2011-09-23, 23:12 | Link #16781 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
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Quote:
and China is making a killing in that industry... expect a growing number of democrats to use 'blame china' talk in their latest talking points http://www.scpr.org/blogs/economy/20...wth-its-scale/ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...p-imports.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ5YA11uamQ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/bu...for-china.html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...&type=business the Chinese sooo pwn this industry that soon U.S. will be dependent on it like how U.S. is dependent on a-rab black gold |
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2011-09-23, 23:58 | Link #16782 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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I think we can blame Solyndra pretty much on bad management (companies hate having to admit their leadership just sucked so they blame it on everything else). Throughout our history the US government has put 'seed money' into various industries to give them a jumpstart. Not every company makes it (which makes the whole Solyndra BS just a flagwaver from the oil/gas/coal lobbies and the throw-enough-shit-and-some-sticks group).
OTOH.. the utter failure of the US to put serious effort into green tech during the Bush administration literally gave China the eight year window it needed to become dominant in the field. Like in nanotech and genetics (other tech areas where we initially held the lead in research), the US is now way behind the curve in applications of green tech and its increasingly probable that we have simply missed the bus once again thanks to the "status quo" lobbies and their political minions.
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2011-09-24, 02:16 | Link #16783 | |
Asuki-tan Kairin ↓
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Fürth (GER)
Age: 43
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Quote:
However, the western producers tried to engage the chinese lower price tactic with giving guarantees of 10 or more years for the solar modules not to fail/considerably drop in performance... basically a quality assurance (that costs a premium). Now, the chinese manufacturers offer those guarantees too. And you can only speculate what happens if you really have a malfunctioning module. I personally doubt that you get it replaced under guarantee (even if you have your case proven in a lab... which costs as much as a new module minimum). Now, the western producers cannot disregard their liabilities so easily, because they do not produce in a country with such a weak protection of consumers. Anyway, the western producers lost another competitive advantage, because most consumers do not really care about long term reliability or fact checking claims of such reliability/guarantees (they just see it as a given), so the only important thing remaining is the price of the product. And that is where you cannot beat the chinese solar modules.
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2011-09-24, 04:31 | Link #16784 |
Takao Tsundere Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Classified
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Why conservative Christians flock to a Chicago gay bar
Can one man build effective bridges between evangelical Christians and Chicago's gay community? Interesting article. I respect the man in question, Andrew Marin, for trying to bring an understanding between Conservatives and Gays.
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2011-09-24, 06:37 | Link #16785 | |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
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They should be drumming up the "We have to beat China!" thing more. Right now it's an afterthought. Whatever happened to that competitive spirit we saw in the cold war? |
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2011-09-24, 11:14 | Link #16790 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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There's actually "two USAs"... the one with 99% of the money doesn't seem to give a flip - they're the dark version of "citizens of the Earth", the ones screwing the whole planet over.
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2011-09-24, 20:36 | Link #16791 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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Quote:
In Russia, we have Gazprom. In Singapore, we have Temasek Holdings. In China, we have various copycat firms bribing CCP officials. Wherever we go, it seems that Big Corp always win.
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2011-09-24, 20:44 | Link #16793 |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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It is a landmark firm with big money, despite falling. I could have similarly used Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers or Worldcom.
Enron pretty much symbolises some sort of monopoly due to its main business being that of oil - hence I used the name. Also, I was intending to bring across the message that no matter how big or important an organisation is, sooner or later it will collapse on itself or on others.
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2011-09-24, 23:20 | Link #16794 |
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
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Drone makers seek out new targets
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...78M4HE20110923
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2011-09-25, 02:13 | Link #16795 | |
Um-Shmum
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: at GNR, bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts
Age: 39
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Quote:
Traffic reports, Search and rescue, Law enforcement. UAVs could prove useful to any of those things.
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2011-09-25, 06:06 | Link #16796 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
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With the talk of UAVs, I feel obliged to post this here.
http://player.youku.com/player.php/s...ODIxMzY0/v.swf It is from the 2011-09-21 China Beijing UAV exhibition (2011 中国北京无人机展览). The short video shows an UAV landing on a Carrier model. Last edited by Tom Bombadil; 2011-09-25 at 06:18. |
2011-09-25, 10:17 | Link #16800 | |
books-eater youkai
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Betweem wisdom and insanity
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Journalist Is Detained in China for Article on Sex Slaves
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/wo...Luoyang&st=cse Quote:
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current affairs, discussion, international |
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