The turmoil surrounding the Tesla factory had temporarily settled. All parties involved were weighing the pros and cons. To be honest, a hundred car dealerships had really disrupted the current landscape.
If you tried to use sales channels to make things difficult for this guy, you'd probably get hurt yourself. If possible, it was best for everyone to maintain so tacit understanding.
"Master, it seems Angola can't hold out much longer. The Soviets are surely in trouble, and they have reduced their support for Angola, but..."
"But what?"
"It seems South Africa is also struggling. Even with substantial support from our side, they still can't gain an advantage."
William White found this situation perplexing -- one ss in the desert, one in Afghanistan, and now this ss in Africa. In a sense, this period wasn't really a Cold War; the U.S. and the Soviets had been at each other's throats -- all that differed was that they weren't physically on the battlefield.
"Ha! Can Africa's ss get any ssier? You take a piece of land, and he takes a piece of land -- it's all a big stew now."
"Master, the economy isn't looking good. I am afraid Washington might not continue to invest; what strategy should we adopt?"
"Other than shiny diamonds, I'm not interested in anything else. Tanner, since the Soviets are pulling out their forces, there's bound to be trouble in those areas. Keep an eye on the news from those places. If there's nothing worth paying attention to, then we needn't worry."
"Got it, master, I'll make so adjustnts."
Africa wasn't just dominated by the U.S.; it had long been a sphere of influence for Europe. Although the colonial system had collapsed and these guys had ostensibly exited the region, how could they actually give it up?
Today's Africa was like that; otherwise, how could a common drought lead to so many deaths?
To Europeans, it felt more like a testing ground. No matter what new toy they had, it could be tried out here.
Weapons, vaccines, all sorts of systems. Well, as long as you like it, any policy can be laid out for you.
Religious beliefs, tribal hatred, and dozens of political parties. With this going on in one country, William White was sure that if this continued, there wouldn't be many left alive.
"Max, the chaos in Africa is worsening. You need to expand, and we need to upgrade our equipnt."
"Sure, sir. I'll get back to you as soon as I can; sothing definitely feels off lately."
"Yeah, get back to soon. By the way, the Soviets seem to be short on cash. Let's leverage our contacts and see if we can pick up so scraps."
"Don't worry, sir, their Kamov Ka-50 is doing just fine. It may not work in the United States, but it's no problem in Africa."
After being toyed with by Gaddafi, William White hadn't received many good diamonds in recent years. Once this place started devolving into chaos, he obviously needed to retrieve them, and he intended to do it aggressively.
What William White didn't know was that due to war and famine, diamond production was extrely low and nobody was actually getting good quality rchandise.
Because of this, the price fluctuations in diamonds were quite considerable. Add in those wealthy little short-tirs, and well, the current trading market was impossible to gauge.
Back in the day, William White had spent a hundred million dollars to purchase the Star of the Century; everyone thought he was crazy. Now, a few years later, a hundred million didn't seem so outrageous.
If he hadn't placed the order, the Japanese people might have been interested in buying it too. For these guys today, a hundred million dollars was a drop in the bucket.
...
William White pondered whether he should consider buying into the oil industry at a low point. In the coming years, oil would likely face significant pressure.
People thought there was a lot of oil in the desert area, which was true. However, there were plenty of oil deposits in Africa, but the quality wasn't great.
Sadly, Africa was extrely unstable. Transportation was far easier in this region than in the desert. You could see on a map how close things were.
...
After the opening ceremony for the new building, Bush Jr. had to fly to Seattle, which was his ho base.
"High-tech? George, isn't that guy a playboy? When did he turn into a mad scientist?"
"Dad, he's got dual degrees. He's famous not only in Hollywood but also in Silicon Valley."
"Tsk, I overlooked that. Looks like I should check out San Francisco -- can't let the Donkeys get ahead. As for the White Center, the lead was actually in communications; sigh, Bell Labs -- those bastards really sold out."
"That's not simple. Close to a billion in annual investnt, Dad; this isn't a joke."
"So much money?"
Bush Sr. hadn't expected that. He thought William White had found a bargain. What he didn't realize was that it was completely different from what he imagined. If you didn't have the guts and the cash, even if it were handed to you, it wouldn't help.
"Is that so? No wonder those old-tirs didn't say much. If they were acquired, they might just shut down."
Even though the little Bells' folks were envious of the lab's profits, no one had spoken up. That was the essence of it. What they offered wasn't the sa as before.
You could say the changes weren't significant, just slightly improved -- the speed was just a bit faster.
Politicians could say that because the ignorant don't fear. If an engineer said that, he might as well get out of the industry.
Don't even ntion ADSL; the progress from 14K to 28K in dial-up internet was already monuntal. ADSL fundantally changed the transmission thods; you could receive calls while online, and it wouldn't interfere at all.
Don't underestimate this. Bell Labs had already developed a video calling system using ADSL. In no ti, this tech would be comrcialized. Would you still dare to say they only changed a little?
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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