sdw2001

GeorgeBMac said:

sdw2001 said:

GeorgeBMac said:

sdw2001 said:

GeorgeBMac said:

sdw2001 said:

On one hand, I don't blame Apple for threading the needle with the CCP in order to get access to a market with 5 times the population of U.S.   But on the other, that's a lot of money and resources that are building Communist China instead of the United States.  China is a major competitor, biggest trade partner, and #1 threat to the U.S. all at the same time.  Their government's goal is to be the world superpower by 2050.  This was a long-term plan started in the 1970's.  We dismissed them for decades, thought we "free" trade could liberalize the CCP, and their military was subpar compared to ours.  All that has changed in the last 20 years.  While we still have a superior military, they have the capability to win a battle (for example, Taiwan) before we can respond with full force.  They also have sophisticated enough equipment (planes, missiles, anti-satellite etc.) to give us real problems.  

Is there any actual evidence that China is a threat to the U.S. or that they intend to become the world's leading super (military) power -- or is it just more propaganda left over from the Trump era?

We know how that operates:  repeat the lies enough times and they becomes the new alternative facts.

It's hard to believe you're for real sometimes.  

Actual evidence?  China is building hypersonic missiles, anti-satellite and anti-carrier weapons and modernizing it's 2,000,000-strong PLA at a rapid pace.  Real-world spending on actual weapons and capabilities approaches our own.  Any China expert will tell you China likely spends double what they claim, and that most of it goes to actual capability (whereas much of our budget goes to pay and maintenance).   They have an advanced nuclear capability.  That doesn't mean they are planning to attack the United States.  But it does mean they want to dominate Asia and deny us access.  It does mean that if we move to defend Taiwan, it could result in a major, bloody conflict.  Economically, they have been waging war for 50 years.  They seek to be the global economic and military superpower.  They have stated it openly for decades.  

This has nothing to do with "propaganda" or Trump.  This was going on long before Trump even ran. China has hollowed us out economically and has infiltrated our institutions more than the Soviets ever could have dreamed.  Universities. Congress. Finance. Technology.  But yeah, let's keep whistling past our own graveyard, because Orange Man Band™.  

Yes, if we try to take what is theirs, they will defend it.

And yes, they don't like U.S. warships and planes threatening them near their homeland and if we push them too far they will sink our silly little boats.  They've been clear:  they will not allow western countries to colonize or intimidate them again.  Ain't gonna happen.

And yes, they beat us in the war of free market capitalism.

...  Losing that war to them doesn't make them our enemy anymore than Microsoft is the enemy of Apple.

Does Patrick Mahomes blame Tom Brady for his loss?  Does he think Tom Brady is his "enemy"?  No, he (hopefully) realizes that he and his team need to get better at what they do.

As I've said,  Instead of blaming China for our loss, we need to get better at free market capitalism.

But, we had/have a populist demagogue riling up the frightened disenfranchised chest thumpers looking for excuses for why they lost and offering them quick (but worthless) fixes. 

----------------

Added:  Interesting that one of our few successful new home grown corporations (Moderna) is opening a new manufacturing plant -- but not here in the U.S.   Rather, in Asia (Australia to be exact).  Reportedly:

"a second such commitment in Asia Pacific by a western mRNA vaccine developer, underscores efforts by governments around the world to build up local production and prepare for future pandemic threats after limited early access to shots led to slow COVID-19 vaccine rollouts."

Sounds like not even our closest allies trust U.S. industry to meet their needs.

Take what is theirs? Do you mean Taiwan?  Because Taiwan has never been "theirs," nor are we trying to take it.  We're not the ones building islands in the South China Sea and militarizing them.  We're not trying to colonize or intimidate them.  On the contrary, we've welcomed and encouraged China to become part of the First World.  WTO membership, most favored nation status, you name it.  

Two things can be true at the same time.  We have allowed China to hollow us out economically, absolutely.  But China is not engaging in "free market capitalism."  They are engaged in CommunoCapitalism, or fascism by another name.  The CCP is tyrannical, like all Communists are.  What are we prepared to let them do? Are we going to sit back and let them invade Taiwan? Take over the world economically through their Belt and Road initiative? Infiltrate every sector of our society? How long do you think it will be until the CCP decides it's time to take us on directly?  And yes, without a posture change, they will.  Because that's what tyrants do.  Unless we stand up to China, that day will come.  China has the capability today to cause us serious harm.  If they wanted, they could launch a simultaneous anti-satellite and naval attack that would destroy most of our capability in the Pacific.  They could sink 3 aircraft carriers, 20 submarines, and multiple destroyers as well as disrupt the entire GPS system in one day.  They could take Taiwan at the same time.  The only reason they won't is they currently believe we will bring to bear all our remaining assets, including nuclear weapons.  But the more they see our decline, the more international weakness we show, the more their calculations will change.  Look at their behavior since the Afghanistan debacle.  They (and Russia) are behaving very aggressively.  Putin is going to invade Ukraine, and we will likely do nothing.  China is going to see that and conclude in short order that it's time to go for Taiwan, and therein lies the road to war.  The military and security complex, along with major parts of both political parties will declare China's taking of Taiwan a bridge too far.  If the Biden folks are still in office, they will want to avoid being seen as weak.  Bingo...the one thing that crowd can do that we can't undo....World War III.  

Sorry, but Taiwan has always been part of China.   And, before they claimed to be an independent country (at the urging of our head terrorist Donald Trump) they claimed to BE China -- to represent ALL of China.  This independent country bullshit is just another of Trump's lies.  We and the rest of the world have never recognized two separate China's ever. 

And we didn't "allow" China to do anything -- that's just more of Trump's bullshit.

Our jobs and industries migrated to Asia (mostly Japan) simply because they beat us at our own game:  Free Market Capitalism:  They built things better, faster and cheaper.  And they continue doing so -- just that the industrial center has moved from Japan to China and a few others.

tht said:

lkrupp said:

tht said:

Let us all hope that Apple will sell ARM motherboards that will fit into the 2019 Mac Pro, along with driver support for at least the 1st party  dGPU modules, HDD modules, Afterburner modules, etc. They will hopefully sell 1st party 64 and 128 GPU core MPX modules too, for all the customers who just need more GPU compute.

If the rumored half sized Apple Silicon Mac Pro starts at $2000, a full sized Mac Pro (2019 model) starts at $5000, and a Mac mini starts at $700, Apple will have a full headless desktop lineup spanning all the price tiers since 2006, just before the PPC to Intel transition. Even more so than back then even. That "half size Mac Pro" has to hit $2000 though.

Hope away. Not gonna happen. Sell Apple Silicon mother boards that the user can swap out in the current Intel Mac Pro? Hilarious. Ridiculous.

You can join along lkrupp, and hope with us! We need all the help we can get. 

The 2019 Mac Pro is as modular a design as there is. As Lego as it can get. There aren’t any wires in it save for aux power for high Watt 3rd part dGPUs or PCIe cards. (Well, there is the speaker too). Owners don’t need any tools to take it apart, with everything accessible by hand with easy access everywhere. A machine to last for a decade or more. 

So if there is ever machine where Apple sells a motherboard kit, the 2019 Mac Pro is it. 

mcdave said:

sdw2001 said:

And...welcome to the real world, sweetheart.  This is the rude awakening your entitled generation is experiencing.  In said real world, you work for a private sector employer.  That means you don't get to criticize your boss or company in public without being fired.  That means no one in your company cares about your opinion outside of your area of expertise.  That means unless you can prove a legal violation, you can be eighty-sixed for almost any reason, or no reason at all.  Yours is the generation who thinks if you state your "concerns" about your superiors respectfully, they'll not only be listened to, but acted upon.  It reminds me of the interns who were canned some years ago because they wrote a letter challenging the employer's dress code.  They were flabbergasted that their reasonable, respectful letter telling their bosses how to run their company got them axed. 

Want to be able to speak out?  Either get a public sector job where your freedom of speech is less curtailed (it's true) or start you own business.  

& which generation sat back whilst they were socially engineered for this inevitable outcome?