I've never had problems with Temu. It's good for buying little tech trinkets or clothing for cheap.
On a side note, how is it like to pursue a graduate degree in China and how does it differ from the USA?
This idea of human goodness being something exceptional to the US also plays a role in USians considering themselves a morally upright "world police".
Elementary and middle education in India is exactly the same... due to severe budget cuts public education at that level is terrible and most who can afford it settle for private schooling. It's flipped in higher education, although with BJP neoliberalism the public schools have been raising tuition and having funding cut as well (although they are still massively cheaper than private universities).
I can't speak for China, but in India we have a similar system where those who do well on exams gain admission into top public schools and those who don't have to settle for a private school which isn't as selective but more expensive. As far as I know the private schools are really just backup plans for those who can afford it and aren't very prestigious compared to the public schools.
What kind of specs do you need to run DeepSeek locally? A few months back, I tried using ollama to run some small llama models on my home laptop (Ubuntu with 16GB RAM and a weak Nvidia integrated GPU w/ nouveau drivers) at it was borderline unusable.
I suspected this was the case; thanks for the clarification.
(Not a troll post) Why is there censorship on DeepSeek?
This is not a troll-post; I am genuinely curious about why this is the case. When I asked DeepSeek AI some Western propaganda questions like "Is Taiwan a country" and "What happened on Tiananmen Square 1989", it refuses to answer.
This is strange because on other Chinese sites like Baidu, you can easily search these topics and get answers from the non-Western, Chinese point of view that are very educational, yet DeepSeek for some reason flags these questions. I've only tested this out with the English version since I unfortunately am not fluent in Chinese.
Does anyone have any possible explanation for why this may be the case?
Edit: After some further investigation, I'm seeing that the AI's political views tend to be pretty liberal and only a little to the left of ChatGPT. In this context, I can see why it refuses to answer these questions in an attempt to prevent the spread of disinformation.
Of course they would, but since foreign media refuses the comply with China, wouldn't it just circle back to Western media being banned or restricted for noncompliance?
Chinese tech is miles ahead of Western counterparts and protectionism is likely unnecessary, I agree. But won't Western companies' noncompliance with Chinese data storage laws prevent mainstream social media like Facebook from being allowed nationwide? Off the top of my head, I believe that one of the reasons Facebook was banned (besides protectionism) was that they refused to store data of Chinese users within Chinese borders or something, meaning that accessing it with a VPN was fine but not through direct Internet connection.
What happened to Juche years on KCNA?
KCNA has always dated every article in terms of Juche years, but recently I noticed that they started using the Gregorian calendar again. The usual CIA sources say it's to emphasize Kim Jong Un's power or something, but I was wondering if there's an official explanation.
Either way, as much as I love Kim Il-Sung, reducing his cult of personality is a good thing as long as it's executed right.
I don't know about all of you but to me, seeing the decades-ruling Syrian government fall is like an "End of History" for the Middle East. This is a goodbye to the last remnant of Pan-Arabism, of Arab Socialism, of Arab Secularism, of Arab Anti-imperialism. It was the last remaining Arab anti-imperialist state in the Levant. This is a huge blow to the Axis of Resistance and Iran, billions of dollars and decades of foreign policy put to waste.
I'm no expert on the rebels. However I do know that the "FSA" has many fighters from the Turkestan Islamist Party among its ranks so I doubt it's a favorable opinion.
There's so much disappointment... the SAA's unwillingness to fight, Syria's allies standing on the sidelines, no one even trying to stop the terrorists. Syria will be like Afghanistan but worse at this rate.
Damascus has fallen
Islamist US proxies have captured Damascus. Bashar's government has fallen. Is it joever for the Axis of Resistence?
I'm pretty sure the ua stands for Universal Awareness, although the website is focused on Ukraine and is anti-Putin.
Is the quote from The Governance of China? Incredible based.
The upper atmosphere would probably have less drag, but the lower speed of sound at high altitudes would exacerbate the issues of supersonic flight and require specialized, expensive aircraft. It may become more efficient, but I still see it as mostly a niche market.
I'm no aerospace engineer but supersonic flight, no matter how technologically advanced we become, will always remain incredibly fuel inefficient because of fundamental laws of fluid dynamics. A supersonic aircraft would likely remain a niche market, never replacing our current transonic passenger aircraft. I'm betting the tickets would be prohibitively expensive who isn't in the top 1% or paid for by a government agency.
Fethullah Gülen, an anti-communist Turkish Islamic cleric, has died.
He died a few days ago, but his funeral was held today. He is well known for his alleged connection to the 2016 Turkish coup attempt. He is well known to have aided in impeding the leftist movements in Turkey and supporting the Islamist AK Parti in taking power and displacing Turkish secularists. His movement has also been alleged to have received funding from the NED as part of the US's "Green Belt" project, an initiative to prop up Islamist anti-communist governments in the Middle East during the Cold War to counteract the influence of the USSR and the Eastern Bloc. He has also been known to pander to Zionists, notably opposing the flotilla delivering aid to besieged Gaza in 2010.
His history and the atrocities linked to him could fill up a book (and there are many books about him), but he's relatively unknown outside of Turkey.
They are not a reliable partner because India is being pragmatic, as in they are acting in their own interests. They are only reliable while it is in their interests; if the situation changes that it becomes less beneficial to India then they will certainly turn on China. Obviously their long-term partnership is not something to gamble on.
I will one day. But first, I need to travel to Pyongyang to use Stalin's giant spoon. My powers will not work without it.
From the footage it seems that his right arm was severely injured too, yet he kept fighting. I have my criticisms of Hamas but Yahya Sinwar and the Al Qassam brigades are brave and based soldiers, unlike the Israeli Diaper Force.
PSA: The DPRK is not Gay/lesbian-friendly
Many overenthusiastic tankies claim that LGBT people are accepted in the DPRK, while your average lib will tell you that Kim Jong-Un will shoot you out of a cannon if you hold hands with the same gender. The reality is neither of these.
First of all, homosexuality is socially looked down upon by the DPRK. A simple search on KCNA will show homophobic comments about Michael Kirby. However, any such article from KCNA should be taken with a grain of salt since it has crazy articles once in a while that don't accurately depict the official position of the state. Rodong Sinmun is party-run while KCNA is more independent as a state-managed enterprise, so it's a better way to judge the government's position on a topic. Rodong Sinmun seems to be absent from any articles discussing this. However, this analysis from Kim I
Has anyone heard of Yaegihaja?
cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/3966387
A few months ago when I was sifting through the garbage dump r/EuropeanSocialists (Once in a while they have good translated DPRK resources otherwise very hard to find) I came across a mention of a site called Yaegihaja. The name means "Let's Talk" in Korean and apparently it was a forum which claimed you could talk with actual north Koreans. It also claimed to be affiliated with the DPRK government. The site has also been mentioned on a few youtube channels, such as one called "SunhiPlays" which posts music videos and one just called "Yaegihaja" which uploaded a DPRK movie. Apparently the URL used to be yaegihaja.com but the website is now shut down and the Wayback Machine's latest snapshot of the website is from April 2022, only showing the home page. Such a place existing is so bizarre and I can't find more information on what it actually was. If you've heard of Yaegihaja please tell me everything you know because I am ver
Has anyone heard of Yaegihaja?
cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/3966387
A few months ago when I was sifting through the garbage dump r/EuropeanSocialists (Once in a while they have good translated DPRK resources otherwise very hard to find) I came across a mention of a site called Yaegihaja. The name means "Let's Talk" in Korean and apparently it was a forum which claimed you could talk with actual north Koreans. It also claimed to be affiliated with the DPRK government. The site has also been mentioned on a few youtube channels, such as one called "SunhiPlays" which posts music videos and one just called "Yaegihaja" which uploaded a DPRK movie. Apparently the URL used to be yaegihaja.com but the website is now shut down and the Wayback Machine's latest snapshot of the website is from April 2022, only showing the home page. Such a place existing is so bizarre and I can't find more information on what it actually was. If you've heard of Yaegihaja please tell me everything you know because I am ver
Has anyone heard of Yaegihaja?
A few months ago when I was sifting through the garbage dump r/EuropeanSocialists (Once in a while they have good translated DPRK resources otherwise very hard to find) I came across a mention of a site called Yaegihaja. The name means "Let's Talk" in Korean and apparently it was a forum which claimed you could talk with actual north Koreans. It also claimed to be affiliated with the DPRK government. The site has also been mentioned on a few youtube channels, such as one called "SunhiPlays" which posts music videos and one just called "Yaegihaja" which uploaded a DPRK movie. Apparently the URL used to be yaegihaja.com but the website is now shut down and the Wayback Machine's latest snapshot of the website is from April 2022, only showing the home page. Such a place existing is so bizarre and I can't find more information on what it actually was. If you've heard of Yaegihaja please tell me everything you know because I am very curious about this matter.
Also apparently Uriminzokki
QOL Comparison: Coal Miner in DPRK vs USA
cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/3953768
After studying DPRK wages and prices for a while, I wanted to make a comparison between the economic life of a north Korean coal miner in North Hamgyong Province compared to one in West Virginia, USA.
Working conditions
Workweek
DPRK: 6 hours/day, 6 days/week (36 hours)
USA: 10 hours/day, 5 days/week (50 hours)
Paid Time Off
DPRK: 52 weekends + 71 national holidays + 28 PTO = 151 days
US: 104 weekends + 11 national holidays = 124 days
% unionized
DPRK: 100% (+ Taean work system giving extra worker democracy)
USA: 17%
Monthly wages & expenses
Wages
DPRK: 360,000 KPW
USA: 4,600 USD
Rent
DPRK: Free
USA: 600 USD (13% income)
Utilities
DPRK: Free
USA: 200 USD (4.3% income)
Food
DPRK: Free (From PDS)
USA: 710 USD (15.4% income)
Healthcare
DPRK: Free
USA: 1400 USD (30%
QOL Comparison: Coal Miner in DPRK vs USA
After studying DPRK wages and prices for a while, I wanted to make a comparison between the economic life of a north Korean coal miner in North Hamgyong Province compared to one in West Virginia, USA.
Working conditions
Workweek
DPRK: 6 hours/day, 6 days/week (36 hours) Source: Article 30, DPRK constitution caps the working day at 8 hours. For harder professions (like coal mining) the hours are reduced.
USA: 10 hours/day, 5 days/week (50 hours)
Paid Time Off
DPRK: 52 weekends + 71 national holidays + 28 PTO = 151 days
Source: 6-day workweek: The documentary My Brothers and Sisters in the North National Holidays: https://www.youngpioneertours.com/north-korea-holidays/ Paid Time Off: https://archive.org/details/DPRKTexts/Education/Secondary/6/socialist_morality
US: 104 weekends + 11 national holidays = 124 days
% unionized
DPRK: 100% (+ Taean work system giving extra worker democracy)
USA: 17%
Monthly wages & expenses
Wages
DPRK: 360,000 KPW
What's up with NK News?
Sources like RFA and NK Daily are pretty transparent in being funded by the CIA/NED. However, NK News claims to not have any government funding, despite the fact that most of the articles they put out are almost as bogus as those from NK Daily. Does anyone have good information on who's behind NK News and why they make Pro-USA propaganda?
Despite extreme sanctions, the DPRK is growing like crazy
Excerpt from "Report on 9th Enlarged Plenum of 8th WPK Central Committee", http://kcna.kp/en/article/q/5a9ffe6e4d6704ac1838b14785365295.kcmsf.
This entire article was amazing to read, but the economic report really stood out to me:
"The report reviewed the remarkable successes made in the overall national economy.
The 12 goals for the national economic development were all attained with 103 percent of grain production, 100 percent of electric power, coal and nitrogenous fertilizer, 102 percent of rolled steel, 131 percent of nonferrous metal, 109 percent of logs, 101 percent of cement and ordinary cloth, 105 percent of marine products, 106 percent of railway freight transport and 109 percent of houses under construction. And the overall economy witnessed clear production growth, including 220 percent of motor production, 208 percent of transformers, 121 percent of bearings, 140 percent of electric zinc, 121 perce
What does Project 2025 mean for MLs and other progressives?
Been hearing a lot about it but I'm not sure what it really does. The only thing I'm aware of is its anti-LGBT policies.
How do socialist countries prevent unemployment while still increasing innovation?
Technical innovation increases the productivity of labor in industry. If production shouldn't be wasteful, there needs to be a reduction in workers. Where do all these workers go if there's no unemployment? In a capitalist economy the workers are left to die on the streets but in a socialist economy they need to get a job again, right? Does the state take the burden of cost of reeducating these workers to enter another field and factor this into calculations when introducing new technology?
Thoughts on Turkmenistan?
The country has the lowest "Freedom Score" on Earth (even lower than DPRK and Eritrea) and it just seems like a really weird country. Does anyone have good resources I can use to study it? I've heard that its situation is like the Belarus of Central Asia.
Is the US going to full war economy in 2025?
The amount of conflicts going on in the world is mindbonggling. Truly decades happening in weeks like Lenin said. Right now Biden's trying really hard to link the Palestinian resistence and "terrorism" with Iran in his tweets and statements, which brings back memories of Bush doing the same thing about Iraq after 9/11. Like Goebells said, repeat something enough and it becomes true.
As a result, it looks like the US may very well go to war with Iran in the close future. We're already proxy warring Russia in Ukraine, but US aid is starting to run dry (correct me if I'm wrong) and it seems like the US will eventually get bored of Ukraine.
The problem here is that Republicans are warhawking for proxy war with China over Taiwan, and some of them are talking about invading Mexico as well. If Biden starts a war with Iran the Republicans will probably be on board. Americans are getting sick of sleepy Biden running their country, and it seems like in the 2024 elections Republicans have a st
Political messaging aside, this graph shows the DPRK's commitment to increasing wages for state employees over time
This graph probably brings up a lot of questions, so I'll clarify some of the details here.
Yes, this bar graph shows wages in figures of present-day won. It's not specified by the graph itself, but looking at the figures you can see that these numbers do not match up with Korean wage and currency reforms. Most notably, in 2014 with the election of Kim Jong-Un there was a widespread wage reform, where wages were multiplied by a factor of 10 (and prices following suit, of course) in order to crack down on markets. We know from Minju Choson articles and the book A Capitalist In North Korea that wages during the Kim Jong-Il period were generally less than 10,000KPW a month, so the 50,000 KPW figure doesn't match up for the years 2006-2010. Korean "inflation" (Not really inflation, because socialist countries don't really have inflation, but whatever) doesn't match up with these graphs, so assuming these as "inflation"-adjusted wages is a safe bet.
You can see from the bottom right that