mildly_benis
No bio...
User ID: 1305
mildly_benis
5mo ago
We don't really know what China would do if they had complete dominion over ethnic Europeans. It hasn't really happened before.
1945 was not total US dominion over ethnic Europeans, and even from there it's a long way to 'essentially unlimited capacity to act'. What would US do with that? Maybe I'm naive, I don't know much about China, I am aware of the outlines of the Mao period, but don't think we have reasons to think the Chinese singleton variant is obviously the worse one.
mildly_benis
5mo ago
saying the quiet part out loud
If the 'quiet' part is merely that performative activism is a common phenomenon in the context of any high profile issue, Israeli conduct included, I think it's actually a pretty widely acknowledged fact.
If the 'quiet' part is that opposition to Israeli conduct is just a hysteria and a performance, therefore illegitimate, then this assumes a consensus that does not exist.
The very first thing she says in the video is that stating her opinion on the conflict 'would make absolutely no difference to anyone'. I consider this a weaker strain of 'let them kill each other', and distrust people pushing it to western audiences. Why is it reasonable and proper for plebs to be neutral if their state supports one side?
mildly_benis
6mo ago
Life got in the way
Honestly, I'm impressed you manage to be so productive, considering all you mention.
you could have left a glowing review right there yourself
I did a while ago, recommended to a friend too. "I'll take a look" - never did, flaky bastard.
They are increasingly popular in Poland. A tattoo place I pass by once in a while is called "ACOTATANATO" (translates to "but what will daddy say to this?", a mystery why it's not "ACOTATONATO" which is still correct and flows better) - a vapid, somewhat common reason, I imagine. Rebellion in the face overbearing authority, except such prepackaged rebellion is common, and authority in retreat.
mildly_benis
6mo ago
I do write a hard scifi novel
Do you? I keep checking the page every other day, and keep getting disappointed.
Kidding. I genuinely enjoyed the novel so far, I'm grateful for each chapter. I thoroughly recommend it to everyone here.
The reviews crack me up each time I take a look. "Pretty cool" - 3.5 stars, on a webzone with rating system where in practice 5 stars means 'readable, MAYBE'.
mildly_benis
6mo ago
I found the voice so grating I closed one of the demos on an impulse. Turns out I categorically do not want someone else's mechanism to talk to me in such a bubbly, ingratiating, worryingly palatable manner unprompted.
mildly_benis
6mo ago
I want the sense of massive armies movies, and not just fighting battles, but fighting wars.
It's nothing close to that, but Distant Worlds 2 is a interesting Stellaris alternative.
Economy/trade involves large numbers of ships going places, see any screenshot from the game. Target rich environment for pirates/raiders. Empires feel a significantly more 'alive' than your typical Paradox game. You have a lot of options as to how much of economy and other aspects of the game are automated, but some automation enabled is the expected way to play.
It is not quite polished and balanced enough, doesn't live up to its potential, but the one campaign I played was worth it.
mildly_benis
6mo ago
Bear pickers would get what they deserve. At least you can expect a man, if he's forced to eat you, to kill you before he begins.
mildly_benis
6mo ago
We already have a substantial minority of Russian speaking people.
My hunch is that a policy of open arms for all (ethnic) Russian immigrants would help with the Polish reputation of being rabidly russophobic, and make it a tiny bit harder for German politicians to explain away a local conflict as something Poland pushed for and maybe even deserved, actually. And anyway, not many Russians would come, I imagine.
I suppose the potential for sabotage is a concern.
mildly_benis
7mo ago
By contrast, the power of Borris Johnson to coerce, compel, bewitch, or otherwise overturn the true desires of the Ukrainian political establishment was...?
You frame this as if it were absurd to think US had any way of influencing Ukrainians. I do find the focus on Johnson silly. The idea that at that pivotal moment US helped Ukrainians decide to commit themselves to the meatgrinder, not so much. Obviously Johnson himself would be little more than a mouthpiece.
My impression is that you never give an inch.
mildly_benis
7mo ago
enough to trigger something that wouldn't be out of place at a Klan rally
Where is that something, do you just mean the responses under the the tweet in your link? The pinned tweet on that account, while recent, makes me suspect the shitposting crowd was antagonized before already.
mildly_benis
7mo ago
This is so bizarre to me.
If you're male, I find it very hard to believe you don't see his point. You can discard it as a primitive, outdated consideration if you so choose, but don't call it bizarre - it decidedly is not.
Myself, I can't overstate just how much this scenario makes me recoil. If such mercenary behavior is straightforwardly permissible, then the idea of fighting for a nation falls apart, and you're just meat to be sacrificed to further elite interests. You don't exactly get to loot your way into leaving a war better off these days. War in Ukraine is utter hell, demanding solidarity on homefront is perfectly normal.
mildly_benis
7mo ago
I mean that something like Foxhole but with Factorio-complex factory gameplay and combat that's more like say, war thunder or Squad (but with lots of AI grunts) would be far more fun.
I see, I'd like to see a game like that too. Don't know about it being more fun though - it does not exist.
There's no commander's map view where he can assign objectives to units
No, it's total anarchy unless you talk people into something, and there are no such in-game tools to coordinate even just your own squad. Randoms, you must wrangle them via text/voice chat. But you can imagine, against such backdrop of chaos, a coordinated group can be insanely effective.
So 'effortless coordination' in comparison to that, and experimentation, since the base assumption is that it must be purely voluntary.
I lost my taste for that kind of game cca 1997.
I think it would surprise you. It's light on individual aim skill, heavy on positioning, flanking, correct tool usage. Digging a key trench or placing tripod MGs correctly can turn a battle. Admittedly short engagement ranges make it all somewhat arcadey, but I'd say most of the time this is not detrimental.
mildly_benis
8mo ago
Maybe, no idea what sort of changes you're thinking of. But as it is, it's both good gameplay, and nicely unique. Imo the wasted potential is in the lack of serious experimentation with tools that would enable effortless coordination at all scales while maintaining anarchy.
mildly_benis
8mo ago
IRL Russia chose Religious and Aristocratic and ended up technologically backward
MEIOU3 is a total overhaul, possibly more feature rich than EU5 will ever be - it adds pops, simulated economy, and a lengthy, painful process of reform from feudal to modern bureaucratic state. A small but modernized, urbanized country with rich and educated plebs will demolish a country like Poland - strong early, but held back by the powerful nobility, naturally falling behind as game progresses.
The mod is still rough, held back horribly by the UI limitations, has a steep learning curve and demands patience, but I 100% recommend it for all EU4 players.
the whole thing with game being 3d yet having weird-ass 2d combat is not good either
Did you try it? Foxhole infantry combat is great, and if you're lucky to join an interesting battle, it is downright fantastic. Vehicle gameplay is cool too, though tank line meta is meh and there is a lot of waiting around involved. I thoroughly recommend it for everything except facility building.
mildly_benis
8mo ago
One perspective on Navalny death is that it was meant as a signal for Europeans: "Current regime feels itself strong enough to drop the act that a reset is at all feasible. Russia is winning in Ukraine and will dictate when and how the conflict ends. Putin is the only person Europe can negotiate with".
Ukraine would be interested in Europe not treating this signal seriously, saying it was just a clot helps. It's quite a stretch though.
mildly_benis
11mo ago
If you haven't experienced the loss
Only men cut well out of childhood do. But I would not cede the exclusive right to judge the matter to them anyhow. I only meant I consider being and not being all natural as far back as you can remember equal standing here.
but the object-level facts can't support the weight "mutilation" is trying to load here.
I don't agree. Yes, it's a strong word, it is sufficiently central here. I would say such parents are perpetuating mutilation, just not the worst imaginable exact kind.
mildly_benis
11mo ago
most people who get conspicuously upset about it are [...] MRA’s going on screeds
Maybe, either way, I think being very upset over it is permissible.
mildly_benis
11mo ago
We've experienced it, and do not consider it worthy of the term "mutilation"
It's vanishingly rare here, I think experiencing the alternative gives you just as much standing to judge it. I'm not sure if I quite understand what you have in mind when you say "the experience of circumcision-objectors observably does not generalize very well". Here, practically any adult man would consider it an unambiguous mutilation if proposed without absolute necessity.
The exact extent of the loss of function is of little interest to me, it's a technicality dwarfed by the default of no wanton destruction of body parts that I know to be perfectly good as they are. I could probably live with the tip of each finger, say 0.5cm, removed. You could prove it's only 8% loss in general performance, I don't care - it has to be a significant, unambiguous improvement before it deserves even a conversation.
I especially dislike how meaningless the practice is in the US, and as such, a reminder that men are disposable. If it were a genuine ritual you go through when coming of age or whatever, I'd be far less disgusted, even though it would hardly be any more of a choice.
I'm not demanding each 'victim' to be mad about it, of course, perspective @self_made_human describes is reasonable.
mildly_benis
11mo ago
But getting mad about having been circumcised reeks of mommy issues
I find this willingness to apply 'deranged' label to resentment over getting mutilated unsettling. Can't help but see it as a defense mechanism first.
mildly_benis
1yr ago
That's fair, I'm hoping that after some tweaks it can be made to map there.
mildly_benis
1yr ago
amplifying Israeli rhetoric about savage barbarians etc would be far more likely to turn European populations against mass immigration
I think that only enables the media to shift the blame for the 'savage barbarians' rhetoric from Israelis to the right, a very convenient framing. Showing yourself capable of seeing past ethnicity/religion, and comfortably lampooning double standards seem beneficial enough to warrant the sympathy signal boost, especially if the angle is 'natives mistreated'.
mildly_benis
1yr ago
I am primarily referring to 'brutal combat footage or savage treatment of POWs', yes. If the question is the emotional, subjective impact (what I meant by 'wince') of an individual video, I think it does not matter who the victim is, it all comes down to either extreme cruelty in full display or detail. There is a well known trench combat video when one of the surprised soldiers gets shot, you begin to hear him scream in fear and agony, and barely a second later his is shot again and silent - I mean this sort of detail. Meanwhile photos from Bucha mentioned below did nothing of the sort for me, as bad as murder is.
I did some soul searching after largely missing the AI opportunities. Conclusion: pretend chart spans higher than 2 years do not exist, or greed for reasonable prices will prevent you from buying anything at all.
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