BruceVC

It looks excellent, exactly the type of horror\supernatural shows I like 👻

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/14/supreme-court-rejects-mail-ballot-restrictions @rjshae I imagine you happy with this positive ruling from the SC Its a win for Dem voters, 35% or so use mail voting compared to 24% of GOP voters But the main win is its yet another example of how the US is not an autocracy and there is a clear distinction between what the president wants to do and what the courts will allow and ultimately rule on You will never hear in Russia or China any example where the judiciary blocks any decision or law that leadership decides to implement Democracy is still standing and enduring despite Trumps best efforts 👍

Im 60 hours into my modded replay of GTA5 and its a good reminder of what I can expect from GTA6 Im having fun but at times it becomes uninspiring or meh I am trying to understand why Im having a good but not fantastic time and I think its primarily about the overall narrative and repetition of activities? The map is massive but end of the day you need a reason to want to explore, yes there are side missions and points of interest you can discover but they limited. I came across an Easter Egg which was a ghost women and some kind of murder but I have no idea how to progress this event The main fun Im having is all the various races and activities like parachuting but you can only do those so many times. I also dont really connect with any of main characters and there overall lifestyles. Franklin being the only one I like. In RDR2 I connected with Arthur and you could make choices for him that improved this emotional connection. I was genuinely sad at the end of RDR2 Another issue is there is no real consequence for death or mass killings of police. You respawn and even your assigned vehicles are restored. I don't see how this will change in GTA6? A better way to motivate people would be where you need to get a certain amount of money or some prestige level to progress the story. At least then you have something to work towards as opposed to just doing missions to advance the story Anyway I expect a similar experience from GTA6, fun game but not fantastic

https://www.nexusmods.com/thebloodofdawnwalker/mods/10 There is already a mod that basically removes the timer for Dawnwalker, that didn't take long 👍

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/13/brics-summit-2026-what-are-the-key-takeaways BRICS 2026 is over. As predicted it was all about the normal vague and generalized comments about they want to do and should do They did manage to release one joint statement "deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions” in the Middle East and called for “maximum restraint”, while urging countries to avoid actions that could further aggravate the situation. It did not mention the US, Israel, Iran or the Gulf states explicitly." This is now common with BRICS because they cant get consensus around being specific, they dont mention any country. Which makes the statement irrelevant And of course no BRICS summit would be a BRICS summit without the normal " we believe in a better and multipolar world " rhetoric "BRICS reiterated its “commitment to strengthening multilateralism and multipolarity”, noting that a multipolar world can expand opportunities for Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs) to develop “constructive potential and enjoy universally beneficial, inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic globalisation and cooperation”. Then they always remind the world they understandably not anti-Western "Yet India has also sought to distance BRICS from the idea that it exists simply to confront the West. “We are not against anyone; rather, we strive to move forward with the approach of taking everyone along,” he asserted."

BBC News9/11 anniversary: Victims remembered 25 years on from Sep...Memorials to remember those killed in the September 11 attacks will be held at the site of the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon.9/11 remembrance today. Its not really highlighted much anymore on forums like this but this is 25 years and its still significant for me personally. I remember where I was when the attacks happened The world has changed a lot since then and largely for the better. The threat of Islamic extremist attacks is much less with the exception of several African countries where this type of extremism not only thrives but is growing But what still surprises me is the amount of conspiracy theories that still exist which vary but they more or less believe AQ didn't commit 9/11 and the USA did it to themselves

He is only saying this because he knows the GOP wont win both the House and Senate

I haven't heard any serious analyst dispute that Iran doesn't have lots of missiles or drones and that they cant target countries that have weak defenses that aren't involved in this war like Jordan or Qatar. The obvious geography makes this easy. Iran has always had lots of missiles and drones that it can use The relevant assessment is Iran doesn't have any effective means or desire to target the US which is the country its actually fighting the war with. For example why doesn't Iran just launch its missiles at US ships and not US military bases in the places like Jordan? So its strategy is not about succeeding in a conventional war but enduring in an asymmetrical war and hopefully the economic chaos it creates will let it end this war on its terms or its main terms

On Codex there is lots of criticism around the level scaling mechanics , I hate level scaling because of how it undermines immersion and risk vs reward exploration Mods will remove that when they released

The Dems can take a share of the responsibility for Trump's overwhelming win in 2024 But the main reason is people typically vote on current issues and Trump use to be really good at identifying those issues, highlighting them as policy and then repeating them And this resonated with undecided voters who always end up deciding election outcomes But now we see he has failed to deliver on several policies and made a main one worse, inflation, caused by the Iran war So you see serious voters remorse from those largely outside of MAGA Just to add to this, 45-47% of registered voters now consider themselves independent which makes polling and predictions even harder to get right. The Dems currently have a slight advantage in this influential group Gallup.comNew High of 45% in U.S. Identify as Political IndependentsA new high of 45% of U.S. adults identified as political independents in 2025.

Thats been my rule for the last 15 years or so and its also why I am almost never disappointed with any game I play I wait for official patches and updates at the very least like for STALKER 2 And ideally I wait for mods but thats only for games that support mods like Bethesda or Rockstar games Then I decide on a game based on my family and friends opinions, views on forums like this, Steam user reviews and I sometimes confirm final decision by watching gameplay YT videos But then there are games released by companies as a sequel that I will always play once the official patches are released because I have enjoyed previous games from them so I know I will enjoy them And that includes Obsidian, Rockstar, Bethesda, Larian and Ubisoft to name a few.

I played Plague Tale Innocence which is an action adventure game set in 14th century France, it also has several necessary stealth mechanics. Its basically about a brother and sister who travel plague ravaged France trying to escape the Inquisition, find a cure for the brother and then free there mother. Its fun and has some good moments. Every map has 2-3 ways you can progress around defeating soldiers or avoiding them and you always find enough resources to use a certain skill or weapon. Its short, 20 hours but worthwhile It gets a 63\100 on the " BruceVC game rating system " Now Im playing GTA5 again in anticipation of the eventual PC release of GTA6. But this time Im using about 20 mods that just improve the overall mechanics of the vanilla game and visuals. So for example I added a search mod for dead bodies and car dealership so I can sell any stolen cars. I initially downloaded the enhanced version but realized it doesn't support many of the mods I wanted so I downloaded the legacy version and modding this game is extremely easy. You just have to drag an .ovI file into the mod manager called OpenVI and it configures everything for you or you copy a few files into install folder. Thats it Its really fun, the humor and memes around US society and culture always make me laugh. The radio stations are the most hilarious and I like playing the different characters because they all have unique missions and NPCs they interact with. The missions, activities and NPC are varied and memorable so I always have lots I want to do Its early days and Im 20 hours into it but having a blast

I dont know much about civil wars in Venezuela because I have only been following events in the country since Chavez and then researched its history from the 1960's But yes I see they have had 16 civil wars but they were all in the 19th century. So the history is there. But I still dont think modern day Venezuela has the appetite or committment for that type of conflict The biggest risk to this deal would be a Dem controlled government in power deciding this is not aligned to the US and abandoning it or changing US control of NABEP. I just dont see the current Venezuelan government ending it because of its necessity?

Trumps anger and targeting of Canada is the most inconsistent and illogical of any country he has ever ranted about. Canada has only been a friend to the USA and it creates no societal problems like mass illegal migration from its border Its good to see Carney standing his ground, if I was Canadian I would support the stance he is taking. You just need to get through the next few years and then any tariffs or targeting of Canada will end immediately And if Trump loses badly in the midterms as expected I imagine most of this irrational anger towards US allies will end or be curtailed because of Congress

We know all these potential problems but whats your suggestion for how Venezuela can rebuild its oil infrastructure? The country needs investment and it has a history of using forced nationalization of private sector companies that previously operated for decades in the country? This deal absolutely benefits the US but its also what Venezuela needs. If you dont support this deal what should be happening? I think its highly unlikely Venezuela will collapse into civil war. That didnt happen under the utter failures of the Chavez and Maduro governments because the state does have control of its security forces But its more because most Venezuelans just want a stable country where they have a future. So they are prepared to give this new government a chance and see how this investment unfolds and addresses the dire economic reality?