Posts by sanmigueelbeer 1650 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Oct 2016
Competition is good.
Saying it is one thing. Believing in it is another.
And any American CEO only knows full well that "competition is good" if the customer can afford (to buy) the product. Most of the time, American made/design product carries a hefty price tag which China can "replicate" at a fraction of the price and (the Chinese manufacturer) still make a hefty profit. And American-based companies cannot compete in this arena.
Trump races to fix a big mistake: DOGE fired too many people
“They wanted to show they were gutting the government, but there was no thought about what parts might be worth keeping,” said one FDA staffer who was fired and rehired. “Now it feels like it was all just a game to them.”
Pretty much a "numbers" game.
Musk's threat to cancel the rockets that go to the ISS is more of an issue.
There are only three countries in the world, presently, who has been able to send people into space (and back): The Americans, Russians and the Chinese.
If the Americans don't/won't then there leaves only one other contender -- Because Trump asking Xi for a "favour" in light of the unprovoked tariff war Donald is waging against China ... Putin is the last man standing.
Does Elon have the power to cripple Trump in the midterm elections?
Only if Elon chose to be more stupid now than ever. Donald Trump is POTUS. At his disposal is a wide array of (legal) options he can dispatch to harass and intimidate anyone. No one, not even Elon Musk, is immune when FBI or the IRS comes knocking at your door. James Comey posted a picture and he got a visit from the FBI. He's lucky he did not get deported to Guantanamo.
And I have not yet touched Donald's "militia". What happened on 06 January 2021 could happen again to, say, Elon Musk's "commercial assets", burning as they go.
If Elon want to pick a fight with Donald, I'd start looking for a country with non-extradition treaty with the US.
The “it was Biden’s fault” defence has to run out sometime.
That depends if people continues to believe in it. Currently, there is an unlimited amount of people who will believe with this excuse because it is better than admitting they picked the wrong candidate in the last election.
And Boeing crash victims’ families say Justice Department set to drop criminal case.
America's justice system is, without any shred of a doubt, the best money can buy.
Make American Business Great Again!
"What's sort of annoying about the whole thing is I'm not sure what's wrong with the current Air Force One"
There was a joke, "The most environmentally-friendly luxury car is the one sitting in the garage to impress the neighbours."
There is really nothing wrong with the current Air Force One but Donald just want to make sure HIS future is "padded". To "impress his neighbours" (executives who fly around in tiny private planes), he can say "that's not a private plane. THIS is a private plane (& fit for a king)!"
I mean, he does not have to pay for anything: Fuel, maintenance and upkeep of the plane is going to be paid by hardworking, low- to middle-income American taxpayers.
(High income & wealthy Americans are not taxpayers because they rarely pay taxes.)
And what do you bet StarLink will be the preferred satellite provider
I do love the concept of the US government/FAA putting all the proverbial "eggs in one basket", particularly when one of the key players happens to be Elon Musk himself.
(Sure, sure, sure. There is going to be "redundancies" in place, along with a "robust disaster recovery plan". But I seriously doubt anyone has the balls to switch to "redundancy" if someone something should happen with an exclusive Starlink-only air-to-ground comms.)
I mean, seriously, what could possibly go wrong?
The PRoC government themselves routinely intercept everyday Chinese smuggling GPU/AI chips and some still manage to go through.
It is very difficult to nearly impossible to enforce. Look at Iran and Russian "export controls". Iran is already subject to comprehensive export restrictions under U.S. law, yet Iran is still able to make a menace in the middle east (and neighboring regions). During the start of the Russian "special military operations" in Ukraine, the US government slapped export control us US aircraft parts. Several years later, Boeing and Airbus planes are still flying inside Russian airspace (albeit at a lower numbers).
Business is business. These chip manufacturing executives know full well that an "export control" would only mean artificial higher prices at the checkout counter thus bringing in more profit.
Finally (and probably the most important point), EXPORT control requires friends to help with enforcement. And starting an unprovoked trade war with every country is definitely not professional way to treat friends and expect them to help the American government with this "export control" shenanigans. No way. The American government will have to do this on their own. Solo. You reap what you sow, they said. I say, f*ck around, find out.
Trump brain drain starts global tug-of-war for the best science minds
“I’ve got the best guys in the best universities in America all saying, ‘When can we move?’”
"Do the thought experiment. You’re an outstanding scientist. You’re sitting in an American institution. Things are not looking good. You know for sure they’re going to be bad for four years. They’re probably going to be bad for eight years. It’ll take another four years to get the thing back on its feet.
“If you’re a great scientist in your late forties or fifties, you’re not going to sit it out, are you? No way."
Universities and research labs outside the America is in a crossroad: Piss off Donald J Trump by headhunting some of America's (soon-to-be-unemployed) best-and-brightest scientists, engineers, researchers, physicists, etc or helplessly watch other countries (like China) snatch them from under you.
Unemployed talent cannot wait eight long years for America to sort itself out.
Big "body shops" could build their talent pool because something is going to have to give when gutted public service agencies will need talent urgently. This way it serves White House and DOGE very nicely, i. e. Public service headcount is "down" but, quietly, growth private contractor population goes supernova.
The worse thing about history-repeating-itself is when we do not learn from the mistakes of the past: US Congress made the mistake made by "de-funding" of the FAA in the early 2000 (after strong lobbying) which resulted in Boeing MAX crisis. Fast forward twenty or so years and the US Government is "de-funding" nearly everything and everyone and (may) hand over work to private companies. What could possibly go wrong with that?
Make American Business Great Again, baby!
Musk said on the call: "Anyone who tells you they can predict with precision, the production ramp of the truly new product – doesn't know what they're talking about."
I feel confident in getting to a million units per year in less than five years. So, by 2030, I feel confident in predicting a million Optimus units per year.
Is this Elon's admission that he does not know what he's talking about?
"It's the global catalog that helps everyone – security teams, software vendors, researchers, governments – organize and talk about vulnerabilities using the same reference system."
Exactly. If there CVE catalogue is dismantled, software vendors, manufacturers, etc can openly ignore any software/security vulnerability. Money saved by NOT FIXING software/security vulnerability discovered means several executives will get their beloved 400 foot yacht they've been drooling for the last 25 years.
Dismantling of the CVE catalogue is every electronics & IT manufacturer's wet dream!
This is no different to DJ Trump's plan to cut >10% to the U.S. Forest Service staff. "About 75 percent of agency staff are trained in wildland firefighting."
Insurance companies rejoice! Happy days are back! Rejoice!
US to impose tariffs of up to 3,521% on south-east Asia solar panels
14 reasons why Trump’s tariffs won’t bring manufacturing back
What is the point here?
The point, apparently, is to bring down America's massive $36 trillion Federal debt.
And slapping nnn% tariff on imports from is the "easiest" way to tax low- and middle income Americans without raising personal income tax.
Trump wants to make a deal with China. Here’s how he’s trying to make that happen
Interesting reading.
* "We want to appear to be going towards free trade but we also love the revenue from tariffs"
* Two different people close to the White House said Trump, not a deputy, is leading the administration’s strategy on China, which has in some cases left people outside the White House without a point person to go to.
* Asked who is leading the White House’s negotiations on China, a third person close to the White House quipped: “A junior staffer named Donald Trump.”
And the most interesting part is this: Beijing has punched back with both a 125 percent retaliatory tariff and a suite of non-tariff import curbs calculated to inflict pain across a swathe of economic sectors. They include bureaucratic obstacles to agricultural and energy imports, a travel advisory aimed at kneecapping Chinese tourist arrivals to the U.S. and halting delivery of Boeing aircraft.
However, Donald is reluctant to tax the rich. For example, Apple Australia in 2024:
Australia's corporate tax rate is 30 per cent.
Apple brought in $9.33 billion in income from its Australian business in the 2021-22 financial year, according to the ATO.
But it was able to reduce that figure to $459 million for its taxable income, meaning it paid just $137.3 million in taxes.
AU$137.3 taxes paid for AU$9.33 billion equates to about <01.5% tax rate.
Australia is a very tiny market for FAANG. If Apple was able to book a profit of AU$9.3 billion then the US income would be exponentially higher. How much income taxes did FAANG pay in 2024? How much did the Trump group of companies pay in 2024?
The goal is to shrink gut the US public service (down to it's core) so each department will have to engage body shops to provide contractors to fill in the void.
All in all, it is a win-win for the businesses.
And anybody, i. e. regulating body, "standing in the way of progress" will be shut down. For instance, self-driving cars still not up to scratch with regulators? Shut that department down.
Cruise ship industry having to be compliant with on-board stomach bugs? Shut down that division that manages the inspectors.
Federal regulators managing the safety of US air space? Yeah, they can go too.
The Whinners: Apple, Nvidia Score Relief From US Tariffs With Exemptions
This is going to be the start of the backdown. I am going to suspect all Chinese made brands by American companies will get exemptions. Clothes, medicine/drugs, game consoles, toys, car parts, ships/warships, etc. Anything that will not upset the American voters will make it to this exemption list.
The Winners: The White House is "waiting" (some publications use the word "begging") for Xi to call (Trump is waiting for Xi to call. The Chinese see it differently).
Donald may be "keeping his cards close to his chest" but he's also playing with his cards facing Xi.
Trump May Blow Up U.S. Defense Sales to Europe
Trump "wants Europeans to spend more on defense, yet he is hammering their economies with tariffs. He wants to withdraw U.S. assets from Europe, yet he wants to take over Greenland. He wants Europeans to buy American weapons, yet he threatens to pull vital technical and logistical support to use those weapons."
“You cannot muse publicly that you may not sell advanced fighter jets to Europe because they might become enemies then express unhappiness when they suggest they might not buy arms from you.”
Strike while the iron is hot!
While Donald Trump is busy burning his bridges, the People's Republic of China is busy trying to (re) build them (Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ducks invitation to ‘hold hands’ with China on tariffs).
In Secret Meeting, China Acknowledged Role in U.S. Infrastructure Hacks
Chinese officials acknowledged in a secret December meeting that Beijing was behind a widespread series of alarming cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring how hostilities between the two superpowers are continuing to escalate.
@ElReg,
Can I also add Cisco Smart Licensing Utility Vulnerabilities that is currently being exploited in the wild?
A vulnerability in Cisco Smart Licensing Utility could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to log in to an affected system by using a static administrative credential.
A backed-in backdoor account. What could possibly go wrong with that?
And in the meantime, Secretive Chinese network tries to lure fired US gov workers.
Musk and putin want to destroy the US. Economy and society.
And then blame Biden, Obama, Clinton (Hillary first and then Bill), Bush Jr, Bush Sr, Reagan, Carter, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Kissinger, Ford, Chrysler, Eisenhower, Franklin, Lincoln, Einstein, Isaac Newton, Pierre and Marie Curie, Castro, the Chippendale, the Chipmunks, the Left, the Right, the Center and everybody else that I have failed to mention (except Donald and Elon).
POTUS has accused Ireland of "stealing" US pharma companies.
If this becomes fruition, Donald is going to be very unhappy Europe has "stolen" US scientists.
It is a mad, mad world we live in now.
Hey ElReg,
Can I take this opportunity and add "Cisco IOS XR Software Border Gateway Protocol Confederation Denial of Service Vulnerability because "The Cisco PSIRT is aware of a public announcement about this issue. This announcement is not specific to Cisco IOS XR Software and can be found at Crafting endless AS-PATHS in BGP."
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