tmay

GeorgeBMac said:

tmay said:

GeorgeBMac said:

The chances of this merger taking place have passed the zero mark and are into negative territory -- there are just too many hurdles from every corner of the globe in its path -- and not enough incentive to ignore them or override them.

But the fact that the UK does not trust the U.S. is both hilarious and telling.

... The U.S. must address that concern -- not with respect to this failing merger, but from its underlying basis.

Trust is the foundation that both companies and countries rely on.   When that fails everything begins to fail.

You are completely misreading why the UK is stating that the sale of ARM is a "national security concern", and it isn't about Nvidia being a U.S. company, so much as the UK wants to retain its "technical sovereignty".

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/sale-cambridge-firm-tech-giant-21224281

Concerns over national security have led the government to consider blocking the deal, according to Bloomberg, while another source stated that it would welcome another review into the merger.

In response to suggestions of a government block, Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner said: “I would urge the government to listen carefully to the findings of the Competition and Markets Authority and other experts in the field. 

“I have always called for legal guarantees on Cambridge jobs, but this proposed deal also has far wider implications. 

“There are potential risks to national security as I pointed out when I secured a debate in parliament, and the important issue of tech sovereignty.

“Arm is a strategic national asset and a UK company with global dominance. Semiconductors underpin our critical national infrastructure.

“I am pleased after two long years ministers seem to be coming round to these arguments but they need to come to a decision because endless delay is sapping morale among staff and risks setting Arm back as global competitors move forward.”

Nobody trusts the U.S. to keep its word anymore.  Not even its friends.

How awful it must be for China then;

https://www.csis.org/analysis/making-america-great-global-perceptions-china-russia-and-united-states-international

Then of course, the Biden Administration came into office;

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/06/10/americas-image-abroad-rebounds-with-transition-from-trump-to-biden/

During the past two decades, presidential transitions have had a major impact on overall attitudes toward the U.S. When Barack Obama took office in 2009, ratings improved in many nations compared with where they had been during George W. Bush’s administration, and when Trump entered the White House in 2017, ratings declined sharply. This year, U.S. favorability is up again: Whereas a median of just 34% across 12 nations had a favorable overall opinion of the U.S. last year, a median of 62% now hold this view.

In France, for example, just 31% expressed a positive opinion of the U.S. last year, matching the poor ratings from March 2003, at the height of U.S.-France tensions over the Iraq War. This year, 65% see the U.S. positively, approaching the high ratings that characterized the Obama era. Improvements of 25 percentage points or more are also found in Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands and Canada.

Still, attitudes toward the U.S. vary considerably across the publics surveyed. For instance, only about half in Singapore and Australia have a favorable opinion of the U.S., and just 42% of New Zealanders hold this view. And while 61% see the U.S. favorably in Taiwan, this is actually down slightly from 68% in a 2019 poll.

I'm guessing that China didn't get a rebound this year...

GeorgeBMac said:

The chances of this merger taking place have passed the zero mark and are into negative territory -- there are just too many hurdles from every corner of the globe in its path -- and not enough incentive to ignore them or override them.

But the fact that the UK does not trust the U.S. is both hilarious and telling.

... The U.S. must address that concern -- not with respect to this failing merger, but from its underlying basis.

Trust is the foundation that both companies and countries rely on.   When that fails everything begins to fail.

You are completely misreading why the UK is stating that the sale of ARM is a "national security concern", and it isn't about Nvidia being a U.S. company, so much as the UK wants to retain its "technical sovereignty".

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/sale-cambridge-firm-tech-giant-21224281

Concerns over national security have led the government to consider blocking the deal, according to Bloomberg, while another source stated that it would welcome another review into the merger.

In response to suggestions of a government block, Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner said: “I would urge the government to listen carefully to the findings of the Competition and Markets Authority and other experts in the field. 

“I have always called for legal guarantees on Cambridge jobs, but this proposed deal also has far wider implications. 

“There are potential risks to national security as I pointed out when I secured a debate in parliament, and the important issue of tech sovereignty.

“Arm is a strategic national asset and a UK company with global dominance. Semiconductors underpin our critical national infrastructure.

“I am pleased after two long years ministers seem to be coming round to these arguments but they need to come to a decision because endless delay is sapping morale among staff and risks setting Arm back as global competitors move forward.”

dysamoria said:

patchythepirate said:

tylersdad said:

lkrupp said:

Xed said:

sdw2001 said:

It is amazing how we just keep repeating the insanity. We know that mask mandates and lockdowns don’t work. This is unequivocal. That is not to say masks don’t work at all, but the way we’re wearing them clearly will not be effective.  We aren’t talking about wearing an N 95 or better mask when entering a high risk environment like a medical facility or a nursing home. We’re talking about wearing a piece of cloth or paper across your face while you shop for your new AirPods. It’s not going to do anything.  

Sure they do. It's asshole republicans who can't seem to follow simple rules that keep exacerbating this problem.

I now see plenty of businesses saying that if you're vaccinated you don't have to wear a mask, but for unvaccinated people to wear them. Are unvaccinated people going to wear masks? Not the ones that I know.

Yep, the so-called ‘honor system’ is a joke. Someone who refuses to get vaccinated is also not going to pay attention to the honor system by wearing a mask. They see it as an excuse not to wear a mask and don't give a shit if they spread the virus. Time for vaccination passports and severe consequences if caught using a forged one. 

But on the other hand, the government is so incompetent it would be a complete mess. I got a letter from my county health department saying they had no record of me getting my second Pfizer shot. I got both shots at the same county vaccination center and have my county vaccination card with both stickers showing the dates and time of both shots. See what I mean?

And it's the unvaccinated who are contracting severe cases, not the vaccinated. If the unvaccinated want to take their chances, let them. 

Actually, in England, vaccinated people make up %40 of covid hospitalizations.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/60percent-of-people-being-admitted-to-hospital-with-covid-have-been-double-jabbed-vallance/ar-AAMkbJS

Which is expected when using a weak mRNA vaccine that only covers one aspect of a virus (spike protein), rather than traditional vaccines that use the entire virus particle to elicit a full immune response; it's very strange that mRNA vaccines are being pushed, while natural immunity is being ignored. Is this because natural immunity is so much worse? (Of course not); is this due to desire to control, to push for vaccine passports, etc? (Seems like it).

Apparently some people getting the virus don’t develop immunity.

Your “just asking questions” end conjecture sounds like conspiracy theory nonsense. The people against vaccination, rejecting covid as legitimate, rejecting masks, etc., are primarily on the end of the political spectrum most associated with authoritarianism, which is also the most opposed to immigration.

“Control” for the sake of control makes no sense when applied to the political spectrum from which people have been advising vaccination (also keeping in mind that the Democratic Party of the USA would only barely register as centrist outside the USA; the USA doesn’t have an extreme left political movement with any power or influence).

That link had an obvious error; it has been corrected.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/60percent-of-people-being-admitted-to-hospital-with-covid-have-been-double-jabbed-vallance/ar-AAMkbJS

Earlier, Sir Patrick Vallance told a news briefing that figure was for double-jabbed people. But he later corrected himself on Twitter, saying the original statistic was false.

He posted: "Correcting a statistic I gave at the press conference today, 19 July.

"About 60% of hospitalisations from COVID are not from double-vaccinated people, rather 60% of hospitalisations from COVID are currently from unvaccinated people."

Alex_V said:

Numerous studies have shown the effectiveness of masks. There are many demonstrations on YouTube showing how masks of all types dramatically impede spittle and aerosols. Masks are obligatory in many situations industry, medical fields, and laboratories for good reason. 

https://youtu.be/0Tp0zB904Mc

A recent study in the UK showed that upgrading mask types in hospitals where nurses and doctors come into contact COVID patients had a huge effect. It’s important to note that they upgraded to the ‘correct’ type of masks, which met of a higher standard of protection than the cheaper masks mandated by Boris Johnson’s government.
https://www.rcn.org.uk/magazines/News/uk-ffp3-masks-study-shows-they-significantly-reduce-the-risk-of-covid-19-infection-290621

There were shortages fo N95 masks during the early and middle stages of the pandemic, but they have been readily available for most of this year.

Unknown to most, China and their diaspora living around the world, bought up much of the existing personal protective gear that was available, and shipped it back to China during the initial stages of the pandemic. The U.S. attempted to do the same later, but by then, there weren't enough sources of production.

 Reason enough that the rest of the world should not rely primarily on China for personal protective gear, but have multiple supply chains. Countries have also learned that they must have some internal production capability for these, as well as supply caches, all for the next pandemic.

https://apnews.com/article/us-news-ap-top-news-international-news-global-trade-virus-outbreak-bf685dcf52125be54e030834ab7062a8

Not classified but marked “for official use only,” the DHS analysis states that, while downplaying the severity of the coronavirus, China increased imports and decreased exports of medical supplies. It attempted to cover up doing so by “denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data,” the analysis states.

...and at the same time, and with the encouragement of U.S. officials, the U.S. shipped PPG to China....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/us-sent-millions-of-face-masks-to-china-early-this-year-ignoring-pandemic-warning-signs/2020/04/18/aaccf54a-7ff5-11ea-8013-1b6da0e4a2b7_story.html

U.S. manufacturers shipped millions of dollars’ worth of face masks and other protective medical equipment to China in January and February with encouragement from the federal government, a Washington Post review of economic data and internal government documents has found. The move underscores the Trump administration’s failure to recognize and prepare for the growing pandemic threat.

In those two months, the value of protective masks and related items exported from the United States to China grew more than 1,000 percent compared with the same time last year — from $1.4 million to about $17.6 million, according to a Post analysis of customs categories which, according to research by Public Citizen, contain key personal protective equipment (PPE). Similarly, shipments of ventilators and protective garments jumped by triple digits.

“Instead of taking steps to prepare, they ignored the advice of one expert after another,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.). “People right now, as we speak, are dying because there have been inadequate supplies of PPE.”

What were we thinking?

Profits.

Capitalism at its worst.

Here's an upcoming problem, brought to you primarily by vaccine hesitancy, and  anti-vaxxers;

https://www.statnews.com/2021/07/20/states-are-sitting-on-millions-of-surplus-covid-19-vaccine-doses-as-expiration-dates-approach/

States are sitting on millions of surplus Covid-19 vaccine doses as expiration dates approach

The U.S. needs to figure out how to take that surplus, and deliver it to countries in need, and do so before expiration.