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Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
“We respect the choice of the American people. We express our congratulations to Mr Biden and Ms Harris,” said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing, referring to incoming vice president Kamala Harris.
Wang said China understands “the result of the US election will be determined in accordance with US laws and procedures”.
Indeed, Biden’s views have evolved significantly since he was Vice President. It’s not just Trump who has woken up to the threat China poses to America’s friends in the Pacific: it’s the American people and US Government as a whole.
In a recent op-ed on American leadership, Biden acknowledged that the US needs “to get tough with China.” He has repeatedly called Xi Jinping a “thug” and slammed his actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. The Biden campaign has declared China’s treatment of Uyghurs “genocide” and its website says that “Joe will speak out against the internment camps in Xinjiang and hold the people and companies complicit in this appalling oppression accountable.”
Biden congratulated Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on both her re-election and second inauguration, and wrote that he would work to deepen relations with Taiwan.
The Wall Street Journal wrote that “the US has turned a corner in its relations with China and is likely to maintain a harder line.” The Washington Post reported that Chinese experts believe that a Biden administration would be more dangerous for China because “[Biden] will work with allies to target China,” and [Biden] might resort to more sophisticated and coordinated tactics against China. Axios agrees, claiming that Biden will “confront China across the globe” with the support of US allies.
I made the point before, but I think Trump's "tough stance" on China was only ever to make himself look good (and his "supportive of Xi" stance was to do the same). It just happened to be supported by a bipartisan movement in the US govt. The bipartisan stance on China is still there, and Biden will be part of that, in addition to working with Taiwan and Japan and others in the region, instead of just performing to his own interests.
I think China would have preferred a Trump victory, because even though he's a pain in their ass, he makes America weak and divided. Biden will probably be more consistent with certain issues, and will be working with other countries rather than just talking shit and doing shit that doesn't really make sense.
Truth is, vaccines are not huge money makers. In the long run, it's not going to do much for the company's profit. It's why you don't really see many new vaccines these days compared to yesteryear. When someone does create a vaccine for something like Shingles, it costs an arm and a leg because it's not common and the company may not recoup their costs.
Don't think too much about $5MM of stock, it's probably a small percentage of his holdings in the company. Probably needed a new boat... lol
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday extended for another year an executive order signed in May 2019 declaring a national emergency and barring U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms posing a national security risk.
The order invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency that threatens the United States. U.S. lawmakers said Trump’s 2019 order was aimed squarely at Chinese companies like Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp.
The Business Insider article that you included is co-written by a Mainland Chinese professor. I always look at articles and sources with ties to China with a grain of salt. The same goes for stats that comes out of China.
Also, China has officially congratulated Biden on his win at least 12 hours ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikemhg
If Trump is so "hard" on China, can you explain his complete collapse on ZTE? Seems to me his hard "stance" is mere grandstanding to his base. I'd say that's bolstered by the fact that Xi Ping hasn't sent any congratulations to Biden, I truly believe his hard stance is purely a manufactured one, and that China see less of an ally with the Biden administration.
Am I missing something here, what has Trump actually achieved in relation to China, outside of hallow grandstanding to appeal to his base?
As far as real and measurable achievement against China is concerned, the most significant ones are the semiconductor bans and the ousting of Huawei tech further infrastructure. China has no manufacturing capability to produce any modern semiconductor chips. I am probably mistaken with the specific numbers, but I believe Chinese firms can at most produce semiconductor chips in the 20nm+ range with low yield rates, and the majority of their production capacity being less capable than producing those 20-something nm product. The state-of-the-art mass production semiconductors are at least 4 - 5 generations ahead at 5nm.
These don't just go into your latest iPhones. They will also have wide ranging impact on other technology-related aspects in everyday life if the bans were to continue.
When Biden says he will "force China to play by international rules" during his debate with Trump, my eyes just rolled. How does he plan on achieving that? Anyone familiar with how Communist China behaves know that it will only bow to real, material pain and consequences. Threats do not work until those threats become real, material pain. Negotiations do not work because Communist China always just plays the long game and tries to stall you out, all the while continuing to steal or otherwise sabotage / subverge the established situation. Biden has said he’ll review the tariffs but hasn’t specified a plan. But what is there to review when the tariffs and sanctions are already clearly working?
Biden is a career politician, and I tend to take everything career politicians say with a grain of salt. I'd much rather believe in concrete action that has proven to be effective.
Also, China has officially congratulated Biden on his win at least 12 hours ago.
So the CCP respects American democracy more than the GOP
Biden's leads as of this morning
AZ: 12K
GA: 14K
WI: 21K
NV: 37K
PA: 60K
MI: 146K
Leads the popular vote by 5.4 million, with 78 million votes overall
Said months ago when the USPS fuckery started happen that it would backfire, and the Dems would win because it would drive more people to vote absentee than ever before. Looks like that's exactly what happened (because based on polls, corona wasn't the biggest issue with voters).
It just took a while longer to see the results. OOPS!
It's over, time for Trump to concede and move on to working on his defense of upcoming criminal charges
So the Pfizer vaccine was not funded by Operation Operation Warp Speed. Does that negate the support the program provided for other vaccine candidates such as Moderna and AstraZeneca? It just so happens that at this moment, Pfizer seems like the most promising company to deliver, but it could have been just as easily be Moderna, AstraZeneca, or someone else.
Of course, if it is anything good that Trump has done, the fashionable thing to do is to brush it aside or otherwise play down its significance. And while we're at it, if there is anything negative news about Biden, let's censor it outright, or only do a tiny little report on it a whole week after the news originally broke out. Isn't that what the whole US media and the tech giants have been doing in this election?
And btw, the US economy was doing really well too, up to the point when COVID hit. But of course that didn't matter. Because Trump.
Trump bad. Biden good. Yup, understood.
lol? I didn't even mention Biden at all in my statement. The making of this vaccine literally has nothing to do with either of them. That's my point. The vaccine was going to be made regardless of any "incentives". Also, when it comes to something that'll be injected into your body do you really think hurrying things along is the way to go...? Distribution isn't exactly some huge benefit to be offered. Shouldn't the government help do this anyways...? Because you know, it kind of affects the entire nation and all.
Trump's angle in all of this is comical because he only did it for his own benefit. Need proof? He literally raged after the announcement that Pfizer had deliberately delayed the news until after the election. Rather than congratulate and thank the staff at Pfizer, that was his reaction. Obviously he wanted to be able to use this news to somehow bolster his horrific handling of the virus. Again, he didn't actually do anything other than offer what he should have been doing to begin with. Also, it creates the incorrect notion that political pressure would speed along progress. That creates doubt in the public about whether or not it's actually safe to use.
Quote:
Originally Posted by welfare
I'll be curious to see what percentage of the population is enthusiastic about taking a vaccine created in just a year.
Skepticism will definitely be a legitimate concern. Luckily the studies can be read and interpreted by professionals in healthcare and if they're comfortable with the findings then you should be too. I've literally got coworkers who read studies in their free time so they'll absolutely be interested in seeing the details on this vaccine.
The main concern right now is how to maintain the cold chain. For those who don't know what this is, it simply means maintaining the same temperature from the manufacturer, to the supplier, to the transporter, to the end user (pharmacies, hospitals, etc). This Pfizer vaccine needs to stay at -70C. As far as I know, hardly anyone has such equipment as it is completely unnecessary for the vast majority. So that means everyone in the chain needs to figure out how to keep it at that temperature if they do indeed go with this vaccine. If the other vaccines being made don't require such a low temperature, they'll likely go with them instead. Less hassle.
Ginsberg chuckled at one hapless Michigan lawyer who filed an election challenge Thursday evening in a federal claims court in Washington, D.C., the wrong venue, and bizarrely titled it, “Donald Trump v. USA,” as if the president was suing the nation.
“Why would anyone ever use that title?” Ginsberg wondered, speculating that Trump’s lawyers are trying to “appease their client” by filing the suits that have little prayer of succeeding because, “they don’t have instances of fraud or irregularities that are relevant.”
Same thing happened in AZ when they tried to submit thousands of online affidavits as testimony, the argument being that because they are confirmed by CAPTCHA tests, they should be considered... The judge was not buying it and threw it out
The whole thing is a farce, and again it's just dog whistling to rile up the most ignorant of supporters.
lol? I didn't even mention Biden at all in my statement. The making of this vaccine literally has nothing to do with either of them. That's my point.
The Biden comment is meant to point out the bias and double standards that the media and the anti-Trump crowd have against Trump throughout the election. Of course, you can choose to selectively disregard that.
Quote:
Trump's angle in all of this is comical because he only did it for his own benefit. Need proof? He literally raged after the announcement that Pfizer had deliberately delayed the news until after the election. Rather than congratulate and thank the staff at Pfizer, that was his reaction.
Again, why am I not surprised at an anti-Trump person's selective bias in choosing to focus on the negative?
Yes, the tweet didn't congratulate and thank the staff at Pfizer, but it was a celebratory one nonetheless. Is a tweet like that not appropriate enough? Again, of course you can choose to think that he must directly congratulate Pfizer and their staff on the promising results.
The Biden comment is meant to point out the bias and double standards that the media and the anti-Trump crowd have against Trump throughout the election. Of course, you can choose to selectively disregard that.
Again, why am I not surprised at an anti-Trump person's selective bias in choosing to focus on the negative?
Yes, the tweet didn't congratulate and thank the staff at Pfizer, but it was a celebratory one nonetheless. Is a tweet like that not appropriate enough? Again, of course you can choose to think that he must directly congratulate Pfizer and their staff on the promising results.
The 2 people behind the vaccine are muslium. He left that out too. How many billions did he give them?
__________________ Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.
Yes, the tweet didn't congratulate and thank the staff at Pfizer, but it was a celebratory one nonetheless. Is a tweet like that not appropriate enough? Again, of course you can choose to think that he must directly congratulate Pfizer and their staff on the promising results.
The history matters.
He has routinely stood up in front of the press and said that HE is going to have the vaccine soon.. he also said that Pfizer purposely held back the vaccine until after election day to screw him over. He also teamed his comment up with pretty much what he bases his entire presidency on -- bragging about the stock market going up because that's all that matters to him every single day.
You still this he's altruistic in any way?
I imagine a REAL president would have tweeted "Congratulations to the people at Pfizer, including Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci the brilliant husband and wife team who have come up with the most promising vaccine results yet! We will update on a release to the public as testing continues!"
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Didn't Pfizer say they were going to leave any announcements until after the election because they didn't want it politicised? It could be argued that that in itself is being political
Trump is a narcissist. A person would be stupid to think that he is alturistic in any way, and I have certainly never said or even remotely considered him to be alturistic in any way.
For the sake of discussion, of course it would have been great if the POTUS were an alturistic person. In practice, I'd argue that alturism is not at all an important quality for the POTUS. (Instead, some amount of compassion would be far more useful to the POTUS, but of course, compassion is something I do not believe Trump has in any sort of abundance.) As long as his policies are effective and able to benefit his citizens, that alone would make him a good president. As I have said before, Trump has done some good stuff, some bad stuff, and a heck of a lot of crazy stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by westopher
Anyone who thinks that measure of an economy is "good" doesn't understand how economies work. Home prices increased 20% and wages increased 4%. There was a multi trillion dollar deficit. Inequality has soared and the lower and middle classes buying power has tanked. But Bezos got more money and the stock market is up so time to celebrate!
As a comment going back to Westopher regarding the economy, the myriad of problems that you described is not unique to the US -- it is a tricky problem that every capitalistic country faces. It is in fact a problem that is happen around much of the developed world. It just so happens that US is quite a capitalistic country, more so than it was before in the past, and that increasingly capitalistic trend has been happening at least since the Ronald Regan days. For what it is worth, it is both a US strength as well as a weakness.
As a somewhat related note, the following might also be of interest:
This isn't Trump tooting his own success, and you can argue that some of the ground work was laid down by Obama. But the numbers are what the numbers are. It would still be a fair comment to say that Trump threw all of this success down the drain with his poor handling of the pandemic, but I would consider that to fall under a different issue.
The story starts with a list of around 10,000 names posted on Twitter by a Trump-supporting activist.
...
But there's a fundamental problem with this list of 10,000.
With an exercise like this you are going to find false matches - somebody born in January 1940 voted in Michigan in the election, and there was somebody born somewhere else in the US in January 1940 who has the same name and is now dead. This will happen a lot in a country as big as the US (328 million people), and particularly with common names.
To test the list, we picked 30 names at random. To this we added the oldest person on the list.
Of this list of 31 names, we managed to speak directly to 11 people (or to a family member, neighbour or care home worker) to confirm they were still alive.
For 17 others, there was no public record of their death, and we found clear evidence that they were alive after the alleged date of death on the list of 10,000. A clear pattern emerged - the wrong records had been joined together to create a false match.
...
For one woman who was supposed to have died in 2006 we found an annual company statement signed under her name from January 2020.
Two other men on our list of 31 died some time ago, yet votes had been cast in their names - with the correct postcodes and years of birth - according to the voting database.
We found that for both men, there were sons with the same name currently registered at the same address as their deceased fathers.
In both cases, a ballot was sent in for the dead fathers.
Local election officials told us that one of the votes had been counted but there was no record of the son having voted.
In the other, it was the son who actually voted, but it had been recorded as the father's due to a clerical error.
At this point if you put more than zero consideration into trump's claims you should just "give your head a shake" and stop it. Don't join the cult, whether by choice or just being bamboozled
Why bother having a conversation with people like that, there's no way they'll ever change their minds.
The far left and the far right are the worst kind of people. Thankfully there is still a small group in the middle who are willing to have a conversation, listen to facts, and open to having their opinion on a matter be changed. Unfortunately those numbers are dwindling and all we'll be left with is overly sensitive pussies on one side, and a bunch of uneducated idiots on the other.
Thankfully there is still a small group in the middle who are willing to have a conversation, listen to facts, and open to having their opinion on a matter be changed. Unfortunately those numbers are dwindling and all we'll be left with is overly sensitive pussies on one side, and a bunch of uneducated idiots on the other.
Thankfully I’d say 90% of Canada falls on that line. The only people unwilling to hold a conversation are the frenchies for the bloc, and the fuck Trudeau Albertan’a
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