I would think. And they are really not doing enough to lift the poor South Africans out of their situation. That really seems to me to be the main problem that should be given most attention. Why is there no credible alternative?

Misleading title. I thought this thread was going to be about the advantages of gaming on a P.C.

For the record, my actual vote went to Grieving Mother.

Maybe it is just my imagination, but I am pretty sure Sagani's wolf is leaping up to bite Eder. It seemed obvious to me that Itumaak was asking to be pet in that scene. You probably fall for the cat belly trap too, every time.

I tip the pizza delivery guys, if I ever have pizza delivered at all - which is never, really. But yeah, over here they are usually 16 year olds making minimal youth wage, which is peanuts. So they deserve a tip.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/tipping-in-europe

Maybe it is just my imagination, but I am pretty sure Sagani's wolf is leaping up to bite Eder.

I think it is inevitable Iran will have nuclear weapons, one way or another. If Netanyahu thinks he can stop them, good luck to him.

The character I dislike most is Durance, but that's good - he is supposed to be thoroughly unlikeable. So job well done there. Now, the character I felt least about is Grieving Mother. I just never really cared, and I was never really able to relate. She's sort of hindered by the fact that none of the other characters actually interact with her, so you're completely dependent on your dialogue interaction with her to get to know her. And from the dialogue, well, I just couldn't empathize. Her world view is at once so simplistic, and yet so alien. I wasn't able to bridge that gap.

Imagine how awesome it would be to have a built in "Wi-Fi" that gave you access to any data you wanted at any time. :droolemoticon: But what if it came -because of reasons scientists are unwilling to get into- with the added side effect of a constant craving for bananas?

I guess that's exactly why I've always felt Superman to be so very unappealing. He's so incredibly flawless. It's really hard to relate to that.

You do realize this is just practice right? You'll know what's up when the next scientific breakthrough is announced. Perfectly square space vessels. After that, resistance will be futile.

Yes, but the laws coming from the EU are not made by elected personal. If they conflict with the rulings of your country, you still have to bow to them because EU´s constitution overrules that of the nations. Not to mention the pressure they use. Examples, blocking south-stream effectly costing our country millions if not more and many jobs, or trying to pressure Hungary into a different energy market despite their contracts with Rosatom. Or overruling our exceptional good laws on animal protection, throwing us back years in that field. Laws coming from EU are made by European Parliament, which is elected by citizens of member states of EU and Council of Ministers (which is formed from members of National Governments of member states of EU, National Governments are elected by National Parliaments which are elected by citizens of individual states which parliament they are). European Commission, which is elected by European Parliament, proposes laws to European Parliament and Council of Ministers. Council of Ministers have ability to stop any law they don't like (of course this don't mean that majority of EU's member states can't decide something that minority object, but that is realities of democratic decision making [there is also blocking minority system where at least four member states with 35% of EU's population can block legislation approved by majority vote {55% of member states and at least representing 65% of total population, or 72% of member states and covering at least 65% of total population if they aren't acting on proposal from European Commission}]). EDIT: And it probably should be pointed that anything that comes from EU is not really law before National Parliaments have adjusted them and approved them, although if member state don't change their laws according to what is agreed, then European Commission can start action to resolve situation if this don't lead agreement then European Commission will start infringement procedure which is at end resolved by European Union's Court of Justice (Of course member state can decide to leave union if they find it decision to be too much against their self interests). I'll feel a lot more connected to the European Parliament when we actually get to vote for European parties, rather then for local parties that then disappear into faceless blocks with completely different agendas than what I actually wanted to vote for.

I loved Nox, it was indeed a great game. Not really sure it is the sort of thing Obsidian would shine at, though.

Ah, but had you also seen this response (of sorts) that also looked at that? http://www.eltnews.com/columns/uni_files/2013/03/racism_in_japan_where_medamase.html No, I hadn't seen that, and I think it raises interesting points. I have to admit, I have never been to Japan, so honestly I will have to admit I am no expert on the situation so I can't say whether this Miki is exaggerating, or perhaps not as much in touch with Japanese culture as he thinks he is. If there is anyone here who actually lived in Japan and who has an opinion on this, I would very much like to hear this. That minorities in Japan are discriminated against is something that keeps coming back whenever I read up on it, though, especially when it comes to Koreans. The interesting point your response to Miki article makes is that Japanese can't be racist against other asians. I think that probably merits a good discussion. Thoughts?

I know the statement " racism is something that only white people perpetuate " is something that many of you dispute. If you think about the definition of racism its simply a prejudice against someone who has a different skin color And I'm sure we have been victims to this so that statement is clearly not accurate. But the statement needs more clarification. What people should really say is " white on black racism is different to black racism " The reality is there are people who are generational and historic racists in the world. They are raised to believe that black people are literally subhuman, that manifesto from Dylan Roof highlights this type of racism Black on white racism is based more on resentment, frustration, its more emotionally based and ironically in fact motivated more by the belief that white people will never accept them. So for example you get very few back people raised in households where they are told " white people are genetically inferior to us...look at there countries around the world...they all disasters" I hope you guys understand the difference because there is one I am honestly not sure what you are even trying to say with all this. Okay, there are gradations in racism, but are not all forms of racism unwanted? Should we not discuss and condemn all forms of it? Why does the skin colour of the person who is racist matter? I'll just leave this here: http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-05-12/how-japanese-american-burst-japans-bubble-racism Honestly, racism is just -sadly- a very human thing. Europeans may have underpinned it more with semi-scientific and religious mumbo jumbo in colonial times, I'll give you that, but in the end it is a universal problem among all of us humans.

Really Bruce, even for you that is particularly... unique* perspective given how many Greeks the Germans outright killed, let alone the damage they did to the country and its economy over WW2. Blame me for mentioning Lidice, I guess, even if I couched it as a economic comparison I clearly should have used Kondomari/ Kalavryta/ Kandanos instead- just on Crete, mind you. Just in case anyone doesn't know the details, Germany declared war on and conquered Greece during WW2 with commensurate deaths in combat, mass murder, starvation, destruction of property, mass appropriation and the like. 12 years after that they forgave Germany their debt. Bruce is right, that's not really similar circumstances- half a million (7% of pop) Greeks died as a result of WW2, I'm pretty sure not a single German has died due to issuing stupid loans that can't be paid back. BTW Bruce, won't get much more west than Greece, cradle of western civilisation and that. Oh,* * I am not looking at this whole Greek crisis in the context of WW2 or what the Nazis did. That is actually a complete distraction that seems to be gaining some semblance of support based on that excellent article Jaded posted. That article did raise some good points but it hasn't fundamentally changed my view on what Germany is expecting from Greece But just to add something to your point, after the disastrous implementation of the Versailles Treaty the European countries realized that punitive economic steps actually led to the rise of Hitler. So yes I agree the Greeks were magnanimous to be so reasonable to the Germans 10 years after WW2 but that also made economic sense. Sometimes integration is a better way to get a country like Germany to become a important member of Europe again. And that was the right decision considering how Germany now contributes to the overall EU. So without sounding dismissive of how the Greeks suffered in WW2 I still don't see how what Greece did for Germany in the 1950's should somehow influence what Germany does now around the Greek bailouts and austerity expectations? Honestly tell me what you would like Germany to do? I am going to be honest but I think most of this criticism from the European members on these forums towards Germany is actually based unintentionally on something that article mentions that Jaded posted. I think there is a strange and historical resentment towards Germany from many Europeans because end of the day some people don't like how the EU strategies seem to be influenced by a seemingly "belligerent and forceful " Germany .." we beat the Germans in two world wars but now they are telling us what to do " mentality I can understand this but its misplaced. Germany has become an economic powerhouse ..not a military one. The only ideology they are concerned with is good governance and member states adhering to necessary austerity. People should be grateful that Germany is being so forceful around the Greek issue..someone has to. What do you think would happen if the other countries in Europe undergoing austerity also had far left parties come to power and they also just decided they wanted to rewrite the austerity agreements. This contagion would lead to serious issues for the EU and its economic stability So once again Germany has to be relatively strict with Greece because of the consequences of them deciding not to continue to pay the required loan amounts. That would lead to a dangerous precedent and set a very bad example for other countries. I agree that bringing WW II into this is very unfortunate. That being said, I still think that a large part of the responsibility lies with the other Euro countries that quite honestly made a huge mistake by letting Greece into the Euro zone to start with. For as long as the bubble didn´t burst, other countries and especially Germany have in fact profited very much from the inclusion of Greece, by the fact that Greece´s economic weakness kept the Euro relatively weak, which was good for Euro zone countries´export. They gambled that Greece would somehow magically turn fiscally responsible, even though plenty of people warned at the very beginning that they were cooking the books from the very start. And the truth is that within the Euro zone, there just is no way for Greece to even have a competitive economy. I compare it to lending the town drunk money so he can buy a Porche off you, then getting angry at him for not repaying the loan.

You see for me this post has some accurate and inclusive points but it seems to focus on the wrong considerations around the Greek crisis Why do we feel the need to blame a country like Germany for becoming the most dominant economy in Europe despite losing its holistic global identity for decades after WW2 and having to recreate its financial institutions. Yet despite all this they persevered and have a strong export based economy. I often hear people say " the EU was great for the Germans as it benefited there economic model...but not so good for everyone else in the EU like the PIGS " Why? Why couldn't any other country have also adopted an export model that worked well in the EU. Its almost like we are blaming the Germans for having the diligence and work ethos to become efficient in the EU ? Greece wanted to join the EU, they weren't bribed (?) and didn't need much motivation and there is evidence that they did exaggerate there economic status to join. You can't expect the Germans to take responsibility for ensuring the Greeks were being honest about what they brought to the EU? You did note IMO exactly why Greece is in this mess where you said And Greece, in particular, has been especially profligate with this credit-- it used it to fund a huge, well-compensated, well-pensioned civil service, and to avoid serious efforts at tax enforcement. And nobody cared until the '08 financial crisis taught us that banks couldn't just hedge away all their default risks anymore" These are the fundamental causes, the other things you mentioned I'm sure contributed but they weren't as relevant as the mismanagement above Lets expect countries like Greece with such ancient history and knowledge to at least manage its own institutions properly. And the criticism about the initial large loans that Greece asked for and now has become the fault of the various institutions like the IMF, Germany and Euro Central Bank for lending them the money seems utterly bizarre. If Greece asked for these loans and was prepared to adopt the austerity that was expected why shouldn't the money have been given to them. Imagine how embarrassing for the Greeks and condescending it would have been if the Germans has said in the beginning of the loan cycle " no we don't believe you can pay us back, we won't give you the benefit of the doubt and just kick you out now " Come on guys countries really need to take responsibility for there own actions and decisions....and lets stop blaming the Germans for having one of the few very functional economies in the EU I would like to advice you to read up more on the subject. I'd like to point you to der Spiegel, which is obviously written by Germans, who frequently point out how things are a little more complicated than "Hur dur, the poor hard working Germans lent all that money to the lazy, sneaky, greedy Greeks, and now they refuse to pay it back!!!". This is an interesting article, for example: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-power-in-the-age-of-the-euro-crisis-a-1024714.html

Worrying to see these things. It's sometimes difficult to tell if Putin is just a master of brinkmanship or just downright insane. He seems to be doing his best to bring back the specter of all out, civilization destroying, thermonuclear war from the cold war days. Now, for some people it seems that they are happy to see its return, but I for one was not really feeling we were missing out on not having to consider that at any moment we could all blow up if some nitwits decided to see who had the bigger... rockets.