I bought a mini PC today. On the US website, it goes for $460, on the German website it goes for 360 euros or $420. But that price includes 20% tax so its actually $335.
Prices for the same product are about 37.5% higher in the US. It's nuts and the reverse of how it used to be not long ago.
I was intrigued by what you have said, because I have also bought an ASUS NUC mini-PC today, in Europe.
I paid EUR 510, which means $593. This is with all taxes included, so the price without tax would be about $490.
I have searched now the ASUS mini-PC on Newegg, and its cost is $679, around +38.5% more expensive.
This is wild, because indeed, until recently the price of electronics devices was significantly lower in USA in comparison with Europe, while now it is the reverse.
This is not a "Made in China" mini-PC, which might have been affected by worse tariffs.
Moreover, I have equipped the mini-PC with 32 GB DDR5 & 1 TB SSD, while cursing the more than triple price of DDR5 compared with last summer, so that now the DRAM has been more than a third of the price of the complete computer.
This configuration has cost me the equivalent of slightly less than $900, without taxes. The same configuration has a price on Newegg of almost $1200.
Exactly. Micro grids keep on functioning unless they are hit directly. Batteries can charge up when there's power from solar, the grid, rooftop wind, generators, EVs that can provide power back, and so on. There are many options here; batteries don't care where the power comes from. That kind of resilience is very hard to take out with drones once you have it. Centralized grids are much less resilient.
I expect Ukrainians don't actually need to be told this and are already getting creative with ensuring they have power. There's plenty of incentive there to make sure they are not overly dependent on centralized power and heating infrastructure. Of course it takes time to fix and upgrade all buildings; that's why the Russians can still have huge impact with their nightly strikes against civilian infrastructure.
I think Russia and Puting will get credited for inadvertently speeding up the energy transition across Europe by a few decades. Everybody is going cold turkey on Russian gas and the replacement isn't LNG. That's more of a stop gap solution until something more economical can be put in place. We're having pretty harsh winter here in Germany (and elsewhere in the EU). There's not a lot of talk about gas prices in the news so far. That's because we've had a few years to diversify our energy sources. LNG is now a big part of the mix, obviously. But the high price of that is also an incentive for people to consider alternatives like heat pumps.
> Authorised workers had to be vaccinated or couldn't attend work onsite. Those who refused could face disciplinary proceedings including dismissal.
> The mandates rendered vaccination against COVID a condition of employment. Anyone who refused to be vaccinated could therefore be subject to disciplinary proceedings, including dismissal.
Australia | USA | UK
Vaccine passports for venues: Australia = Widespread | USA = Mostly banned | UK = Never implemented
Unvaccinated locked out of shops/restaurants: Australia = Yes | USA = No | UK = No
Healthcare worker mandates: Australia = Yes | USA = Partial (upheld for Medicare/Medicaid facilities) | UK = Brief, then revoked
Broad employment mandates: Australia = Yes (most industries) | USA = Struck down | UK = No
Different lockdown rules by vax status: Australia = Yes | USA = No | UK = No
Days locked down
Australia (Melbourne) = 262 days
UK (England) = approx 190 days (three national lockdowns)
USA = approx 30-60 days in most states (one lockdown only, spring 2020). Eight states never locked down at all. No second or third lockdowns.
Again, so what? Your claim is says "forced" and "dangerous" but you provide no evidence. You've made your opinion clear, but that's all it is. That the Aus government did something different proves, and shows, nothing.
This is standard right wing hate-filled drivel, like that peppered throughout your comment history.
Your ilk really are hoping that Trump's authoritarian takeover of the US succeeds, through provocation, apathy or by whatever means, because you're driven only by the pursuit of power to turn your hate into violence against your perceived enemies.
Prices for the same product are about 37.5% higher in the US. It's nuts and the reverse of how it used to be not long ago.
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