Cham

China goes to US and throw down the climate gauntlet. "Rejoin Paris agreement. No more new fossil investment. 0 tariffs on all Chinese green tech, notably batteries, solar and EVs. Subsidize your own production, I don't care. Otherwise, indefinite ban on rare earths."

@NewLeftEViews I actually thought the square-cube law is super intuitive...

Yes. And I’m once again tapping the sign: we have to socially and institutionally internalise that there’s nothing about the square–cube law that intuitive to our primate brains.

@gonglei89 As I grow older, I enjoy the Chinese tea far more than westernized one. But it's demanding and requires focus to taste the subtlety. Sadly I am not always in that state And it's nice to enjoy Chinese tea with friends or with a random shopkeeper. Boba just isn't communal like dat

@gonglei89 Boba fundamentally comes from western tea tradition, which would add milk or fruits into them. I enjoy some of them - recently I have tried Wampee and it's excellent. When I feel lazy, I will do heavy milk or nut-based stuff but they aren't really in the Chinese tea tradition IMO

I’m this close to canceling China’s coffee culture. They were doing so well on quality before they decided to compete on weird 😭

@HPbasketball I think I agree 90% of your judgement on Shai. But I wonder, maybe if Shai partners with another top tier scorer (And I don't think J-dub is) or an superb 3-point shooter (say prime Klay), how would he look exactly like a monster similar to Doncic (Not Jokic tho)

So, couple things here. I don't want to undersell him, I've called him the best guard scorer since Jordan on Locked on NBA and stand by that. You're right that he's the only offensive initiator. I just don't tend to reward things like that because players don't control roster construction. It's why I always rejected the on/off argument for Jokic. Jokic isn't better because the Nuggets never spent money on a backup center. He was better because of the on-court stuff. And on-court ,Shai's a monster, that's a much better argument, but offensively, he's not as much a monster as Luka or Jokic is. These guys are all incredible. I think Shai is the most efficient scorer in the league and have absoltuely come around that his passing has evolved. I just don't know if I consider those parts as more valuable than what Jokic or Luka provide as offensive engines. BUT! That's why I said in the post this is replying to that he's still MVP because whatever it is that OKC needs to WIN the most and BY the most, Shai does.

@gonglei89 🤦 Good thing I am not a coffee guy. I hope this ruinous culture won't spread to traditional Chinese tea...

@Marxistcham Yeah well this is what iNnOvAtIoN looks like. 哥们儿你的创造心够强烈吗🫠

@przidnt1 Please don't come to China.

@przidnt1 Can he still play in the NBA? Would any contender risk breaking team chemistry just for Cam Thomas? Maybe there are some teams that are desperate "I can fix him". I would bet he's going overseas.

Damn man, Scam Thomas bet wrong. He'll be playing for a vet min next year. Cold world.

@przidnt1 He's super toxic with respect to team culture. Talented guy who never learn how to adjust his game and attitude. A sober reminder that basketball is fundamentally a team-game.

@AngelicaOung 此山是我開，此樹是我栽；若要從此過，留下買路財

Now THIS is extraordinary. I don’t think anybody expected that 3 weeks into the war Iran not only shut the Straits of Hormuz they’re taking a toll for tankers. Can the tankers in question face US reprisals for breaking sanctions? But then that would take precious barrels off the market…

@DavidLe76335983 It's the fire of a phoenix, summoned by Ayatollah before his demise with the help of a Taoist master from China that has lived since the Yuan dynasty. He has lived in Pamir alone mostly. I mean if we are making up stories, let's make it interesting.

What kind of laundry fire can put a state of the art carrier out of action for over 1 year? 🤔 This is the most experienced navy that is planning to fight against China in South China Sea and Taiwan Strait Imperial decline: US aircraft carrier Gerald Ford could be in repairs for a year of more thecanary.co/global/world-a…

@policytensor Iran is serious. Iran thinks there's no way US can endure the blowback of using nuke or mass casualty from land invasion. Iran is trying to extract a better version of Vietnam deal, even with great sacrifice. That would also guarantee future stability and legitimacy of the regime

@policytensor The reason is this: Iran cannot count on the rationality of USrael. If they are, they simply won't invade Iran in the first place. I can see a future president to have an all-out-war against Iran with enough batteries and missiles to restore US supremacy even after this.

I agree. The Iranians are at risk of overreach. They are closing to achieving all their objectives. They have survived a joint all-out aerial attack by the US and Israel. They have pushed out US forces and made US bases in the region unusable. They have demonstrated the power of the Hormuz weapon — and held the world economy at gunpoint. They have demonstrated their capability to hold all gulf and Israeli assets and cities at risk. Has deterrence been restored? I think we’re getting close. Despite the low journalistic standards in the West, all serious people now understand that this has been a strategic defeat for the West. Escalating from here or dragging this out may be unwise. It would only force the US to commit ground forces, which will be a quagmire for the Americans, but would be considerably more devastating for Iran. The Iranians should try to secure what they can at the table. Security guarantees may not be forthcoming and are not something that can be extracted by Iranian threats. What they can insist on is money and arms. Sanctions relief from the US. Weapons supply from the other great powers. This will have to enough until Iran can achieve breakout, which they must now do at forced-pace and in total secrecy (see @NicoleGrajewski FA article on this point). The enrichment file may be the sticking point. It is really hard to see how Iran can now allow any kind of serious inspection regime. They must rush to get the bomb. And this is an important reason beyond the Hormuz weapon that the war will continue. The culminating point is hard to identify. But a good case can be made that this is it. If Trump is willing to eat this defeat then they should let him. Even if they agree to inspections, they can run rings around the inspectors or kick them out later.

@policytensor I think Iran's goal is not to 'restore deterrence' - Iran cannot bank on US's future restraint for their survival. What Iran need is material guarantee i.e. to seriously undermine their military capabilities in the region, rather than just enhance their fear.

@AngelicaOung I am always curious: How do DPP supporters (bluebird specifically) square the circle that a) they aren't the majority, KMT+TPP are b) that they somehow represent the democratic will of TW when KMT+TPP, the majority, obviously have reservation about their crazy anti-China antics.

This kind of ratio is now quite common now on Taiwan social media: Pro DPP: I want to get rid of the KMT and TPP. If we can’t get rid of them, we will lose our home. Pro Opposition: Actually if we don’t get rid of the DPP we will lose our home. A lot of this change is happening with stunning speed. The platform Threads was known for being a huge pro Independence platform. The DPP supporters are falling into anxiety and self-pitying which gives them anti-aura. They don’t seem to have a play beyond smashing the « China bad, China scary » button. I don’t know what will happen in the next election. As you notice the opposition is divided. If they can’t consolidate politically DPP might yet squeeze thru in 2028. But it doesn’t matter…if you’re in charge in Taiwan you can see the winds of change in Taiwanese public opinion. The pro-independence sentiments that peaked after HK doesn’t have vitality anymore. Very few ppl are actively pro-reunification. But it doesn’t matter. They are not in a hurry.

@nikstankovic_ I wish they could. But they have a history of intellectual and philosophical poverty. Never expect those silicon bots to understand anything. It's like I don't expect a economist to have good understanding of methodological disputes in their subject, only worse.

I wish more AI (computer science) people spent more time even just dabbling in cognitive science (and even philosophy of mind) to understand the issues. There is lots of confusion about AGI, as it seems nobody can quite define it. And so nobody can tell if we are already there, will be there in a year or five years. Or rather, EVERYONE can tell, which is just hype. The San Francisco Consensus is useless here. Great techs, terrible socially or even philosophically. Are we trying to replicate a human or simply create a machine that solves a problem (intellectual as it may be) better than a human? If we are trying to create a machine that is smarter than MOST, if not ALL individual humans in MOST intellectual things (like doing maths, physics, programming, project management, icons, or short cartoons or video) we are pretty much there TODAY. Sure, there are INDIVIDUAL humans who are better than this machine in ONE or TWO areas, but already, the machine is better OVERALL in INTELLECTUAL tasks. In other words, the machine gets an 7/10 in 30 areas, while most humans get a 3/10 in 25 areas, and a 9/10 in 5. But even if the machine got 9/10 in 30 areas it would still be 3/10 in another 70 areas? Which ones? The ones that REQUIRE you be PRESENT in the world. The ones that require you to... interact with other people while you are taking a piss in a man's toilet, while your brain is on alcohol (beer). Does that matter? I don't know. For what? But every normal human (male) I know has done it (sorry don't know what goes on in women's toilets). And you are not a normal (western?) human male if you have not done it. So you can create a machine that does EVERYTHING a human does, but if it has not experienced that--a wet brain on alcohol--(and a few other things, this is just an example), you just haven't created "a thing" that I can relate to as "equal". It already writes better code than I do. Pft. But is that even the goal? Why would it be? For what? To conclude: we already have AGI. AI is already "generally smart". With robots it can even move around the physical world. It will NEVER be human. NEVER. Because it cannot. Because it would have to have flesh and blood and do ALL the gazillions things humans do, including come out of a vagina and get cancer, not just solve math or software problems. But it does not need to be, in order to be called AGI. Got it? This AGI-NOT-AGI discussion is just masturbation. As for the consequences, we can talk about that. Good or bad thing, that's up for discussion. But if you are expecting some sort of phase change, it's not gonna happen. It's not that kind of dynamic.

@AngelicaOung But doesn't that give one more reason to buy from China? China must be eager to do more export and may offer early buyer better discount?

Just so that you know…if you need a nuclear power plant and you’re a nuclear newcomer country, better call RosAtom. They offer the whole package from construction to training to fuel. Unbeatable financing. The Chinese are good builders but new to the game of exporting. Koreans are decent if you have to go like-minded democracy I won’t name the others because I’ve been told if you can’t say anything nice you shouldn’t say anything at all!

@Molson_Hart By now it's pretty clear that US version of election and its financing model just can't express the collective will of people. It's always been that way by design, frankly admitted by the founding fathers. Sometimes it's a bit better. Other times its worse. It's pretty bad atm.

There is a lot I don’t say on social media. But I will say this: This is an important moment in world history. And in important moments, regardless of what you believe, you should do the right thing even if you can’t get out there and say it publicly. If you’re American, call your congressperson and tell them how you feel about what is happening. And if you support them, write them a check. If enough of us do it, it can effect some much needed change. If it fails, so be it, at least you did what you believed to be the right thing.

@ZichenWanghere 這他媽的是甚麼鳥

我靠这是真的吗 我以为是AI做的呢

@RWApodcast She can't even get "who is the savages" part right

Ayn Rand was one of the least interesting people to ever come out of Russia, which is exactly why Americans made a cult of her. This 'enlightened individualist' never criticized Judaism or the Jewish nation, trashed everyone else, and stood firmly with Israel. A shocker.