Don’t worry, I was being a bit tongue in cheek. I just couldn’t pass the contrast. 
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I have no idea what you could ever possibly mean. Apple have simply, just now and all of a sudden, realised the value of USB-C after decades of rejecting it. The are doing it now because they are innovators and USB-C has become an (E)Universal standard for phones these days as per their words.
True innovation is being a decade late to the party and only showing up because you friend’s dad dragged you in by the ear.
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Fair point! I don’t know enough about this. I just saw a story that new iPhones had to ditch the lightning cable because of the EU.
Believe me, I’ve got some overpriced lightning-to-usb adapters sitting in a desk drawer somewhere…
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Just so we are clear I was being sarcastic, Apple only changed from Lightning because they were going to be outlawed by an entire continent. The EU regulations are perhaps the biggest reason they made the change perhaps the only reason.
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Well, to quote the NIC Global Trends 2040 report, that I shamelessly reuse constantly.
“the EU is a normative superpower” (also see : the Brussel effect)
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burp Morty, I’m a sexual fiend, Morty!
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For the first time in its history, the UAW has walked out on all of the big three automakers at once. So far, the strike is limited to three plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri.
The UAW is seeking a 40% pay increase, a 4-day work week, pay raises tied to inflation and a stricter limit to how long workers can be considered temporary staff, amongst other things.
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I knew he would do this at some point. X is fuxed.
You guys ever watched Upgrade?
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Fortunately, as one of the “old guard” of right-wing business, media and politics, I doubt anyone appointed after him, even his own son, will have the same savy, which will hopefully lead to even dumber decisions made that will crippled the organization. I’m looking for something along the lines of the Emperor stepping down and appointing Jar-Jar Binks as his replacement.
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“Me-sa think climate change she is a hoax!”
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UAW president Shawn Fain has announced that the strike will spread to 38 more GM and Stellantis plants, affecting workers across 20 states. Negotiations with Ford are going well enough that they aren’t expanding the walkout against them.
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For those of you who aren’t me and though NewsCorp might actually improve somewhat under Lachlan Murdoch well I hate to break it to you but you are wrong.
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I’m not hoping for improvement, I’m hoping for collapse like a plane hit the whole damn enterprise (if you’ll pardon the image that choice of words conjures up).
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I hate to say it but it won’t collapse unless something drastic happens or somebody dumps anthrax in their ventilation system then nothing is going to fundamentally change. It is an empire and few empires ever simply let themselves waste away
That’s precisely what happened to every great empire that ever existed. Romans, Kahn, Alexander the so-so, in-fighting and incompetence spelled their doom long before any outside force made any progress, and hopefully turning the company over to the talentless son who will bring in other talentless ass-kissers will put this propaganda machine on the road that will help bring it down to the ground where it belongs.
Man I added the “few empires” line specifically to stop someone from being too literalist with the analogy.
Also I would contend the deaths of Alexander the Great and Mongke Khan were inflection points that killed their empires nearly instantly and that the Roman Empire ended due to a variety of factors which many and not solely limited to incompetence (Which is just a broad term in general and something that happens in every civ) and in-fighting (though in-fighting does play a role).
Follow up on the situation in Niger for the french.
The president just had a televised interview.
So :
- French troops will exit the country of Niger by the end of the year, coordination will be made with the coup leadership
- no official recognition of their legitimacy though
- French ambassador to leave, which in effect will give state legitimacy to the coup leaders
No real surprise honestly.
France current doctrine in Africa is to recognise the initiative, and responsibilities to regional entities. And to help those same actors gain in capabilities.
The CEDEAO didn’t do much in the end, so…
I’m curious to see how the US will react themselves. They also have troops there.
There certainly will be reassessment of how to act in this region, especially on the question of security.
Since the interest on the region are part of the GWOT.
For those interested, RAND has some good papers on that, here is a link to “Building Security in Africa - An Evaluation of U.S. Security Sector Assistance in Africa from the Cold War to the Present”
It’s a good study on the current understanding of it, and as you read it you will quickly see how the current events show the necessity of a reassessment.
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Well it seems that UNESCO have finalised their new listings for the World Heritage List as the World Heritage Committee winds down its extended session in Riyadh. Important highlights include:
The induction of over 40 sites from around the world. (A full list will be below and there is a link to the WHC website to find out more)
The Italian government once again paid its way out of UNESCO slapping Venice with a big old In Danger listing.
Several burial sites in Uganda were taken off the In Danger list.
The convention listed a large batch of Ukrainian sites to the Endangered list due to the threat the ongoing war against Russia poses to the country.
Here is the full list of the new inscriptions if you care: UNESCO World Heritage Centre - New Inscribed Properties (45COM)
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Having spent the past several years building up a drone base there, yeah, curious what they will do.
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