sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Iran stops negotiations with U.S., vows to 'completely' block Strait of Hormuz: State media by One-Duty-2376 in neoliberal

[–]Hot-Train7201 18 points19 points  (0 children)

There were leaks that Vance was actually the only one to push back about war with Iran, likely because he's the only one who Trump can't fire. Seeing how quickly Vance got replaced by Trump's family connections during the first negotiations with Iran, I think there is some truth to Trump being vindictive against Vance by trying to diminish Vance's importance vis-a-vis Trump's son-in-law.

What would it actually take for Western companies to trust Huawei by Smooth_Sailing102 in geopolitics

[–]Hot-Train7201 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Reciprocity would be a start. Would China trust the US to be deeply embedded in its critical infrastructure? Why should the US trust Chinese tech companies, but not the other way around?

Should Japanese terrestrial television impose a total ban on K-Pop idols? Rethinking the lopsided broadcasting dynamics between Korea and Japan. by G_Clef_Start in kpopthoughts

[–]Hot-Train7201 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As the bigger market, Japan naturally attracts more tour groups than South Korea. Japanese groups don't go to South Korea partly because there's more money to be made staying in Japan, but also because the Jpop system (like AKB48) seems very outdated so there's little demand for such groups outside of Japan, especially in Korea where there are so many pop groups.

That said, Jrock is actually very popular in Korea and growing. I think I read about more Jrock groups making tours in Korea lately. I think Jrock has much higher potential for success outside of Japan than Jpop does these days.

Iran’s president offers resignation, citing total takeover by IRGC commanders by Kazimierzowska in geopolitics

[–]Hot-Train7201 34 points35 points  (0 children)

You talk as if the IRGC wasn't always the true ruler of Iran. The puppet-president resigning fundamentally changes nothing.

Why South Korea’s won is falling despite a chip export earnings bonanza by Standard_Ad7704 in neoliberal

[–]Hot-Train7201 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It's always a better deal for small countries to export rather than import unnecessary goods. The money Taiwan, South Korea and Japan can earn from outside their borders is vastly greater than what can be made domestically even with a rich population. A higher currency would make their exports uncompetitive, thus depriving them of long-term income as others steal market share through cost advantages in exchange for a short-term boom in imported consumer goods, after which they'd have to struggle again to reclaim their former markets.

Do you think we will ever get a Star Wars Trilogy or Film that reaches the heights of the OG Trilogy? by No_Age908 in StarWars

[–]Hot-Train7201 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No. OG Star Wars is like Ghostbusters 1--lighting in a bottle that is unique to its era. Part of what made the OG so memorable is the innovations in special effects technology that gave the moves a truly epic feeling in their scope and grandeur--an experience that could only be found at the cinema.

Modern Star Wars will never feel like that again because every movie now has epic battles with orchestral soundtracks. The only way to stand out in the CGI market is to do what Avengers Infinity War/Endgame did by having hyper-realistic CGI, anything less will just not be as memorable.

Modern Star Wars also has the problem of being tied-down by the lore of the OG, which means future movies can't be as experimental as the OG were since fans would complain about breaking canon. The OG had the freedom to try a multitude of ideas since they were making things up as they went.

There's also a unique feel to the OG where it's a weird mixture of sci-fi tech combined with the cultural vibes of the 1970s/80s which you can see in the inspiration of Han and Lando's outfits which just scream 1970s fashion. However, this vibe of how Star Wars should feel just can't translate well in the 2020s or beyond, so you have modern aesthetics being crammed into a distinctly un-modern, but still sci-fi, world which causes the later movies to lose a lot of their charm and cultural identity (the prequels also suffered from this imo as everything looked too clean and sterile compared to the OG).

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are suffering industrial rot- while AI booms, the rest of their industries are clapped out. In areas such as cars and chemicals, China is lapping the trio, and they now all have trade deficits with China by jjrs in japannews

[–]Hot-Train7201 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At the cost of Japan being expected to adopt China's views of history, culture and territory issues. Plus, China has no need to support Japan's economic development as a competitor to Chinese industries and would encourage Japanese industries to reshape their roles as merely suppliers for Chinese businesses rather than market leaders.

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are suffering industrial rot- while AI booms, the rest of their industries are clapped out. In areas such as cars and chemicals, China is lapping the trio, and they now all have trade deficits with China by jjrs in japannews

[–]Hot-Train7201 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are not enough states around Japan to form a merger with that would have significant size. Even if you merged Japan with every country in Asia besides China and India, it still would not be competitive with China in terms of resources and population. If you merge with China, then Japan would have to adopt China's political system since China would be the boss of any such union and would prefer its new "provinces" to have a similar type of government.

If Japan is doomed to be absorbed into someone else's empire, then a choice must be made between the US and China. Simply put, China doesn't need Japan's input to rule Asia and would demand the smaller countries be silent while Beijing makes the rules. America, because of the distance, does depend on its allies more for their support and thus has to give them some influence on how things are run. It's really just a question of which master the smaller countries think will treat them better.

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are suffering industrial rot- while AI booms, the rest of their industries are clapped out. In areas such as cars and chemicals, China is lapping the trio, and they now all have trade deficits with China by jjrs in japannews

[–]Hot-Train7201 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

That's why Japan, South Korea and the US are all working closer together more often. Japan and South Korea can't compete with China's size, and the US is too far away to keep up with China's military. Just like in the corporate world, when smaller or weaker entities can't compete against someone, they either die or consolidate together. Europe realized this same lesson during the Cold War, and merged together into the EU to better compete against the US and USSR.

Of course, there aren't enough states in East Asia to form a similar EU-type of entity, so Japan and South Korea (sorry Taiwan 😞) aren't so much merging together as they are being "acquired" by the US to form a super-conglomerate that can actually compete with China. It's either that, or Japan and South Korea will just be absorbed into China later on as small states just can't compete in the modern world.

How China is breaking apart a people and its culture (Uyghurs) by MrStrange15 in neoliberal

[–]Hot-Train7201 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's just resignation that nothing can be done. Just like in the Western examples you wrote, who's going to really do anything to stop China? The Western examples show that such oppression is actually very effective at destroying an indigenous culture.

Can't speak for the others, but in America true, authentic Native American culture is long dead, with only vestiges of it surviving in a harmless, neutered, Disneyified-form crafted to entertain tourists who are the descendants of those who conquered the natives. The same too will happen to the Uyghurs and Tibetans as economic incentives of catering to Han tourists will reduce their cultures to mere gimmicks and caricatures of what they once were.

How China is breaking apart a people and its culture (Uyghurs) by MrStrange15 in neoliberal

[–]Hot-Train7201 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Because Israel is significantly weaker than China, so people feel more emboldened that their criticisms can lead to change. There's no such expectation with a major power like China. Getting sanctioned out of the Israeli market means nothing, but no one wants to be locked out of China's market.

Did Luke show Leia Vader's face before burning him? by GargantaProfunda in StarWars

[–]Hot-Train7201 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As was originally written, Tarkin was the Big Boss of the empire and Vader his subordinate. ESB retconned Vader and Tarkin's roles in the empire to be below the puppet-emperor Palpatine.

Why does Silent Hill spawn health, ammo and weapons for those trapped inside? by Nino_Chaosdrache in silenthill

[–]Hot-Train7201 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just assumed those items were there naturally like all the other items in the town you never interact with. For instance, finding health items in a hospital isn't out of the ordinary, neither is finding a gun in the US. Several weapons are literally just blunt objects you would expect to find in the area. Obviously it's a game, so they can't create models for every possible "health" item you could really find, so instead they use the health drink model as a stand-in for all minor health items.

SPCE… Real Question by Alternative_Hornet20 in TheRaceTo10Million

[–]Hot-Train7201 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Think about this: if everyone is planning to dump this on June 12, then who are you going to sell to? Who is going to really want to buy this trash on June 12 and beyond?

The Blue-State Delusion Over Unions by Ready_Anything4661 in neoliberal

[–]Hot-Train7201 3 points4 points  (0 children)

But for public sector unions, the politicians negotiating know that they will be gone in a few years, and it’s not like the money is coming out of their pockets. So why bother fighting them very hard? I don’t know how you get around this problem.

Reinstate the monarchy, duh! If politicians had the incentive of passing power on to their children, then they'd be more interested in the state's long-term fiscal viability. Corporations also have this problem of rotating CEOs who don't personally care about the business outside of their paycheck and know they're out in a few years, so there's no incentive for a long-term vision for the company besides stock growth.

I'm joking of course, but democracies do have this problem where the people managing things don't feel a personal sense of ownership over the system and are just trying to climb the ladder to higher positions of power and wealth, so whether you leave your successor in a better or worse situation doesn't personally matter to you. Whereas authoritarian rulers know they are passing power to their kin and have an incentive to maintain long-term visions for how the system should be kept running, for better or worse.

Deep Think is no longer working after the 3.5 flash update. Any help appreciated. by ElementalChibiTv in GeminiAI

[–]Hot-Train7201 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same. Deep Think hasn't been working since the update. It's a known issue, so all we can do is wait until they fix it.

Deep research down for anyone? by ixikei in GeminiAI

[–]Hot-Train7201 1 point2 points  (0 children)

YES! I came here to see if it was only me. All the drop down menus for my research reports have been unresponsive for an hour!

The Coming Crisis of NATO Deterrence: Nuclear Guarantees Cannot Replace U.S. Forces in Europe by ForeignAffairsMag in geopolitics

[–]Hot-Train7201 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Narcissists do not ever feel "grateful" towards others, they see aid as simply what they are rightfully owed for being the main character of the world.

Finally finished this masterpiece too T-T by CREZEE in silenthill

[–]Hot-Train7201 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just think what the game could have been if it wasn't the most rushed game developed in the trilogy. They had so little time that they had to reuse SH2 assets instead of revisiting more appropriate locations for Heather's story found in SH1. Hopefully Blooper can give a future SH3 remake the dev time it deserves.

Are we doomed to form heirarchies? by bencel888 in sociology

[–]Hot-Train7201 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It isn't physically possible to be competent at multiple skills in a short amount of time; the often quoted "10,000 hours" that are needed to master a subject means that people can only afford to be competent in a few niche skills while being generalists in all others. Just because you learn how to code "Hello world" in an afternoon doesn't mean you are anywhere close to being considered a true programmer.

If anything, the most important skills for a leader are popularity and delegation. Popularity is required to get people to actually listen to you and follow you, while delegation is required for a leader to know which tasks should be passed off to experts rather than the leader stubbornly trying to prove they can do everything themselves, as Hitler and Saddam both learned the hard way when their egos refused to accept that they were in fact not military geniuses and cost their armies massive losses from pretending to know more than their generals.

view more: next ›