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Oura, a startup business that makes rings for wearable tracking, won a contract with the US military for $96 million last year, to provide rings to monitor and improve the conditions of personnel. 

>An Oura spokesperson said the contract was intended as an efficiency initiative to address staff burnout and turnover. “If insights from this program had led to even a 1% reduction in burnout, the return on investment would have been achieved,” the spokesperson told Breaking Defense.

*The contract was cancelled.*

![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/242DQskdnD2v3mSjZNgYj5HGL4AhD74o1HLkf1KXcX7i4ssYfHcxQggXJ7gCcTNsSNszT.png)

Because an American company, WHOOP, who lost in the initial tender saying it was "unclear", protested. The tender was opened again, and again they lost to Oura, so they protested again. Finally, the US government cancelled the whole initiative, saying it was no longer a priority. That is pretty pathetic on a couple accounts, but probably points to what is likely to happen more in the Trump administration - favouring US business, even when the product is inferior, and more expensive. The other thing that will increase, is giving even less of a crap about people.

> People are just expendable resources.

The majority who think the Great America drive is going to make lives of Americans better, I feel is fooling themselves, and is in for a nasty surprise. The whole move is another money grab transfer of wealth up the chain, from poor to rich and people should be considering what happens when the poor have nothing left to take? How are the homeless doing at the moment? Are things getting better?

Answer: *No.*

The world is likely to become increasingly cutthroat, as social disconnection increases and it becomes apparent that social support is decreasing. As people realise they are "on their own" more and more, they will do whatever it takes to succeed, leading to increasing crime and violence. 

None of this bodes well for humanity, because the *inhumane* are making the rules of the game and the inhumane are the ones who are going to make the gains. The entire trajectory of current events speeds up the widening of the wealth gap and will further crush down individuals, making it harder and harder to have access to any opportunities at all. It will all come down to survival, and when humans are pushed into a corner, they will fight to the end. 

> The end is nigh?

I feel like we are getting to a point in history where we either overcome our stupidity as a species and start developing for betterment, or winding down the species to extinction, where we destroy ourselves through violence, contagion, or pollution - probably a mix of the three. Nuclear war is an ever-present threat where we all go out with a bang. But I feel it is more likely that we go out with a whimper, starving and choking to death on our own idiocy.

Even now, with all that we know about the world, we keep fixating on the *Bread and Circus* presented to us, rather on what is actually important. But rather than kept docile, we are kept outraged at the mundane - while the real problems that affect us, that hold us back, that steal the future from our children, go on unabated - right in front of us.

So many people seem to have become so complacent these days, either arguing that there is nothing to be done, or arguing that there is no problem. It is interesting to me, that so many people are just so disillusioned, that they would rather spiral into oblivion with everyone else, than stand up for themselves - *and those they supposedly love.* 

> Love.

I am not sure we know what it means anymore.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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