Hong Kong must wake up to the cold hard geopolitics of AI

In the category of “not good news for our city “:

The geopolitics of AI are no longer abstract. They are beginning to shape who can use which tools – and on what terms.

Over the past few months, two major international banks in the city have reportedly felt the impact. Anthropic’s Claude, a generative AI tool used by staff at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, was apparently removed from internal systems used by Hong Kong-based teams.

The move amounts to more than an inconvenience. If colleagues in Singapore or New York retain access while those in Hong Kong do not, the city’s position as a global financial hub is weakened. Claude’s removal is not merely a corporate adjustment. It is a warning that AI is increasingly treated as a strategic asset, rather than as neutral infrastructure.

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3361470/hong-kong-must-wake-cold-hard-geopolitics-ai

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Flower Dog

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Hail, President Cortez! President of the People's Republic of America

No worries, AOC. The DSA wants to rip it up anyway...

Look. I told you. I did tell you. Didn't I? I told you!

Way back in 2018, eight years ago already, I warned that the Democratic Socialists of America were out-and-out Socialists. With a horrible platform that amounts to out-and-out Communism.

By the way, for me these days, there's no difference between Socialism and Communism. I say that after living in China, a socialist country ("with Chinese characteristics") run by a Communist Party (with Marxist-Leninist characteristics). After working and visiting many other socialist/communist countries in the world: North Korea, East Germany before the fall of the wall, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. Today, Britain….

There used to be a fine distinction made between one and the other, mainly as to when the State would "wither away”. But I don't think that's relevant any more. So here on I use Socialism and Communism interchangeably.

Back to AOC and the DSA. 

My post of 18 August 2018 is:

The People’s Republic of America. Brought to you by the Democratic Socialists of America!

In that I went into a deep dive on its platform. And tore it apart. I got some pushback from Occasional Readers along the lines of "it's no big deal, nothing to worry about". But clearly there is. And I was right. 

Now I'm pointing out that what once seemed unthinkable is not just thinkable, but might even happen: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), as a credible candidate for president of the United States in the 2028 elections. In a recent poll she leads in New Hampshire. In other polls she's nipping at the heels of Gavin Newsom. One Leftie loony and then another; even loonier. I mean, actually, it's tough to pick which is which. 

The full text of my post, unaltered from that date, is below the fold.

These Interesting Times, post of 18 August 2018:

=================================

Daughters and Nieces

 

Canberra 12 January 2016

Whose Playbook?

In memory of the late Scott Adams... 

Left Wing Terrorism | Coleman Hughes & Noah Rothman

Coleman Hughes talks to Noah Rothman about his latest book. Which I've read. 

“Blood & Progress. A Century of Left-Wing Violence in America”.

"Why only Left-wing violence and not Right-wing violence", the Left will say. “Isn't there more Right wing violence than Left-wing?”

Answer: No, and No. 

It's not "just" about Left-wing violence, if you read the book. It's on both sides. But Rothman focuses on the Left. Why? Because there have been plenty of books, articles and analyses of Right-wing violence while almost none on the Left. As Rothman explains in his book and in the above Conversation with Coleman.

The second "No” is about there being more violence on the Right than on the Left. The data show there is not. For the recent decades it's a statistical construct to claim more political violence on the Right than the Left. 

Eg from the Anti-defamation League:

Part of p32, on the misuse of ADL political crime stats

I leave it to Noah to explain why in the video above. In the book it's page 32 et.seq.

This vid comes just a few days after the preliminary trial of the Charlie Kirk killer, Tyler Robinson -- a far Left, furry-lover, living with a trans MtF lover -- which documents extensive evidence of his guilt. and of his increasingly Left-wing leanings. 

Despite which both the Left and the Right went loopy. 

Coleman says "there are two competing stupidities". On the Left that Robinson was actually a Republican, based solely on the fact that his parents are. On the Right, that it wasn't Robinson, but Egypt, its military or ... something, or... wait a minute! of course! it's the Jooz... ! 

Argentina were A DISGRACE!

No shortage of agreement with ESPN: 

Argentina Disgraced Themselves. The Athletic

I hate the Argentine football team. Francis Foster

Why Everyone HATES Argentina Vizeh

Argentina, the MOST HATED World Cup team Batch 89 Studio

How Argentina became the most hated World Cup team Ivan Steff

A sad end to an otherwise interesting and fun World Cup.

Oh well, back to the grind....

Gale Force Winds. Tally Ho on her way to the Fastnet

I've followed Leo Sampson ("Hi, I'm Leo. I'm a boatbuilder and a sailor") since the beginning in 2017. And supported his endeavours. 

It's a great story. He's now put out around 300 vids, about 100 hours, so there's a bit of watching right there. 

Don't have the time? Leo has put out a "7 Years timelapse" which is around 17 minutes and has 11 Million views. 

We all wish him and his crew fair winds and fine sailing. He's going to be in the U.K. well before the 2027 Fastnet race that she'll race in, one century after she entered the third Fastnet in 1927. Which she won!

Leo is a wonderful carpenter and sailor. It's been such a pleasure watching the progress of the build over all these years, to see the people he's had in his life and who have helped the massive rebuild of this classic yacht. 

A comment from today's vid: 

14 minutes into the video, after hearing you guys sing, I realise there are moments in sailing — and this is one — where you are experiencing the thrill of your life being pared down to its most symbolic form :

There you guys are, grains of dust in the immensity of the world, conscious of the fleeting nature of existence, and paradoxically feeling that, at this moment there is nothing more suitable than to assert the brazen evidence that you are alive and as such and for this moment, possess something the universe cannot take away from you.

This is beyond the thrill ; it is happiness in its most immediate and fulfilled form. I join the community in wishing you guys more such blessings.

Water, water, everywhere...

For weeks now... in Hong Kong. Non-stop rain. 

Which makes me think: "A bit of something is good. Too much of something is bad". 

As in: "Moderation in everything". 

Even water. 

You need water to live. Without water you die. But too much you drown. You can even die from just drinking too much water! 

Same with so much in life. Perhaps everything. Hence "moderation in everything". In Chinese: "The Great Mean". 

And so it is with immigration. Some is good. Even necessary. Too much, especially unvetted, is bad. At the extreme, it can destroy countries. 

As we see now in the Anglosphere. And in Europe. Too much; too unvetted; too unqualified; too unwilling to integrate; too unwilling to share values of the host country. 

People on the right, conservatives, who are against unrestricted mass immigration are NOT against immigration. Just against the scale and the lack of qualifying. 

Lionel Shriver talks to Toby Young. About the issue and her book about it, which I've read. "A Better Life". The title referring to the usual motivation of immigrants: to have a better life. 

Which is indeed true. That's what immigrants want. A better life. Fair enough. Who can blame them. 

But all too often that "better life" of the immigrants is at the expense of the lives of poor people in working class suburbs, who have no choice in the matter. For them, mass immigration is very often not at all better. More crime; higher prices, crowded schools, queues at hospitals. No respect, from guests, of their hosts. [*]

So the empathy here only works for the foreigner not the locals. Why?

Look at Bradford, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Tower Hamlets. Just in Shriver's adopted home of England. 

But, you know, BIGOT! If you dare raise this issue. If you've got concerns. Racist! Xenophobe! Even... the bigDaddy of them all: "Islamophobe!"

Sigh... 

=======================

[*] The epigraph of A Better Life: 

"Mankind is divisible into two great classes, hosts and guests."

~ Max Beerbohm

How Does SpaceX Make Money?

Every Elon Musk Product

Every Elon Musk Product. From The Data of Everything. 1. Blastar (1984) 2. Zip2 (1995) 3. X. com (1999) 4. Tesla Roadster (2006) 5. Falcon 1 (2006) 6. Tesla Model S (2009) 7. Falcon 9 (2010) 8. Giga Fremont (2010) 9. Dragon 1 (2010) 10. Supercharging Network (2012) 11. Starship (2012) 12. Hyperloop (2013) 13. Dragon 2 (2014) 14. Tesla Model X (2015) 15. New Spacesuits (2015) 16. Starlink (2015) 17. Powerwall 1 (2015) 18. Giga Nevada (2016) 19. Tesla Model 3 (2016) 20. Powerwall 2 (2016) 21. Tesla Solar Roof (2016) 22. FSD (Full Self-Driving) (2016) 23. Tesla Semi (2017) 24. Tesla Roadster 2.0 (2017) 25. Tesla Solar Panels (2017) 26. Giga New York (2017) 27. Neuralink (2017) 28. Not-a-Flamethrower (2018) 29. Falcon Heavy (2018) 30. Giga Shanghai (2019) 31. Tesla Cybertruck (2019) 32. Tesla Cyberquad (2019) 33. Tesla Model Y (2019) 34. Tesla Megapack (2019) 35. Tesla Insurance (2019) 36. 4680 Cells (2020) 37. Short Shorts (2020) 38. Tesla Optimus (2021) 39. Giga Berlin (2022) 40. Prufrock II (2022) 41. Burnt Hair Perfume (2022) 42. Giga Texas (2022) 43. Powerwall 3 (2023) 44. Tesla Dojo (2023) 45. Giga Mexico (2023) 46. Grok (2023) 47. Cybercab (2024) 48. Robovan (2024) 49. Tesla Diner (2025) 50. Grok 4 (2025) 51. Grok Imagine (2025) 

52. Grokipedia (2025) 

The Dawning of a New Age. In the foothills of Singularity | Demis Hassabis

A Framework for Frontier AI and the Dawning of a New Age 

Demis Hassabis 

@demishassabis

Nobel Laureate. Co-Founder & CEO @GoogleDeepMind - working on AGI.
Solving disease @IsomorphicLabs. Trying to understand the fundamental nature of reality.

This is a pivotal moment in human history. Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a system that exhibits all the cognitive capabilities the brain has, is probably only a few short years away. When we look back on this time in the decades to come, I think we will realise we were standing in the foothills of the singularity - nothing less than the dawning of a new age for humanity. [Link to the Article at X]

I’ve spent my whole life working on AGI because I’ve always had a deep conviction that, if built and deployed responsibly, it would prove to be one of the most beneficial and transformative technologies ever invented. AGI cannot be compared to standard technological breakthroughs, not even ones as consequential as the internet or mobile - it is much more akin to the discovery of electricity or fire. If you stop to think about it, we’ve essentially found a way to make sand think. It’s miraculous.

The magnitude of this technology’s impact will be unprecedented, perhaps 10x of the Industrial Revolution at 10x the speed. It will help us solve some of the biggest problems society faces from accelerating drug discovery to developing new clean energy sources to creating novel advanced materials. We could even reach a point where resources are no longer the limiting factor for human progress, leading to an amazing new era of abundance.

The Challenges of the Frontier

AI is already starting to deliver real-world benefits but to realise its immense promise, we have to navigate this critical period of development thoughtfully and carefully.

Why Elon Musk bought Twitter | Seth Dillon

"We [The Babylon Bee] have a refusal to treat silliness seriously"

-- Seth Dillon

Towards the end: Free Speech isn't enough. It's the start.  The news media, social media, commenters, news reporters all have a responsibility to get it right. To report the Truth. There is such a thing. Not "your" truth, or "my" truth. But THE truth. 

The Babylon Bee is the new -- and better -- The Onion, which has gone off because it went Woke. 

They're a bunch of practicing Christians at the Babylon Bee. But, atheist me, I don't mind. They make nice jokes. 

A 2018 headline: "CNN Purchases Industrial-Sized Washing Machine To Spin News Before Publication." 

This specific headline became highly famous after the fact-checking website Snopes officially rated the satirical article as "false". Fact-checked! Yikes!

How the madness began | Paul Marshall

The 100 year history of Woke in 20 minutes.

Sir Paul Marshall starts with a quote: 

“My views are pretty much those of a Democrat circa 2010. But I have been demonised relentlessly”. [*]

Those are the words of Elon Musk. He didn’t leave the Democrat party. The Party left him. Other prominent ex-Democrats feel the same. Cable host Bill Maher, politician Tulsi Gabbard, Environmental campaigner Robert Kennedy. 

Most Dems today don’t consider Bill Clinton a Democrat! He’s grise without the eminence.

A good summary by Marshall of how we got here. The Woke Era.

More detail? “America’s Cultural Revolution” by Christopher Rufo. “Made in America” by China’s Cultural Revolution escapee Xi Van Fleet is also a good read on this. 

[*]  Musk posted this in X on 16 February 2016:

“The left calls people on the right “nazis” or “fascists” when they have not even physically harmed another human being, let alone advocated genocide or war.

My actual views are pretty much those of a Democrat circa 2010, but I’ve been demonised relentlessly with the above slurs.”

The Overton Window shifts Left. Thanks, Colin Wright

Below the fold. What the most neutral (but still obsequious) AI says about this:

“How China’s aerospace vision differs from Elon Musk’s SpaceX” | SCMP

China’s “net system” captures return rocket 

My comment at the site on China aerospace vision differs from Elon Musk’s SpaceX:

Classic China Cope! 

SpaceX was founded in 2002, China's space industry 46 years earlier. 

SpaceX landed reusable rocket in 2015, eleven years earlier than China. 

SpaceX launches more per year into space than all other space nations combined. 

SpaceX, a public company, launches double what the country of China launches.

SpaceX cost per kg to space one-third of Chinas Long March rockets.

SpaceX created Starlink, revolutionary worldwide internet access.... 

But... China relanding a booster eleven years LATER than SpaceX shows "superiority of the State Owned Model". Right…

Remember? Chinese experts — experts all over the world — said landing rockets back on earth was “impossible”.  Then when SpaceX did it, the cope continued: “Oh well, Elon didn’t do it as soon as he said he would”. (!)

Elon Musk being the guy who turns “impossible” into the merely “late”. (It’s happened with Tesla, too).

SpaceX will study what China has done, but won’t copy it. “Copying is not our style”. It sure is China’s style though. Baidu, WeChat, Alibaba, Taobao, even its EVs. All copied. Mind you, they do a damn fine job of it. They often improve the original. But it’s hard to come up with a single invention from China in the 21C that’s world-changing and a household name. 

All recognising China’s bright history and world-changing innovations (the compass, gunpowder, paper) in its long and remarkable history. See: Joseph Needham “Science and Civilisation in China”.

Earlier: SpaceX launches more than Rest of World.

“All non-Muslims are the enemies of Allah” | British Muslim Preacher

At a major Islamic event attended by thousands in Britain, preacher Abdur Raheem Green openly declared that non-Muslims are the enemies of Allah.

He urged his followers to “hate” those living among them who don’t share their faith.

This isn’t spiritual guidance.

This is dangerous indoctrination, and it’s spreading openly in the West. [Link]

Openly, repeatedly, forcefully, unashamedly stated, by Imams in every mosque of the United Kingdom. 

Channel 4 of the BBC did a doco on this “Undercover Mosque” decades ago. It showed how violent anti-west Islamist speech was rife through mosques in the U.K.. It was ignored. 

They would not dare to make the same documentary today. Because Hate Speech laws, especially under Keir Starmer, means you get arrested for saying true things about The Religion of Peace. For whom “peace” means that everyone, everywhere, submits to the will of Allah. 

"We're not afraid of the pain of failure" : SpaceX and the price of success

Wonderful doco. Inspiring. 

I say this thing, which is true:

SpaceX only exists because of Elon Musk. 

Who single-handedly proves the "Great Man" thesis: without this man, it wouldn't have happened. 

If you doubt it, read the details of how SpaceX came to be what it is today, in Walter Isaacson's Elon Musk. 

Compilation of Democrats defending Graham Platner

Short answer to The New Yorker. No, he can’t. He’s a Nepo Nazi. Funded by mummy to
Maine’s most expensive private schools. A Vet-hating Vet. Then a wastrel and a
fraudulent “Oyster Farmer”. And now… a failed Senatorial candidate 

This is all about one Graham Platner. Until ten minutes ago unknown. Until five minutes ago the Democratic candidate for Senator to the United States Congress in the State of Maine.

He’s got a Nazi tattoo. Smack bang right there on his chest. Not just any old Nazi tattoo, but the Totenkopf. The “Death’s Head” tattoo of the S.S., Hitler’s most enthusiastic Jew-extinguishers. Then pretended (ie, lied) that he didn’t know what it was…

Dems: He’s a Nazi? No worries. He’s a lying Nazi? Even better! 

Platner is a bogus “oyster farmer”. In reality shucks a few oysters for his Mum’s restaurant.

Dems: He’s a fraud? No worries. “We’re not hiring a priest”. “Give him grace”. I mean, who cares!

Platner is a member of the Marxist-Leninist DSA.

Dems: He’s a Communist? No worries. We love communism!

Platner: “All Cops are Bastards”.

Dems: No worries. We hate cops too!

Platner: “Rural Americans are racist and stupid”.

Dems: Right on, brother! As saint Hillary said, they’re all Deplorables!

Platner: Says Purple Heart veteran Terry Daniels “doesn’t deserve to live”.

Dems: No worries, bro. We hate vets too!

Platner: Calls for theft of private property.

Dems: He wants to impoverish America? No worries. He wants to steal stuff from Republicans? Fine, as long as it’s for us, no problem.

Platner: Calls for Open Borders. 

Dems: You want to illegally import Democrat voters and steal working-class job? Great!

Platner. Accused of sexual misconduct. 

Dems: No! That’s beyond the pale. Resign buddy!

So he has. He’s now resigned. He steps down from the race in the crucial state of Maine. Crucial to the Dems obsession with taking back the Senate this coming mid-term.

The link here is to a compilation of Dems in complete lock-step about just a wonderful candidate Platner was. Until he wasn’t. 

Sure, anyone can make a mistake supporting a candidate who turns out to be flawed. But the Dems seem to have a particular genius for picking weird heroes. Think of Lenin, Stalin, Mao. More prosaically: think how they drooled over Michael Avenatti… as a presidential candidate! Whoopi and the ladies of The View loved him! He’s now in jail. Couldn’t they see that at the time? The View? Jimmy Kimmel? All the late-nighters? I mean, even I could see it, sitting here in Hong Kong. 

Then there’s James Talarico in Texas. The lads of the Ruthless  pod take that apart. Here.

Trump Trolls FIFA

Trump: "I know sports very well."

Also Trump: "What's a Red Card?"

The funny stuff on Trump is around 6:30. 

Bridget Phetasy with her glorious, funny, unique take on the U.S. being bundled out of the World Cup by Belgium. (4-1, not even close... ). 

This World Cup has been good for Football (the Soccer kind), good for America and good for the World. And it's not finished yet. E.G.:

• "World Cup fans discover the Real America"
• "Montage of World Cup fans loving America"

With the U.S. and Australia out, for me it's "Go Norway!". 

My pick for the finals FWIW, for someone who knows nothing about the game: 

Finals on 20th July: 

a.  What I'd love: Norway v. Spain and Norway wins. 

b.  More likely: Spain v. Argentina and Spain wins. 

c.  The odds choose: France v Spain, and France wins. 

For the record, as of today, the Odds from Paddy Power betting are: 

• France 2-1
• Spain  4-1
• Argentina  4-1
• England 5-1
• Norway 15-1

Mind: Norway has this amazing Striker, Erling Haaland. He could single-footedly win for Norway. 

Norway fans go crazy, (in a nice way), do Viking Row, after beating Brazil.

Clitoral Conniptions

Occasional Reader sends me clip from an India Times article, about a brouhaha in the German Parliament recently. 
Which clip was all about the clitoris. 
Yes, this little baby, this clit, that sometimes elusive (to men) part of the female anatomy, was the subject of mirth in Berlin’s Bundestag. Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour? 
Not that the article said anything about the substance of the parliamentary debate that led to this clitoral humour. This chucklesome clitoris. This curiously charming clitoral comedy. 
So I went in search of it. 
Basically, the debate was about "violence against women and girls in Germany". 
A serious subject. Treated to German mirth, thusly:

Why Islam is not compatible with the West

The Short is here. 

Above: a short, simple and clear explanation. Why Islam is not compatible with the West.

By Benedict Beckeld.

Shorter Beckeld: Islam is both a proselytising religion, AND a political religion. In that, it’s unique amongst the Abrahamic religions. 

Christianity is proselytising, but not political. (Give unto Caesar what his Caesar's and unto God what is God's)

Judaism is political, but not proselytising. It's super-hard to convert to Judaism. 

Islam is both proselytising AND political. It's a totalitarian system of life. It's super-easy to convert to Islam. Once you're a Muslim you have a whole swathe of stuff you have to do, because you're Muslim. One of those is to try to convert those around you. If necessary, by war, by Jihad. 

THAT's why Islam is incompatible with western societies. Which make a clear and clean distinction between the Church and the State. Between what’s private between you and whatever god you believe in; and your public duties, rights and obligations. 

“The machine that goes Ping!” and other spinal stenosis notes

[The 3:40 version of the above clip, here]

Notes from my recent back operation at Hong Kong's Canossa Caritas hospital, 1 Stubbs Road. Where happens our son was born in August 1997, just after HK's handover to China.

Mise en scene: me, on one of those mobile trolley bed things they have in hospitals, to move the patient around. Dressed in operating gowns. Slightly dosed with relaxing drugs, I'm feeling pretty chill as we head to the Operation Theatre. 

I'm feeling chill because I trust them. All the staff, the nurses, the doctors, the support staff, I trust them all. They are all super friendly, super supportive, super kind, super "give confidence" type people. I know that they have all been trained to the top international levels. I know all the equipment is the latest, world class stuff. 

So, here goes. [It's kind of AI-assisted slop, but if I don't post it now, I never will. It's been sitting in my pending tray since the op last December]

The fluorescent lights of the operating theatre in Hong Kong’s Canossa hospital hummed like a lazy orchestra as the pre-op sedation wrapped my nerves in warm cotton wool. I lay on the narrow table, leads stuck to my chest, watching the monitors blink and beep. One small machine kept up a steady, almost cheeky *ping* every few seconds.

“Ah,” I slurred “I see you have… the machine that goes ping.”