[Vung Tau, 12/5/23] Linh Dinh sounds like Lênh Đênh, which means adrift in Vietnamese, but I only became adrift after arriving in the USA. Had I stayed in Vietnam, I would have been Đinh Hoàng Linh. Vietnamese boys named Dũng, meaning Brave, became Dung or Shit in the US. Those named Phúc or Phước, meaning Fortunate, also had to change their name.
Thank you, Linh, your prose is as crisp, understated, and insightful as ever. With winter almost here and the farm put to bed for the season, I'm getting back into reading. Currently, it's 'The Camp of The Saints' and 'Mason & Dixon' - promised myself I'd finish reading the latter, come hell or high water. We'll see. As always, best of luck! You are the voice of reason in a world going mad, and are brave enough to see things - and report them - for what they truly are.
Good luck with the Pynchon. I've started Mason & Dixon more than once but always got lost somewhere along the line, which is surprising since I spent a bunch of time running line in the woods up in Humboldt County. I think it was the mechanical ducks that got me spun around.
"Accept your fate." We like to think that we have total control of our lives, but that doesn't seem to be completely true. We are stuck in certain plots or parts like characters in a novel. I think accepting that is the wisest thing, even if not always easy. Welcome home, Linh. Nice column today.
Your friend's description of Jews and Chinese "teaming up" is incorrect. In the interim the Chinese will deal with whomever is necessary (witness their collaboration with Russia); in the long term they will not need to share power with anyone, that is, not as your friend imagines. The Chinese are neither racially suicidal nor exhausted from the mental gymnastics required by Christianity. I recently read of a dozen or so young men from the US (can you guess their race?), competent farmers and outdoorsmen, who have gone to Israel to help "God's People" slaughter more goyim by growing food for Israelis. No parody or satire can compete with real life as to White "conservative Christian" behavior.
Thank you, Mr. Dinh. I look forward to your essays and ruminations like a drowning man coming up for one last breath. I keep hoping there will be one more (at the very least).
"Chinese are being brought in to work with Jews. Together, they’ll run a reset America. Before this happens, whites and blacks can stage street battles to amuse the elites. Jewjabs, too, will eliminate useless eaters."
This is why I know there is still a poet in you, Adrift. You said more in 4 sentences than most writers say in thousands of words.
Observing the fact that "well-dressed military aged" aliens are marching in together with a reference to the US military's recruiting difficulties would have been considered satire just a few years ago. But just the other day, we were treated to the spectacle of a prominent US Senator suggesting just that--that we should allow illegals to serve in the military in return for citizenship. Not exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they envisioned a citizen army, I'd guess. It seems we are indeed fated to follow the script of the later Roman Empire and fill our military with non-US natives. No worries about divided loyalties, let alone espionage. Journalists have it too easy these days; they already were able to ignore being objective, telling truth to power, or even engaging in anything formerly known as "investigative journalism." And now it seems the stories write themselves.
Actually, the practice of recruiting non-citizens isn't completely novel here. When I was in the Navy back in the 70s, there were quite a number of Filipinos serving. Back then, most of them were serving in non-technical specialties like stewards, cooks, supply clerks, and postal clerks. But in our submarine crew of around 100, we had two--one was indeed a cook, but the other was an auxiliaryman, a machinist mate who worked on the boat's auxiliaries like the high pressure air compressors (one VERY important piece of equipment on a submarine). It was a great career for one of those guys if he stayed long enough (20 years) to get his half-pay pension. A 20 year pension from the military was not enough to live on in the US, but he could retire to the Philippines and live like a king on that amount back then.
How odd that a Vietnamese “native son” has to skip in and out in 30 day chunks like you do. My Taiwanese wife came to America in the late 70s, and when she became naturalized in the 80s, she let her Taiwanese passport lapse. Yet Taiwan still considered her a citizen, and 30 years later, she was able to reactivate her passport and citizenship (which I guess never lapsed) in a very straightforward manner.
Any plans to return to the recycling facility once they decide you can stay and you return to Vung Tau?
No chance of me returning to the recycling plant in Dak Lak. At some point, I will need to regain Vietnamese citizenship, but I'm OK for now. Flying in, I will get three months each time.
Thanks! I'm so exhausted, I'm already looking forward to returning to Vung Tau. That said, I'm sure Jakarta will energize me. All the Indonesian writers I've met are most impressive. It's an overlooked society.
I could hear in your voice your desire to make Vung Tau home for a while. Jakarta is a good choice. I enjoyed my short stay in Bali back in the early’90s. Maybe one day I’ll get to visit Jakarta… and even Viet Nam! 🙏🏾👍🏾🤩
Here's to us having a few beers in Vung Tau! I just finished an excellent Dak Lak wheat beer. If I hadn't gotten sick, I would keep going, but one should be enough for today, or maybe not...
Audrey Hepburn makes sense as an icon in the Orient. I don't think it's the big-eyes-opposites-attract look, well not entirely. It's the pretty face, slim body, underdeveloped curves. All our fashion models have that look too. Gamine is how it was formerly known. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamine
By now you must be carrying some serious frequent flyer miles, dude. Drinking beer and reading Linh Haong Dinh, can’t think of a better way to kill a Saturday. Hey, that ain’t the same John Henry owns the Red Sox and Liverpool FC, is it? Didn’t think so. America imploding, sure, like Joyce’s Ireland the sow who eats her own. But I’m not sure about Chinese being Shanghaied to aid and abet Jews. ‘least not that I’m aware of. Antisinocism - along with antisemitism- among most ethnicities is pretty strong here.
Will you ever come back to the states, Linh? I have neighbors in a part of Florida who are Vietnamese, but they've been spending most of their time in Minnesota or somewhere for the past several years.
I look forward to your impressions of Jakarta and Indonesia. Indonesia has always fascinated me because of its 18k plus islands with many different cultures. At the same time all those islands were a little intimidating in planning a trip. I had a fantasy of spending half a year getting lost and traveling one island to the other. But with that many islands where to get lost at and where to go next seemed like it needed a lot of research. Then came the manufactured Covid hysteria and lock downs.
Bali seemed too touristy. It would have been easier to simply start with Jakarta but I had already spent years in Bangkok so Jakarta didn't seem like a fun break. Although, who knows? Maybe I really missed out. I have met couples who lived there. Usually the woman hated Jakarta and the man loved it.
Thank you, Linh, your prose is as crisp, understated, and insightful as ever. With winter almost here and the farm put to bed for the season, I'm getting back into reading. Currently, it's 'The Camp of The Saints' and 'Mason & Dixon' - promised myself I'd finish reading the latter, come hell or high water. We'll see. As always, best of luck! You are the voice of reason in a world going mad, and are brave enough to see things - and report them - for what they truly are.
Good luck with the Pynchon. I've started Mason & Dixon more than once but always got lost somewhere along the line, which is surprising since I spent a bunch of time running line in the woods up in Humboldt County. I think it was the mechanical ducks that got me spun around.
Automatick Ducks. Merde!
"Accept your fate." We like to think that we have total control of our lives, but that doesn't seem to be completely true. We are stuck in certain plots or parts like characters in a novel. I think accepting that is the wisest thing, even if not always easy. Welcome home, Linh. Nice column today.
Your friend's description of Jews and Chinese "teaming up" is incorrect. In the interim the Chinese will deal with whomever is necessary (witness their collaboration with Russia); in the long term they will not need to share power with anyone, that is, not as your friend imagines. The Chinese are neither racially suicidal nor exhausted from the mental gymnastics required by Christianity. I recently read of a dozen or so young men from the US (can you guess their race?), competent farmers and outdoorsmen, who have gone to Israel to help "God's People" slaughter more goyim by growing food for Israelis. No parody or satire can compete with real life as to White "conservative Christian" behavior.
Thank you, Mr. Dinh. I look forward to your essays and ruminations like a drowning man coming up for one last breath. I keep hoping there will be one more (at the very least).
"Chinese are being brought in to work with Jews. Together, they’ll run a reset America. Before this happens, whites and blacks can stage street battles to amuse the elites. Jewjabs, too, will eliminate useless eaters."
This is why I know there is still a poet in you, Adrift. You said more in 4 sentences than most writers say in thousands of words.
Observing the fact that "well-dressed military aged" aliens are marching in together with a reference to the US military's recruiting difficulties would have been considered satire just a few years ago. But just the other day, we were treated to the spectacle of a prominent US Senator suggesting just that--that we should allow illegals to serve in the military in return for citizenship. Not exactly what the founding fathers had in mind when they envisioned a citizen army, I'd guess. It seems we are indeed fated to follow the script of the later Roman Empire and fill our military with non-US natives. No worries about divided loyalties, let alone espionage. Journalists have it too easy these days; they already were able to ignore being objective, telling truth to power, or even engaging in anything formerly known as "investigative journalism." And now it seems the stories write themselves.
Actually, the practice of recruiting non-citizens isn't completely novel here. When I was in the Navy back in the 70s, there were quite a number of Filipinos serving. Back then, most of them were serving in non-technical specialties like stewards, cooks, supply clerks, and postal clerks. But in our submarine crew of around 100, we had two--one was indeed a cook, but the other was an auxiliaryman, a machinist mate who worked on the boat's auxiliaries like the high pressure air compressors (one VERY important piece of equipment on a submarine). It was a great career for one of those guys if he stayed long enough (20 years) to get his half-pay pension. A 20 year pension from the military was not enough to live on in the US, but he could retire to the Philippines and live like a king on that amount back then.
How odd that a Vietnamese “native son” has to skip in and out in 30 day chunks like you do. My Taiwanese wife came to America in the late 70s, and when she became naturalized in the 80s, she let her Taiwanese passport lapse. Yet Taiwan still considered her a citizen, and 30 years later, she was able to reactivate her passport and citizenship (which I guess never lapsed) in a very straightforward manner.
Any plans to return to the recycling facility once they decide you can stay and you return to Vung Tau?
Hi JustPlainBill,
No chance of me returning to the recycling plant in Dak Lak. At some point, I will need to regain Vietnamese citizenship, but I'm OK for now. Flying in, I will get three months each time.
Linh
Here’s wishing you a safe trip to Indonesia, Lihn. 🙏🏾👍🏾🤩
Hi Robert,
Thanks! I'm so exhausted, I'm already looking forward to returning to Vung Tau. That said, I'm sure Jakarta will energize me. All the Indonesian writers I've met are most impressive. It's an overlooked society.
Linh
I could hear in your voice your desire to make Vung Tau home for a while. Jakarta is a good choice. I enjoyed my short stay in Bali back in the early’90s. Maybe one day I’ll get to visit Jakarta… and even Viet Nam! 🙏🏾👍🏾🤩
Hi Robert,
Here's to us having a few beers in Vung Tau! I just finished an excellent Dak Lak wheat beer. If I hadn't gotten sick, I would keep going, but one should be enough for today, or maybe not...
Linh
I gave up alcohol nearly four years ago; I’m a tea drinker now! 🙏🏾🤩👍🏾
Audrey Hepburn makes sense as an icon in the Orient. I don't think it's the big-eyes-opposites-attract look, well not entirely. It's the pretty face, slim body, underdeveloped curves. All our fashion models have that look too. Gamine is how it was formerly known. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamine
a great pleasure for me to read about a world I know little about
Something about an honest, loving dog! Such a warm meeting, that was.
-
"Accept your fate."
Understand, but don't play the game. YOU do the right action.
(also a strategic game move...)
By now you must be carrying some serious frequent flyer miles, dude. Drinking beer and reading Linh Haong Dinh, can’t think of a better way to kill a Saturday. Hey, that ain’t the same John Henry owns the Red Sox and Liverpool FC, is it? Didn’t think so. America imploding, sure, like Joyce’s Ireland the sow who eats her own. But I’m not sure about Chinese being Shanghaied to aid and abet Jews. ‘least not that I’m aware of. Antisinocism - along with antisemitism- among most ethnicities is pretty strong here.
nice Rilke
Will you ever come back to the states, Linh? I have neighbors in a part of Florida who are Vietnamese, but they've been spending most of their time in Minnesota or somewhere for the past several years.
Hi James,
No plan to return, but I wouldn't mind seeing Guam, Honolulu or El Paso again.
Linh
I look forward to your impressions of Jakarta and Indonesia. Indonesia has always fascinated me because of its 18k plus islands with many different cultures. At the same time all those islands were a little intimidating in planning a trip. I had a fantasy of spending half a year getting lost and traveling one island to the other. But with that many islands where to get lost at and where to go next seemed like it needed a lot of research. Then came the manufactured Covid hysteria and lock downs.
Bali seemed too touristy. It would have been easier to simply start with Jakarta but I had already spent years in Bangkok so Jakarta didn't seem like a fun break. Although, who knows? Maybe I really missed out. I have met couples who lived there. Usually the woman hated Jakarta and the man loved it.
Hi Al,
Since I like to linger in a place, I won't likely see anything but Jakarta. Plus, I'm too exhausted to attempt a complicated itinerary.
Linh
Glad you made it back. We will be back in Feb!