The one that Edward Snowden (yes, that one) publicly and explicitly called out that people shouldn’t use. I won’t rehash it here, but it’s worth reading about.
I’m assuming you mean when she lost the primary to Barack Obama in 2008. It’s hard to argue that it was proof that she was unpopular when Obama went on to win the general election by such a huge margin, and even his reelection by a comfortable margin. It just serves as proof that Obama was extremely popular, moreso than her.
2016, OTOH, showed that the people (through a skewed system) preferred Trump to her. That’s a hard reality to dismiss.
Regarding fakes, there are tools you can (and should) run on any new drive. I personally like h2testw, but there are others as well.
You should also avoid sketchy resellers. This includes Amazon, due to their policy of commingling and their response to counterfeits. Don’t buy from Amazon! Stick to trustworthy and first-party sellers. If buying online, make sure they don’t have a third party seller. In fact, probably best to skip any that even have a 3rd party “marketplace” system.
I think you’re looking in the wrong places for the info you want You got what are known as OEM drives. These are primarily sold in bulk to system integrators like Dell/HP/etc. they are noticeably cheaper, but do not have a long warranty. Typically they have 90 days, which is enough to cover infant mortality. After that, the OEM basically self-insures - they have to eat the cost of replacement, but that’s offset by the lower price.
What you’re probably looking for are Retail drives. These have multi-year coverage directly from the manufacturer.
Read the terms of sale carefully- sometimes the seller is the one offering the longer warranty, same as an OEM. Then consider if you trust them to honor that warranty, especially considering that it will be a direct expense to them.
Part of me wants to make a giant spectacle of the thing. Show up with a ton of gear that you have to set down (directly in their way) while you you deal with the boxes. But I know that type of person would just complain even louder.
It sounds like you’re in a different dept with a different manager. Assuming that your manager agrees, your manager should be the one to say no. That way, everyone on your team can simply say their manager won’t allow it.
If that fails, the Wally Reflector is a good tactic. Tell them that you’d love to help, but they need to do something first. You can say that you’re very busy, but you’ll take the boxes if they flatten all of them and put them on a cart. It’s still offering to help, but it requires work on their part. It also quickly reveals if the requester is just being lazy.
If that fails, treat it as a training opportunity- they must need training on a required part of their job, which is why they called you. Drag them along the whole time, explaining every detail to them. Bonus points if you explain the history of why we do it that way. Basically, make it more work for them to be lazy.
Owned by, yes. Have their operations actually been integrated though? I haven’t checked in a long time, but it was still a separate division last time I did.