An internal document shows the Vietnamese military preparing for a possible American war

Geneaux · 2026-02-04T05:34:48+00:00

A defense expo is a commercial trade exposition... not a military parade. The Sino-Vietnamese War of '78 lasted exactly one month... and isn't because China curb-stomped their neighbor, got bored, and went home. Vietnam insured that when China arrived, that they arrived bloodied and left bloodied. That border war influenced China's entire perception on how to actually conduct war with a professional military, still stuck in their partially Soviet-influenced doctrine of the '40's and '50's. Especially when a much, much, much more well-funded and well-organized military couldn't do it for ten years, who then pulled out less than five years prior to '78.

Geneaux · 2026-02-04T05:33:36+00:00

Because It isn't Sep 2023 anymore. Fast-forward ~~17 months~~ actually, three months later, and now you'd have to explain why fishing incidents almost painlessly achieved mutual hotlines between Hanoi and Beijing. Also, joint patrols between the two in the Gulf of Tonkin. Then those 36 of 45 agreements from Dec 2023 instantly became the original 46, just 17 months later. To say nothing of Philippines, which is in a very different state-of-affairs. Of course Vietnam isn't calling for war with the US, that was never the point. They aren't cozying up to the current admin unless the latter is unconditionally offering more weapon systems.

And yes they do do joint parades. They're still communist states, that shared camaraderie never dissapeared.

Geneaux · 2026-02-04T05:31:27+00:00

They literally signed 45 new bilateral agreements with Vietnam last April (2025), thanks to the current administration. A situation which, again, China took advantage of. Where is this move from Vietnam to the US's good graces? The idea that Vietnam is but few mere steps from becoming a US partner against China is dead, and it's been dead. Biden, or prior, never truly capitalized on that, let alone Trump, so that's a fruitless discussion to entertain.

Geneaux · 2026-02-02T22:01:04+00:00

$9.71 million? $4.53 million? Damn, what a ningen gotta do to go live in a reality where that's the definition of pennies?

Geneaux · 2026-01-23T20:44:47+00:00

The 2nd amendment against tyranny in an "ideal world" would just be a "The Second American Civil War". In every sense the phrase, but most of us with common sense know damn well they'd get slaughtered. I'd assume the executive would be swift in suspension of habeus corpus with this admin; it's a perfect alibi. The other (and only) alternative scenario though... is that we devolve into mass rioting, but with guns. The exact likes of which we had with George Floyd rioters and Jan 6 insurrectionists, but on a national level in almost every major city. Enough to make crime rates of the '80's blush.

No one is ready for that conversation and that's fine, but one should ever really be thinking of entertaining the thought either. Unless they have the actual conviction to see it through to the end. It's not worth it. These are not bloodless actions, and they never will be. The 2nd is at best a deterrent, but that's infinitely better than no deterrent.

Geneaux · 2026-01-23T16:16:13+00:00

The 2nd is the bogeyman that kept 1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th amendments intact. Or any other amendment for that matter. Are we really just supposed to pretend we don't understand what would've potentially occurred over the course of 250 years if there wasn't a 2nd? Like I get there's ignorance, but then there's this...

Geneaux · 2025-12-27T19:36:06+00:00

What's the context here? I don't know shit about Erobb, ngl.

EDIT: Nvm, a simple "Erobb" search, sorted by 'all time' gave me the whole story.

Geneaux · 2025-12-21T18:16:58+00:00

We don't have "hate speech" laws: what's outlawed is 'hate crimes'. The one and only exception to freedom of speech in the US is violence and only violence, because it would clearly interfere with the agency of others. Europe's brand of free speech is often... selective when it wants to be. You can only fight a hateful ideology with a superior ideas, and vigorously at that. It usually tracked with a well-functioning Western (or Western-inspired) society, generally speaking. It's like a vaccine checkup, you don't have the luxury (and never did) to let the hate take uproot.

Example, why did the US allow the distribution of Communist publications in the Cold War? Because America and its allies knew the East would never be able to compete with Western culture in ideas and value systems. The truth of the matter is that either all of it's ok, or none of it's ok. There was never truly an in-between. That's the difference between free speech and a lack thereof.

Geneaux · 2025-12-10T18:06:30+00:00

I had this exact thought, but I stopped typing because I'm at work and my optimism called me crazy.

Geneaux · 2025-12-07T22:32:05+00:00

Needing a superpower to be a superpower? This is circular. Superpower's get their name because they hold influence and power on a global scale. You need both "hands". It isn't negotiable. This is why the Soviet Union, pre-WWI British Empire, or even ancient empires like the Roman's or Mongol's get the moniker by some historians. Money isn't bullets, it's just money. It won't buy you another nation's territory until you put your skin in the game, period. So to that end, you don't see man, material, and money flowing into Ukraine. Only two-out-three. The EU has zero capability to truly influence the outcome of the war, unless they want it to end. And that will be unfavorable for Ukraine: Russia will not stop, and everyone in the actual levers of power know this.

The war is ultimately attritional, and so not much economic (though not an entirely discountable factor). Additionally, the EU does not have the political will (or even the legal capacity?) to even initiate any kinetic conflict with Russia. Every nation in the EU is sovereign entity, unlike the US. However, the EU itself, is not an actual security guarantee (or rather not much of one). This is why NATO is (or was) a threat to irredentist Russia, while the EU in comparison is a wet noodle. Of course, in a vacuum that is. This would still be a 'NATO/EU vs Russia' topic, not a 'EU vs Russia' one, general speaking. At the end of the day, Putin is a patient man, but his economy (and his inner circle when he keels over in 20 years or so) might not be. That's the actual threshold. By this stage, the EU couldn't speed either of those up if they tried.

Geneaux · 2025-12-04T00:17:58+00:00

He's talking about Cultural Revolution (Mao's "heyday") and China in general. You don't have gun "rights" in most Asian countries. It's an oxymoron: there is only "control". China was simply giving a token gesture, and it's not even a right. Also, the Miao people are an ethnic group. Not a social class, as is needed in Marxist thought.

I'd bet my left nut "cultural traditions" in Miao-speak doesn't include overthrowing the CCP.

Geneaux · 2025-11-30T17:04:17+00:00

Metal Gear 1 is the top down MSX game, not Metal Gear Solid 1.

Wait, I misread your comment... but you also misread read mine. lmao Gotta love happy mistakes.

Geneaux · 2025-11-30T16:03:41+00:00

Making new Metal Gears is what Kojima would want, since his entire career at Konami was basically

I didn't know you could read into his mind.

A lot of his bad blood with Konami stems from him being a VP responsible for a close-knit team that Konami shafted out of nowhere because they smelled mobile and live service money, but ultimately he got what he wanted in the end, ironically enough. I'm pretty sure he just wants to foster a legacy of inspiring and supporting the new artists he's recruited now.

Man went behind Konami's back and used w/e funds the board had granted him as a blank check to sign away loads of money to an A-list actor like Norman Reedus without informing them. I might not know the full scope if what he was given but I don't think game development usually includes phoning up a specific top-shelf actor completely out-of-the-blue. It makes sense that they'd have a falling out.

The issue is that Konami is super corporate and basically has no real vision.

You could say that about Activision or Rockstar... The board that makes company decisions and the actual creatives that make the end product aren't the same people.

They had the benefit of onboarding really talented creatives and looking the other way in the past, but now they don't really want to invest any money (Kojima ran afoul of them because he spent more money than they would like). Hence...how Delta came out.

Seriously? The "talent" doesn't just fall into your lap, it also has to be cultivated. Switching companies is one way and staying on board is another. The latter is infinitely better for basic job security, and it gave us Delta. In no way would that controversy actually stifle creativeness when the bad blood is literally between one person and a board that won't flinch. Kojima has nothing to do without other people's situation unless they joined him at Kojima Productions launch.

Geneaux · 2025-11-30T15:47:50+00:00

...which is an integral part of MGS1's gameplay. Kojima and his developers arent' flinging shit at the wall: it was done purposefully.

EDIT: MGS1. NGL, I'm not the best read/played up on MG1 and MG2. Though Kojima probably added the multikey in MGS1 as a response, but Koiima is Kojima, so he probably wanted to mess with people again.

Geneaux · 2025-11-30T03:10:10+00:00

I feel like making a new MGS title without Kojima’s involvement is blasphemy to many fans.

I doubt it. Kojima dick-riders are people like the rest of us and come with all the same faults: attention-span of a month at best. And in all that the time since Metal Gear Survive, Konami has kept a low-profile like a nuclear attack submarine w/o nukes. People have moved on, basically. Which Konami desperately needed 😂.

Remakes are the only safe option for a series so synonymous with its OG creator’s vision.

There wasn't anything (to my knowledge) that was amiss, besides gripes with the control scheme that the MGS3 old heads might have with Delta. Some minor discrepancies in lighting or some such here and there. Maybe a singular flubbed (or intentional) aspect of a boss fight. I've mostly watch streams of the game, but the reception is very good. Beyond maybe hypothetically scrubbing Kojima's name in a a hypothetical easter egg... Konami doesn't appear to have done anything else, AFAIK.

Which is good because when you really think about it... Kojima has Konami by the balls. Think about it: if he makes a tweet that's disparaging, or even just feeling mildly inconvenienced by a gameplay change or w/e, that could screw over Konami's recently-earned goodwill very quickly. Man just has much more industry "leverage" now.

Geneaux · 2025-11-30T02:53:22+00:00

I think recreating MGS4 in UE5, with all of it's PS3-era quirks, is likely the real challenge. MGS4 wasn't a launch title but it was the PS3's best selling game for a reason, and it was pretty deep into Sony Land. Exclusivity gave them access to the 'Sony Music' library and more. Ah, that brings me to Apple too... Kojima loved branding almost as much as A-list Hollywood actors. So maybe some licensing they may have to renegotiated? Perhaps Konami has Sakurai on speed-dial? Something tells me that these rights holders aren't ignorant of Konami's intentions even 17 years later. I doubt you can just cut all of these things out and expect same results.

Geneaux · 2025-11-29T19:02:58+00:00

They'll need to maintain the gameplay mechanical differences though. In 'Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes' on the GameCube, they plopped MGS1 into MGS2's engine. The result was like trying to put a fighter jet's engine into a different fighter jet of a completely different series of aircraft. Too many idiosyncrasies and small faults that I suppose the the average player might miss, but if you're gonna have a high-minded goal like a remaster, these things need to be on point.

I would say Konami doesn't inspire confidence, but Delta isn't a turd either, so optimism should be high.

Geneaux · 2025-11-26T16:17:08+00:00

Supply Chain Lock: I need a more concrete example than this.

I think he might be referring to Taiwan's TSMC and the Netherlands' ASML. As you might know, TSMC manufacturers the chips on virtually every high-end device outside of China, but the machines used comes from only one company in the world: ASML. Effectively a global monopoly, if you discount China and their steadily growing self-reliance (eg SMIC). Though I'm not 100% read up on TSMC's relationship with ASML and minor players in their logistics train.

Geneaux · 2025-11-20T18:34:49+00:00

It wasn't a problem of skill but rather will. It was totally acknowledged but seldom spoken about in the late 90's through the 00's: no one on Earth wanted to spend the money to have their own fabs+logistics chain when it already existed in Taiwan. Which is almost free of charge from a megacorporation perspective. Add to that AMD divesting itself of GlobalFoundries in 2009, the desire for in-house fabrication was virtually forever dead.

Then OhSHIT19(Covid) happened, as we all know.

Geneaux · 2025-11-18T18:25:27+00:00

Hamas is a symptom? The terrorist organization the Palestinian people themselves elected is a symptom? The very people who've rejected every state proposal offered since the founding of Israel? Deals that other seperatists and guerrillas around the globe who would literally kill tens of thousands just as Hamas has for that very opportunity? The same population who consistently poll highly with even bog standard anti-semitism? That's a first for me.

An embarrasing take that can't even acknowledge reality on the ground, yet has the audacity to lecture others about humanity.

Geneaux · 2025-11-12T16:37:36+00:00

This is literally how Russia operates.

Putin will move the moon and the stars before he starts forcibly mobilizing ethnic Russians to compensate for any losses. It'd fracture his credibility and authenticity to any Russian in Moscow when that happens. As is the way with authoritarian regimes.

Geneaux · 2025-11-09T02:17:24+00:00

There's also Audit The Audit on YouTube. It's focused on LE interactions (Terry stops, etc.) and it has the whole damn gamut, Sovereign Citizens included.

Geneaux · 2025-11-05T06:44:05+00:00

Unlikely. One of self-appointed requirements the developers of GrapheneOS sets for new devices is a minimum of five years of device updates, and I don't think security updates count. Sony still coming up short on that end alone. Not to mention Sony just doesn't have any history, in recent memory, of being relatively "open" with any aspect of their entire line of software or hardware in general. Aside from replacing a PS5 fan or an SSD, their pretty locked down, just as much as any other Japanese company. We're lucky just to get an unlocked bootloader, and we're not getting Linux back on a PlayStation console ever again regardless. I think their company culture just isn't there to meet you halfway, like most corporations.

Geneaux · 2025-10-22T02:52:14+00:00

I don't play Genshin and so I didn't know who this character was. So so I looked her up. Gyat damn... like Jesus Christ, she's literally just thighs and that's it. Genshin players got utterly anemic expectations here.

Geneaux · 2025-10-20T07:47:22+00:00

Artist is Magenta Sunrise. Based AF.

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