Miscellaneous News

[bsdnf]

I've been going through a lot of China computer hardware articles today.

You probably hear Nvidia or Intel on the news a lot for not so nice reasons. Something about them helping China over the US or something.

I'm surprised AMD gets a free pass or at least not as much attention. Lisa Su who's Taiwanese has been running AMD since 2014. During that period, AMD made loads of investments and partnerships in China. They helped in development of stuff like Chinese semiconductors and mini PCs. We know about its relationship with TSMC and how that helped beat Intel but there's not much focus on how much it has helped in setting up Hygon for example.

Because the tech conflict is all about GPU, nothing else, and AMD and Intel's GPUs have completely failed, whether it is a gaming card or a computing card

 

[FriedButter]

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Americans face biggest increase in health insurance costs in 15 years​

health insurers, reeling from slumping share prices, are raising insurance premiums by the most in 15 years, adding to fears that American consumers are struggling under the weight of high costs.

One of the insurance companies, UnitedHealth, has cited tariffs from President Donald Trump’s trade wars as a reason for the increases.
The cost of companies’ health insurance plans for employees is expected to jump by an average of 6.5 per cent in 2026, the biggest increase in 15 years, according to a report by Mercer. For people who buy health insurance on government exchanges, the median increase for 2026 is 18 per cent — more than double last year’s 7 per cent rise, according to KFF, a non-profit health policy research group.

These insurance increases come as Americans are facing higher household expenditures. A National Federation of Independent Business report from July said one-third of companies plan to increase prices, the highest reading since March last year. US utilities are pushing for $29bn in rate rises, a 142 per cent increase over the same period a year ago. The August report for US consumer prices will be published next week.

Centene, which is the third-worst performer so far this year in the S&P 500, is under fire from Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders for its cost increases. Earlier this month, she blasted the company for proposing to raise health insurance premiums by up to 54 per cent.
“Arkansans are tired of getting outrageous bills from multi-billion-dollar insurance companies,” Sanders said, calling on the state’s insurance commissioner to reject Centene’s price increase.

In Maryland and Oregon, UnitedHealth has said it is increasing certain insurance rates by 2.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively “to account for uncertainty regarding tariffs” as well as the costs of returning pharmaceutical production to the US. And in Ohio, UnitedHealth is increasing an insurance risk margin by 0.5 per cent due to tariff risks.

The tariffs’ uncertainty has forced insurance companies to raise rates, and “the consequences of this are consumers have to pay that extra cost”, said Matt McGough, a policy analyst at KFF. “They foot the bill of this uncertainty.”

People might not expect tariffs to show up in their healthcare costs, “but all signs from insurers is that they are”, he said.

Minnesota-based UnitedHealth declined to comment. Its shares are down 38 per cent so far this year, and it is also one of the worst performers in the S&P 500 index. The company’s regulatory filings this year have not mentioned tariffs as a risk. Instead, the company has said rising healthcare costs have eaten into its earnings. The company is also facing a criminal investigation into its Medicare billing practices.
UnitedHealth’s tariff-related cost increases are associated with insurance offered under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, also known as Obamacare. About 24mn Americans relied on the ACA for health insurance this year, but tax benefits subsidising the cost of ACA insurance expire at the end of this year. As a result, US insurance companies are worried they will lose healthy patients and will be stuck paying for care for people who need expensive care, KFF has reported.

Centene did not respond to requests for comment. Its stock is down 52 per cent in 2025.

The cost of companies’ health insurance plans for employees is expected to jump by an average of 6.5 per cent in 2026

For people who buy health insurance on government exchanges, the median increase for 2026 is 18 per cent

Interesting that private insurance is using averages while public insurance is using the median. If only CaptainSmoothBrain was here to tell us that this means GDP growth in 2026 will explode.

 

[iewgnem]

South Koreans just kowtowing to Trump. Are those MAGA really think that other countries are willing to just invest without sending any personnel? Do they really think that their smooth brains, which have not been polluted by any STEM knowledge, can easily learn any manufacturing knowledge?

MAGA correctly understand Koreans will hand over everything including their first born.
This is very much a Korean thing.

 

[Africablack]

South Koreans just kowtowing to Trump. Are those MAGA really think that other countries are willing to just invest without sending any personnel? Do they really think that their smooth brains, which have not been polluted by any STEM knowledge, can easily learn any manufacturing knowledge?

When you really think about it can you blame them? The US provides the largest market for their goods, without that they'd be in serious trouble.

 

[FriedButter]

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Hidden camera catches DOJ aide lured by dating app​

The acting deputy chief of a Justice Department unit said on hidden camera that the government will "redact every Republican" from an Epstein client list. He later admitted he was basing his comments on media reports.

Why it matters: The O'Keefe Media Group, a far-right media organization, secretly recorded Joseph Schmidt's comments and published them on Thursday.

In a statement addressed to the DOJ's acting director, Schnitt said he had no idea he was being recorded on video and that he met the O'Keefe reporter — who he said was pretending to be an au pair — on the dating app Hinge.

Schnitt said: "The comments I made were my own personal comments on what l've learned in the media and not from anything I've done at or learned via work."

The intrigue: James O'Keefe, the founder of O'Keefe Media Group, is also behind the far-right Veritas Project, which is known for recording undercover videos of Democrats.

Schnitt did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Driving the news: Schnitt also made comments in the video about the DOJ's relationship with Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was recently moved to a lower-security prison following her interview with a Justice Department official.

Schnitt said in his letter that he has "no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Ms. Maxwell other than what is reported in the news."

The other side: The Justice Department directed Axios to its statement on X, where it denounced the comments made in O'Keefe's video.

The "comments in this video have absolutely zero bearing with reality and reflect a total lack of knowledge of the DOJ's review process," the department's public affairs account said.

The DOJ told Axios this statement refers to "all comments in the video," but would not confirm whether they were referring to both O'Keefe's and Schnitt's words.

Catch up quick: The House Oversight Committee released over 33,000 documents on Tuesday related to Epstein that the Justice Department shared with the panel following months of pressure to make the files public.

In the video, O'Keefe questions the Justice Department's level of transparency, pointing out that the DOJ and FBI claim their investigation into Epstein revealed "no incriminating 'client list'" despite top FBI officials' previous assertions to the contrary.

"The DOJ is committed to transparency and is in compliance with the House Oversight Committee's request for documents," the department said.

The acting deputy chief of a Justice Department unit said on hidden camera that the government will "redact every Republican" from an Epstein client list. He later admitted he was basing his comments on media reports.

 

[_killuminati_]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1964367242725929412

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1964180697012228163

Also,

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1964372928067514622

The more America falls behind the more their tech bros wiz kids’ thinking pushes them to the notion that a reverse Pearl Harbour is their only hope.

Of course, with their general lack of education on history, they will probably think they pioneered the concept of a dastardly sneak attack to cripple the superior fighting strength of opfor and break their fighting spirit to force a favourable negotiated settlement before opfor brings its overwhelming industrial dominance to bare.

I'm certain many of these developments in USA have nothing to do with fixing issues and everything to do with selling nonsense ideas to naive investors. Ex: Elon's manned flight to Mars, announced in 2009, was supposed to happen last year.

_____

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1964471175326945691

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1964664595060326499

 

[supercat]

Weekend long read - some philosophical musings from Thomas L. Friedman:

The One Danger That Should Unite the U.S. and China​

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[siegecrossbow]

Weekend long read - some philosophical musings from Thomas L. Friedman:

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So basically he is scared that Chad-Xi-PT and GPT-55 will team up and take over the world, prompting a Sino-American alliance to save humanity from extinction?

 

[burritocannon]

there is absolutely nothing preventing each country from creating their own regulatory architecture just as no joint (in quotes because it will always inherently be a breach of sovereignty and therefore just another mode of attack) protocol would actually prevent the employment of weaponized ai against each other.
this article seems like it would appeal to the typical western liberal arts grad who sees the world through capeshit rules, is apprehensive of chinese dominance, and it capitalizes on the hope that collaborative relationship would afford them the means to regain the legacy sino-american relationship: that even in the case that the us doesn't do any of the work, that they get a say in how things are done.

just slightly more sophisticated clickbait imo

 

[siegecrossbow]

there is absolutely nothing preventing each country from creating their own regulatory architecture just as no joint (in quotes because it will always inherently be a breach of sovereignty and therefore just another mode of attack) protocol would actually prevent the employment of weaponized ai against each other.
this article seems like it would appeal to the typical western liberal arts grad who sees the world through capeshit rules, is apprehensive of chinese dominance, and it capitalizes on the hope that collaborative relationship would afford them the means to regain the legacy sino-american relationship: that even in the case that the us doesn't do any of the work, that they get a say in how things are done.

just slightly more sophisticated clickbait imo

In China they can use XJP Thought as guiding protocol. The states are at a disadvantage since Trump doesn’t do much thinking…