Random News not worthy of own thread

[felter]

Meanwhile in India:

Rats eating 600 kg of weed in the evidence room. Also in neighboring state they drink 1 million liters of impounded alcohol which, again, was stored in the evidence room.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2 ... storeroom/

Yep, totally legit explanations...

The other week there it was elephants stealing 30 litres of wine (sorry for using the mail). That's all you need, stoned rats chasing drunk Elephants.

[chew-ie]

@felter I always suspected an elephant to be in the room ...

---

World goes nuts part #56917

- Chinese people rebel & demand XI to step down (happy invading Taiwan if some measly lockdowns already trigger these kind of unrest in a former pacified & surpressed population) @source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... d-strategy
- North korea aims for the stars / being nuclear super power (could someone tell them how many depts that'll entail? They should prolly have a talk with Russia or the US (:D)) @source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... lear-power

All in all kind of a normal sunday these days.

[felter]

I really don't get China why are their vaccination levels so low, especially seeing as they are in the perfect position to get everyone vaccinated, it's not like let's say America where idiots go "there are microchips in the vaccine, so I'm not getting it," even if there was in China you still wouldn't have the option of saying no, so why haven't they been vaccinating their population. There has also been demonstrations going on for some time now, just not on the scale that is currently happening. The one troubling issue is the ones in charge have covered up and hidden the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre that most in China either don't know it happened or have conveniently forgotten it ever happened, so it will probably happen again.

Have you seen videos of that fire the other day, there the fire engines couldn't get close enough to the fire that the spray from their hoses was fallen short by about 5 feet, seemingly due to fencing to stop people from leaving the lockdown area, the powers that be said it was because of parked cars, but I have never heard of park cars being an issue for the fire brigade, I mean this is what normally happens when cars get in the way, it's also not unknown for them to use their engines to move cars out of the way here.

You also should have mentioned Iran in the countries that is going to be interesting to watch in the next year, as their population is having parties with police every day.

[clakclak]

I really don't get China why are their vaccination levels so low, especially seeing as they are in the perfect position to get everyone vaccinated, it's not like let's say America where idiots go "there are microchips in the vaccine, so I'm not getting it," even if there was in China you still wouldn't have the option of saying no, so why haven't they been vaccinating their population. [....]

There is an anti-vaccine movement in China though (edit: article I had in here seems to be locked behind a paywall, basically there is a lot of distrust when it comes to public healthcare in China, especially after the heavy handed anti Corona approach) and it is one of the major reasons as to why so many people did not get the vaccine yet. On top of the idea of forcefully vaccinating the entire population may seem easy on paper in a tightly controlled dictatorship like China, but the shere scale of such an operation is rather extreme. In fact pulling something like this off is allready very difficult when it is something people want to participate in like India's elections. Those take around 3 months to conduct.

[felter]

I really don't get China why are their vaccination levels so low, especially seeing as they are in the perfect position to get everyone vaccinated, it's not like let's say America where idiots go "there are microchips in the vaccine, so I'm not getting it," even if there was in China you still wouldn't have the option of saying no, so why haven't they been vaccinating their population. [....]

There is an anti-vaccine movement in China though (edit: article I had in here seems to be locked behind a paywall, basically there is a lot of distrust when it comes to public healthcare in China, especially after the heavy handed anti Corona approach) and it is one of the major reasons as to why so many people did not get the vaccine yet. On top of the idea of forcefully vaccinating the entire population may seem easy on paper in a tightly controlled dictatorship like China, but the shere scale of such an operation is rather extreme. In fact pulling something like this off is allready very difficult when it is something people want to participate in like India's elections. Those take around 3 months to conduct.

I don't buy that in the least, if it was nearly any other country in the world then maybe yes but China a country that put down a demonstration by its population using tanks and machine guns with live bullets, and you think their people can just say no while comparing them to India, that's a definitive chalk and cheese comparison. And three months, China can shut down a city of millions in a matter of hours and that's a generous time frame, not just that they have had years to do vaccinations not months, they could easily have told their population you want out of the city then get vaccinated, and they would have had no other choice than to do so. You cannot treat or even think of China in the same way as any other country, the CCP can pretty much do whatever they want and there is not much anyone can do about it. Right now those demonstrations are not happening because they want them, it's solely because the CCP are allowing them, and they are already shutting them down, so I doubt they will last for much longer.

[Observe]

I wonder why China is persisting in a zero-covid policy, while just about everywhere else, has given up on that pipe dream. I can see why they are not pushing vaccines, because as we know, the current covid vaccines don't confer immunity and vaccinated people spread the disease as much as the unvaccinated. We also know, that the early hope for herd immunity based on vaccines, hasn't and can't be achieved, based on the current vaccine technology.

So in light of the above, where does this leave China and what is their goal with continued drastic lockdowns and such? What can they hope to achieve?

[mr.WHO]

So in light of the above, where does this leave China and what is their goal with continued drastic lockdowns and such? What can they hope to achieve?

Zero-COVID policy was posterchild of Xi. Not so long ago all bootlickers in the West were praising it as huge success over "inneficient" western response.
Now they can't turn it back, because they would loose face
...which is bad in Asian culture
...double bad if you're communist authoritatian regime
...triple bad if you just been elected a dear-leader-for-life


It's like Mao ordering to kill all sparrows and watch milions die because crops are now eaten by insects that sparrow were supressign.
If milions have to loose their jobs or starve, it's perfectly fine as long Winnie the Poo can save face.

[clakclak]

I really don't get China why are their vaccination levels so low, especially seeing as they are in the perfect position to get everyone vaccinated, it's not like let's say America where idiots go "there are microchips in the vaccine, so I'm not getting it," even if there was in China you still wouldn't have the option of saying no, so why haven't they been vaccinating their population. [....]

There is an anti-vaccine movement in China though (edit: article I had in here seems to be locked behind a paywall, basically there is a lot of distrust when it comes to public healthcare in China, especially after the heavy handed anti Corona approach) and it is one of the major reasons as to why so many people did not get the vaccine yet. On top of the idea of forcefully vaccinating the entire population may seem easy on paper in a tightly controlled dictatorship like China, but the shere scale of such an operation is rather extreme. In fact pulling something like this off is allready very difficult when it is something people want to participate in like India's elections. Those take around 3 months to conduct.

I don't buy that in the least, if it was nearly any other country in the world then maybe yes but China a country that put down a demonstration by its population using tanks and machine guns with live bullets, and you think their people can just say no while comparing them to India, that's a definitive chalk and cheese comparison. And three months, China can shut down a city of millions in a matter of hours and that's a generous time frame, not just that they have had years to do vaccinations not months, they could easily have told their population you want out of the city then get vaccinated, and they would have had no other choice than to do so. You cannot treat or even think of China in the same way as any other country, the CCP can pretty much do whatever they want and there is not much anyone can do about it. Right now those demonstrations are not happening because they want them, it's solely because the CCP are allowing them, and they are already shutting them down, so I doubt they will last for much longer.

What specifically are you not buying? That vaccinating 1.4 billion people is logistically difficult and not an easy task even for very controlling regime like China? Or that people can choose not to take the vaccine if the chinese government would force it onto people? Because if it is the second, than that is not the point I am making. The point I am making is that it is logistically hard (not impossible) to enforce a vaccine mendate in a country like China. When I say this is an extreme undertaking I am not saying it is impossible, however because of how problematic it is China seems to be sticking to other measures. Calling the current measures "less invasive" is a bit....well missleading, but they are more localised and seemingly less problematic for the regime. Beijing did try for a vaccine mandate btw, but:

[...]Less than two days after Beijing announced it would roll out China’s first ever vaccine mandate, authorities withdrew the policy in a rare concession to criticism from residents. [...]

Source Bloomberg: Beijing Scraps China’s First Vaccine Mandate in Abrupt Reversal; Source Reuters: After backlash, Beijing drops COVID vaccination mandate for crowded venues

[matthewfarmery]

WOW, Trump has openly admitted he took classified documents, as he posted this on his social media platform.

"….When will you invade Bill and Hillary’s home in search of the 33,000 emails she deleted AFTER receiving a subpoena from the U.S. Congress? When will you invade the other Presidents’ homes in search of documents, which are voluminous, which they took with them, but not nearly so openly and transparently as I did?"

The fact-check is wrong about the 33,000 emails, but that has never stopped the complaints he has about Hillary Clinton. Similarly, the National Archives has released a statement saying that previous presidents didn't steal documents. All presidents are given 12 years to review or even use past documents, but they have to go to the National Archives to ensure the documents are recorded under the Presidential Records Act.

Anyway, I bet his lawyers are screaming about now. If I was his lawyer, I would walk and not look back. And of course the above can be used against him. The court of appeal hasn't spoken yet about removing the special master, but that likely to be soon. And the special master has said that the 1 of December meeting has been canned. He probably will be glad to be removed the case.

Once that happens, the special prosecutor will be able to go full speed. And Trump insulting him and his wife won't help matters either. Trump is running scared, hopefully will be soon when things start happening.

[Vertigo 7]

Trump is running scared, hopefully will be soon when things start happening.

No, sadly, he isn't. He's having dinner with Kanye West and neo-Nazis.

[matthewfarmery]

Trump is running scared, hopefully will be soon when things start happening.

No, sadly, he isn't. He's having dinner with Kanye West and neo-Nazis.

But even then they are all turning on each other! So things didn't go as well as they had hoped.

[matthewfarmery]

Well, it seems that Moscow Mitch has spoken against Trump's rat infested dinner.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday rebuked former President Donald Trump for dining with Nick Fuentes, a White nationalist who frequently espouses antisemitic views.

“There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or White supremacy, and anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view — in my judgment — are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States,” said Mr. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who regularly clashes with Mr. Trump.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/20 ... k-fuentes/

yet he didn't say if he would vote for Trump when the times comes? Still, with a growing number of GOP turning on Trump, then Trump is certainly going to be backed into a corner.

Then again, Mitch should have seen this coming, not only that, to see what kind of man Trump is. So if this hurts the GOP, good riddance.

[Vertigo 7]

The hypocrisy of the GOP is yet again on display as RWNJ DeSantis goes on a tirade demanding congress intervene to stop Apple from exercising control over its market place after they began to consider removing Twitter from the app store since ol' Elon decided to open it up to racism, violence, and covid deniers (which is clearly against the TOS of the app store) under the guise of "free speech". So much for small government, amirite?

Course, ol Elon thinks he's gonna be able to bully Apple into doing what he wants, posting like Darth Hamburder making idle threats at Tim Cook. So much for Elon being some kind of genius innovator and leader.

Apple spent more than $40 million per quarter in advertising on Twitter, which has recently come to a screeching halt. Once its delisted from the app store, that'll be more than enough to sink what remains of the company and Elon's $44 billion investment. And it wouldn't be unprecedented for Apple to do so, either. They yanked Fortnite for violating the TOS of the app store, an even bigger cash cow, and Apple kept on keepin on.

I can't wait to see ol' Elon's next melt down. He keeps it up and he'll find himself tossed out of the rich white folks club house pretty fast.

[mr.WHO]

The funny thing is that majority advertizers who witdrew from Twitter are Musk competitors, e.g. car companies who compete with Tesla.
Apple could become copetitor as well, sooner than later.

Both Elon and his adversaries screech about free Speech or fighting supremacy, but it's good old corporate wars.
However, looking at Musk plans for Twitter, it's still much more likely, that instead of free speech platform, it will just turn into corporate monster, just like Apple and Google.

Still, one more player, will give at least a tiny bit more competition.
Maybe corporate wars weaken them and push people to seek alternatives - like decentralized/federated Mastodon.


I was a fan of Musk, till the Gamestop stock pump. There, out of nowhere, Musk start promoting totally crappy Doge coin, to try to divert attention from stocks. That was first red flag.
Since then, I started to notice, this is his usual modus operandi. Musk is not a freedom fighter, he's not even a troll, he's a corporate billionare and act like one.

Oh and don't forget Elon simp for China as much as all other corporates - this alone invalidates his freedom narrative.

[Vertigo 7]

Eh, Apple and Elon aren't even in the same league. Apple is a $Trillion dollar company and ol' Elon is or was low $Billion and neither really crosses products to compete. The closest either of them cross paths is designs for self driving vehicles but whatever Apple ends up designing will likely be bolt on tech where as Elon's would be integrated if he can get it to stop murdering people.

And the other side of this is that while ol' Elon is putting all his effort into Twitter, he's neglecting Tesla and Space-X and the board of directors for both are losing patience with him, at least for Tesla. He could end up being forced out by vote if he keeps dicking around and costing the share holders money.

[matthewfarmery]

I read somewhere, that if Apple removes Twitter from the app store, then Musk may start his own mobile phone product for twitter. But I don't really see that happening. especailly if Musk and the shareholders are losing a huge heap of money right now. So I don't see Twitter remaining as is. especailly if Apple does decide to pull it from it's app store. I think that will be another nail in Twitter's coffin and probably Musk as a billionaire.

Then I don't see Twitter been worth much, so Musk might be forced to sell it off at a huge loss. But, I'm not really sure if A, any of the previous employees will come back? B, if the reinstated accounts will be banned again? (including Trump's) And if banned on Twitter will apple welcome it back?

I see an uncertain future for Twitter. Musk should never have brought it in the first place.


As for the GOP, I have a feeling if this was Trump's first run at the WH, then this dinner wouldn't have made such an impact. And the republicans would have remained silent and looked the other way still. It wouldn't have mattered who Trump sat with, as long as it give GOP votes. But now they are getting tired of Trump and his antics, so calling him out now, yes, hypocritical of them. As it was fine to embrace Trump and all his beliefs and misconduct. Look the other way when things hit the fan. But not now, yeah right, the GOP will never change.

What is more, some of the Oath Keepers are currently on trial, the senior member maybe found guilty and if that happens, may turn on Trump. Plus Trump has lost his case to keep his case of presidential immunity defence going. So he can be charged with crimes while he was in office. Next year will be interesting to watch. He will be squealing like a pig soon, as the heat continues to build.

[felter]

And the other side of this is that while ol' Elon is putting all his effort into Twitter, he's neglecting Tesla and Space-X and the board of directors for both are losing patience with him, at least for Tesla. He could end up being forced out by vote if he keeps dicking around and costing the share holders money.

I've been recently thinking of something like that. If I had 100 million invested in Tesla right now, and I was watching the crap shoot fiasco that it Musk's Twitter, I would be thinking, would I want this person looking after my 100 million, what would happen if something goes wrong at Tesla, would he just make a mess of it like he has at Twitter, could I lose all of my 100 million. Honestly, if I did have that 100 million invested in Tesla, I would be worried about it right now, of course I don't have 100 million let alone 100 million invested in Tesla, just saying.

Also look at it this way, for the past month or so he has little or no work done with Tesla and that company is working just fine, does it actually need him and would it not be better off without him.

[Warenwolf]

I've been recently thinking of something like that. If I had 100 million invested in Tesla right now, and I was watching the crap shoot fiasco that it Musk's Twitter, I would be thinking, would I want this person looking after my 100 million, what would happen if something goes wrong at Tesla, would he just make a mess of it like he has at Twitter, could I lose all of my 100 million.

More so if you have invested money in SpaceX, where he owns directly 48% but retains control. When it comes to Tesla, he owns by now 14% but still has lot of influence as both CEO and a board member.

PS:
Take these % with spoon of salt since I just googled them and have not done proper research in actual, per 30.11.2022, data.

[mr.WHO]

Wasn't there an e-mail from Musk, that SpaceX needs 2 launches per month in 2022, or they will go bankrupt?


Going back to Apple - it's seem they cooperate with Chinese goverment to crackdown on Chinese protesters right now.
Neither Elon, nor Apple give a damn about freedom or liberty, only profit margins.

Same is with the Quatar World Cup - all that big talk about values and principles and whoopsee, all rainbow flags are gone.

[Vertigo 7]

I dunno about that. While it's true the Foxconn factory in China is where the protests started, Apple does not own or manage Foxconn (that's Hon Hai in China). That's just where many of the iPhone components are manufactured.