That’s what they say. Implementing it that way is an entirely other matter.

yup, just found out the hard way what posting on lemmy.ml entails.

Uhm, China’s only official ally is North Korea, thanks to the recently renewed Sino-North Korean Mutual Aid and Cooperation Friendship Treaty.

China’s base Djibouti is but one of many foreign bases there, and is not the result of some alliance between the two countries.

The PRC has broken the One China principle a long time ago under Xi when he asserted the PRC as the only China with Taiwan as part of it’s territory. Also Taiwan is full of embassies which are just renamed to business development bureaus to keep the CCP from whining. The lack of recognition is a ultimately a problem on paper only. The only reason a country don’t recognize Taiwan is because the PRC will diplomatically retaliate.

China’s inability to make allies and it’s antagonistic stance towards it’s neighbours is just making those countries choose the US. Instead of China becoming a better alternative it’s instead driving them away and is blaming the US for their own policy mistakes. It’s like Putin crying about NATO on it’s borders but at the same time giving those old soviet satellite states more and more reasons to join NATO. And then blaming NATO for the consequences of his own bad behaviour.

Sounds like you live on a different planet entirely.

Taiwan(ROC) has been independent since 1912, 40 years before the PRC even existed. Taiwan doesn’t want independence because it already is, despite all the geopolitical shenanigans. The idea that the US is somehow provoking China to invade another country is of course an odd notion at best.

Also when HK was given over the the PRC folks in Hong Kong didn’t mind because HK was an economic powerhouse compared to the mainland and the deal was hands off for 50 years. HK would remain autonomous. But China violently broke that deal a while ago.

And sure, the US has a history of violence, but no country is innocent of that, Mao even managed to kill 30 million of his own countrymen in just 3 years time.

Granted, the US is on a descending slope, but to think the world will just accept Chinese morality in it’s stead is farfetched. China has almost no allies, and it has an antagonistic relationship with most of it’s neighbours. It’s wants to be the world’s steward but it’s acting like an abusive uncle.

They’re both bullies. About 26 million people live in Taiwan and have faced political and military bullying from China for decades. And that’s not even mentioning Hong Kong, Xinjiang or Tibet. China tries to play friendly because it wants to create a Pax Sinica to replace America. But at the same time is militarily threatening it’s neighbours and claiming the territory of other countries as their own.

Even if you make a choice for a lesser evil. It’s still evil.

Both the US and China are bullies. So what’s the point of this?

Edit: don’t bother replying, I’m not buying what you’re selling.

Multiblade systems like Gillette are actually worst for your skin. Razor burn is basically hair that’s being cut down too far under the skin. And multiblade systems are really proficient in doing just that.

A safety razor has only one blade and it’s much harder to get razor burn if you’re a bit more gentle than you would with a Gillette. It’s also much cheaper. And a good lathering cream and shaving aftercare can make an enormous difference.

Beyerdynamic makes great headphones and is mostly made in Germany.

This is not exactly what you’re looking for but might fit the bill.

https://www.beyerdynamic.de/p/verio-200

Because it’s basically a new currency:

“it would be money, still issued by the ECB, but not taking the aspect of a banknote or a coin”

The problem here is that this requires new digital wallets. The downside also means that governments have even more control and surveillance options on your finances. While currently your normal bank account can be blocked or frozen. They can’t really do it on a per payment basis. With the new digital wallets they could, potentially, restrict your use on a per payment basis. So rationing fuel could happen by only allowing someone to spend X digi-Euros on fuel. Also it would be impossible to spend money anonymously like you can do with cash.

There are of course upsides, but giving governments the option to do bad things is more likely to lead governments doing bad things.

A more informed alternative would be the NOVA classification. Where food is graded on the amount of processing.

https://ecuphysicians.ecu.edu/wp-content/pv-uploads/sites/78/2021/07/NOVA-Classification-Reference-Sheet.pdf

There is not machine with more than a 1000 parts that’s wholly constructed within one country, alliance or continent.

Hell, China even make parts for the US military. https://fridayeveryday.com/us-outsources-its-anti-china-war-machine-to-china/

Honey attracts more bees.

Instead of saying “not American” “not Chinese”, having a positive message like “EU product” or “Made in the EU” would fair better.

Of course the current levels animosity between Canada and the US is more severe than between the US and the EU at the moment. So this antagonistic kind of advertising might work better over there.

Other examples are drone deliveries. Was supposed to be the next big thing, but even more than 15 years later most companies are gone. And mainstream drone delivery is not a thing.

Or take AR/VR glasses. Supposed to revolutionize how we work. But in practice it’s mostly used to play games. First Google Glass and then the Apple Vision Pro gathered quite some attention but is already mostly forgotten. The VR space is still thriving, it’s just not the paradigm shifting technology the early investors wanted it to be. Facebook’s Metaverse cost 36 billion dollars and was a complete flop.

My feeling is that it’s an AI bubble right now. The value seems apparent and money is being trucked in. But the uptake is lagging. Humans don’t need a piece of software that can write an essay for them. I want an AI that can find this obscure comic I read 10 years ago. That can order tickets for me. Find me the cheapest flights/connections to get from A to B. Summarize a text for me. My feeling is that it’s generative features are the least important.

It’s very telling that smart speakers are also in a very different place now. They were supposed to make shopping easier. That was how they were going to make money. But people just used them for music, asking for the weather and setting timers.

The most fascinating thing I heard a while ago was that like 60% of readers will stop reading a text if they suspect or discover it’s written by AI.

From their website:

“We will only be working with factories that pass a series of internationally-recognized certifications and audits.”

“We produce items in the US as well as abroad”

Why would a US factory need internationally recognized certifications? That kind of thing is meant to prevent unsafe sweatshop conditions in South-East Asia. Also they’re not specifying how much of their products are made in the US. If I went through the trouble to make 90% of the products domestically I would like to share that. So the balance is most likely leaning towards the other direction.

Oddly enough very product I checked said it was handmade in the US. So which products are made abroad?

I don’t want to be a A-hole over this. It’s cool they’re doing this, and seem to have their hearts in the right place. But I’ve seen too much shit in this space to believe things at face value.

Having to pay tariffs. Sending money to a country with an adversarial government. And it’s not even made in the US.

I don’t think they meant it that way.

It’s not there. The German’s wanted to check on their gold in 2007 and were denied access to the vaults. In 2011 they were allowed access to only 1 of the 9 compartments where Germany’s gold is stored.

If it’s really there, why would you not show it?

However both the Netherlands and Germany have already withdrawn about 270 tons of gold around 2015. But Germany still has over a 1000 tons in Manhattan.