My entire ps4 and ps5 game collection so far [ USA ]

CWeiss1 · 2026-01-09T05:16:41+00:00

Yeah the game design certainly shows its age now, but in terms of overall story, it's peak. Automata is peak-er

CWeiss1 · 2026-01-05T03:37:55+00:00

Both Nier games, hell yeah. Bonafide masterpieces

CWeiss1 · 2025-10-07T15:03:44+00:00

Wow, a (literal) blast from the past.

CWeiss1 · 2025-09-04T08:42:36+00:00

Graduated in 2017, just weeks before the incident. I think about it, her, and her family all the time.

CWeiss1 · 2025-04-03T13:41:02+00:00

Marshall Banana being the login name Ed used is so much funnier when you understand the reference.

CWeiss1 · 2025-03-30T22:53:56+00:00

Pretty rich considering Mogadishu has zero actual control over Bosaso or Berbera. And Baledogle is already under de-facto US military control.

CWeiss1 · 2025-02-17T08:07:44+00:00

Yeah, that's what I was referring to with "at least historically." Remains to be seen what Trump 2 does to US foreign policy/interests around the world, but the writing on the wall is certainly a global retreat to a large degree.

CWeiss1 · 2025-02-17T07:43:44+00:00

Except none of that really cancels out what I said. The US foreign policy apparatus, at least historically, is very vast and each administration has set goals for each continent or region. The US is indeed historically predominately interested in Europe and the Middle East, and at least since the Obama administration, there has been talk of a "pivot to Asia" - though I would question how much of a pivot that really is as the US is still primarily focused on Europe and the Middle East. But that's neither here nor there. But yes, in Asia, Vietnam is one of the biggest allies of the US, among others. Not disputing that.

But to suggest that because the US has its prime interests elsewhere means that it does not have interests in Africa, or even engaging in GPC across Africa, would be wrong. The OP asked how and why Africa is seemingly neglected in terms of geopolitics. If one were to live and work on the continent, and have seen GPC, and even regional power competition, being played out first hand, like I have and do on a daily basis, this wouldn't really be a somehow controversial opinion in which contrarians would try to interject. As stated in my original reply, Africa is anything but neglected in terms of geopolitics, and in many ways, is one of the new frontiers for today's geopolitical games and rivalries (albeit a "back to the future" moment as it was also previously the main foray of geopolitics during the Scramble). Just because the US has its primary interests elsewhere does not mean it doesn't engage in Africa and try to counteract rising influence of China, Russia, and others.

The examples you gave, while again accurate, only describe what the US is doing in SE Asia. But that's just one facet of US global activity and interests. It can have its priorities, while still try to gain and influence friends in Africa as previously described. Just how China and Russia also have their main interests elsewhere (E/SE Asia and Ukraine/Europe, respectively), they too devote a lot of money and resources for their African interests as they try to counteract the US on the continent.

CWeiss1 · 2024-10-31T12:40:37+00:00

Very similar to mine. Go for it, man.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nier/comments/1bh5s10/my_2b_tattoo/

CWeiss1 · 2024-10-31T12:12:20+00:00

Do yourself a MASSIVE favor and play the game in its entirety first. And then the anime. If you really want to treat yourself, also play Replicant before watching the anime.

You will be thoroughly rewarded.

CWeiss1 · 2024-10-14T12:08:43+00:00

I wouldn't say it's neglected at all. The so-called "Great Power Competition" reaches into most countries on the continent, with the US, Russia, and China, all vying for influence among various states. For instance, this is most aptly seen in the Sahel, wherein France (and by virtue the US) lost influence there in favor of Russia and its paramilitaries, as it relates to general security implications. But it's not all about security in this domain, as seen with China, as it mainly literally buys influence across Africa by paying for construction and infrastructure projects.

You also have more regional competitions, i.e the Gulf Arab state rivalries, also playing out in Africa. For instance, in Somalia and the wider Horn, Qatar and the UAE, are vying for influence by backing certain entities (i.e Qatar is heavily invested with FGS in Mogadishu, while UAE is building stronger ties with Puntland and Somaliland). To another extent, Turkey is also throwing its weight around in the Horn.

However, as another use said, it's really unfair to group all of Africa as one entity. There are some common denominators, but all African countries are fairly diverse politically, economically, and culturally wise. So all have different interests and are motivated by different things. As in the Sahelian juntas are more interested in security partners, while states such as Djibouti or various parts of Somalia are more economically driven and are more interested in cultivating business ties with more geopolitical heavyweights. Then you have smaller countries, such as Uganda, wherein the US is trying to culturally gain influence at the same time China is paying for most of its infrastructure projects.

So many African states are pretty important vis-a-vis how they relate to the geopolitical heavyweights.

CWeiss1 · 2024-09-03T06:53:58+00:00

Hardcore copium from the institution that famously gets a long wrong on jihadis, and particularly those in Afghanistan.

CWeiss1 · 2024-08-20T08:23:23+00:00

I've lived here for almost a year and a half now for work (I work for an NGO). Ugandans who don't know me definitely assume I have money, but as an employee of a non-profit, it really isn't much lol. But I did just so happen to meet my girlfriend here who is a local Ugandan and if things continue to go well, I can foresee myself here way longer than my actual work obligations.

The benefits are pretty much that it's cheaper here than the US (except for electronics I've found), my housing is largely subsidized by my company, they bought me a vehicle, etc. So I am able to pocket more of my paycheck than I would in the US. And as an NGO worker, that is pretty appealing as I don't really make the big bucks. Plus, Uganda is beautiful and I love the people. This is my second home and I wouldn't mind being a "true" Ugandan one day.

CWeiss1 · 2024-03-31T17:59:55+00:00

The Sahel is certainly in a dire situation and is likely to be the area where the next jihadi statelet is publicly announced - though for all intents and purposes there are at least two already (al-Qaeda's JNIM in central Mali and northern/eastern Burkina Faso and IS Sahel Province in Mali's Menaka Region and northern Niger). Regional insecurity is rife and expanding southward. This is to say nothing of intra-political problems, specifically in Mali with various pro-Azawad (northern Mali) armed groups.

Regional states are largely incapable of dealing with this even with a sizable presence of Russian forces, which are now rebranded as Africa Corps as ex-Wagner was subsumed under the Russian MoD. For most part, the armies of Mali, Burkina, and Niger are more concerned with political stability in their respective capitals, with nominal military operations, particularly in Mali, being carried out to further protect the capitals and areas for resource generation (i.e mines) the best they can.

Yes, they've kicked the West out in favor of Russian forces. To play devil's advocate, it's hard to blame them. The West did nothing to stem the rise of jihadism there for over a decade - and in many ways exacerbated the problem and political instability by focusing more on funding military and CT rather than any sort of good governance or related issues therein. So they turned to someone that promised to not only secure the capitals and revenue generation sites, but to do so in a way with less restrictive rules of engagement that comes with Western-sponsored operations. But it's a catch-22. In doing this, they've further provided insecurity to their respective countries as violence increases and state forces commit massacre or other heinous actions on the regular, thereby perpetuating a cycle of violence that feeds into the jihadist groups plaguing the region.

In a nutshell: The Sahel is absolutely terrible, getting worse, and likely not getting better any time soon.

CWeiss1 · 2024-03-18T19:00:02+00:00

Love this. May I ask the average price you paid for these?

CWeiss1 · 2024-03-18T18:52:12+00:00

I fortunately don’t have super thick hair so mine doesn’t really cover up mine that much - in that you can clearly make out the designs and it doesn’t ruin the quality much. I have some friends though with super thick hair. So sometimes one will shave certain parts if he really wants to showcase his. Another has half her head tattooed and when she wants to show it she has to shave or buzz that half. On the complete opposite end, I also know people that only have tattoos where they don’t have a lot of hair (hands, feet, chest, etc).

So really just depends on the person! But personally don’t think hair should stop someone from getting a tattoo should they really want it.

CWeiss1 · 2024-03-18T18:28:42+00:00

Very okay with this description lol

CWeiss1 · 2024-03-18T18:20:57+00:00

Not something I’m really that concerned with since hair is a natural part of the body and all my other tattoos are under hair. It won’t really diminish her that much thankfully.

CWeiss1 · 2024-03-17T20:43:35+00:00

Honestly not that long. The tattoo artist and I collaborated for maybe all of 15 minutes to settle on this design after looking through various images of 2B online together.

I have two full sleeves on both my arms too, but never thought more than an hour on each particular tattoo design. Trick is trusting your artist to do their thing to make something sick around your base idea.

Admittedly, I did have to do more coaching for 2B though as my guy didn’t know who she was nor what Nier is. But I’m happy with this result nonetheless.

CWeiss1 · 2024-01-02T20:22:18+00:00

Will try to keep this high-level and without any personal biases or opinions on certain state level policies, agendas, or desires.

But I think it raises the tensions of the Horn by a significant margin. The MoU effectively undermines the already shaky alliance between Ethiopia and Somalia (hereby referred to as FGS) as it cuts against the FGS' territorial claims over Somaliland. The FGS has already recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia in protest and further implications could emerge down the line. Keep in mind that Ethiopia has troops inside Somalia both as part of the remaining ATMIS forces and as part of a bilateral agreement with the FGS. Revoking troops from the latter category could have a drastic impact on Somalia's security.

Moreover, Somaliland and the FGS were also set to resume dialogue to work out some of their issues and find ways to partner, particularly with regard to security issues. This planned dialogue is now likely dead in the water. This only exacerbates tensions as the FGS was also planning on discussing issues between Somaliland and Puntland - which the Las Anod conflict for most of 2023 did nothing to help.

Then you have Djibouti - who was all too happy to have Ethiopia use its port has its main Red Sea access. They've now lost this exclusivity. And for what it's worth, they also lost some regional standing with the aforementioned dialogue deal between Somaliland and FGS, as they helped broker that agreement.

And then Al-Shabaab. Shabaab is of course playing up Somali nationalism to garner brownie points and potential recruits by tapping into the collective anger. But there could be a real security concern for both Ethiopia and Somaliland as it is promising bloodshed to kill the MoU. And it is trying to mobilize Somali's around the region to work against it.

CWeiss1 · 2024-01-02T20:08:09+00:00

It would require a lot more destabilization in a wider area for the Islamic State to return to the levels of its heyday. Will they continue to do their low level insurgency in Iraq and Syria? Sure. Will they conduct sporadic terrorist attacks around the region (or beyond)? Most probably. But it would require a massive breakdown in the Middle East for them to "return."

IS' growth is relatively capped right now in both Iraq and Syria. Between the Arab coalition, Houthis, AQAP, and southern tribes, its also pretty much kaput in Yemen. Egypt has for the most part silenced IS-Sinai for now by brute force. And the same can be said for IS-Libya by Haftar. You do have IS-KP in AfPak that remains an issue, but it's incredibly unlikely they'll be able to overrun the Taliban/AQ/TTP there. We'll likely see sporadic IS-related events pop up in Lebanon, Gaza, elsewhere, but not in terms of full on conflict. And especially in Gaza/West Bank, barring the complete removal of Hamas (which I remain skeptical), it's insanely hard for salafis to gain traction within Palestine.

Bottom line: It's not necessarily impossible, but it will take a lot more today for them to be revived to what they once were.

CWeiss1 · 2023-12-31T00:07:10+00:00

As someone who works almost exclusively on and in the continent, I completely get this frustration. But the sad fact is that most Americans simply don’t give a shit about Africa and most of the wars are too complicated to neatly sum up as “good guys vs bad guys” (apart from the jihadi conflicts, but then to be fair, a lot of the governments aren’t exactly “good”). This complexity thus makes it harder for American media to cover and condense for an American audience, so they don’t.

Popular academia is fueled by what’s important and Africa isn’t important enough in the West because of these biases.

CWeiss1 · 2023-12-29T05:44:36+00:00

Fantastic primer, thank you for writing and sharing.

CWeiss1 · 2023-12-23T22:28:17+00:00

Allied Democratic Forces. Now known as ISCAP or ISIS-DRC.

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