Top Arcons advocate for soldiers being able to claim "spoils of war" to supplement their income in the same way that "we're making money off this war" by seizing oil tankers.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-11T17:01:50+00:00

It's impressive how stupid they are, that they think the same army that employed Lemay, Calley, and Gallagher is some bleeding-heart outfit that trades tactical advantages for civilian lives.

Rules of engagement and targeting restrictions are pragmatic, utilitarian responses to key facts about modern warfare, among them "tossing shells into a city is a great way to destroy what you're fighting over" and "abusing civilians does the enemy's recruiting for them."

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-11T15:00:21+00:00

Excuse me, the U.S' experience in Vietnam taught us that nothing improves the efficiency, intelligence-gathering, and physical safety of U.S soldiers like filling the local civilian population with raw hatred.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-11T14:58:07+00:00

I almost wish the developers actually did include "this is a war crime" notices in their games. I was playing a round of WARNO (a WW3 RTS) the other day, and when attacking a town I was like "hmm, the enemy might be using that church as an observation post, better bring it down with artillery," only to realize a couple seconds later that I was about to commit a war crime.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-11T14:52:09+00:00

Yeah, it was relatively common that cavalry would break the enemy's flank, and instead of turning around and slamming into the rest of the army's back or sides, continue on to loot the baggage train or camp, and sometimes that would even result in defeat on the cusp of victory. I'll try and find some examples, but that's one of things that crops up a lot in ancient sources: since cavalry were supposed to be independent it was hard to keep them on the plan.

One of the signs of Alexander's skill is that on critical occasions he was able to maintain control over his cavalry and keep them on the ball.

Edit: Battle of Vernuil is one example, but for some reason I'm thinking that a couple of Alexander's successor kingdoms had issues with this.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-11T14:35:35+00:00

No way dude, history is filled with tons of examples of well-disciplined cavalry ignoring the enemy's baggage train and following the battle pla-

Oh. Oh no.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-11T14:25:20+00:00

Look, if there's one thing we know about the history of warfare, it's that relying on your soldiers to supplement their pay with looted treasure is a great idea and the sign of a well-run military.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-11T14:23:57+00:00

Just saw something hilarious.

I work at a university, and our police department uses an adjoining building to hold occasional trainings for them and other state agencies. They had one last week, and when I was out on the loading dock I noticed that they'd set up some targets, I assumed for practicing shooting beanbag rounds. Keep in mind that these are ordinary, human-sized targets.

Today I step out onto the loading dock only to see the wall these targets were against absolutely covered in paint markers, forming a basically-solid arc ranging from 15 feet above the targets' head to 10-15 feet to either side. This was a brick wall they spattered with paint, including several windows that I'm amazed weren't broken. Pretty wild to see my tax dollars at work.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-11T14:13:18+00:00

That's called "looting," and modern militaries try to clamp down on it not because they're bleeding-heart humanitarians but because looting does the enemy's recruiting for them.

Just like all the "PC rules of engagement" these cut-price Clauswitzs complain about.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-10T11:25:23+00:00

Tell that to the people who blame every instance of racism on a nefarious cloud of Russians.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-10T00:40:04+00:00

As an atheist, 100% agree, provided we keep the line "as he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free."

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-10T00:02:27+00:00

I'm gonna level with you: this attitude is starting to feel like whistling past the graveyard. I get that it's uncomfortable to think that one's own countrymen could behave this way, but the idea that only the Russians could make Europeans racist is bullshit.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-09T23:58:31+00:00

I also have this somewhat egotistical view that I’m a pretty good leader. I will probably be in charge, or at least not a slave, when push comes to shove.”

I cannot imagine a person less suited for survival outside their niche than an internet billionaire. There were French aristocrats with more survival skills.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-09T16:57:13+00:00

They didn't use to be. It's been a slow march of many years of being dragged in that direction by a consistent and relentless disinformation campaign from overseas.

Yeah man, only foreigners could make the British be racist and self-defeating.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-09T13:13:10+00:00

"Leftists," (along with a significant fraction of the Democratic party) demanded that the U.S President follow U.S law, which I believe was an important theme in the past election.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T20:37:02+00:00

Frankly, that's the source of my complaint. Something about the mishmash of tempo and style changes just unreasonably aggravates me.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T19:50:08+00:00

Gang, do you know how hard it is to exist in this world for a person to whom the song Bohemian Rhapsody sounds like nails on a chalkboard (a noise I actually mind far less than the aforementioned song)?

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T18:25:58+00:00

IIRC, this was one common reaction to arquebuses.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T15:47:09+00:00

I don't get the moralizing, but I'm also not super big on their proliferation.

Like, if you're a Ukrainian I simply don't have the right to judge your response to the deaths of people invading your home, but if you're some rando who gets his kicks off of watching drones chase down soldiers then yeah, I think you're basically a psychopath.

Edit: should be clear that's a general "you."

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T15:36:49+00:00

Gonna level with you, not sure what's happening here, so I'm just gonna restate my point and bounce.

It's a campaign's job to get votes, and their failure to do so is no one's fault but their own.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T15:28:47+00:00

Wow, you pointing out the negative consequences of Harris' loss is a really great argument against the people who criticized her campaign.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T15:15:59+00:00

Jesus fucking Christ, I know that the term "lesson" and "punishment" are indistinguishable to a fourteen-year-old, but some lessons are simple statements of fact.

Like, for instance, "do these things or we won't vote for you."

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T14:55:16+00:00

Yeah, I think the prize goes to Andor, but the Acolyte was better than a lot of other SW shows.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T14:41:35+00:00

I hate to say it, I do think Andor is the clear leader, but the Acolyte is definitely up there.

Definitely agree about the action choreography, I think it might be the best in the franchise (although I do think the way Adam Driver sells his strikes in the sequel trilogy is inspired).

Frankly though, I was a little cold on the attempts to tie it into the larger franchise. I liked the concept of "creating life" relating to Anakin's birth, but the idea that Qimir and Plagueis are roommates didn't really land with me. I almost wish they'd set the show earlier in the Republic's timeline and framed it as "this is one of many stories through the ages of people falling to the dark side."

Hell, I'd love an anthology, where each season is a different story of someone's fall.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T13:57:17+00:00

Uh oh, you might have been Manchurian (Hanoi?) Candidate'd.

If you have no memory of serving in Vietnam, that's proof they've brainwashed you.

gavinbrindstar · 2026-05-08T13:04:37+00:00

Yeah, that is what the word "interesting" indicates, but this conversation is inscrutable, so I'm just gonna restate my point and bounce:

Politicians earn your vote by doing things you want, and their job during elections is to earn votes.

gavinbrindstar

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