Political Discussion
- Thread starter David A.
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Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Yeah me too. It feels inevitable that we will have to go to war with Russia at some point in the near future and it’s utterly terrifying.
Jan
Well-Known Member
Me, too. It's just relatively near from here and with putting tallk about nuclear repercussions in some moments I catch myself thinking about where to bring the kids in case this escalates because berlin would not be a safe place
The EU's final version of the Digital Marketplace Act (DMA) leaked this past Friday.
In my opinion the bill is a vast overreach of regulations. The bill specifically targets Apple and seeks to eliminate "gatekeeping".
The DMA doesn't stop to consider what the ramifications of the above requirements would mean. All it seeks to due is punish those who do not comply. The way iOS is built, the above changes would not be simple. The entire OS would have to be rewritten and this may take a couple years to accomplish and a few more to address security and become stable. The EU does not give Apple sufficient time to comply.
Things like being able to choose your own voice assistant or uninstalling Siri will cripple the API apps used to access voice dictation. Also iOS security model has only been to allow approved app to be installed. This means it's going to be a wild ride for the next couple years as vulnerabilities are discovered and exploited as apple has to shift the fundamentals of how the OS works to protect consumers from bad actors.
The majority of iOS users do not want these changes. They buy Apple products for the security and privacy their gatekeeping provides.
The people who bash Apple over this have chosen with their money already to buy Androids.
In my opinion the bill is a vast overreach of regulations. The bill specifically targets Apple and seeks to eliminate "gatekeeping".
- You must be able to install apps downloaded from the internet.
- You must be able to install apps through third party app stores.
- You must be able to select your default apps (such as voice assistant or browser).
- You must be able to uninstall any default app.
- App developers must be able to use the payment processor of their choice.
The DMA doesn't stop to consider what the ramifications of the above requirements would mean. All it seeks to due is punish those who do not comply. The way iOS is built, the above changes would not be simple. The entire OS would have to be rewritten and this may take a couple years to accomplish and a few more to address security and become stable. The EU does not give Apple sufficient time to comply.
Things like being able to choose your own voice assistant or uninstalling Siri will cripple the API apps used to access voice dictation. Also iOS security model has only been to allow approved app to be installed. This means it's going to be a wild ride for the next couple years as vulnerabilities are discovered and exploited as apple has to shift the fundamentals of how the OS works to protect consumers from bad actors.
The majority of iOS users do not want these changes. They buy Apple products for the security and privacy their gatekeeping provides.
The people who bash Apple over this have chosen with their money already to buy Androids.
A newly release tape contains a recording of Kevin McCarthy stating that he would advise President Donal Trump resign after the events of Jan. 6.
And in true GOP fashion, Kevin McCarthy is not acknowledging this recording and is rather deflecting with a border stunt. He is traveling to the border today to address the "border crisis" our country is facing.
But this is just plain old fear mongering and deflection. Only 5% of the country believes the border crisis is the number one political issue facing our country according to a recent poll. Inflation is the number one political issue that our country is currently facing followed by a general "the economy".
But the GOP is doing what they do best. They know which hot button issues best anger and motivate their base and exploit them rather than solving any real issues.
And in true GOP fashion, Kevin McCarthy is not acknowledging this recording and is rather deflecting with a border stunt. He is traveling to the border today to address the "border crisis" our country is facing.
But this is just plain old fear mongering and deflection. Only 5% of the country believes the border crisis is the number one political issue facing our country according to a recent poll. Inflation is the number one political issue that our country is currently facing followed by a general "the economy".
But the GOP is doing what they do best. They know which hot button issues best anger and motivate their base and exploit them rather than solving any real issues.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Counterbalance that with monopolies always being bad and apple’s ridiculous size allowing it to bully developers into following their rules or being entirely de platformed and even bullying nations into bending their tax policies to suit them with the promise of FDI. The EU is dead right to go after apple just as it was to go after Microsoft a decade or so ago.
I don't disagree that change / regulation is needed. I just feel like they don't understand what the implications of these changes are. Privacy and security are not even being considered other than by saying apple should be ashamed by using them as excuses. These changes are going to make a mess of things and it's not going to be pretty. They doin't have the consumer or small developer in mind. These changes are the big players like Epic so they can profit more.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
But that’s apple’s job to sort out. It’s their platform. They should neither be allowed to create an effective monopoly through a closed system or to complain about security when it’s correctly ended. Their job is to use the time they have before implementation to sort out these issues to the best of their abilities. We’re talking a huge company with more resources than any single company should be allowed to morally have, not a plucky little start up!
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The part I really don't agree with is user privacy. Apple sets platform requirements for privacy policies and tracking disclosure / permissions as a requirement of being listed on the app store. The EU is basically saying this is "anti competitive" and apple can't do this kind of "Gate keeping".
This means Apps like Facebook will be allowed to track anything they want and don't have to notify you that they are doing it or allow you to disable it in permissions. Thus companies like Facebook can run unchecked in their unscrupulous data collection on their users. It becomes up to the user to either use facebook or give it up. They would no longer have the ability to control their privacy.
Also, I don't like the whole target just Apple approach. This should be universal, and apply to things like the Playstation Store or the XBox store as well.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
The right to privacy is an interesting one and it’s largely new ground legally and procedurally. What you can’t argue is that one of the biggest companies in the world worth more money than is morally justifiable, can use it as a shield to defend anti competitive practices.
Jan
Well-Known Member
Here is the electronic frontier foundations take on the dma
www.eff.org
Edit: this is an older article probably applying to an older version of the regulation
The EU’s Digital Markets Act: There Is A Lot To Like, but Room for Improvement
After lengthy consultations and many rumors and leaks, the European Commission has released its public draft of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which, along with the Digital Services Act (DSA,) represents the first major overhaul of EU Internet legislation in the 21st Century. Like the DSA, the...
Edit: this is an older article probably applying to an older version of the regulation
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
So Russia has cut Poland and Bulgarian gas supplies off for refusing to pay in roubles.
It appears to be two different test cases before further action:
It appears to be two different test cases before further action:
- Poland - Can probably source large amounts of gas elsewhere, not an economic target, more punishment for being one of the largest supporters of Ukraine.
- Bulgaria - not so much an large supporter of Ukraine. Reliant hugely on Russian gas.
I read an article that suggested that Poland was being offered up as a sacrificial lamb so to speak, to see if the Russians would actually cut them off. I think we are seriously under estimating the Russians. They are dead serious about oil for roubles.
I was reading an article about the Russian people and how they felt about Western companies pulling out of Russia. The people have an old saying to the effect of "You are never alone in a holy place" which is how they answer that question. In 1992, when the Russian economy collapsed, many city dwellers went and found a plot of land outside of the city and started planting food gardens to feed themselves. Had they not had these gardens, many more people would have starved.
Are we, in the West, prepared to do without things in order to stop funding Russia? Do we have the wherewithal as a society to collectively grow our own food and make and mend our own things? As it is, we are going to have to do an abrupt turn as consumers if we want to combat climate change. Are we prepared to start putting our money where our mouth is? Or are we going to keep shoveling Russian oil down our gullet until it chokes Western democracy?
We are at an impasse in the West where we can no longer conduct business as usual. I am immensely worried because our leaders haven't gotten this memo yet. The Russians want to cozy up to Germany--remember that nordstream pipeline--so Germany will probably be last on their cut off list. The shocks to our supply chain wouldn't be so worrisome to me if it weren't also for Indonesia refusing to export palm oil and wheat and corn being impacted by world events (I have read that rice is keeping the world fed right now). In the US, tech companies are breaking apart washing machines to get the chips out of them because of that shortage. We are going to have to start doing a lot more with a lot less as citizens of western economies.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
The German relationship with Russia is probably the most complex out of any of the others with the west, even with the two harder Cold War adversaries in Britain and the US. I don’t want to speak too out of hand given we have German forumers who will be more nuanced but there is definitely an element of residual national guilt over the worst of the atrocities of WWII and a determination to always attempt to stand with and help Russia rather than oppose. It’s really taken this to begin to break that thought.
That’s on top of the huge reliance on Russian gas and oil, not so much domestically although yes because those shortages will have political shockwaves, but economically. Germany is Europe’s powerhouse and for better or worse, as a resident of a smaller EU country fucked over disproportionately by the banking collapse I’d argue it’s far from entirely for the better, the EU economy is built around keeping Germany successful.
It just feels so hopeless tbh.
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I am sort of aware of the interdependence the entirety of the EU has on Germany, but of course, being from the other side of the pond, I don't have as great of an appreciation as Europeans do. I think that we Americans are more worried about being cut off from Chinese trade. I am in a state that produces and refines oil, so a lot of people down here are asking the feds to let them do more offshore drilling. We are also talking to Venezuela for oil, and are currently screwing up our relationship with the Saudis so they aren't willing to produce extras for us.
Yes, it really does feel hopeless.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
In a lot of ways Germany is too big for the rest of the EU economically. It concentrates too much influence and power. Particularly as the deficit hawks in the Low Countries and a couple of others combine to really make it difficult for the smaller nations with the centralised currency and fiscal policy. France is physically big enough but it’s been a basket case economically for generations and is only a power in name now. The European project really misses an engaged Britain to provide a counterbalance but let’s be honest Britain has been MIA there, even as an EU member, since the days of Thatcher.
Jan
Well-Known Member
The german relationship with russia is indeed complex ( not that i am an expert) and i can subscribe to anything you said here. But on top of the guilt one has to take into account that the eastern part of the country was on the other side of the iron curtain for nearly 50 years, so there are stronger ties and connections with russia. My wife was born in the gdr and her parents learnt russian in school and not so much english so people in those parts of the country are a lot more skeptical of all things nato and more leaning to sympathy towards russia. Also it should be said that the Gorbachev soviet union did some major concessions to allow for the swift reunification of germany that germans thought they owed something to russia. Plus during the cold war german social democratic chancelor Willy Brandt the policy of reapproachment to the east and russia was seen seen as one of the things that lead to the "warming" of relations in the cold war. So there is also a history of working appeasement policy that lead to many of the msitakes with dealing with putins russia. Some social democrats have formed strong ties to russia since that time culminating in former chancelor Schröder beiing a close friend of Putin and getting paid handily for his role with Gasprom. That was critized heavily in germany in the last years but his pretty unapologetic stance on Putins sinde since the war has made im very much a persona non grata in the german public eye in the last weeks ( especially since his NY times interview last week.
So the only reliance on russian oil imports ( down from 35% to 13% since the Ukraine war ) left is one industrial complex in Brandenburg ( former east germany) that´s run by rosneft. Ministry of the economy says their 1-2 weeks from replacing that still and most media commentary seems to belief the EU is waiting for an russian oil embargo before that is sorted out. Russian gas is another story. Germany is strongly dependent on that. Theres measures in action to replace that but it is generally believed that if russian gas was cut that would lead to a major recession in germany. On the other hand i seen some interesting articles claiming that this dependence is not a complete one-way-street because that is a major income source for russia and russia obviously does not have the storage or dilivery capacities to just sell it somewhere else in the moment. They also invested heavily in the pipe-lines and if they cut-off germany they probably have to burn it off or close down wells. But the cutt-off of poland and bulgaria was surely to make the rest of the europeans and germans nervous. And it seems like Putin is willing to hurt russia to "win"
That´s what making me most nervous about the whole war . From a tactical point i can understand the first (in hindsight wrong) assumption Putin had, in that they would take ukraine in two weeks and the rest would do nothing except a couple of half-hearted sanctions like in the part. And if they had managed to overrun ukraine fast i´m cynical enough to believe that would be exactly what the west would have done. But since then Putin seems to be trapped in the cage of many authoritarian leaders of never to show any weakness. So he now seems to have to add violence, atrocities and grand posturing because he has to present his people a great victory to sell them the cost of this war. As much as i seen him go a court for war crimes i very much hope that we can give him some way out while "saving face" because i fear where where he is willing to go and whom he is willing to take down with him if backed to far into a corner
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Jan
Well-Known Member
just keep in mind that i´m in no way a scholar on these things so it´s probably complexer in reality than described here