Tag: computers

On Tariffs, It’s Good to Be “Tim Apple”

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Tariffs are advertised in the name of helping American workers, but what do you know? They turn out to favor the powerful and politically connected. That’s the main message of President Trump’s decision to exempt smartphones and assorted electronic goods from his most onerous tariffs.

On Tariffs, It’s Good to Be Tim Cook

Related:

Tim Cook gifted Donald Trump a $6,000 Mac Pro after he lowered tariffs on parts Apple needed from China

At the time Apple and Cook were applying a charm offensive to persuade then-President Trump to remove tariffs on certain components that came from China. Cook asked Trump if he could meet him in person to make Apple’s case, a gesture the former president found “impressive,” he told Bloomberg. Trump was particularly pleased at the time that Cook reached out, especially considering his acrimonious relationship with other tech CEOs. 

[2019] Apple dodges iPhone tariff after Trump confirms trade deal agreement with China

Although the trade deal affects billions of dollars worth of goods, it’s a particular victory for Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has personally worked to keep communication open with the Trump administration. Cook’s charm offensive culminated last month when he gave Trump a tour of a Mac Pro assembly plant in Texas. That computer is assembled in the United States, and Apple was granted tariff waivers for several of its components.

China banned sale of these minerals to the U.S. It matters to all of us

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

China banned sale of these minerals to the U.S. It matters to all of us

The ban will challenge many semiconductor manufacturers in the coming months. After two years of flat consumer demand, exacerbated by the global semiconductor shortage, many companies are predicted to struggle to stay afloat. Access to critical raw materials like gallium, germanium, and antimony is becoming increasingly important due to the heightened demand for electronics due to AI.

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No, They Were Not Hungarian Pagers

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

No, They Were Not Hungarian Pagers

But the fact is that the whole pager situation was a skillfully arranged smear campaign led by Mossad and the CIA against their own partner. These devices were indeed manufactured by Taiwanese Gold Apollo, which has a very high proportion of American top management. They were filled with explosives under careful control of the CIA and in April a large batch of devices was sent to Lebanon – at the same time that a delegation of the Knesset suddenly arrived in Taipei. However, the payments for the deal were made using the Hungarian BAC firm. The company does not have but a single employee, which confirms that it could not have produced the pagers.

All of this is a ploy for the media in order to shift the blame away from Taiwan and onto Viktor Orban, who is already very much demonized in Western discourse. The worst thing is that it is extremely efficient, because most of the world began to believe that it was Hungary that sent pagers to Lebanon and thus entered into direct confrontation with the Arab world. Orban’s representative instantly responded to the allegations, saying that BAC Consulting was “a trading-intermediary company, which has no manufacturing or other site of operation in Hungary”. Additionally, the CEO of the company 49-year-old Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono added that she was “just the intermediate”.

The story seems to have died down a bit now, but the mystery of the pagers remains. Will there be an independent investigation to determine their manufacturer? Most likely not, since all the evidence leads to the US, Israeli and Taiwanese intelligence services. This mystery will go down in history just like the events associated with the blowing up of Nordstream pipelines, as well as the so-called “massacre in Bucha”. No investigation, no evidence, no verdict.

Previously:

Both companies linked to the September 17th and 18th attacks on Hizbullah were U.S. government contractors

[2011] Golden Apollo held the FBI’s heart with a walkie-talkie

Latest Lebanon Pager Terrorist Attack Predictable, Preventable

[2011] Golden Apollo held the FBI’s heart with a walkie-talkie

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Thread

Kim Apollo held the FBI’s heart with a walkie-talkie (translated by Google Translate)

The recent conflicts in the Middle East have caused this 2011 article to attract attention and discussion. However, according to the statement of Golden Apollo on September 18, 2024, Golden Apollo only provides brand trademark authorization for the model involved, and production and sales are through the Hungarian partner BAC Consulting. Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs also stated that there is no record of Golden Apollo being directly exported to Lebanon. The models exported from Taiwan are equipped with AA batteries and there is no possibility of explosions causing casualties.

World Magazine Issue 477
Release time: 2011-07-27

Golden Apollo sells walkie-talkies that are almost extinct in Taiwan, but its professional technology, customization and strict quality control have helped it win orders from European and American governments, ranking first in the United States and second in Europe.

Pagers and walkie-talkies have not been seen by many people for a long time. They were products that were eliminated several generations ago. Many major manufacturers have even listed them as antiques and put them in exhibition rooms. However, there are manufacturers in Taiwan that continue to work intensively, making the pager number one in the United States and second in Europe. Even the FBI is its customer, and its gross profit margin is not inferior to that of HTC and MediaTek.

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Latest Lebanon Pager Terrorist Attack Predictable, Preventable

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Brian Berletic, September 20


Western media is calling an indiscriminate Israeli terrorist attack across Lebanon that has killed several, including at least one child and injured thousands, “unprecedented” and “sophisticated”. Yet nothing about the attack, which reportedly involved 5,000 pagers rigged with remotely detonated explosives before distribution, was unpredictable or unpreventable.

Latest Lebanon Pager Terrorist Attack Predictable, Preventable

Unexpected: Studies Suggest That Rather Than Killing Jobs, AI Could Revive The Middle Class + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

We’ve certainly been talking a lot about the “AI Doomers” who insist that AI is all too likely to destroy humanity. However, even people who aren’t fully on board with the existential threat of AI do often say that, at the very least, it’s going to destroy jobs for most people, potentially creating huge problems. For years now, people have been arguing for universal basic income, in large part, because they think that automation and AI will take away everyone’s jobs. I mean, it was a core plank of Andrew Yang’s silly run for President.

Studies Suggest That Rather Than Killing Jobs, AI Could Revive The Middle Class

Related:

[2017] “Another kick in the teeth”: a top economist on how trade with China helped elect Trump

David Autor believes both these things to be true: one, that Donald Trump’s diagnosis of trade with China as the source of woe for countless American workers was both accurate and a crucial part of his appeal on his march to the White House. And two, that Trump’s plan to help those workers by cracking down on trade is likely to backfire.

How much did Trump-era tariffs on China cost Americans? New US findings confirm ‘self-inflicted harm’

Ukraine’s security service initiates criminal proceedings against air defense “leakers”

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Ukraine’s security service has registered criminal proceedings against six “bloggers” in Kyiv who it alleges took photos and videos showing the country’s air defense systems at work during Tuesday’s Russian missile strike and posted them on social media.

Ukraine’s security service initiates criminal proceedings against air defense leakers

Video Did Russia destroy a US Patriot Air Defense in Kyiv? DEBUNKED! via Ukraine War Awareness

H/T: Emil Cosman

Recommended video: Kinzhal damaged US Patriot system | Storm Shadow Missile | Russia Ukraine conflict update

No concern, at all, about freedom of speech! If this had happened in Russia, this is how corporate media would cover it.