Last I checked it was the Dutch leading in Speed Skating.

Any fool can tell the Olympics are about sponsorship.

London 2012 had to go round the houses to offer Fish and Chips to spectators - You could only buy Fish and Chips.

No chips on their own for you! Chips, (sorry Liberté Fries) on their own was McScumald's exclusive. The official fried potato product of the Olympics.

Skating is done on frozen water, pay attention. All the talking up of awesome unbeatable technology offers the poor loser the chance to blame something other than themselves. If they want to have an F1 style constructor's Olympics as well, then fair enough. Until then we'll be better off with uniformity of equipment - as far as that can be achieved.

Perhaps the Dutch are better?

Actually I was wrong, anyway. The washington post article doesn't only mention sikhs, it does mention muslims.

It seems you can't tell a muslim from a Sikh. You need to close your mouth until you have done the relevant reading. Your continued blather removes all doubt - you are not equipped for the discussion.

They might be connected. A population subjected to random, uncontrollable destructive forces of nature might seek to appease the gods more? Once that becomes a characteristic of your local population, it is resistant to the emergence of weather forecasting and the like.

What he means is that pick up trucks - as we call them ( flatbeds? - the things with no covering on the back.) are a rarity in Britain.
The first reasons that spring to mind are that we have a lot of rain (but so do some parts of North America), and we have a lot less space, so parking well off the road (to reduce risk of theft) is less easy.
In Britain, a plumber / builder / electrician with their own business has a van , not a pick up truck.

You are making the mistake of saying that all deists/people of faith are biblical literalist christians. Presumably because they shriek the loudest in your country.
The largest Christian sect does not do this.
RC Christians are perfectly happy to be non creationist. There are many problems you can accuse Catholics of worsening, or turning a blind eye to, but this is not one of them.

Amazon are also terrified of any kind of precedent being set.

Their model is to cut all possible worker benefits to the bone; maintain a tax presence in only the friendliest, most cowed regimes while selling to people in better countries with functioning goverments and put a shiny face to the world in their shitty website.

Mail order (web shopping is mail order) is only useful in these circumstances - if you have a stay at home spouse, if you work at home, or for items small enough to fit through your door. Who wants to buy from a website for something big - who do I take it back to if it breaks? One of Amazon's "trusted partners"?

It might also be that those people would never want to be caught buying or having condoms.

Perhaps in response to a very sensible requirement for selling in a market larger than your glorious country? What a coincidence! It's the same one.

I presume you also object to standards for connections to mains electricity?

The standard would never exist without being forced.
Plenty of evidence that no-one was going to play the game: myriad connectors until a useful regulation is brought in which makes everyone's life easier.

The reason to force the issue is to bring about the greater good, you fundamentalist lunatic