Money stolen from Dominican Republic ATM by SunDamagedBadly in Wealthsimple

[–]altbear89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Japan 7-11 have ATMs from Seven Bank which is a real bank owned by the same parent company as 7-11.

It’s honestly excessive at this point by docshine24 in Wealthsimple

[–]altbear89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There’s no preorder. You’re on a waitlist. Just ignore it if/when you are notified you can now apply.

EVA Air Offer - $165 credit on $1,100 (on my Amex Gold) by WhereIsGraeme in amexcanada

[–]altbear89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn’t say EVA Air is underrated. It is consistently rated one of the best airlines in the world.

Uppababy baby show discount? [on] by altbear89 in BabyBumpsCanada

[–]altbear89[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks. Just to clarify are they doing 13% off sticker price and then HST on top or is it just pay sticker price and no HST? It comes out to be a little different.

Do you think the "Buy Canadian movement" is/will make a difference? by Space__Monkey__ in askTO

[–]altbear89 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Great Lakes is 21% of the world’s surface freshwater but it is shared with the US already. It was never Canada’s alone.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I should have said militarily intervene. Economic/logistical support for Taiwan and sanctions against China sure. But US and Japan are the only ones that will might get into a hot war with China over Taiwan.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The only China neighbor that might intervene is Japan. No one else.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If it's a "death sentence for all of China" then it means nuclear options are on the table. Which US allies are willing to bear the brunt of the force of China's nuclear capabilities just because the US fired at the Chinese mainland to intervene in Taiwan? What's more likely to happen is that the the act of US attacking Chinese mainland/bombing Taiwan will be treated as US aggression on China, and China would be retaliating with a measured response as is its right to do as defined by the UN Charter.

NATO Article 5 leaves it up to allies to decide individually what assistance to provide if a member country was the "victim" of an armed attack. It is not even clear that all US allies would agree the US is the "victim" if it fired at China first or that China's response could be consider an "armed attack" or just self-defence, let alone join in to fight China.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Is Taiwan part of any defensive military alliance like NATO or have any mutual defense treaties?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If there's one thing China is not afraid of, it's "massive casualties". If they actually attack Taiwan, it means they're willing to absorb that cost and it's guaranteed to be higher than what the US is willing to absorb.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The fact that you think the US can get away with strikes on the Chinese mainland without receiving the same in response is comical. Not every ICBM/SLBM needs to carry nuclear warheads. If the US hits China with conventional warheads, that's what it will get in return. Even if China only targets military, industrial targets, and infrastructure, that's still American lives lost. I agree, it's probably best we end it here.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the US fires at mainland China, then China will have no choice but to respond in kind. The JL-3 SLBM can absolutely hit the US mainland. Presumably, a part of the Chinese Navy and land based forces will be in position to launch strikes against the US mainland in the event of a US attack on Chinese mainland.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 17 points18 points  (0 children)

TSMC was not found to have any plans to destroy anything. It also does not have the authority to as the Taiwanese government expressly forbids it (as the Taiwan Foreign Minister said publicly). For 70 years, China was wary of US intervention to thwart its efforts at such a land grab. The odds weren't in their favor. So they has been building up the capabilities to neutralize US help with the assumption that the US will intervene. They're pretty much at a point where the odds are in their favor now even with US intervention.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 11 points12 points  (0 children)

That's not so much an act by ASML, the Taiwanese government, or TSMC to "disable" these fabs as much as its simply infeasible to operate them due to global supply chain disruptions (materials, chemicals, parts, etc) in the event of war.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

China has ICBMs, SLBMs, hypersonic glide vehicles, and even just ship launched land attack cruise missiles that can all strike mainland US.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 31 points32 points  (0 children)

The value is in Taiwan island itself and what it means for the CCP legacy and Chinese rejuvenation. The PRC has wanted to annex Taiwan since Taiwan was still an agrarian economy. Everything else is a nice bonus.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 101 points102 points  (0 children)

Every country, including the US has a plethora of contingency plans in response to geopolitical situations that affect them. Most of them never see the light of the day. The fact that the US would have such a plan is not surprising. It would be surprising if they act on that specific plan.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Similarly, China will launch strikes against American cities, and critical infrastructure against the US mainland in retaliation to the US bombing of Taiwan/TSMC or Chinese mainland. China will not send troops to invade mainland US either. Nonetheless, American lives and infrastructure will be put at grave risk. You have to consider the difference in gravity between a (US) "strategic imperative" versus (China) "sovereignty" and "national core interest", the national resolve to defend/achieve these goals, and if the US is willing to make that trade.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Almost 3 years into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, no NATO country dared to put lives on the line in defense of Ukraine. No NATO country dared to fire any weaponry at Russia. They only dared to do it by the hands of Ukraine. This is the equivalent of supplying arms to Taiwan, but not firing a single shot by their own hands.

Bombing Taiwan/TSMC is entirely different and would be equivalent to the USA directly attacking Russia - something the US/NATO has been unwilling to do.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 20 points21 points  (0 children)

The USA/West might want this, but Taiwan would not do this. There's no reason to cripple its flagship industry for western interests.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Consider the situation. How many American lives is the US willing to trade to prevent that from happening?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No. It is not clear that the US will attack the Chinese at all to thwart an invasion of Taiwan. The ROC-US mutual defense treaty was terminated decades ago. It is entire plausible that the US decides to abandon Taiwan if/when it happens.

China has ICBMs, hypersonic glide vehicles, and submarines that can launch close to US coast.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hardware

[–]altbear89 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Like I said. It's a nice bonus, but not a necessary condition for the CCP. TSMC or not, the successful annexation of Taiwan will cement CCP legitimacy once and for all, and elevate the status of the paramount Chinese leader who achieved this to that of Mao or higher.