China

[Spekulatius]

10 minutes ago, competitive-advantage said:

https://www.berlingske.dk/globalt/det-er-aar-2026-og-nu-kommer-kinas-invasion-ikke-siden-d-dag-har-vi-set
 

Translation:
“It is the year 2026 and now comes China's invasion. Not since D-Day have we seen anything so violent

Once many made fun of those who feared an invasion. Now their laughter has hardened. Berlingske has gone through a number of so-called war simulations, and here we present them as a digital narrative. The simulations show us how the battle for Taiwan can take place. If you're not worried yet, you will be.

 Taiwan is not just the island of Taiwan. Around it lie several small islands. Some are so close to mainland China that you can see them with the naked eye. It is a big, strategic challenge. Photo: Ann Wang/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix (archive)
Taiwan is not just the island of Taiwan. Around it lie several small islands. Some are so close to mainland China that you can see them with the naked eye. It is a big, strategic challenge.
Photo: Ann Wang/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix (archive)
Sunday 27 November 2022, at 10.26
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 gauth-alexander.sjoberg
ALEXANDER SJOBERG
Asia Correspondent
 gauth-kenneth.holm-dahlin
KENNETH HOLM-DAHLIN
Motion graphics designer

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7 minutes
It is counting on ballistic missiles. Bases in Japan and on Guam are being wiped out. The US is busy with a conflict in Europe. China's attack comes as a shock.

Hundreds of fighter jets and two aircraft carriers lie on the bottom of the sea. This is what everyone has feared. The year is 2026 and China's invasion of Taiwan is underway.

One by one, the small islands surrounding Taiwan itself have been swallowed up by China's mighty military. Now comes the trip to the main island. The Chinese put everything on one board, and one“

And the US blocks all the oil tankers and ships coming in or out from China and the game is over.

[Gregmal]

Isn’t it awesomely amusing watching all the people, politicians and especially news outlets who advocated for and cheered on lockdowns here in the US now bashing “authoritarian” China?!? LOLOL Potemkin villagers 

[CorpRaider]

11 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

And the US blocks all the oil tankers and ships coming in or out from China and the game is over.

And then they start getting their asses whipped worse than the Russians.  The Chinese soldiers don't want to be there, "what the hell is wrong with the status quo" and the Taiwanese are fighting for amazing lives and they have been preparing for this since WW2 ended.

Edited November 28, 2022 by CorpRaider

[Aurel]

 

[Spekulatius]

8 hours ago, Gregmal said:

Isn’t it awesomely amusing watching all the people, politicians and especially news outlets who advocated for and cheered on lockdowns here in the US now bashing “authoritarian” China?!? LOLOL Potemkin villagers 

There are US/western lockdowns  and there are Chinese lockdowns. Compared to chinese lockdowns , the western lockdowns are child’s play. Having to wear a mask in a grocery store is not a lockdown, Imo.
Then there is the duration. US was eased in summer 2020 and mostly over in spring/summer 2021 when the vaccine was widely available. China still doesn’t have a vaccine that works and apparently plans to go on indefinitely.

[maplevalue]

On a day when media is at fever pitch over instability in China EEM -0.4% vs. SPY -1.60%. Weak hands already taken out by the CCP congress perhaps?

[Sweet]

18 hours ago, Gregmal said:

Isn’t it awesomely amusing watching all the people, politicians and especially news outlets who advocated for and cheered on lockdowns here in the US now bashing “authoritarian” China?!? LOLOL Potemkin villagers 

Yep, it’s quite something.  We had two years of that.  

[Sweet]

10 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

There are US/western lockdowns  and there are Chinese lockdowns. Compared to chinese lockdowns , the western lockdowns are child’s play. Having to wear a mask in a grocery store is not a lockdown, Imo.
Then there is the duration. US was eased in summer 2020 and mostly over in spring/summer 2021 when the vaccine was widely available. China still doesn’t have a vaccine that works and apparently plans to go on indefinitely.

 

In the UK there was a period of lockdown where you couldn’t leave the house except for a legitimate reason.

 

I personally got hassled by a the police when I was out for a walk one evening.  They were embarrassed, you could tell, but they were under orders too.

 

In theory I was within my legal rights to be outside, but the point is many cheered this on.

[Gregmal]

Yup. Lockdowns save lives remember? Also recall the vitriol spewed at people who went out? Didn’t want to wear masks because they were pointless?Simply go to the gym? Or run their businesses? 
 

But now lockdowns are for dictators and authoritarians. I’ve truly had it with politicians and people who enable them.

[zippy1]

There are many levels of so called "lockdown."
I think if this is true, then this level of "lockdown" is more extreme than what most people anticipate.
 

Quote

Users online questioned the three-hour response time, wondering if the particularly strict COVID measures prolonged the rescue process. Hashtags related to the disaster have received over 2.3 million views as of Saturday afternoon. Videos on social media platforms WeChat and Weibo went viral immediately, showing what was said to be the building’s doors bolted shut from the outside with metal wires or wooden dowels that prevented residents from leaving. One resident told the Associated Press that elsewhere in the city, these makeshift barricades have been used as part of the local government’s zero-COVID efforts.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stefficao/urumqi-xinjiang-fire-protests
 

[crs223]

13 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

Having to wear a mask in a grocery store

 

The US lockdown was more than just having to wear a mask.  For example, my kids’ school was shut down for 1.5 years.  My wife quit her job to take care of the kids during the day.

Edited November 29, 2022 by crs223

[Sweet]

After a while I just ignored the rules baring common sense rules like wearing masks in shops.  No way in I was going to listen to anyone who said I couldn’t visit family.

[Gregmal]

Restaurant owners weren't allowed to go beyond 25% occupancy. Offices were either forced shut, had occupancy limits thrust upon them or shamed into staying shut. All while the leaches in government still demanded full or even increased taxes be paid. It was a disgrace that half the country is all too quick to forget and move on from. 

[Gregmal]

Aint it funny how folks now "stand with Chinese protesters", but were cool with Canadian truckers having their rights trampled?

[boilermaker75]

I go into work every day and often I am the only one there. I'll see some colleagues maybe once a week some never. This kills interactions and creativity.

[drzola]

What rights were trespassing truckers parking on non trucking routes in Canada denied Gregmai? I amust be ignorant in my own Country of origin's legal rights here ha.

[Dinar]

12 minutes ago, boilermaker75 said:

I go into work every day and often I am the only one there. I'll see some colleagues maybe once a week some never. This kills interactions and creativity.

Sure.  The problem is that commuting costs so much time and money (in NYC suburbs as much as $5k per person per year and up to 1000 (one thousand) hours per year) that there is a real question whether it is worth it despite loss of interactions and creativity.

[Dinar]

Just now, drzola said:

What rights were trespassing truckers parking on non trucking routes in Canada denied Gregmai? I amust be ignorant in my own Country of origin's legal rights here ha.

The issue is double standards.  When Black Lives Matters protesters flouted bans against protests/assemblies, rioted, looted, nothing was done.  When Bible groups tried to meet, well, Covid rules prohibit that.   When left wingers block bridges, roads, block speakers from campuses, that's o'k.  When right-wingers do that, arrest them all.  

[Viking]

A pandemic hit the world back in 2020. Everyone was flying blind. We were very lucky in North America as we have about a 2-3 week head start as we could see what was happening in Asia and then Europe (and then here). I live somewhat close to one of the epicentres in the US in Kirkland, Washington State when it initially hit. Estimates are 35 deaths at this one facility were associated with covid. I remember watching the news reports in March 2020… this care home could have been on the moon. Covid was raging. People were dying. Care was non-existant. No one knew what to do. And the panic was real. No one wanted to be anywhere near this care home (given how little was known about the virus back then).
 

Fast forward to today… yes, we know much more. Very good vaccines were developed. Most people in the West were vaccinated. And the virus has changed massively (to a much less dangerous strain). So the response in Western governments has changed from what we saw earlier in the pandemic. That is what should happen.
 

China is the one outlier. They stuck with local vaccine’s that are not as good. They did not focus vaccinations on older people (those most at risk). They have not allowed the virus to run in a controlled way to get natural immunity. So if they open up now, even though Omicron is not that bad, the virus will still rip, hospitals will be overrun and a lot of old people will die. So their poor decision making the past 18 months is coming home to roost. They now have to choose between 2 bad outcomes. For now, they are sticking with lock-down. But it looks like the Chinese people are getting cranky. The problem in China is if you get cranky you likely end up in jail or worse. 

[Gregmal]

We now "stand with the Chinese people" much like we "stand with Ukraine" once its convenient, however lest we forget, not even a year ago...The Rockettes were cancelled because the gestapo regime in NY demanded that we card children under the age of.....5!

[Viking]

23 minutes ago, Gregmal said:

Aint it funny how folks now "stand with Chinese protesters", but were cool with Canadian truckers having their rights trampled?

Greg, what happened in Ottawa is an event that started as a protest and then eventually devolved into essentially what was close to a riot that ebbed and flowed for days. The issue is that the police did not get ‘the protest’ under control earlier. And as we know with riots, once they get out of control, there is no Disney solution to bringing law and order back in to play. 
 

Much of what happened was in/close to residential areas. How long would you and your family tolerate big rigs driving down the street where you live blowing their air horns all times of the day and night? Three, four, five, six, seven days in a row. At what point do you say to the police/government… deal with this shit? Because the ‘protesters’ were not leaving. 
 

I am all for protests. I also want law and order.
 

I am NOT a Trudeau fan. And i also do not agree with the method used to bring this mess under control. The ‘protest’ never should have been able to get out of control like it did - in my mind that was the fundamental mistake made. Mobs cannot be controlled once they hit a critical mass. 

[boilermaker75]

2 hours ago, Dinar said:

Sure.  The problem is that commuting costs so much time and money (in NYC suburbs as much as $5k per person per year and up to 1000 (one thousand) hours per year) that there is a real question whether it is worth it despite loss of interactions and creativity.

 

I understand that situation. I am at a large research university in a college town. A long commute is 15 minutes. I can bike to work in 12 minutes.

[Dinar]

1 hour ago, boilermaker75 said:

 

I understand that situation. I am at a large research university in a college town. A long commute is 15 minutes. I can bike to work in 12 minutes.

That's awesome.  I love academia, I'd love an adjunct gig at a university (I'd do it for free) since I miss intellectual stimulation.  There were a number of awesome professors in my PhD programs, very well rounded, very well read, very thoughtful and with plenty of common sense.

[boilermaker75]

7 hours ago, Dinar said:

That's awesome.  I love academia, I'd love an adjunct gig at a university (I'd do it for free) since I miss intellectual stimulation.  There were a number of awesome professors in my PhD programs, very well rounded, very well read, very thoughtful and with plenty of common sense.

 

I have been in academia for 38 years and it has been great. Plus I get to live in a smaller community.

 

Most of my career I did everything in collaboration. Those collaborations changed over the years. In the current situation this could not happen because I never interact with anyone. It was great when I could just go down the hall and find an expert to sit across the desk from and talk to. This could really impact innovation. Musk understands this and why he is forcing his employees back to the office.

Edited November 29, 2022 by boilermaker75

[Spekulatius]

12 hours ago, crs223 said:

 

The US lockdown was more than just having to wear a mask.  For example, my kids’ school was shut down for 1.5 years.  My wife quit her job to take care of the kids during the day.

it differed by state and even by district. Our school was shut down for one semester  then reopened for hybrid school in september 2020. The semester after that the school was fully re-opened. I live in a blue state (MA)

 

Chinese lockdowns are hardcore. They famously welded the main doors in apartment building's. You couldn't get on the street and if the policy found you, you got thrown into a detention center. They still do the same thing almost 3 years after the epidemic started right now.

 

It's not even close.

 

I do think the office closures and lack of spontaneous interactions hurts in many ways, some visible and some less so. It has transformed work places, even those that remained open (like mine).

Much less meetings and those are are still being held are more online. There are things that get lost when zooming, but it's hard to nail down, imo.

Edited November 29, 2022 by Spekulatius