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Comment Re:Getting along with the U.S. [Re:Higher Costs] (Score 2) 91

The Chinese government has been pushing that narrative for years. They are the stable partner. World's second largest economy with much higher growth than all the other big ones. They don't force their ideology on you either.

It sucks because they aren't wrong about those things, and the stuff we compete with (lucrative markets, less exploitative, democracy) are not quite so tangible, not such big concerns for countries trying to deal with big economic problems or lift millions out of poverty. We need to be more competitive, but in a way that doesn't compromise our core values.

Comment Re: should forced ESPN to be an add on package and (Score 1) 97

They could do it like Sling, which has two basic tiers: Orange and Blue. Blue has the limited basic channels and a bunch of channels from programming providers other than Disney. Orange has limited basic and Disney, fewer channels and fewer simultaneous streams than Blue, with an "Orange & Blue" add-on tier that adds the missing channels from Blue.

Comment Sling Blue and Sling Orange (Score 1) 97

Disney requires specific channels to be at the basic tier of a multichannel video provider's offering, not a "sports" tier. Last I checked (today), multichannel IPTV provider Sling worked around this by offering two different basic plans: "Orange" with ESPN and other Disney properties and "Blue" with more channels but no Disney. Orange subscribers can add the extra Blue channels on a second "Orange & Blue" tier.

Comment Re: Remember when... (Score 1) 97

You obviously spent those days watching Pat Robertson because CBN was literally the only ad free channel on cable that anybody actually watched in the earlier days. And as far as I know, it's still ad free.

CBN operated from 1977 through 1997, showing ads starting in 1981 and taking the name The Family Channel in 1988. Beginning in 1997, CBN was reduced to a paid programming arrangement to show The 700 Club on what is now Disney's Freeform channel. There are, however, numerous other religious channels under a viewer donation arrangement like what you describe, such as EWTN. And in 2008, CBN started a second channel called CBN News, first online and then with a handful of broadcast affiliates.

Comment Re:May have? (Score 1) 50

I did test drive it, but that's the dealer, not the manufacturer. Due to GDPR they wouldn't be able to share it with the manufacturer, or retain it for longer than a few months (for speeding tickets etc to come in).

They could break the rules, but if it then leaked or I found out somehow, they would be in it pretty deep.

Comment Re:It's not Lupus (Score 2) 49

Joking aside, the diagnostic criteria is basically "has some of the known symptoms, ruled out everything else". That's why House didn't like it, he thought there was always a root cause, and it looks like science may have discovered it.

The question now is, how do you undo it? Some of the damage may be permanent, but just getting the auto immune system to stop attacking the rest of the body would make a huge difference to a lot of people, and not just people with Lupus.

Comment Re:10 years of brexit (Score 3, Informative) 109

I know at least three companies that took the opportunity to move as much of their stock and equipment out of the UK, while EU rules were still in place, and then closed up shop here in the UK. Another ended up opening a new facility in Ireland where they re-tested stuff so it could meet EU requirements, as the new British CA mark is pretty much worthless.

Of course it cost them money, but not as much money as they would have lost by staying. And that's with the UK's newly devalued currency making out exports cheaper.

Comment Re:Depends on what you value (Score 4, Informative) 109

The UK also had a veto over most of the rules that the EU introduced. I don't think it ever used it. In fact, in almost every case, the UK voted for the proposed rules. It was something like under 2% that it didn't want, mostly because the EU tends to make sure everyone is happy before even having the vote - you know, how adults agree stuff.

There was a lot of misinformation about EU rules. The classic one is the "bendy banana" rule, which governs the acceptable ripeness of bananas sold there. Much hang wringing was done, but actually it was a British rule that had become a de-facto one in the rest of the EU, so they just adopted it from us.

The day after the referendum, some member of the public on TV said she was going to vote remain, but at the last moment remembered the bananas and thought "this has to stop". I think fortunately they didn't give her name, but I do sometimes wonder if she eventually realized and was ashamed of it.

Comment Re:Thanks for the research data (Score 5, Insightful) 109

The rest of the world isn't going to forget what Trump did, or the ability of the American people to elect someone like him. It's going to take a long time and a lot of work to rebuild the trust and relationships that existed before, if it is even possible.

The US is seen as politically unstable. Every 4 years there is a good chance that whatever policy was made will be reversed, whatever the priorities were will change.

Comment Re:Thanks for the research data (Score 1) 109

Recently the French police have started slashing the boats before they set off, on the basis that it's unsafe and they are protecting the occupants.

Really the only way to resolve this issue is to have a proper integrated system to deal with people seeking asylum in Europe, but that would be politically unacceptable in the UK.

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