Tag: Volkswagen

Court rules automakers can record and intercept owner text messages

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to bring back a class action lawsuit alleging four auto manufacturers had violated Washington state’s privacy laws by using vehicles’ on-board infotainment systems to record and intercept customers’ private text messages and mobile phone call logs.

Court rules automakers can record and intercept owner text messages

H/T: Steve Lehto

German lawmaker joins talks with Taiwan’s president, criticises Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ‘unilateral’ China policy

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

German lawmaker joins talks with Taiwan’s president, criticises Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ‘unilateral’ China policy (Yahoo)

“I think we could have avoided this if the chancellor had followed the outline that we laid down together. One year ago, we said that Germany’s China policy must be strongly integrated with the US-China policy,” he added, stressing that the “coalition contract” also supports Taiwan’s democracy against “China’s aggression” and its “meaningful participation in international organisations”.

…

Over the past two decades, business interests have heavily influenced the country’s China policy. Last year, their combined exports and imports stood at more than US$255 billion, making China Germany’s top trading partner for the sixth straight year.

Germany is dependent on China for solar panels, computer chips, rare earths and other critical minerals. The bilateral trade directly supports more than 1 million German jobs.

Germany’s top 10 listed companies are reliant on China for a significant share of their revenues. According to the Rhodium Group, a New York-based research institute, automakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen and chemical giant BASF accounted for one-third of all EU investments in China in the past four years.

The Greens are idiots!

Elon Musk Is Not a Renegade Outsider – He’s a Massive Pentagon Contractor

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

Elon Musk’s proposed takeover of Twitter has ruffled many feathers among professional commentators. “Musk is the wrong leader for Twitter’s vital mission,” read one Bloomberg headline. The network also insisted, “Nothing in the Tesla CEO’s track record suggests he will be a careful steward of an important media property.” “Elon Musk is the last person who should take over Twitter,” wrote Max Boot in The Washington Post, explaining that “[h]e seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.” The irony of outlets owned by Michael Bloomberg and Jeff Bezos warning of the dangers of permitting a billionaire oligarch to control our media was barely commented upon.

Elon Musk Is Not a Renegade Outsider – He’s a Massive Pentagon Contractor

RT: What is Russia’s Sanctions Survival Plan?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The launch of the military operation in Ukraine has drawn the ire of the US and its allies, who have hit Russia with unprecedented sanctions in order to destabilize the country’s economy and pressure Moscow into ending the conflict. Among the many penalties imposed on the country over the past month, its financial system, energy exports, and forex reserves have been targeted. However, hard times call for prompt response measures, and Russia has come up with a few.

RT: What is Russia’s Sanctions Survival Plan?