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4·2 months agoThey are simply quoting supply chain executives.
Full response from the New York Times:
Source: https://bsky.app/profile/joolia.bsky.social/post/3lpwhwcm4es24
A woman just wrote to the New York Times:
https://bsky.app/profile/joolia.bsky.social/post/3lpwhwcm4es24
Response from New York Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander:
Our reporting does not make racial or genetic generalizations, but simply cites experts who have experience with the industrial process in U.S. and Chinese factories.
I can point you to the comments of Patrick McGee, author of the new book Apple in China. On a recent podcast appearance, he said “The tasks that often are being done to make iPhones require little fingers. The fact that it’s young Chinese women with little fingers like that actually matters. Apple engineers will talk about this”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GrvKbVlXwAEFLjs?format=jpg&name=large
https://bsky.app/profile/joolia.bsky.social/post/3lpwokddpo22k
From the article:
Young Chinese women have small fingers, and that has made them a valuable contributor to iPhone production because they are more nimble at installing screws and other miniature parts in the small device, supply chain experts said.
China has millions of people who migrate around the country to work in factories as Apple revs up production around a new iPhone. They often work from the summer until Chinese New Year, when production slows down, so Apple’s suppliers don’t have to pay them for a full year of work. They live in dormitories connected to factories with assembly lines longer than a football field, clustered nearby component suppliers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/technology/apple-iphone-trump-india-china.html
Is it wrong? Well, I’m actually not sure.
The Financial Times revealed that the iPhone X was manufactured by underage Chinese teenagers:
https://www.ft.com/content/7cb56786-cda1-11e7-b781-794ce08b24dc
Do you see this guy ?
His name is Shantanu Narayen. Chairman and CEO of Software.
In 2010, he made $875 000 dollars a year.
Today - 15 years later - he makes $43 million dollars a year :
https://aflcio.org/paywatch/ADBE
Like most big company CEOs, he makes sure only friends are named on the board.
For him, it’s just a game. “How high can I go? I love milking these stupid peasants”
6·2 months agoElon Musk is from of Africa. He grew up in a wealthy african family.
His massive cuts will impact war refugees and some of the poorest people in Africa. People who, for no fault of their own, were born in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This is how he gives back to Africans.
USAID spent $38.1 billion in fiscal year 2023. (1)
Sounds like a lot of money, right? Well, actually no. It’s less than 1% of the US budget. In 2024, total federal spending was $6.8 trillion. (2).
To give you a perspective:
Since October 7th, the United States spent $17.9 billion dollars on military aid to Israel (3). Israel is a rich country with universal healthcare (4).
US millionaires and billionaires evade more than $150 billion a year in taxes, according to the head of the IRS. (5). Gabriel Zucman, a highly respected economist (6) came to a similar conclusion. In a recent paper, Zucman found the richest americans evade taxes on 25% of their income (7)
According to leaked tax returns, in 2016 and 2017, Donald Trump paid $750 in taxes. And he paid no income tax at all in 10 of the last 15 years. (8) (9).
The US is not in financial trouble because of vaccines to kids in Africa. Period.
Elon Musk claims USAID employees are thieves/scum. He keeps accusing them of fraud on his social media X. That’s another lie.
In 2024, the Office of the Inspector General audited USAID at the request of Congress. The 70 page audit report found no evidence of fraud.
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
Bill Gates is probably one of the best billionaires. But it is very important that we all remember how he ended up with $200 billion dollars. Predatory monopolistic behavior.
Everyone should carefully read this 1999 article that I found in the archives of the New York Times.
How Microsoft Sought Friends In Washington - Nov. 7, 1999
Twenty months ago, Representative Billy Tauzin walked into the office of William H. Gates 3rd, chairman of Microsoft, bearing a 10 inch by 10 inch white box and a warning.
Mr. Tauzin, Republican of Louisiana and the chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the telecommunications industry, placed the box on Mr. Gates’s desk. Inside was a lemon meringue pie, a reminder of another pie that had been thrown in Mr. Gates’s face several weeks earlier by a Microsoft critic. The message to Mr. Gates, the richest man on earth and the leader of the digital world, was blunt: You need to make friends in Washington.
Mr. Gates apparently took Mr. Tauzin’s message to heart – with a vengeance. While Microsoft and its executives contributed a relatively modest $60,000 to Republican Party committees in 1997, those contributions shot up to $470,000 as part of the company’s overall political contribution of $1.3 million in 1998. The 1998 figure included donations to political candidates, with the bulk of the money going to Republicans. This year, the company’s contributions of nearly $600,000 have been more evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Mr. Gates and his top lieutenants have made dozens of trips to Washington, cultivating powerful figures in both parties and hiring some of the city’s priciest lobbyists. Microsoft has retained Haley Barbour, former chairman of the Republican National Committee; Vic Fazio, a former Democratic congressman from California; Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman from Minnesota; Tom Downey, a former Democratic congressman from New York and a close friend of Vice President Al Gore; Mark Fabiani, former special counsel to the Clinton White House; and Kerry Knott, former chief of staff to Representative Dick Armey of Texas, the House majority leader.
Microsoft has also given hundreds of thousands of dollars to research groups, trade groups, polling operations, public relations concerns and grass-roots organizations. It has financed op-ed pieces and full-page newspaper advertisements, and mounted a lobbying effort against an increase in the Justice Department’s antitrust enforcement budget.
In June, Mr. Gates met for lunch with the Republican leaders of the House in the small whip’s room off the House chamber. They discussed Microsoft’s public policy agenda, ranging from exports of encryption software to Internet privacy to antitrust actions, said several participants at the meeting. Mr. Knott, now a top official in Microsoft’s Washington office, attended the session.
Eight days later, Mr. Armey introduced what he called his ‘‘e-Contract,’’ a list of Republican legislative initiatives that pointedly adopted Microsoft’s view of the role of government antitrust actions, like the one that now threatens to dismantle Microsoft.
Microsoft has hired as two former heads of the Justice Department’s antitrust division and a dozen or more prominent academics and writers, who publish articles and give interviews advocating Microsoft’s position.
Among them are Charles Rule, director of the Justice Department’s antitrust division in the Bush administration, and Paul Rothstein, a professor of law at Georgetown University and frequent network and cable-television commentator.
Another Microsoft move on Capitol Hill drew criticism for heavy-handedness. Its lobbying to trim the antitrust division’s budget brought a flurry of editorial condemnation. The Washington Post said Microsoft’s actions were ‘‘a comical caricature’’ of a company trying to bully its way through Washington.‘’
One Justice Department official said, ‘‘Even the mob doesn’t try to whack a prosecutor during a trial.’’
Out of all the wealthiest american businessmen, Bill Gates and Michel Bloomberg are some of those I admire the most. They have spent an absolutely tremendous amount of money to support the World Health Organization and doctors around the world. Bloomberg used his personal fortune to support poor countries that were sued by tobacco companies.
However, it’s extremely important to remember HOW Mister William Henry III “Bill” Gates became worth $200 billion dollars. This man’s dream was to create a private sales tax on every single computer sold around the world.
“But I use Linux ! I’m not giving him my money”
Even if you use Linux, you still are. You eat food ? Your supermarket? Yeah, the supermarket companies pay billions of dollars for the right to use Microsoft Windows and Office. Your government? Yeah. They pay billions for the same. Your local university? Yeah. They must pay. You are paying. Directly or indirectly. Whether you like or not.
The United States once tried to dismantle Microsoft. The case was overwhelming.
How did Bill Gates save Microsoft from antitrust ? Read this articled that was originally published in 1999:
How Microsoft Sought Friends In Washington
Twenty months ago, Representative Billy Tauzin walked into the office of William H. Gates 3rd, chairman of Microsoft, bearing a 10 inch by 10 inch white box and a warning.
Mr. Tauzin, Republican of Louisiana and the chairman of a subcommittee that oversees the telecommunications industry, placed the box on Mr. Gates’s desk. Inside was a lemon meringue pie, a reminder of another pie that had been thrown in Mr. Gates’s face several weeks earlier by a Microsoft critic. The message to Mr. Gates, the richest man on earth and the leader of the digital world, was blunt: You need to make friends in Washington.
Mr. Gates apparently took Mr. Tauzin’s message to heart – with a vengeance. While Microsoft and its executives contributed a relatively modest $60,000 to Republican Party committees in 1997, those contributions shot up to $470,000 as part of the company’s overall political contribution of $1.3 million in 1998. The 1998 figure included donations to political candidates, with the bulk of the money going to Republicans. This year, the company’s contributions of nearly $600,000 have been more evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Mr. Gates and his top lieutenants have made dozens of trips to Washington, cultivating powerful figures in both parties and hiring some of the city’s priciest lobbyists. Microsoft has retained Haley Barbour, former chairman of the Republican National Committee; Vic Fazio, a former Democratic congressman from California; Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman from Minnesota; Tom Downey, a former Democratic congressman from New York and a close friend of Vice President Al Gore; Mark Fabiani, former special counsel to the Clinton White House; and Kerry Knott, former chief of staff to Representative Dick Armey of Texas, the House majority leader.
Microsoft has also given hundreds of thousands of dollars to research groups, trade groups, polling operations, public relations concerns and grass-roots organizations. It has financed op-ed pieces and full-page newspaper advertisements, and mounted a lobbying effort against an increase in the Justice Department’s antitrust enforcement budget.
In June, Mr. Gates met for lunch with the Republican leaders of the House in the small whip’s room off the House chamber. They discussed Microsoft’s public policy agenda, ranging from exports of encryption software to Internet privacy to antitrust actions, said several participants at the meeting. Mr. Knott, now a top official in Microsoft’s Washington office, attended the session.
Eight days later, Mr. Armey introduced what he called his ‘‘e-Contract,’’ a list of Republican legislative initiatives that pointedly adopted Microsoft’s view of the role of government antitrust actions, like the one that now threatens to dismantle Microsoft.
Microsoft has hired as two former heads of the Justice Department’s antitrust division and a dozen or more prominent academics and writers, who publish articles and give interviews advocating Microsoft’s position.
Among them are Charles Rule, director of the Justice Department’s antitrust division in the Bush administration, and Paul Rothstein, a professor of law at Georgetown University and frequent network and cable-television commentator.
Another Microsoft move on Capitol Hill drew criticism for heavy-handedness. Its lobbying to trim the antitrust division’s budget brought a flurry of editorial condemnation. The Washington Post said Microsoft’s actions were ‘‘a comical caricature’’ of a company trying to bully its way through Washington.‘’
One Justice Department official said, ‘‘Even the mob doesn’t try to whack a prosecutor during a trial.’’
Update.
I was searching for information about this case. Well… things changed fast 🤦
Paul Walczak just received a Presidential Pardon.
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/media/1397931/dl?inline
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/us/politics/trump-pardon-walczak-ashley-biden-diary.html
As much as I dislike Windows and smartphones the current nature of the world is that that are all necessities for most people.
I was told Linux is incredibly difficult to use, Windows is so much safer/better.
Honestly, I used to believe this, until I installed Linux. Well, I was just lied to. I very easily installed everything that I need. My Linux distro works just fine. I can even play my favorite games. To this day, I haven’t moved back to Windows. The Microsoft empire is based on aggressive lobbying and advertising, not on superior product quality.
Billionaire-owned multinational corporations spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on advertising. They have entire teams that study consumer psychology. The goal of advertising is to undermine human rationality.
If humans were purely rational, why would they waste billions on advertising ?
They would just say “here are our products. Here are our prices. Buy them if you want to”.
Smartphones are also the easiest way to access your banking services with plenty of banks offering online banking now.
I don’t need to access my banking services 24/7. I have cash and a debit card that does the job. If I need to see my bank account, I just use my computer.
What you need and what you think you need are not the same things.
Wonderful news. That means less electronic junk to recycle, much less pollution.
I’m actually quiet happy to own a dumbphone and no smartwatch. Having a powerful Linux laptop is great, but I came to the conclusion humans need low-tech for their mental health. Not having tech around me helps me focus, go on nice walks, write what’s on my mind and read books. I just feel happier.
If you aren’t careful, the things you own can end up owning you.
“Extra Verification steps”
I know how large social media companies operate. This is all about increasing the value of Reddit users to advertisers. The goal is to have a more accurate user database to sell them.
Zuckerberg literally brags to corporations about how good their data is on users:
https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/performance-marketing
Here, Zuck tells companies that Instagram can easily manipulate users into purchasing shit:
https://www.facebook.com/business/instagram/instagram-reels
Always be wary of anything available for free.
There are some quality exceptions (CBC, VLC, The Guardian, Linux, PBS, Wikipedia, Lemmy, ProPublica) but, by and large, “free” means they don’t care about you. You are just a commodity that they sell.
Facebook, Google, X, Reddit, Instagram… Their goal is keep people hooked to their smartphone. The recipe is very simple. You give them small dopamine hits (likes, upvotes) followed by a small break with outrageous content/emotional content. Then another dopamine hit.
Keep them hooked, gather their data, and sell them ads.
The people who know that best are former top executives :
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/01/business/addictive-technology.html
https://www.today.com/parents/teens/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-rcna15256
There is a guy named Cal Newport.
He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the highest grades.
He is now a tenured Professor of Computer Science.
Cal Newport says using a pen and paper is incredibly important. It helps him focus.
He also avoid social media. I highly recommended his book “Digital Minimalism”.
Getting a dumbphone was one of the best decisions I took in my life. It helps me focus better and read books. I don’t actually need the internet with me 24/7. If you really need me, you can call.
Try it. Some people will call you crazy. Just ignore them.
San Francisco is the city with the most tech engineers and software developers. It’s the US city with the most tech entrepreneurs. The roads are full of robot cars. You see people walking around with tech glasses and weird devices. You could throw a rock in the street and it will probably land on some tech guy.
It’s a complete disaster. Homeless people everywhere. Families unable to see a doctor or a dentist. Desperate men in the streets, injecting themselves with drugs. Luxury private schools where smartphones are banned and professors give tips to get into Stanford. Poor public schools for ordinary kids.
What kind of Utopia is this? This is not utopia. It’s a nightmare.
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
With all due respect, your statements are non-sense.
They have published very hard hitting investigations against Israel:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/world/middleeast/gaza-medic-israel-shooting.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/09/opinion/gaza-doctor-interviews.html
https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000010140613/israel-gaza-medics-attack-idf.html