Bill Gates is nuts if he is going to spring for TikTok with $50bn. Microsoft could simply set up its own version of TikTok . Another good option would be to hire people away from TikTok . Lots of tech-savvy people working for Chinese technology firms would be delighted to join Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, which all have iconic leaders that have won a cult following in China.
You have to find a way to hollow it out, not to snap it up. Tech firms in China are mostly paper tigers in the words of Chairman Mao; they pivot on pirated technology from America.
I'd hazard a view that the underlying motive behind Trump's decision to get tough on China is his renewed attempts to narrow down Biden's talking points. Which is to say Trump is going to resile from his early positions such as going soft on China and playing down the baleful influence of Covid-19. Biden has roasted Trump on such neuralgic issues.
On top of that, I think Trump is also waiting for China to accede to his own demands , namely his repeated calls for China to buy more goods from America, particularly farm goods. I think China will do that before the election if it still wants to have Trump sitting in the white house instead of Biden.
Therefore, there is no need to tear your hair out over mounting tensions between America and China. It could be just a show or trap. Trump may be waiting for Biden's response. China will get needled if Biden says that's not enough; Biden simply digs himself into a hole if he reprimands Trump's crankiness with China, alas, since he is said to have taken umbrage at Trump for being a timid soul when it comes to his China policy.
Biden can't be an evasive figure on such issues anymore as Trump doubles down on his hardball tactics. At any rate , winning the support of BLM won't help Biden win the election. It's the economy and religious purity. Like it or lump it, America is still WHITE.
Just don't talk seems to have been Biden's campaign strategy. Remember how Biden narked black voters when you he said "you ain't black". The gaffe-prone Biden is no match for Trump when they meet on TV.
Trump is by no means a dummy. He knows his base and his supporters' concerns and needs. By contrast, Biden is still chasing the wild goose. His black advisers still think that Biden will outgun Trump by just winning the black vote.
Problem is, America is not South Africa. I recall having said this several times . If Biden keeps getting gulled by his bolshie black advisers who are dotty about ultra-leftism, then Trump is going to eat his lunch
That's OK. Progressives are freaks and they deserve to lose.
0 Replies
BillRM
2
Wed 5 Aug, 2020 04:52 am
@goldberg,
goldberg wrote:
Problem is, America is not South Africa. I recall having said this several times . If Biden keeps getting gulled by his bolshie black advisers who are dotty about ultra-leftism, then Trump is going to eat his lunch
"
US defense officials contradict Trump: No indication yet of attack in Beirut
By Barbara Starr, Ryan Browne and Nikki Carvajal, CNN
Updated 3:17 AM ET, Wed August 5, 2020
(CNN) Three US Defense Department officials told CNN that as of Tuesday night there was no indication that the massive explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday were an "attack," contradicting an earlier claim from President Donald Trump.
While speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump offered sympathy and assistance to the people of Lebanon after the explosion, which left dozens dead and thousands injured and he referred to the incident as a "terrible attack." An estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse in the Port of Beirut exploded Tuesday, causing destruction throughout the Lebanese capital. As of Tuesday night, at least 78 people were reported killed and 4,000 injured.
,,................
But the defense officials, who declined to be identified so they could speak freely, said they didn't know what the President was talking about.
One official said that if there were indications anyone in the region pulled something off of this scale, it would trigger automatic increases in force protection for US troops and assets in the region -- if for no other reason than worry about retribution attacks.
That official noted that none of that has happened so far.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the Department of Defense was referring requests for comments to the White House.
There were conflicting reports on what caused the explosion, which was initially blamed on a major fire at a warehouse for firecrackers near the port. The director of the general security directorate later said the blast was caused by confiscated "high explosive materials," but did not provide further details.
Lebanese officials have not called the explosion an attack.
Following Trump's comments Tuesday, Lebanese officials raised concerns with US diplomats about the use of the word "attack" at this point, two State Department officials told CNN.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the government of Lebanon is investigating the cause of the explosion and the US looks forward to that outcome.
But during his briefing on Tuesday, Trump did not shy away from implying that Beirut had been targeted.
Trump said the US has a "very good relationship with the people of Lebanon and we will be there to help."
"
"Looks like a terrible attack," Trump said, appearing to look up from notes on his podium.
Asked if he was confident if the explosion was an attack and not an accident, the President said it "seems like" it was, based on what US military officials have told him.
"It would seem like it based on the explosion," Trump said. "I've met with some of our great generals and they just seem to feel that it was not a -- some kind of manufacturing explosion type of event. This was a -- seems to be according to them, they would know better than I would, but they seem to think it was an attack. It was a bomb of some kind."
I just heard on MSNBC that half the explosive power went out to sea and dissipated and apparently there have been warning about the explosives. Terrible thing to happen.
It takes very little to direct an explosion in a desired direction. A claymore mine is simply curved. Stand behind a few feet and nothing will happen to you. Stand in front and you will become mush.
The OKC bombing was directed inside the UHaul by McVeigh directing most of it power towards the Murray Building. Beirut only felt half of the explosive power, thank the Lord!
0 Replies
BillRM
1
Wed 5 Aug, 2020 09:28 am
I remember years ago touring Colonial Williamsburg set up like it was in the colonial period an was shock to see that the armory and powder magazine was kept in a brick building with not even an earth beam around it.in the very center of the town.
If the powder had gone the whole town would had gone with it an most of the people would have likely been killed by the building bricks.
The town folk was mad that the English marine seize the powder in the middle of the night but to my eyes they should had been grateful.
Sweden: 6 months without lockdown, Masks, ChinaVirus Bottoms Out
Open the schools.
Quote:
After months without lockdowns, school closures and other mitigation measures widely imposed across the world, Sweden’s coronavirus cases and deaths have fallen to such minimal levels as to revive the debate over its so-called herd immunity strategy.
Some Swedish officials are far from declaring victory, warning there could be a second wave and that too many elderly died in the country during its comparatively lax pandemic restrictions.
The country’s population-adjusted death rate, meanwhile, is in the top 10 worldwide, but lower than the rates for Italy, Spain and even New York, where heavy lockdowns prevailed.
Sweden’s mortality rate from the disease is now around a quarter higher than that of the United States, when adjusted for population size.
Uh-oh, I've read, your president counts the U.S. death rate in proportion to the number of its confirmed COVID-19 cases, rather than the death rate in proportion to the U.S.’s overall population.
The point of my post was to show Sweden did just as good or better than countries with lock downs did. Trump has nothing to do with Sweden's solutions to Covid 19. If you see a connection, let me know.
0 Replies
izzythepush
1
Wed 5 Aug, 2020 12:08 pm
@BillRM,
BillRM wrote:
The town folk was mad that the English marine seize the powder in the middle of the night
You should have told them to get over it.
0 Replies
oralloy
-3
Wed 5 Aug, 2020 02:05 pm
@BillRM,
BillRM wrote:
goldberg wrote:
If Biden keeps getting gulled by his bolshie black advisers who are dotty about ultra-leftism, then Trump is going to eat his lunch
Complete nonsense in my opinion.
The voters will explain it to you on election day.
0 Replies
coldjoint
-3
Wed 5 Aug, 2020 02:29 pm
Quote:
Philippines had the harshest lockdown and most mask wearing. It didn’t work.
Quote:
Nowhere is the circuitous insanity and national masochism of lockdown policies more evident than in the Philippines. This nation of over 100 million holds the distinction of having undergone the longest and most severe lockdown. They also have the highest rate of mask wearing in the world, according to a recent survey. In other words, they’ve done everything the propagators of corona panic porn every dreamt of. Yet…
Cases are surging because you can’t run or hide from a respiratory virus.
Quote:
Their answer? A new lockdown – all the while missing the irony that the first series of totalitarian mandates didn’t work. Now they have a weakened and destitute population to face the virus, while countries like Sweden achieved de facto herd immunity from a position of strength.
Just how insane was the lockdown in the Philippines? Beginning as early as March 15, under the direction of President Rodrigo Duterte, anyone under 21 or over 60 was not allowed out of his home, only one family member could go out for food and medicine, and there was an across-the-board curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. President Duterte threatened to have violators shot.
Tens of thousands of people in America likely died as a result of the lockdown – could you imagine how many hundreds of thousands died from lack of food and medical care in a poor country from such a severe policy of house arrest? This country has been suffering from a hunger crisis for years. The cruel irony is that only 2,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the country of 100 million. Like most Asian countries, they probably have a high degree of cross-immunity from coronavirus colds.
Aside from the insane lockdown, the Philippines holds the distinction of having the highest degree of mask compliance. After all, people don’t want to get shot.
