AI experts return from China stunned: The U.S. grid is so weak, the race may already be over [Eva Roytburg | August 14, 2025 | fortune.com]
Archived Link and Generated Summary below:
Alt. Link: archive.ph/rD2R4
Generated Summary:
A 600-word bullet point summary focusing on statistics, comparing China and the US's energy infrastructure readiness for AI development.
- China views energy availability for AI development as a "solved problem," unlike the US where it's a major bottleneck.
- McKinsey projects a $6.7 trillion investment in new data center capacity globally (2025-2030) to meet AI's energy demands.
- US data center development is limited by power grid stress; some companies build their own power plants. Ohio households face at least a $15/month electricity bill increase due to data centers.
- Goldman Sachs highlights AI's power demand outpacing grid development cycles.
- China annually adds more electricity demand than Germany's total annual consumption. One Chinese province matches India's total electricity supply.
- China maintains an 80-100% reserve margin, meaning it has at least twice the needed capacity, allowing it to absorb AI data center demand.
- The US typically operates with a 15% reserve margin or less, leading to warnings about grid strain during peak demand.
- China's energy planning is coordinated through long-term, technocratic policy, anticipating demand. The US relies heavily on private investment with shorter-term return expectations (3-5 years), unsuitable for long-term power projects (decade-long build and payoff).
- China directs state funding to strategic sectors, accepting some project failures to ensure capacity when needed. The US lacks this public financing for long-term energy projects.
- China's pragmatic approach to renewables and coal use, focusing on efficiency and results, contrasts with the US's politically charged debates.
- Without significant changes in US energy infrastructure funding and development, China's lead will widen.
AI experts return from China stunned: The U.S. grid is so weak, the race may already be over
China is “set up to hit grand slams,” longtime Chinese energy expert David Fishman told Fortune. “The U.S., at best, can get on base.”Eva Roytburg (Fortune)
Tesla sales plunge 40% in Europe as Chinese EV rival BYD's triple
Tesla sales plunge 40% in Europe as Chinese EV rival BYD's triple
Tesla faces a number of challenges in Europe including continued intense competition and brand damage from Elon Musk's political involvement.Arjun Kharpal (CNBC)
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WhatsApp will help you become a better LLM: Writing Help AI feature, will rewrite your words to help you form a better sentences.
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36465377
- Engineering.
- White Paper.
> Sometimes you know what you want to say, but just need a little help with how to say it.
>
> That’s why today we’re introducing Writing Help. It’s our latest AI feature powered by Private Processing that keeps your messages completely private. You can review the suggestions from AI in various styles such as professional, funny, or supportive that you can select or continue editing to deliver that perfect message.Audits:
- Trail of Bits.
- NCC Group.Source: WhatsApp Blog Post.
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Nvidia earnings beat Wall Street’s sky-high expectations, but the stock is falling because ‘there were no H20 sales to China-based customers’
Nvidia recorded no China sales revenue for H20 chips and reported revenue that narrowly beat Wall Street targets in the second quarter, as the AI chipmaker reported financial results on Wednesday.Nvidia has been navigating trade restrictions on H20 shipments to China since April. The U.S. government began issuing licenses for approved buyers in China in July, and Nvidia said a few of its China-based customers had received such licenses. But no H20 chip revenue to China was included in its second-quarter revenue, Nvidia said (It noted that some H20 chip inventory was sold outside of China in the second quarter, adding a $180 million benefit to the topline).
Nvidia said it was not including H20 in its financial forecast for the current quarter, though it estimated that $2 billion to $5 billion worth of H20 chips could be shipped to China if “geopolitical” issues were resolved. The company also repeated its call for the U.S. government to allow it to sell its more advanced “Blackwell” generation of products to China.
Republican election chief accused of slipping MDMA, cocaine into granddaughters’ ice cream
Republican election chief accused of slipping MDMA, cocaine into granddaughters’ ice cream
James Edwin Yokeley Jr. — the 66-year-old Republican chairman of the Surry County, North Carolina, Board of Elections — faces serious criminal charges after authorities in Wilmington, North Carolina, revealed he allegedly slipped illegal drugs into h…Ailia Zehra, Alternet (Raw Story)
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China’s Domestic x86 CPU, the Zhaoxin KX-7000, Debuts in an AI PC by MAXHUB, Positioning It as a Viable Alternative to Intel/AMD Options
Archived ver.: web.archive.org/web/2025082810…Original source, including in-depth tests and other fancy details of the CPU used in the MAXHUB PC itself (written in Mandarin): news.mydrivers.com/1/1070/1070…
CPU-Z Single-Core Benchmark and specs from the original source:
That's an 8-core, ~3GHz Base Speed, 32MB L3 cache CPU for the number-crunchers around here.
On the surface, this CPU seems like it's best suited for general desktop and office use, to see it adopted to a PC build product geared for "AI workloads" is interesting. If I'm not mistaken, AI performance is heavily dependent on the GPU rather than on the CPU, so I think that's fine:
In terms of performance, the MAXHUB's AI+ desktop computer is claimed to play 1080P 30fps and 4K 30fps high-bitrate online videos with decent CPU utilization numbers, showing that the KX-7000 CPU acts decently with media workload. Of course, when compared against competitors like Intel or AMD, Zhaoxin is behind, but the key motive here to create an ecosystem that relies entirely on in-house products, and this has apparently happened here.And that's a good thing, lol.
China’s Domestic x86 CPU, the Zhaoxin KX-7000, Debuts in an AI PC by MAXHUB, Positioning It as a Viable …
China has its very own domestic x86 CPU as well, developed by the manufacturer Zhaoxin, which has seen integration by MAXHUB.Wccftech
Intelligence Chief Gabbard Slammed for Identifying Undercover CIA Officer
Intelligence Chief Gabbard Slammed for Identifying Undercover CIA Officer
The covert official was included in a list of names shared by Gabbard online.Ewan Palmer (The Daily Beast)
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WhatsApp will help you become a better LLM: Writing Help AI feature, will rewrite your words to help you form a better sentences.
- Engineering.
- White Paper.
> Sometimes you know what you want to say, but just need a little help with how to say it.
>
> That’s why today we’re introducing Writing Help. It’s our latest AI feature powered by Private Processing that keeps your messages completely private. You can review the suggestions from AI in various styles such as professional, funny, or supportive that you can select or continue editing to deliver that perfect message.
Audits:
- Trail of Bits.
- NCC Group.
Source: WhatsApp Blog Post.
Building Private Processing for AI tools on WhatsApp - Engineering at Meta
We are inspired by the possibilities of AI to help people be more creative, productive, and stay closely connected on WhatsApp, so we set out to build a new technology that allows our users around …Chris Wiltz (Meta)
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Mystery surrounds $1.2 billion Army contract to build huge detention tent camp in Texas desert
Meteorologists now face a Trump ‘loyalty test’ when applying to National Weather Service jobs
National Weather Service asks applicants to answer 'loyalty test'
After firing hundreds of meteorologists, the National Weather Service announced it is hiring. Applicants are being asked to detail their support for Trump.Anthony Edwards (San Francisco Chronicle)
the federal government told agencies they aren’t required to use the essay questions for hiring or promotions
I was gonna say, they can ask all they want but the person doing the hiring doesn't have to give a shit. In fact, I'd put ass kissers on the bottom of the list. This will be a big deal when at some point the top is filled with MAGA.
UK power company Drax’s shares plunge amid investigation over source of ‘renewable’ fuel | Investigation by UK watchdog relates to historical statements on wood pellets for power station
UK power company Drax investigated over source of ‘renewable’ fuel
Move by UK watchdog FCA relates to historical statements on wood pellets for power station from January 2022 to March 2024Kalyeena Makortoff (The Guardian)
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Donald Trump’s assault on US nuclear watchdog raises safety concerns | Staff ‘forced out’ and independence curtailed at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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Gavin Newsom tops Kamala Harris in 2028 presidential poll of California Democrats
In a battle between two Californians considering Democratic runs for president in 2028, Gov. Gavin Newsom holds a slight edge over former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a new poll.
The poll, conducted by Politico and The Citrin Center public opinion firm, found Newsom is the top choice of 25% of California's Democratic voters in the 2028 Democratic primary, leading all prospective candidates including Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominee, who is supported by 19% of the state's Democrats.
The two high-profile Californians are followed in the poll by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (13%), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (10%), Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (4%) and New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (4%).
Gavin Newsom tops Kamala Harris in 2028 presidential poll of California Democrats
A new 2028 presidential poll found Gavin Newsom is the top choice of 25% of California's Democratic voters, followed by Kamala Harris at 19%., USA TODAY (USA TODAY)
Climate change intensified wildfire weather in Greece, Türkiye and Cyprus: Study
Climate change intensified wildfire weather in Greece, Türkiye and Cyprus: Study
Hundreds of wildfires across Europe have burned at least 1 million hectares, or around 2.5 million acres, since the start of the year. That’s made 2025 the worst year for the continent since official wildfire records began in 2006.Conservation news
‘It’s a warning, set to a dance beat’: Jon Batiste on his new song urging climate action 20 years after Katrina
‘It’s a warning, set to a dance beat’: Jon Batiste on his new song urging climate action 20 years after Katrina
The global music star, whose home town of New Orleans was devastated by the hurricane in 2005, says ‘people power’ can change the worldMark Hertsgaard (The Guardian)
We can only wish that some people can get what he's trying to convey with his song.
However we had a band here that made a song about climate change 18 years ago and people just sing along without much more action. They also made popular songs about inequalities and social issues. Some of the songs became very popular and were played repeatedly in the media. The band is supposedly a big part of our culture.
But after all those years, it's just that. Songs. They are sad pieces of warning, and people just treat them like anything else; a commodity to be used, and eventually replaced by a newer thing.
chiavina terminifera che non fa più uai fai (Netvip chiavetta WiFi morta a caso)
Poco fa era appena tarda mattina e, come si suol dire, se non bestemmio guarda… la giornata non comincia in maniera ufficiale. A quanto pare, la chiavettina WiFi che in questi ultimi giorni stavo usando temporaneamente sul PC fisso ha deciso di morire per sempre stamattina, o qualcosa del genere, semplicemente dal nulla (e quando […]
Google to collect more data about your Android gaming habits soon
Upcoming changes to your Google Play Games profile - Google Play Help
We're updating Google Play Games profiles to give you a more unified view of your gaming journey across all your Android devices. What's New: Your enhanced gaming profile Starting on September 23, 2support.google.com
Climate-driven wildfires are reversing clean air progress, new report says
Climate-driven wildfires are reversing clean air progress, new report says
Canada's record 2023 wildfire season fueled sharp increases in the country's air pollution and had similar effects in parts of the United States, according to a new report.Emily Mae Czachor (CBS News)
We now know just how much climate change supercharged Hurricane Katrina
Two decades after the devastating storm, scientists can more easily determine how much global warming is intensifying tropical cyclones.
We now know how climate change supercharged Hurricane Katrina
Two decades after Katrina, scientists can more easily quantify how global warming is intensifying hurricanes - and how it shaped past storms.Matt Simon (Grist)
Google Big Sleep AI Tool Finds Critical Chrome Vulnerability
Google Big Sleep AI Tool Finds Critical Chrome Vulnerability
Google has patched a critical graphics library vulnerability in the Chrome browser, discovered by its AI-powered detection tool, Google Big Sleep.Waqas (Hack Read)
Washington Could Activate a “Kill Switch” to Terminate European Access to US Tech. Here’s How it Could Work.
Washington Could Activate a “Kill Switch” to Terminate European Access to US Tech. Here’s How it Could Work.
Trevor H. Rudolph discusses European fears around the US government cutting off access to US tech and the policy tools that could make it happen.Trevor H. Rudolph (Tech Policy Press)
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Nvidia earnings beat Wall Street’s sky-high expectations, but the stock is falling because ‘there were no H20 sales to China-based customers’
Nvidia recorded no China sales revenue for H20 chips and reported revenue that narrowly beat Wall Street targets in the second quarter, as the AI chipmaker reported financial results on Wednesday.
Nvidia has been navigating trade restrictions on H20 shipments to China since April. The U.S. government began issuing licenses for approved buyers in China in July, and Nvidia said a few of its China-based customers had received such licenses. But no H20 chip revenue to China was included in its second-quarter revenue, Nvidia said (It noted that some H20 chip inventory was sold outside of China in the second quarter, adding a $180 million benefit to the topline).
Nvidia said it was not including H20 in its financial forecast for the current quarter, though it estimated that $2 billion to $5 billion worth of H20 chips could be shipped to China if “geopolitical” issues were resolved. The company also repeated its call for the U.S. government to allow it to sell its more advanced “Blackwell” generation of products to China.
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Flowers
Flowers by Shawn D Crabtree
See more of my work and interviews with interesting and up and coming artists at shawndcrabtree.com
OpenAI Says It's Scanning Users' ChatGPT Conversations and Reporting Content to the Police
OpenAI Says It's Scanning Users' ChatGPT Conversations and Reporting Content to the Police
OpenAI has authorized itself to call law enforcement if users say threatening enough things when talking to ChatGPT.Noor Al-Sibai (Futurism)
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To explore AI bias, researchers pose a question: How do you imagine a tree?
To explore AI bias, researchers pose a question: How do you imagine a tree?
To confront bias, scientists say we must examine the ontological frameworks within large language models – and how our perceptions influence outputs.news.stanford.edu
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Opposition parties say government's supermarket competition plan doesn't go far enough
Opposition parties say government's supermarket competition plan doesn't go far enough
"What we need is action that tackles the greed we are seeing in the duopoly right now."Tnatanahira (RNZ)
New bill allows Defence Force staff to fill in for people on strike
New bill allows Defence Force staff to fill in for people on strike
It would allow the Chief of Defence Force to sign off on having uniformed staff fill in for striking civilians.Russell Palmer (RNZ)
Uncertain Future for ArcelorMittal's Smart Carbon Projects in Belgium
Uncertain Future for ArcelorMittal's Smart Carbon Projects in Belgium
Steel giant ArcelorMittal has been reluctant to invest into Hydrogen-based steelmaking. But its alternatives it calls Smart Carbon are not doing great either.Hanno Böck (industrydecarbonization.com)
I reckon that in europe as a whole, we have enough steel and need to shift to recycling it more efficiently (including dismantling some reinforced concrete structures, ol pipes etc), although that's not the case in Africa, India with with growing population.
China’s Domestic x86 CPU, the Zhaoxin KX-7000, Debuts in an AI PC by MAXHUB, Positioning It as a Viable Alternative to Intel/AMD Options
Archived ver.: web.archive.org/web/2025082810…
Original source, including in-depth tests and other fancy details of the CPU used in the MAXHUB PC itself (written in Mandarin): news.mydrivers.com/1/1070/1070…
CPU-Z Single-Core Benchmark and specs from the original source:
That's an 8-core, ~3GHz Base Speed, 32MB L3 cache CPU for the number-crunchers around here.
On the surface, this CPU seems like it's best suited for general desktop and office use, to see it adopted to a PC build product geared for "AI workloads" is interesting. If I'm not mistaken, AI performance is heavily dependent on the GPU rather than on the CPU, so I think that's fine:
In terms of performance, the MAXHUB's AI+ desktop computer is claimed to play 1080P 30fps and 4K 30fps high-bitrate online videos with decent CPU utilization numbers, showing that the KX-7000 CPU acts decently with media workload. Of course, when compared against competitors like Intel or AMD, Zhaoxin is behind, but the key motive here to create an ecosystem that relies entirely on in-house products, and this has apparently happened here.
And that's a good thing, lol.
China’s Domestic x86 CPU, the Zhaoxin KX-7000, Debuts in an AI PC by MAXHUB, Positioning It as a Viable …
China has its very own domestic x86 CPU as well, developed by the manufacturer Zhaoxin, which has seen integration by MAXHUB.Wccftech
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Zhaoxin unveils first NPU-equipped CPU and 96-core server chip at WAIC 2025
At WAIC 2025 in Shanghai, Zhaoxin introduced the KaiXian KX-7000N client CPU with an integrated NPU for offline AI workloads and the Kaisheng KH-50000 server chip delivering 96 cores, PCIe 5.0 lanes, and 384 MB L3 cache.Nathan Ali (Notebookcheck)
An actual article on it- chipsandcheese.com/p/zhaoxins-…
Spoiler: It's slower than AMD Bulldozer.
Loongson 3A is infinitely faster if you want a China-domestic-market CPU.
Bing/DuckDuckGo/Qwant actively block southparkuncensored.com
Most other search engines show southparkuncensored.com/ after searching for "south park uncensored" or "southparkuncensored", but Bing doesn't, and therefore DuckDuckGo and Qwant neither.
southparkuncensored.com – Qwant Search
Fast, reliable answers and still in trust: Qwant does not store your search data, does not sell your personal data and is hosted in Europe.Qwant
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Optimizing Database Resilience and Cost: A Deep Dive into SkySQL’s Unique Features
Open-source databases like MariaDB, MySQL, and Postgres are established powerhouses. They boast rich features and their SQL dialects are fluent to developers, backed by a robust ecosystem of tools. However, the cloud changes the game. Operational characteristics now reign supreme: seamless scaling, rock solid security, effortless migration and replication, guaranteed uptime, and most importantly, delivering on the cloud’s cost-saving potential.
It is a common misconception that cloud database management and optimization is a solved problem. In reality, databases are still notoriously difficult to operate efficiently and cost effectively. Many of our customers and prospects have shared experiences of prolonged outages, challenges in achieving consistent performance at scale, and unsustainable costs associated with alternative cloud database services.
In this blog, we’ll delve into how SkySQL tackles these challenges.
See more
Optimize Database Resilience & Cost with SkySQL’s Unique Features
Explore how SkySQL optimizes database resilience and cost. Learn about its unique features for MySQL & MariaDB on the cloud for improved performanceSkySQL
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Nicknames
comiCSS #205: Nicknames
Cartoon with 4 panels in a 2x2 grid titled 'CSS Short Names'. It shows different people (all seem happy but the last one who looks annoyed) saying: - Hello! My name is text-emphasis: sesame, but my friends call me Tess.comicss.art
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Why Tony Blair and Jared Kushner were at the White House to discuss Gaza
Why Tony Blair and Jared Kushner were at the White House to discuss Gaza
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are attending a White House meeting on Wednesday to lay out US and Israeli plans for the fate of post-war Gaza, according to media reports.MEE staff (Middle East Eye)
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Researcher who has distorted voter data appointed to Homeland Security election integrity role
Researcher who distorted voter data appointed to federal election role
A conservative election researcher who pushed faulty findings about the 2020 election has been appointed to an election integrity role at the U.S.The Associated Press (NBC News)
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CDC erupts in chaos after ousted chief Susan Monarez refuses to resign
Lawyers for Monarez say she was ‘targeted’ for ‘protecting the public’ by not endorsing ‘unscientific’ orders
The US’s top public health agency was plunged into chaos on Wednesday after the Trump administration moved to oust its leader Susan Monarez, sworn in less than a month ago, as her lawyers said she would not resign and that she was being “targeted” for her pro-science stance.
Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was ousted on Wednesday evening, according to a statement from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that offered no explanation its decision.
“Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people,” HHS said in an unsigned statement posted to social media. Her lawyers pushed back in a statement, saying she had “neither resigned nor received notification” from the White House of her termination.
CDC director Susan Monarez ousted for refusing ‘to rubber-stamp unscientific’ orders, say lawyers
Shortly after nation’s top public health agency announced Monarez’s departure, three senior CDC officials resignedRobert Mackey (The Guardian)
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The next internet for news? Publishers gather to discuss protocols over platforms
The next internet for news? Publishers gather to discuss protocols over platforms
Journalists and tech industry workers gathered at Protocols for Publishers to talk about building an internet that works for news.Nieman Lab
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The FBI and agencies in the UK, Canada, and others warn that a Chinese hacking campaign targeting US telecoms has expanded to more countries and US companies
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36422828
PDF.
People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber threat actors are targeting networks globally, including, but not limited to, telecommunications, government, transportation, lodging, and military infrastructure networks. While these actors focus on large backbone routers of major telecommunications providers, as well as provider edge (PE) and customer edge (CE) routers, they also leverage compromised devices and trusted connections to pivot into other networks. These actors often modify routers to maintain persistent, long-term access to networks.This activity partially overlaps with cyber threat actor reporting by the cybersecurity industry—commonly referred to as Salt Typhoon, OPERATOR PANDA, RedMike, UNC5807, and GhostEmperor, among others. The authoring agencies are not adopting a particular commercial naming convention and hereafter refer to those responsible for the cyber threat activity more generically as “Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors” throughout this advisory. This cluster of cyber threat activity has been observed in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and other areas globally.
The FBI and agencies in the UK, Canada, and others warn that a Chinese hacking campaign targeting US telecoms has expanded to more countries and US companies
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36422828
PDF.
People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-sponsored cyber threat actors are targeting networks globally, including, but not limited to, telecommunications, government, transportation, lodging, and military infrastructure networks. While these actors focus on large backbone routers of major telecommunications providers, as well as provider edge (PE) and customer edge (CE) routers, they also leverage compromised devices and trusted connections to pivot into other networks. These actors often modify routers to maintain persistent, long-term access to networks.This activity partially overlaps with cyber threat actor reporting by the cybersecurity industry—commonly referred to as Salt Typhoon, OPERATOR PANDA, RedMike, UNC5807, and GhostEmperor, among others. The authoring agencies are not adopting a particular commercial naming convention and hereafter refer to those responsible for the cyber threat activity more generically as “Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors” throughout this advisory. This cluster of cyber threat activity has been observed in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and other areas globally.
Dr. Moose
in reply to vegeta • • •Alaknár
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •Lemmy is weird. As long as you're on the dogpile against the current "big bad" of the week, you're good to go. Fuck Tesla? Then let's buy Chinese products.
It's insane, but it's where we are.
Let's not forget that they are actively committing genocide against the Uighur. I don't think they are the "lesser evil".
Dr. Moose
in reply to Alaknár • • •Alcoholicorn
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •Dr. Moose
in reply to Alcoholicorn • • •Alcoholicorn
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •And during the 1950s, the US trained the former slaves owners, gave them weapons, then airdropped them into Tibet to lead an uprising, they were lynched by their former slaves, but even today is still angling to install the Dali Lama as the head of state.
If China said "yall are on your own", do you think the US would stop doing what it is currently doing, giving money, weapons (when applicable), and diplomatic support to reactionaries who want to return to those days?
Or do you think they would suffer an immediate economic recession without China funding their development?
Dr. Moose
in reply to Alcoholicorn • • •Country: is literally invaded
Some dude online: but US could have invaded too in some parallel universe!
Lmao
Alcoholicorn
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •Dr. Moose
in reply to Alcoholicorn • • •Alcoholicorn
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •Echo Dot
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •Dr. Moose
in reply to Echo Dot • • •Echo Dot
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •Dr. Moose
in reply to Echo Dot • • •Here you go:
- byd.com/en-th/data-privacy
- koreaherald.com/article/104169…
- region.com.au/worst-offenders-…
Do you really think that CCP politely declines this free data? It's so easy to hide spyware under "anonymous performance telimetry" - didn't we learn anything from Cabridge Analytica and a billion of other cases? God lord, you people deserve to be spied on.
Concerns raised over potential data leak to China via BYD cars in S. Korea - The Korea Herald
Yonhap (The Korea Herald)narp
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •2021-2025.state.gov/gec-specia…
Spending billions on propaganda simply works.
Technical Difficulties
2021-2025.state.govDr. Moose
in reply to narp • • •Iambus
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •Phoenixz
in reply to vegeta • • •CatDogL0ver
in reply to Phoenixz • • •Smeagol666
in reply to CatDogL0ver • • •D_C
in reply to Smeagol666 • • •entropicdrift
in reply to D_C • • •normalexit
in reply to vegeta • • •herseycokguzelolacak
in reply to normalexit • • •/home/pineapplelover
in reply to normalexit • • •IhaveCrabs111
in reply to /home/pineapplelover • • •Alcoholicorn
in reply to normalexit • • •REDACTED
in reply to normalexit • • •en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_Au…
Realistically their sales in Europe are a statistical noise.
Chinese automobile manufacturer
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Melvin_Ferd
in reply to vegeta • • •I don't get how a company is losing this much in multiple countries yet is still operating?
Like if they can lose this much and still be operating and investments not tanking, would it follow that they can pay better wages and benefits?
supersquirrel
in reply to Melvin_Ferd • • •The US is corrupt enough at this point the only thing massive corporations have to do to survive is be massive.
Many companies that never even have turned a consistent profit are major players in the US economy.
The idea of valuing actual market competition is a distraction conservatives point to as a cool aesthetic and it has little to do with the economic reality of the US. So long as the right people are in power a dictatorship is totally acceptable to conservatives by and large and the inevitable end result of that as we are seeing are stunning displays of incompetency at the highest levels of power.
buzz86us
in reply to supersquirrel • • •Yeah go figure we keep on pumping money into oil companies, when solar and batteries are tariffed. Easy to set why Trump has gone bankrupt so many times.
We even have electric companies actively trying to deter home solar installs with legislation, while other counties are embracing a VPP model.
Jesus
in reply to vegeta • • •boonhet
in reply to Jesus • • •Jesus
in reply to boonhet • • •boonhet
in reply to Jesus • • •ByteJunk
in reply to boonhet • • •The worrying part is that they kinda seem to be implementing good policies for (at least some of) their people.
There's a lot of disturbing stuff, and probably a whole lot more that we don't even know about, but social security, education, healthcare - my impression is that they're going the right way, while the US looks eager to go back to the Dark ages.
Just with STEM degrees, they're producing almost 5x more graduates than the US, and they've surpassed the number of doctorates a long time ago too.
The current world balance won't hold one more generation.
thedruid
in reply to ByteJunk • • •The world balance is already broken.
Donald trump destroyed our country.
CatLikeLemming
in reply to ByteJunk • • •I think part of it is that they can actually do anything long-term. Even the most altruistic president in for example the US will get four, at most eight years to do what they're planning. That's not enough time to do anything meaningful, all the while they're dealing with flak from the consequences of the last presidency, and their successor will at best take credit for their achievements, at worst destroy them before they succeed. And that's assuming the citizens didn't elect a self-serving megalomaniac.
Winnie the pooh, I'm pretty sure, actually cares about his country. He's by no means benevolent, but he has the power, resources, and time to build proper infrastructure and reshape the country as he sees fit.
Socially they're way behind from what I, as an outsider, can tell. Women's rights at least seem somewhat acceptable with definite room for improvement, but queer rights are even worse. Oh and there's a literal genocide of Uyghurs so that's pretty fucking bad.
But the benefits of China's dictatorship lie in the fact that they can actually think in the long-term and not just until the next election (the politician's equivalent of the next financial quarter) so they can wield their powers and resources to achieve these goals. The glorious leader must be praised for centuries to come, that can't happen if the earth becomes uninhabitable due to climate change or the country crumbles in on itself due to failing education and a failing economy.
Now if only that applied to citizen's rights...
ByteJunk
in reply to CatLikeLemming • • •Yeah, I agree with all of your points.
I'm not American, but my understanding of the system is that the long term plan for the country isn't meant to be set by the president, but by the legislature - passing laws and creating federal bodies that steer the country.
Instead, there's absolutely no laws being agreed upon, only presidents that try to impose their view for a while until they're replaced by whoever's next who then breaks everything.
The courts are then thrown on to the spotlight and asked by the country to fill up a role who's not actually theirs, and I don't even want to go into the issues with appointment of judges.
Not that the system in China is any better, they just happen to have a guy who's ruthless enough to hold onto power with no opposition, and seems to actually care about his country - but he isn't gonna last for ever, and there's zero guarantee that the power struggles after he's gone won't tear the country to shreds, or that the next up isn't a fucked up moron like the orange...
AnotherHelldiver
in reply to ByteJunk • • •I also with two of you. I also think, personally, that us, humans, are really bad at taking decisions.
We are not seeing the long term vision of things or the whole. Someone having a lot of resources will not be eager to share those with its less fortunate neighbor. In the US, doing so would be called socialism. On the long term it would be the most profitable option for everyone though.
Governments in democracies should totally have those steering bodies composed of people having a long term vision of things. Maybe engineers, scientists, lawyers... But also with objectiveness about matters presented to them.
That vision cans be projected in dictatorships but you are right. The whole thing will crumble when the person at the top will die. Be it a king, president or anyone else at a position of power being nearly venerated.
I would support a mix of both personally. A government represented by its institutions and not people. Taking information from the population itself and processing happening at the top. Information is a weapon by itself too, many insider groups would try to steer the whole or a part of it for themselves and profit from it.
The human component is a variable component here. It seems there is no outcome to that equation as long humans aren't aware how people are different around them and accept those differences. Plus being able to share when one as a lot and another nothing.
Ferrous
in reply to Jesus • • •Source?
dude
in reply to Ferrous • • •Over 90% of Chinese agree that “democracy is important” and 80% agree that their country is democratic? Was this survey conducted in Taiwan and signed as “China” complying with “one China policy”?
I’ve never met any Chinese believing that their country is democratic nor that democracy is important. Quite the opposite - they usually say that China grew thanks to the lack of democracy (never calling it a dictatorship though)
Even the CCP propaganda doesn’t claim that China is the democracy but instead they show the negative sides of the democracies so that people don’t even think that it may be a good idea if China was democratic
Ferrous
in reply to dude • • •Again, asking for any type of source or statistic over anecdotes. Your "observations" go against reputable polling and statistics of people in China.
No.... in fact this was a Harvard study that started off with "Given how China is an authoritarian nightmare, how widespread is support for the government?"
rajawali.hks.harvard.edu/wp-co…
dude
in reply to Ferrous • • •Ferrous
in reply to dude • • •Yes... that is not only possible, but likely when n=5....
Please, the original claim was "Chinese people feel coerced", which is wrong by every metric, and there is no evidence to support this claim.
rajawali.hks.harvard.edu/wp-co…
Let me guess: Harvard is tankie?
dude
in reply to Ferrous • • •Did you actually read what you quote? It aligns with what I said - Chinese feel mostly satisfied with their government and don’t want the democracy, and don’t feel that their government is democratic. Claiming that Chinese believe that their country is democratic is not what Harvard did in the document that you’ve provided.
Regarding “not only possible but likely”: please do the math. If the share of population believing in X is 90%, the chance that none of the five selected people do X is (1 - 0.9)^5 = 0.001% (i.e., 1 in 100,000), assuming independence across people. That’s what you call likely?
PS. Why is this always the .ml instance 😀
grindemup
in reply to dude • • •OccamsRazer
in reply to boonhet • • •Alcoholicorn
in reply to OccamsRazer • • •You are free to say anything that doesn't draw the ire of cops, politician, or immigration agents. Otherwise, you might get the shit kicked out of you, thrown in prison on bs charges, or deported/denied entry.
Only those who don't move dont notice their chains.
DarkSirrush
in reply to vegeta • • •mrgoosmoos
in reply to DarkSirrush • • •nah, forget about them
let us have economical cars because we don't need these massive expensive things just to go 5km to get a load of groceries
Phoenixz
in reply to mrgoosmoos • • •Let us have safe bicycle infrastructure do that we can bike to those stores, how about that? And with that, add mixed constructions in the suburbs so that people have small local stores around.
A bike costs a fraction of a car
Bicycle infrastructure building and maintenance costs a fraction of that for cars
Bicycles don't emit CO2. And for those wise asses saying that the cyclist does, it's a fraction of a fraction of a car because you're not lugging 2 tonnes of stell around to transport you and a bottle of milk.
Cycling infrastructure is much more efficient, you can push a shit tonne more people over the same road if you don't need big ass cars. Yes, even your Mercedes smart car is I ass compared to a bicycle
It creates much much less pollution from tire dust
It's much safer, bicycles kill only a fraction of the people that cars kill all year round
It's healthier, people do exercise not because they went to the gym, but all day every day with their bikes
It cuts the noise pollution
It's cheaper because no taxes, no gas needed, maintenance is a fraction of that of a car.
It's way less wasteful
It lowers aggression. Though it may or may not exist, I've never heard of bicycle road rage
Need more?
Less cars is less parking spaces. Parking spaces get cities barely any taxable income. Instead of these ugly ass concrete wasteland parkitsoaces you can now have restaurants with outside patios which can be taxed. Couple that with the cheaper infrastructure, and that alone should be an obvious reason as to why do this
It's really not that much slower. For typical short trips, bicycles usually only add some 10-20% of required time to your trip.
For any trip over say, 5-10 kilometers, use good public transportation
For those once in a lifetime trips where you actually need a car because you need to transport something huge, use one of those Evo rent-a-car.
In the Netherlands, a huge amount of people don't have a car. Not because they can't (they totally can) but because it's stupid to have one. You can go everywhere by bike, you can jump with your bike in a train when needed to go further, cars are expensive and bad for everyone, why even have one?
freebee
in reply to Phoenixz • • •Bicycle road rage does exist, between road bikers and regulars, between fast electric and regulars and in general because plenty assholes do also ride bicycles if the infrastructure is good enough.
Other than that, all valid points!
mrgoosmoos
in reply to Phoenixz • • •I agree with all of this and personally I have replaced as many car trips as I can with a bicycle
however I also recognize that that's simply too far for most people right now, at least in my area. people love their cars. I would just love it if they weren't so damn dangerous and offensive, and I wasn't nearly killed every time I go out and they come near me. that's literally a 50/50 chance when I bike to the grocery store that somebody nearly kills me (actually in the past 3 weeks that ratio is a little bit safer, but history shows that I'll have a bunch of things happen in a short time to bring it back to even).
first we need people to recognize that they don't need massive vehicles. then an extension of that logic is that they don't need a motor vehicle for a lot of things.
DarkSirrush
in reply to Phoenixz • • •That works in the city but i live in a remote area, and have an hour and a half round trip to work every day because its not economically viable for me to move closer.
Since I doubt Canada/BC will spend the money putting in viable public transit/high speed rail, I just want them to do the bare minimum to allow me to afford to stop burning gas to afford my next meal.
While striving for turning every small town into a walkable city sounds great and amazing on paper, the reality is it won't happen, so we should push for baby steps in the right direction instead only focusing on the absolute ideal.
mrgoosmoos
in reply to DarkSirrush • • •stuff like this is why I want to focus on the wide, sweeping generalization of "smaller vehicle is better"
there's no need for someone in your position to drive a massive crossover for your commute in case you need to pick up 30 lb of groceries after work. you can do that with a hatchback, and pretty much the biggest reason that people don't choose to do it with a hatchback is that they're afraid of the bigger heavier vehicles on the road
I still push bicycle infrastructure, but I'm not going to push for everybody to get on bikes. I'm going to push for everybody to stop having such goddamn offensive dangerous vehicles (yes please drive at me at 90 km/h with blinding headlights in a 4,000 lb vehicle with a hood that is above my eye level when I'm in a vehicle with 8 in of ground clearance), and try to get them to realize that no it's not okay because it came that way, you bought it and you have a responsibility as the owner and driver
DarkSirrush
in reply to mrgoosmoos • • •And I don't drive a large crossover, I drive an escape phev, carpool with 2 other people, and use it for more than just '30 pounds of groceries'.
I have filled it to the brim and gone camping multiple times this year, use it to transport my recycling to the transfer station every couple months, and at least twice a year do a large grocery shop at the Costco 4 hours away, stuffing it as full as I can manage.
I regularly use it to transport things that wouldn't fit in a vehicle smaller than this one. Hell, I managed to stuff my stove in the thing, though only just barely.
For my daily commute, since I charge it both at home and at work, I only burn 3-4L of gas, which I would say is quite good for nearly 150km.
The only way for my daily/weekly/monthly/yearly routine to be more eco friendly is if I could afford to trade it in for a full electric vehicle - and with the trips I do on a regular basis (including camping, day trips to the 'nearby' lakes, occasional work driving), I would need something with a range above 600km, preferably 700km to be safe in the winter. Otherwise I would have to maintain 2 vehicles - one an electric with a range of at least 200km and the other a small truck or mid sized SUV, and that kind of defeats the entire purpose.
mrgoosmoos
in reply to DarkSirrush • • •DarkSirrush
in reply to mrgoosmoos • • •10%? Try 1%... For every 1 of me in this area there are literally 10 lifted king cab shortboxes that never get used for truck purposes on the highway for the same commute as me.
The excuse is always "but I need it if I go offroad or want to tow my boat/camper to the lake!" as if they do that more than once a year.
acockworkorange
in reply to DarkSirrush • • •DarkSirrush
in reply to acockworkorange • • •That's... Not at all what I am saying.
Go read the rest of the thread, where I agree the ideal is great, but we should be taking realistic steps towards it, instead of an unrealistic, all or nothing attitude that doesn't take rural Canadians into consideration.
acockworkorange
in reply to DarkSirrush • • •Bluewing
in reply to vegeta • • •Smoogs
in reply to Bluewing • • •Bluewing
in reply to Smoogs • • •Smoogs
in reply to Bluewing • • •just look how he treated Twitter once he bought it. He cares…. just about the wrong shit.
Because he’s unstable and undiagnosed and in denial.
And yet somehow he seems to legitimately think that’s how you do business.
Perhaps it’s because America coddles everything under the capitalist label so he doesn’t have to do business like he has to care about it succeeding or face maybe actions have consequences. And he has too many millions to have to count anything else as a success.just worries about ppl being ‘meanies’
The system makes it so that the rich fail at failing.
Enablism and denial all the way down.
Bosht
in reply to vegeta • • •GaMEChld
in reply to vegeta • • •Dr. Moose
in reply to GaMEChld • • •The ebike option meme is so laughable. I recently did some research on cargo bikes and the entry models cost as much as a used ICE car with no air con, no rain cover, no heating, no safety. Ebike people are straight up delusional in thinking this is ready to replace cars.
Getting a second hand ice car is objectively the best thing you can do right now for everyone involved unless you ride half a million km a year.
bassad
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •I don't think it is laughable.
A new cargo is 5000€ and you can find used or discounted ones for less than 3000€.
A used car will cost far more in repairs, insurance and gas, my 2010 car is valued around 3000€ and it costs us around 1000-1500€/year.
I don't think bikes can replace cars for everyone, but many people could use a bike instead or their car 95% of the time, when we see that so much people use a car for less than 5 km.
Only concern is safety to use a bike in the middle of fast cars, but a proper infrastructure (separated bike lanes) solves it for a fraction of the cost of roads and parking places.
Geometrinen_Gepardi
in reply to bassad • • •bassad
in reply to Geometrinen_Gepardi • • •Yes it is.
Because it is handcraft compared to car industry (85 millions/year), and not subsidized at all.
Now how much costs a car ? Not only the price, but globally, if you include health impact, infrastructure needs.
Dr. Moose
in reply to bassad • • •You're just pulling stats out of your ass here. What you're doing with your cargo bike in winter? Or summer heat? The cargo bike cult really thinks most of the world is a small town in central Europe when most of the world on avg is mountains in Indonesia.
I swear the sole reason e-bikes are not as big as they should be is the obnoxiously ignorant user base.
bassad
in reply to Dr. Moose • • •uuuh in winter we have things like cloths, even warmed gloves and boots when really cold ? Go in Montreal to figure it out, some are biking there even in winter.
I am pulling stats out of my close area, national stats are : For distances of less than 5 kilometers, cars still account for 60% of commutes. Less than 5 km can you imagine ?
Just put your ass on a bike instead of your fingers, and just try to do things
Dr. Moose
in reply to bassad • • •