Maybe it should be reclassified as comedy. Before it descends into being a joke. Like most BBC current affairs has already become

Will that be all of it leaving the Earth behind?
Though I suppose if they miss the target of going during Trump's second term, they can always make it during his third, or later term.

The idea that one country can develop a technology that no other can, is as flawed as it is arrogant. And by refusing to sell advanced technology, the reasons to produce domestic alternatives get stepped up a gear - or several.

Once you accept that a competitor or adversary has both the ability and the will to create technologies domestically, that they would be prohibited from purchasing, you have to accept that the originator has lost control. What is worse is the possibility that they might just make a better version than you have.

If those who are given an advantage due to their disabilities result in them as a group having a results profile that is the same as the un-disadvantaged, then the level of compensation seems just.

However, if they perform significantly better (or worse) than their class mates, something needs fixing.

Looking at the methodology and results, it seems that the researchers chose a monoculture (the USA) and that the results they got, reflect the concerns and weaknesses of that.

I suspect that if they conducted the same survey in a country that had a free health service (or a very low cost one) then the priorities would be very different. Likewise, if they performed the same analysis in an autocratic country, their results would be skewed by that, too.

potentially making spam emails easier to identify in a sea of unread messages.

Apart from some rigorous courses where it is important to separate best from the mediocre, it probably doesn't matter.
For many arts and humanities courses, that don't have demonstrable facts and everything is based on consensus and opinion, giving everyone an A is probably an honest assessment. At least it removes the human element and avoids conflict with students who feel they should have got a better mark

It also seems to me that when someone calls, it is not because the call will benefit me, but because they want something.

And this non-expert attributes the trend to the number of SPAM phone calls. Trying to sell things that nobody wants. Or tricking you into committing to something.

So that would be considering the PR disaster rather than the purely financial cost?

Maybe playing video games turn good looking people into uglies?

Most EV chargers stop (or become impractically slow) to fully charge a battery. Leaving the battery with only 80% of its advertised capacity.
Plus, to account for the unavailability of public chargers in a working condition, it is wise to never allow your vehicle to drop below 20% charge. So in reality you only get 60% of the advertised range. And then, that is in ideal conditions. Add extra weight (passengers) and turn on the air-con and you will be lucky to get further than half the distance the manufacturer claims.

Isn't that process a major part of the problem

China's intentions towards Taiwan are idealogical, not driven by a desire to control (or destroy) the world's supply of microchips.
So while disabling Taiwan's ability to produce sounds smart it isn't much of a deterrent.And with China already operating with an embargo on western technology, such a move would just reduce western technology down to their level. But without having the two or three years to adapt to the situation, as China currently has.

The same happens with smart TVs. In the showroom or the online seller's website, they list loads of features, apps and streaming options.
You take it home and sure, for a time they all work as advertised. Then the free subscriptions run out. Then the TV get a forced OTA update and loses a few features. Then the streaming apps mysteriously can't connect any more.
And long before the warranty expires (which only covers the hardware, not all the services that were prominently advertised) the TV is nothing more than a dumb panel with maybe a terrestrial aerial connection and some HDMI ports.