snowychap Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 10 hours ago, Xann said: Remember them getting excited about Furbies? He spouts so much shit it's easy to dismiss everything he says, but this time the point is maybe valid? Cars have microphones, are connected and are driving themselves more and more. Even if the car is made in the US, the voice recognition ICs may not be? Industrial espionage is another issue. It's just another invocation of the blanket 'National Security' line so that they can hope to have the leeway to introduce further (politicially motivated) protectionist measures, surely? If it's really a fear of the involvement of foreign companies and foreign actors in new waves of technology then the protectionist measures we're likely to see in the future aren't just going to hamper international trade, they'll bring it to a grinding halt. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 On 15/05/2019 at 14:26, blandy said: Just as a general point, if you want to persuade people, sometimes you have to give them a reason on their terms, on their favoured ground. So if you want to persuade a militaristic, republican, or someone with relatives in the military, or etc. then saying how your "thing" might be beneficial to their interests is much more likely to succeed in persuading them that to say (in this example) "climate change is real and will affect poor people in far off lands really badly" - when the audience doesn't give a stuff about that consequence. Well said. It's smart politicking. But she speaks that language. She's from Oklahoma and was a registered Republican until age 46. As senator she's voted for really obscene military appropriations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 On 16/05/2019 at 04:16, Keyblade said: The absolute state of US politics when one of the furthest left candidates tweets some shit like this: Keyblade, out of interest have you always lived in Canada? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 On 15/05/2019 at 19:32, Keyblade said: I agree, but any other issue other than war would have sufficed. It's especially egregious considering the US is all but gearing up to go to war with Iran (which she has criticized to be fair to her). Warren strikes me as an ideal candidate in many ways, whilst I haven't looked too deeply into her policies in a long time I was very impressed with the things she did during the financial crisis and her level of expertise on the matter. Like it or not the military is important and US has to be well placed to defend itself, hence 'readiness'. She is also clearly doing some politicking here which is clearly necessary. The problem with the democrats isn't the likes of Warren, the problem is the increasing prominence of far left 'candidates' such as Ocasio-Cortez who appear to know absolutely nothing about economics and have an extremely warped socialist agenda. There needs to be far more credible left-centre politicians in the US, Andrew Yang is personally my favourite from what I've seen so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 11 hours ago, snowychap said: It's just another invocation of the blanket 'National Security' line so that they can hope to have the leeway to introduce further (politicially motivated) protectionist measures, surely? Of course he's doing it for the wrong reasons and going about it the wrong way, it's Trump. Measures could have been quietly implemented in vulnerable areas. We've seen instititutions here and in the US attacked and held hostage by criminals employing malicious software. The military and secret services from East and West could no doubt cause havoc with information and automation systems in other countries. The Russians and Chinese have even moaned at each other about spying devices, notably Chinese kettles that monitor WiFi. How Huawei were let anywhere near our state communications infractucture is testimony to the stupidity of the Tories, blinded by greed. That said, I'm sure the US can access Cisco kit through back doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted May 19, 2019 Moderator Share Posted May 19, 2019 1 hour ago, Xann said: How Huawei were let anywhere near our state communications infractucture is testimony to the stupidity of the Tories, blinded by greed. Is it greed? It's definitely stupid, but there's a longer term problem, going back decades, that the UK doesn't have our own companies in this area. GEC used to, but was run into the ground by Weinstock and the remnants were merged with BAE. BAE does a lot in cyber-security etc., but doesn't make kit in this field - 5G comms. So we have to go foreign, which is not ideal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 The conservative right-wing political party got re-elected at federal level in Australia yesterday. No one saw it coming. People are trying to fathom how it came to be. As in, people are trying to figure out how the masses elect a people that don't serve the masses. The headline for their campaign was, "Now is not the time for change'. I'm more inclined to vote for assassination than I am giving some of these mobsters a place on my ballot card. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Just now, blandy said: Is it greed? It's definitely stupid, but there's a longer term problem, going back decades, that the UK doesn't have our own companies in this area. GEC used to, but was run into the ground by Weinstock and the remnants were merged with BAE. BAE does a lot in cyber-security etc., but doesn't make kit in this field - 5G comms. So we have to go foreign, which is not ideal. Handing your comms to the red corner. Once again, chums on the board. The definition of stupidity and greed. The fortress is as strong as its weakest point. It was easy to see this coming years ago, but there was money in unwise mergers and acquisitions. These occurred during Labour's tenure too, but this current situation is bizarre in the extreme. Going to the Chinese to build a nuclear power station and comms infrastructure? How does this add up with a military spend? What's the point if you're just going to offer up a soft underbelly to a competitor in times of peace, and a potential adversary in a more fractious World? We could be getting together with our European partners on projects like this, but instead we're doing our best to push them away. Even a US partnership (Motorola?) would have been better than China. Should have been sorted 5-10 years ago, but obviously it was more important to stuff public money into the tax swerving private pockets that are f****** up hospitals, education and transport. We've got so used to greed and stupidity with this Tory government, plumbing new depths in incompetence whilst they're at it, the unthinkable has become thinkable. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 Hillary Clinton considering another prez run apparently.. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Zen Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 (edited) 45 minutes ago, maqroll said: Hillary Clinton considering another prez run apparently.. It could only end in further humiliation. Edited May 19, 2019 by Michelsen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Quote Yo if an abortion will cop you a murder charge, might as well kill your rapist. Internet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villakram Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 The pure and utter corruption of mainstream politics and political coverage in the US. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/venezuela-united-states-war-trump-836344/ "Earlier this month, onetime fierce Iraq war opponent Rachel Maddow went on TV to embrace John Bolton in a diatribe about how the poor National Security Adviser has been thwarted by Trump in efforts to topple Maduro. “Regardless of what you thought about John Bolton before this, his career, his track record,” Maddow said. “Just think about John Bolton as a human being.” The telecast was surreal. It was like watching Dick Cheney sing “Give Peace a Chance.”" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 On 19/05/2019 at 22:26, A'Villan said: The conservative right-wing political party got re-elected at federal level in Australia yesterday. No one saw it coming. People are trying to fathom how it came to be. As in, people are trying to figure out how the masses elect a people that don't serve the masses. The headline for their campaign was, "Now is not the time for change'. I'm more inclined to vote for assassination than I am giving some of these mobsters a place on my ballot card. The whole system is broken in so many ways as we try to function in a democracy with the handbrake on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straggler Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 17 hours ago, villakram said: The pure and utter corruption of mainstream politics and political coverage in the US. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/venezuela-united-states-war-trump-836344/ "Earlier this month, onetime fierce Iraq war opponent Rachel Maddow went on TV to embrace John Bolton in a diatribe about how the poor National Security Adviser has been thwarted by Trump in efforts to topple Maduro. “Regardless of what you thought about John Bolton before this, his career, his track record,” Maddow said. “Just think about John Bolton as a human being.” The telecast was surreal. It was like watching Dick Cheney sing “Give Peace a Chance.”" I've heard that Maddow section, she is clearly being sarcastic about treating Bolton like a victim. I certainly did not think of it as an embrace of Bolton, the style of delivery has a very obvious subtext "just think about Bolton as a human being (as hard as that may be for you and I as we know what a scum bag he is)". She is taking the piss out of Bolton about how he is impotent in the face of Putin getting on the phone with Trump and thwarting his lust for war. The article quoted is a pretty disgraceful hit piece and quotes one sentence so horrifically out of context it manages to interpret it in almost exactly the opposite way it was intended. If you are looking for pure and utter corruption of mainstream politics and political coverage you might want to take a look at all media including Rolling Stone too as they appear to be as bad as anyone. This is in no way a defense of MSNBC, I have no idea what the editorial position, who owns the channel or what their politics are, I just happen to know that this one comment about Maddow is a load of bull. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 Housing Secretary Ben Carson: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 On 21/05/2019 at 08:54, AJ said: The whole system is broken in so many ways as we try to function in a democracy with the handbrake on. Are we living in a democracy? I don't believe we are. We have strayed from what it means to be democratic and given it a new identity. Democracy derives from Greek, and means 'power of the people'. The ancient Greek democratic system was not like ours. Calling something a democracy implies that it is true to it's meaning. That power, including freedom and equality, is there for all. In ancient Greece, the system was a direct democracy, and so you can understand the meaning behind the word, 'power of the people', if you understand the direct democracy concept. In that system the people vote on policy and legislation rather than voting for the election of a representative who will then vote on policy and legislation for them. In a direct democracy people have the power to propose changes to the constitution and call upon a referendum of any law introduced by a federal or municipal body. We live in a representative democracy, where officials are elected and given power over decisions. They can and do make their own judgements on what the interests of the people are. In this type of government, elected officials are not required to fulfill promises made before their election and are able to promote their own self-interests once elected. No wonder campaigns and dialogue with the public often turn into personality contests and who can tarnish the reputation of someone else to their own personal benefit. We have lost sight of what it means to be democratic, and yet we mistakenly believe that our version of it embodies the values and meaning of the old. it doesn't We go to war on the notion that democracy may be threatened, and we are duped into believing that the threat to democracy is a physical one, from foreign people and ideologies. The greatest threat to democracy is when it loses the meaning that belongs to it. It ceases to exist the moment it disappears from the minds of those that give life to idea. People. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowychap Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 (edited) 22 minutes ago, A'Villan said: Are we living in a democracy? I don't believe we are. We have strayed from what it means to be democratic and given it a new identity. Democracy derives from Greek, and means 'power of the people'. The ancient Greek democratic system was not like ours. Calling something a democracy implies that it is true to it's meaning. That power, including freedom and equality, is there for all. In ancient Greece, the system was a direct democracy, and so you can understand the meaning behind the word, 'power of the people', if you understand the direct democracy concept. In that system the people vote on policy and legislation rather than voting for the election of a representative who will then vote on policy and legislation for them. In a direct democracy people have the power to propose changes to the constitution and call upon a referendum of any law introduced by a federal or municipal body. We live in a representative democracy, where officials are elected and given power over decisions. They can and do make their own judgements on what the interests of the people are. In this type of government, elected officials are not required to fulfill promises made before their election and are able to promote their own self-interests once elected. No wonder campaigns and dialogue with the public often turn into personality contests and who can tarnish the reputation of someone else to their own personal benefit. We have lost sight of what it means to be democratic, and yet we mistakenly believe that our version of it embodies the values and meaning of the old. it doesn't We go to war on the notion that democracy may be threatened, and we are duped into believing that the threat to democracy is a physical one, from foreign people and ideologies. The greatest threat to democracy is when it loses the meaning that belongs to it. It ceases to exist the moment it disappears from the minds of those that give life to idea. People. Democracy is a very broad description of potential systems of government. Democracy does not simply mean direct democracy as practised by the Athenians (the power was not 'there for all' by any means in ancient Greece). There are many 'threats' to democracy, not least suggesting that there is only one true, pure thing called democracy. Demagogues are having a field day doing just that at the moment. Edited May 23, 2019 by snowychap 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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