Announcement

Collapse

Please support the Forum by using the Amazon Link this Holiday Season

Amazon has started their Black Friday sales and there are some great deals to be had! As you shop this holiday season, please consider using the forum's Amazon.com link (listed in the menu as "Amazon Link") to add items to your cart and purchase them. The forum gets a small commission from every item sold.

Additionally, the forum gets a "bounty" for various offers at Amazon.com. For instance, if you sign up for a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime, the forum will earn $3. Same if you buy a Prime membership for someone else as a gift! Trying out or purchasing an Audible membership will earn the forum a few bucks. And creating an Amazon Business account will send a $15 commission our way.

If you have an Amazon Echo, you need a free trial of Amazon Music!! We will earn $3 and it's free to you!

Your personal information is completely private, I only get a list of items that were ordered/shipped via the link, no names or locations or anything. This does not cost you anything extra and it helps offset the operating costs of this forum, which include our hosting fees and the yearly registration and licensing fees.

Stay safe and well and thank you for your participation in the Forum and for your support!! --Deborah

Here is the link:
Click here to shop at Amazon.com
See more
See less

Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • If you have the gall not to sufficiently support a criminal Russian asset, get harassed out of a job. At the State Dept.


    “Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx

    Comment


    • Comment


      • Commissar Trump has granted Chinese intelligence a 90 day extension to upgrade their electronic network in the USA.


        “Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx

        Comment


        • Originally posted by Ghengis Jon View Post
          Commissar Trump has granted Chinese intelligence a 90 day extension to upgrade their electronic network in the USA.


          https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKCN1V701U
          Right. What this link does, beyond the obvious news, is to provide a good example of how Huawei's supply chains are disrupted by the Trump administration's methodology in applying pressure on China. IOW, in the trade war, it's not just one major corporation that is affected, it is all of it's end product parts suppliers.

          Thus, when sales of Huawei's end products decline, they stop buying parts from the smaller guys building and supplying them. Every major corporation farms out large portions of the their assembled final products. Not only that but the actual assembled product sale may occur at some distant location and country. Transportation systems moving parts and final products take a hit too.

          That could end up being a very steep price to pay for either side engaged in the tit-for-tat tariff war being waged. I think both sides understand the economic costs. I've read articles saying the US economy can best withstand these economic costs and articles saying that China can. When you add the political costs involved for the two leaders, assuming Trump wants to get re-elected in 2020, it would seem Xi can better withstand any political fall-out than Trump can. Either way, I'm hoping that the nexus of realty for the two leaders will lead to a deal soon. Trump and Xi are allegedly going to talk by phone this weekend.
          Mission to CFB's National Championship accomplished. But the shine on the NC Trophy is embarrassingly wearing off. It's M B-Ball ..... or hockey or volley ball or name your college sport favorite time ...... until next year.

          Comment


          • Huawei has been long identified by US intelligence as the Chinese state's preferred purveyor of consumer electronics capable of delivering or activating malware used in technology thefts and espionage. This is not news. (Oh wait a minute. Trump says the US Intel groups don't know shit so this can't be true.) Yes, I recognize that innocent sub-suppliers downstream can take a hit. Yes, I realize that this is a micro example of a macro problem. But I also realize that enabling a hostile intelligence service is not in the US's overall interest. Trump is putting his own interests (re-election) over national interests (counter intelligence security). Given his position and who the adversary is, this is treason. AGAIN. We aren't talking about the Canadians here, its the fucking Communist Chinese. The ones with nuclear missiles pointed at us, remember?
            “Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx

            Comment


            • Ren Zhengfei's company Huawei - a Donald Trump re-election partner.


              After completing secondary school, Ren attended the Chongqing University in the 1960s and then joined the People's Liberation Army research institute to work as a military technologist, reportedly in the PLA's Information Technology research unit. After founding Huawei, it was rewarded with Chinese government contracts in data center building and telecommunications construction of 4G networks. Ren's ties with the Chinese military and Communist Party have been cited by the Indian government as a security concern in not allowing Huawei to win certain contracts in India. These fears are shared by other countries. In the United States it led to the collapse of Huawei's efforts to buy 3Com and forced SoftBank to greatly sever ties with Huawei in order to have its takeover of Sprint Nextel acquire US national-security clearance. In the United Kingdom, the Intelligence and Security Committee has recommended the removal of Huawei's equipment due to spying fears.
              “Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx

              Comment


              • Jon, it is my understanding that, according to Commerce, the telecommunications components that Huawei is allowed to sell to it's various US customers do not pose the security threat you are concerned about.

                The US has led all other nations in raising concerns about the security risks Huawei Telcom equipment poses. The fact of the matter is that Cisco or anyone else's Telcom equipment can pose a security risk - it's the nature of the beast, especially the 5G beast. Assessing the risk is just a matter of which position you take. I'm less concerned than you are about it and allowing unfettered access by Huawei to US Markets is a key issue for China. Is it worth giving them the finger? I don't think it is in the context of trade negotiations

                Sure, the Chicoms are not our friends and it's entirely possible that they could switch on or off Huawei's installed Telcom equipment for the purpose of electronic eavesdropping. Likely? The only country that thinks that the risks are not worth improving a nation's network infrastructure with Huawei's products is the US. Most everyone else is moving forward with 5G using Huwaei products. That should tell us something.

                "The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

                https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/26/is...curity-threat/
                Last edited by Jeff Buchanan; August 17, 2019, 11:54 AM.
                Mission to CFB's National Championship accomplished. But the shine on the NC Trophy is embarrassingly wearing off. It's M B-Ball ..... or hockey or volley ball or name your college sport favorite time ...... until next year.

                Comment


                • This is a very balanced article on the impact of the Trump administration's approach to US-China trade. This week, I think you can access a bunch of free articles. This one is worth a read.

                  The bottom line is that there is really insufficient hard data to claim that the Global Economy is in trouble strictly due to US-China trade tensions. There is anecdotal evidence that corporations are tightening up plans on spending /expansion until there is more clarity, with respect to trade tensions, going forward.

                  My view is that the rhetoric aimed at showing the faults in Trump's methods in dealing with the Chinese on trade is over the top. The doomsday predictions are not based on any hard data but rather rely on messaging that paints administration economists and trade experts as idiots.

                  Mission to CFB's National Championship accomplished. But the shine on the NC Trophy is embarrassingly wearing off. It's M B-Ball ..... or hockey or volley ball or name your college sport favorite time ...... until next year.

                  Comment


                  • The faults of Trump's lack of Chinese trade strategy is hardly over the top. The intellectual property theft and forced/stolen technology transfer by the Chinese has been observed to be the greatest unwilling transfer of wealth in history. Trump's tariffs (ie taxes on America business) are not doing a damned thing other than start the slow motion change of supply chain management. As a former squadron commander, I know you to be familiar with logistical processes. On a global scale, this moves with glacial speed. But the process has started.

                    I look at my company. We too are shifting our supply chain. But what is the reality? In my former division, we produce an electro-mechanical valve that is on every heavy truck in the civilized world. We control 85% of the North American market, 65% of SA, 45% of Europe, and 55% of the ME. Russia, China, and Africa each come in around 30%. We cannot buy the raw materials ANYWHERE cheaper than we can buy the finished product from China. Tariffs could go to 200% and although our profit margin would be immensely smaller, we would still make money. If a high tech company can do that, you think the Wal-Marts and Targets can't? Trump's pissy little tariffs, coupled with very little else, do nothing to address the problem with Chinese theft. Trump's policies encourage the Chinese to wait out his administration.

                    I do agree that doomsday predictions are as accurate as anything that comes out of Trump's mouth, which is not at all.

                    I feel that our national security vs the Chinese is far more important than any reciprocal profit margin. We agree to disagree.




                    “Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx

                    Comment


                    • Holy smokes, Bullwinkle, look at us. As far as Huawei goes, I'm arguing the John Bolton position and you're arguing as Bernie Sanders. The Apocalypse is nigh.
                      “Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho Marx

                      Comment


                      • Don't worry, Jon. Jeff will wear his long johns to the Army game when its 75 degrees outside, .. and all will be correct again ...
                        "in order to lead America you must love America"

                        Comment


                        • Nope ....... below 65, I've got my arctic gear at the ready.

                          The average day time year long temperature in South FL is 84 ........ and it feels cold when you step outside in the AM and it's 70!
                          Mission to CFB's National Championship accomplished. But the shine on the NC Trophy is embarrassingly wearing off. It's M B-Ball ..... or hockey or volley ball or name your college sport favorite time ...... until next year.

                          Comment


                          • FBI arrests a white nationalist up by Youngstown for threatening the shoot up a Jewish community center. Two years ago he was in Charlottesville for "Unite the Right".

                            Comment


                            • What went wrong? Why isn't the 2017 tax cut boosting the economy to the degree promised?

                              https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/16/trum...-it-needs.html

                              Jobs created per month on average from January 2017 to the present (31 months): 193,000

                              Jobs created per month in the final 31 months (June 2014 to Dec 2016) of the Obama Presidency: 223,000

                              Guess which one is presented as a miracle economy by Republicans and which was presented as a disaster?

                              https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/ces0..._view=net_1mth
                              Last edited by Dr. Strangelove; August 18, 2019, 01:18 PM.

                              Comment


                              • "The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is sometimes hard to verify their authenticity." -Abraham Lincoln

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X