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Satellite Magnate Argues Post-Brexit Britain Will Be 'Lost In Space' (bbc.com)

PolygamousRanchKid quotes the BBC: Will Marshall's "Planet" company operates the world's largest satellite imaging network, with 150 spacecraft able to fully picture Earth on a daily basis. He warns EU withdrawal will do immense harm to Britain's space industry. The UK will be "lost in space", he says.

The UK Space Agency responded by saying home businesses had a positive outlook. The most recent survey of confidence across the sector found that three-quarters of organisations expected growth over the next three years, it added.

Dr Marshall holds particular scorn for the UK government's actions on Galileo, the EU version of the Global Positioning System (GPS). Ministers have decided to walk away from the project because Brussels says a future Britain, as a "third country" outside the EU, cannot be involved in the system's most secure elements — this despite the UK having already invested £1.5bn in Galileo. London says it will build its own sat-nav system instead, but Dr Marshall calls this a "pie in the sky" plan that has significant economic and security implications.

122 comments

  1. UN GPS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Considering that GPS is a global service, accessible to all nations, isn't this just the sort of thing the United Nations should own and operate?

    1. Re:UN GPS by Mr.+Dollar+Ton · · Score: 1

      Maybe it should, but considering that all existing positioning services except Galileo are defense projects, and that the UN is unlikely to receive enough funding, the best chance we have is to hope that Galileo will stay civilian and accessible.

  2. Yeah - they'll be asleep. by RyanFenton · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's kind of what conservative movements are.

    If the nation is a body, conservative movements like this are like sleep - closing off from the outside world, consuming internal resources, remembering the past, and quite often living virtual nightmares.

    Only in this case, every time the nation as went to sleep for extended periods like this, it lost enormous portions of its body against its will.

    That makes nations like this closer to bacteria in dynamic intelligence than people.

    Ryan Fenton

    1. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All for world governments that are democratic, but not sure how your metaphor deals with reality. Have you seen the EU? The Brexit is a shit show because authoritarian stooges in the UK and EU want to punish their people for complaining...

    2. Re: Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yo, Nigel, did you get that German work visa?

    3. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by elrous0 · · Score: 0

      Amazing how Britain did just fine on its own before 1973, huh? I guess they must have been "asleep" for those hundreds of years prior, when they were helping to develop modern civilization, inventing new technology, and improving society just fine without the EU telling them how to wipe their asses.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    4. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by timeOday · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Just imagine a corporation from 1973 being transplanted straight into the present though. It wouldn't last a year.

      Britain on its own doesn't have the size to compete as a first-rate player in space, and space is tied closely to national security so the commercial sector will always be somewhat constrained in crossing borders, varying with how open/friendly ties currently are.

    5. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      without the EU telling them how to wipe their asses

      Haven't you heard? According to the EU, without them, Brits won't even be able to wipe their own asses. Brits will just have to go around with dirty asses all day. Won't someone PLEASE THINK OF THE ASSES!

    6. Re: Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Brexit was and is about unfettered and destabilizing immigration and the UKs ability to act as a sovereign state in its own best interests. Any other problems are incidental. Does anyone really think France, Spain, Germany, and Britain have fundamental problems working on a GPS system together? It just might have to wait a bit.

    7. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Amazing how Britain did just fine on its own before 1973, huh?

      They weren't on their own, they were stealing resources from other nations.

      I guess they must have been "asleep" for those hundreds of years prior, when they were helping to develop modern civilization,

      ...in their image, at gunpoint.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    8. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by HiThere · · Score: 2

      What you are ignoring is that in prior years there was the CommonWealth, which would at least provide launching, landing, and tracking sites. That's pretty much gone now, though. If they already had a space industry, I might give them as much of a shot as India. I don't, however, believe that's true. Perhaps they'll be able to do a deal with Australia and Canada, and that could be workable. Otherwise...

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    9. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      How long did they spend adapting to the change in conditions from 1973 to now?

      I know it's a hard question, there's digits to carry.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    10. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Haven't you heard? According to the EU, without them, Brits won't even be able to wipe their own asses.

      Maybe they'll adopt the bidet. They still get enough rainfall to wash their asses, right? They can buy retrofit kits for their toilets from the Japanese. That will cause the Chinese to knock them off, and then maybe we'll buy the knockoffs here in the USA. The one good thing to come out of Brexit might be an improvement in the anal cleanliness of English speakers.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    11. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope. Brexit is about closing borders to immigrants.

    12. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Informative

      Define "fine". The UK was an economic dump, reeling from recessions with major industries were shutting down. Their poor state got them significant pity concessions when they joined the EU, and is one of the reasons you've only ever been one of those "EU lite" members, never seriously part of the club in the first place, and the immediate benefit to the UK is one of the reasons your referendum held only 2 years later was overwhelmingly in favour of continued membership.

    13. Re: Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah yes and Africa would have had Wakanda today if the big bad white people hadnâ(TM)t colonized it...

      At least now they can look forward to their new Chinese overlords.

    14. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1, Troll

      Before joining the EU the UK was known as the "sick man of Europe", even in the UK.

      When countries join the EU they are helped to develop. That's the basic idea now - expand the single market but helping new countries come up to standard with it in terms of wages and quality of life, widening the market for high end goods and services. Ireland is a great example.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    15. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by drinkypoo · · Score: 0

      Their poor state got them significant pity concessions when they joined the EU, and is one of the reasons you've only ever been one of those "EU lite" members, never seriously part of the club in the first place,

      The biggest reason is that when they joined, they had a strong currency, and didn't want to give it up, so they never truly committed to being part of the EU. They thought they were gonna run things for ever and ever amen, and be first among equals, more equal than others, etc etc. They learned the wrong lesson from Animal Farm. Now they're preparing to get still more lost in their fantasy of reclaimed imperialism, but they have absolutely zero chance to reclaim their prior dominance, so it's just sad. The world has changed, and they haven't noticed.

      Granted, the USA is heading down the same road, but we have a far superior position over here, so it's going to take longer to get there. We have more than some soggy little islands to work with, and we still dominate a number of other nations. England isn't in that situation, so they'd better wise up fast and learn to cooperate. If they don't get it figured out before Brexit, they're going to figure it out quick, and they'll have to make major changes before the EU lets them back in.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    16. Re: Yeah - they'll be asleep. by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      I guess youve never heard of Five Eyes.

    17. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      What could be more "closed off from the world" than being a member of the European Union.

      North Korea.

      Do I win five pounds?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    18. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Before joining the EU the UK was known as the "sick man of Europe", even in the UK.

      Every country has had that nickname at one time or another.

      Except Pakistan, obviously. Are you still malingering behind the lines or have they sent you to the front yet?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    19. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazing how Britain did just fine on its own before 1973, huh? .

      The country was known as 'the sick man of Europe' and devalued its currency in 1968. That's not fine.

    20. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sterling was strong before 1968 before it was devalued.

    21. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A bit off topic but you know, when posting on a forum everyone can see your name.

      Adding your name to the bottom as if you were writing a signature just makes you look stupid.

    22. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Britain on its own doesn't have the size to compete as a first-rate player in space

      Britain doesn't have to.

      space is tied closely to national security

      Which means it makes excellent sense for the UK to refuse to support the EU in creating something that they can't access.

      Personally I'd leave on no deal and sue the fuck out of the EU to get that IP back, backed if needed by limited military action. Which may be why nobody's offered me the job of Prime Minister.

    23. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Cederic · · Score: 0

      Before joining the EU the UK was known as the "sick man of Europe", even in the UK.

      Yeah, anybody would think the UK bankrupted an empire to defeat the nazis.

      When countries join the EU they are helped to develop

      Yeah, using money provided by the UK. Fuck that.

      Ireland is a great example.

      Yeah, bailing out Ireland is a fucking fantastic example.

    24. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Cederic · · Score: 1

      The country devalued its currency due to the ERM too, so don't go pretending EU membership made a big fucking difference on that count.

    25. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, the United Kingdom was frequently called the "sick man of Europe", first by foreign commentators, and later at home by critics of the third Wilson/Callaghan ministry, because of industrial strife and poor economic performance compared to other European countries.

      It wasn't doing fine. It was doing terribly, actually. Membership of the EEC (and later EU) helped massively. That's why Britain repeatedly tried to join.

    26. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by dave420 · · Score: 1

      You really don't seem to understand what the EU is or does. Seriously. You're embarrassing yourself.

      Yes, the UK bankrupted itself fighting Nazis - many countries did. The money from the EU to other countries is paid by all members, and all receive benefits from it. Reducing it to a simple "they're spending our money!" shows a staggering ingorance of what's actually happening.

      And the ECB is not the EU.

      You're not really helping dispel the notion that leavers aren't well informed.

    27. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Yes, the UK bankrupted itself fighting Nazis - many countries did.

      Hmm, no, many countries either came out of the war stronger than they went in or received reparations.

      Shit, Germany came out of the war stronger than the UK because they received so much rebuilding investment.

      The money from the EU to other countries is paid by all members, and all receive benefits from it.

      That's astonishingly disingenuous. Check the fucking net spend charts, very few EU countries contribute more than they receive and the UK is consistently near the top of that list.

      Reducing it to a simple "they're spending our money!" shows a staggering ingorance of what's actually happening.

      Simple fact: UK contributes more than it receives. Logical conclusion: They're spending our money.

      Ignorance is pretending facts and logic don't exist.

      And the ECB is not the EU.

      Ireland was bailed out by the EU, not by the ECB. Sorry, you were mentioning ignorance? Might want to look in a mirror.

      You're not really helping dispel the notion that leavers aren't well informed.

      My inability to be understood by some fuckwit that voted 'remain' because he's an ignorant shit that can't fucking understand basic logic and denies simple facts does not make me uninformed.

      It's cunts like you that are jeopardising the democratically chosen direction for my country and I'm fucked off with it. Get a fucking clue or fuck off.

    28. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Hmm, no, many countries either came out of the war stronger than they went in or received reparations.

      The UK did receive reparations, mostly in form of intellectual property, but also in form of machines for their industry (which parts of your industry - or what ever you have left of it - have used for decades after the war), exactly as decided during the Yalta conference.

      Shit, Germany came out of the war stronger than the UK because they received so much rebuilding investment.

      Nope, the UK was by far the largest Marshall plan recepient, getting 2.5 times more than Germany, while being in a far better shape since Germany had only one strategic bomber type and even that was released far too late to make a difference.
      Germany came out of the war stronger due its far higher productivity. The UK didn't because it didn't have colonies to rob anymore.

      That's astonishingly disingenuous. Check the fucking net spend charts, very few EU countries contribute more than they receive and the UK is consistently near the top of that list.

      Only by being a country with a large population. British contribution per head is #8 or #9, the same as Italy.

      Simple fact: UK contributes more than it receives. Logical conclusion: They're spending our money.

      The UK is also the only member that whines so much about it.

      Ireland was bailed out by the EU, not by the ECB. Sorry, you were mentioning ignorance? Might want to look in a mirror.

      Ireland was bailed out by the ECB, the EFSF (which is essentially the Eurozone) and the IMF. The UK did contribute a bit with a bilateral loan, but not nearly as much as the Eurozone members, even though the UK had the most to lose.

      It's cunts like you that are jeopardising the democratically chosen direction for my country and I'm fucked off with it. Get a fucking clue or fuck off.

      Jeopardising? You mean the direction would actually not be democratically chosen anymore? I guess for you the democracy is like a train - once arrived at your destination you'd get off, right?
      But honestly, don't let the door hit you on your way out of the EU. I just wish you'd take Poland and Hungary with you, they don't belong either.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    29. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Cederic · · Score: 1

      You mean the direction would actually not be democratically chosen anymore?

      That's up for debate. Hell, 44% of the UK would prefer a no deal exit right now, which is hardly a minority.

      Me, I'd happily accept a second referendum: Accept May's shitty deal or go no deal. I think no deal would win.

      But no, Europe's approach to democracy is very fucking obvious: "We didn't get the result we wanted so run the referendum again." We see that time after fucking time, and it's the same fucking response from the Europhiles in the UK.

      Trust me, not leaving the EU will damage the UK far more than leaving with no deal. City centres are expensive when they burn.

      I just wish you'd take Poland and Hungary with you, they don't belong either.

      Oh? Why not? Aren't they conforming properly? Does everybody have to sit down and be a nice little child and let the grownups in Brussels tell them how to behave?

    30. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      "We didn't get the result we wanted so run the referendum again." We see that time after fucking time, and it's the same fucking response from the Europhiles in the UK.

      Looks like you are the one who is spreading lies. Reruns happen only after changes are made.

      Trust me, not leaving the EU will damage the UK far more than leaving with no deal. City centres are expensive when they burn.

      Don't be ridiculous. A bunch of old farts protesting isn't really scary. The UK ain't France. But like I said, good riddance. The day you voted out I've cheered.

      Oh? Why not? Aren't they conforming properly?

      Well, club members have to keep up certain standards and follow the club rules. Otherwise, what's the point?

      Does everybody have to sit down and be a nice little child and let the grownups in Brussels tell them how to behave?

      Not everybody. Just the ones who aren't grownups.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    31. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by Cederic · · Score: 1

      I'd rather be an unruly child than an adult sheep. You keep baaing away though, and good fucking luck when we're not funding you.

    32. Re:Yeah - they'll be asleep. by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Calling other people sheep is indeed a very childish notion.
      And as for the money, paying a couple of Euros more in taxes would be a small price to pay for finally having you out. We can afford this.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  3. As long as we get a robot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm okay with it.

    1. Re:As long as we get a robot by PPH · · Score: 1
      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  4. Brits once conquered and civilized the globe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's see what they can do.

    1. Re:Brits once conquered and civilized the globe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They actually might look at the past and the present, and decide to call New Delhi on future space endeavors. Particularly, if the alternative is becoming "lost in space" out of pride. Which would be little funny.

    2. Re: Brits once conquered and civilized the globe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Racist Russian cocksucker.

  5. Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by elrous0 · · Score: 0

    They're REALLY ramping up on the fear-mongering propaganda today.

    Again, you would think Britain hadn't existed just fine on its own for hundreds of years before 1973.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Again, you would think Britain hadn't existed just fine on its own for hundreds of years before 1973.

      That's probably because it didn't. Its success was due to imperialism, which became less profitable for them in recent times, so they abandoned it and moved towards free trade instead. Brexit will interfere with free trade, and they can't realistically go back to imperialism...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Britain will be just fine. We really don't need advice from Americans, thanks anyway. Deal with your failing society and political system before giving others advice.

    3. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      We really don't need advice from Americans, thanks anyway.

      That's the attitude that's got you where you are today... at the brink of Brexit. But go on with your badself, it ought to be good for a laugh.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re: Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think we'll be fine when trash the fucking monarchy. It's embarrassing living under a queen.

    5. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry, but remind me again how the U.S. is doing just fine without being a member of the EU? I mean, that must be impossible, right? In fact, I have it on good authority that there are over 160 countries in the world that aren't part of the EU either. And yet somehow most of them have also found a way to get food, medicine, etc. and survive just fine without the EU telling them what to do.

      So apparently, it is possible to survive, and even thrive, without non-democratic EU overlords running your government. Hard to believe, I know.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    6. Re: Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless your problem with the queen is that you want to live in her bedroom in buckingham palace I fail to see how you would notice that you have a queen other than seeing her on TV.

    7. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm sorry, but remind me again how the U.S. is doing just fine without being a member of the EU?

      The US is not doing just fine. Unemployment is vastly higher than claimed, and most American citizens don't have $400 in the bank in case an emergency comes up. Homelessness is skyrocketing.

      With that said, the US is not Britain. We have orders of magnitude more natural resources to exploit. Try really hard not to ask such stupid questions.

      The prosperity of the USA is based in part on our natural resources, and in part based on our behavior during WWII. We knowingly permitted war profiteering in the form of American companies selling war supplies like fuel and metals to the Axis powers, then selectively seized some of those companies and their profits after the conflict. We sat back while other nations bombed one another, then stepped in to bomb Japan since nobody else had done it, and we wanted a place to test our nukes. Nuclear dominance, a proliferation of American military bases, and the fact that everyone but us had been bombed to shit created America's dominant economic position that produced the wealth that the baby boomers enjoyed.

      I have it on good authority that there are over 160 countries in the world that aren't part of the EU either. And yet somehow most of them have also found a way to get food, medicine, etc. and survive just fine without the EU telling them what to do.

      Many of those other nations are highly dependent on foreign aid. Lots of them are not doing very well at all.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    8. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by HiThere · · Score: 2

      You're painting too black a picture. Still, cutting off foreign trade is a recipe for disaster for any small country, and wars stopped being profitable in the 1800's. They're too expensive, and the valuable stuff is so fragile that it gets destroyed during the conquest. It's been estimated that the US spent more wealth during the invasion of Iraq than all the remaining oil underground in the Middle East is worth. (Of course, that might have been hyperbole, and in any case the estimate is quite uncertain. But it gives an idea of how expensive modern wars are.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    9. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, being told what to do by the EU certainly worked for the greeks.

    10. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      wars stopped being profitable in the 1800's.

      They're no longer profitable for nations, but they are quite profitable for certain people/groups within nations, which is why they continue today. The rising cost of conventional warfare is also why drone strikes have become so popular; In the USA they began under Bush the second, expanded under Obama, and have expanded still more under Trump.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    11. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      EU has trade deals with countries all over the world.

    12. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So apparently, it is possible to survive, and even thrive, without non-democratic EU overlords running your government. Hard to believe, I know.

      GDP US US$ 20.5T
      GDU EU US$ 18.7T
      GDP UK US$ 2.8T

      Source :

      * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

      The UK's economy is smaller than California's (2.9T):

      * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_between_U.S._states_and_sovereign_states_by_GDP

      It's not that it can't be done, but being part of a large(r) economic block certainly has advantages.

    13. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      being told what to do by the EU certainly worked for the greeks.

      Facing reality did not work well for the Greeks.

      Giving away benefits in excess of your income, then "borrowing" from the Germans and being unable to pay back was not going to work for ever. At least the Germans did not invade this time because of the EU.

    14. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by terrycarlino · · Score: 1

      Yes they do. Those trade deals are designed to ensure Germany and German companies benefit. An independent Britain can make trade deals designed to ensure Britain and the British people benefit.

    15. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 2

      Again, you would think Britain hadn't existed just fine on its own for hundreds of years before 1973

      Those where the days, weren't they? When every European nation stood as a force of its own, to be reckoned with, and each one ruled over it's own swath of the world?

      Well, wake up fuckhead, because those days are over. Now we are dealing with an increasingly irrational US (330 million people), an autocratic China (1.4 billion), an upstart India (1.3 billion), an increasingly hostile and aggressive Russia (144 million), a mostly theocratic and authoritarian Arab League (420 million)...
      The EU (510 million) is a bastion of democracy, freedom and liberty in this world, able to stand up and look eye to eye with the other great powers that dominate world affairs in 2019.
      But proud little Britain (66 million) wants to go it alone? Good luck with that. Welcome to the 21st century and watch out for the cliff ahead.

    16. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      And if you were one of the ones that hasn't (yet), would your priority be to get one with 60M people or 420M?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    17. Re: Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      It's embarrassing living under a queen.

      Don't be silly, most people don't bat an eyelash at that kind of thing these days.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    18. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by vakuona · · Score: 1

      If you are comparing GDP, you really ought to use PPP (purchasing power parity), which makes the UK economy larger than California.

      Secondly, the US is richer than the UK and just about every other large country.

      I also think the value of being part of an economic bloc is overstated.

      Lastly, the EU and the Euro in particular, has been extremely damaging for smaller members like Greece. Some of the things they did to Greece are borderline unconscionable.

    19. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sources or GTFO

    20. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No no it's due to [s]British[/].... American Exceptionalism. We're just better.

    21. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Things like giving credit at far below the market rate to help avoiding a default? While the UK stood aside and watched in amusement, having made clear that this is not their problem? The evil, evil EU.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    22. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by dunkelfalke · · Score: 2

      Yeah, those new trade deals with the Faroe islands and the Palestinian autonomy are truly bespoke.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    23. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by vakuona · · Score: 1

      Why prevent a default at all. Lending them money to avoid default was not charity. A default would have been bad for Greece but it would give them a clean slate and a much healthier "national balance sheet". They wouldn't be the first country to ever default.

    24. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Not even the Greek themselves were crazy enough to go for a default.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    25. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Why would it be an either/or situation?

    26. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Cederic · · Score: 1

      The EU (510 million) is a bastion of democracy

      Thanks, I needed the laugh.

      Btw, you forgot Brazil.

      You also forgot that the UK hasn't left NATO and so doesn't suffer militarily by leaving the EU and if we drop our living standards to those enjoyed by far smaller countries like Switzerland and Norway then on the whole it'll be an improvement on the current state.

    27. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 1

      You're welcome. But the unfortunate reality is, that compared to most of the rest of the world, it really is.

    28. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      I never said it was. Work on your vocabulary, perhaps?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    29. Re:Wow, the authoritarians must REALLY be scared by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Why then, my answer to your question becomes, "Both. Why are you asking such a superfluous question?"

  6. Silicon Valley company hates competition? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    I guess he doesn't want yet another competitor in the market... Bad enough there are US and EU companies looking at positioning and space-based photography, having yet another competitor would hamper his chances to keep rolling his own venture!

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  7. Figaro by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Galileo Figaro. Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Let me go, no we will not let you go. Just got to get out. Half of Ook including PM at the time thought the EU relationship was somewhat fixed.

  8. globalist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    magnate is another word for liberal globalist who wants british people to be literal slaves to their global conspiracy. britan will be AMAZING without the rest of the world. it will be an island of beauty and prosperity forever. GUARANTEED.

  9. The head of GE said something similar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Satellite Magnate Argues

    I heard the same thing from the head of GE about Britain's production of appliances.

    He is, of course, a Refrigerator Magnate.

    1. Re:The head of GE said something similar by HiThere · · Score: 1

      If I had points I'd rate you funny. Since I don't I'll just comment that they could both be correct. Cutting foreign trade is not a good recipe for a healthy economy. *Some* people and a few companies may do rather well off it, though. That's the way it's worked in the past. Strangely enough, the ones who promote the decision, and often the ones that make it, have strong economic ties to those particular companies. Just like arms-makers are usually in favor of a strong military program.

      You can call it corruption, or you can call it "putting your money where your mouth is", and the difference is essentially how openly you do things, and sometimes the timing.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    2. Re:The head of GE said something similar by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      You can call it corruption, or you can call it "putting your money where your mouth is", and the difference is essentially how openly you do things, and sometimes the timing.

      The primary difference is what your job is. If you're the head of a corporation which will benefit from Brexit, and your constituency is made up of shareholders, then cheerleading Brexit is both legal and consistent with your responsibilities. That's an indictment against certain aspects of capitalism, but let's not stop and focus on that right now, because it will obscure the real point of this comment. To wit, if you are an elected official and your constituency is not restricted to shareholders but is actually the general citizenry, then supporting Brexit when it will hurt the common man is directly counter to your job duties as a supposed representative of the best interests of those constituents.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:The head of GE said something similar by HiThere · · Score: 1

      "Best interests of your constituency" or "What you promised to do to get elected"? And "best interests" in a larger context is always questionable, and never measurable in advance. So I prefer to leave that aspect out of my calculations. If you say you're going to do something, and try your best to do it, I can't call you corrupt, even if I think what you're doing is socially destructive. Other adjectives, however, might come to mind.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  10. Re:More anti-British nonsense by HiThere · · Score: 0

    That vote was advertised as advisory, and the campaign in favor of it was totally filled with lies. Proclaiming that as the "will of the people" says more about you than about the "will of the people". It may be the case that most people would have voted for it if they had understood what they voted for, but the proponents of the measure clearly didn't believe that. And the evidence, such as I know it, is that they still don't believe it.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  11. Re:More anti-British nonsense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I win - Hurray democracy!
    I lose - People have been brainwashed, booooh.

    To tell the truth, lies were on both camps.

  12. Wandering stars, in blackest darkness forever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion(operation of wandering)(planet) so that they will believe the lie.

    Mystery Red of the Great American Eclipse
    It has blood on it!
    ABCNews: Eclipse makes pendulum wander
    Losing my religion
    Sun researchers find strange eclipse reading

  13. Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by Chas · · Score: 1, Insightful

    FUD FUD and more FUD.

    If we leave the EU! Everyone is gonna die!

    If we leave the EU! It'll be like Venezuela! Overnight! Plus cannibals! Do you want cannibals?

    If we leave the EU! The terrorists win!

    If we leave the EU! It'll be like the rape scene from Pulp Fiction! FOR EVERYONE!

    If we leave the EU! Your momma won't love you no more!

    Ain't NOBODY ever got fired for staying in the EU!

    And on, and on, and on...

    It's a bunch of stupid, petty excuses from people who just want their way.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
    1. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you leave the EU, you won't even be able to wipe your own asses! Do you want dirty asses?

    2. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by dinfinity · · Score: 0

      Nice collection of straw men you got there, dipshit.

    3. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      That has to be the dumbest thing I've read on the internet. Literally no one has said that other than your hyperbole just now. Open your mouth, inhale, exhale, repeat. Take a yoga lesson or something before your brain fries.

    4. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Brexiteers like to chant "Project Fear!" and claim that serious predictions of instant disaster were made. Of course some politicians did say some shit and the Pound did take a pretty big hit right after the vote, but in reality we haven't even left yet.

      Still, we are already suffering the effects. Businesses and jobs leaving, the economy stalling, and Project Reality starting to set in.

      No Deal is the biggest threat, but undeniably we would be better off with the deal we already have, inside the EU.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if the UK leaves without a deal it will be begging for reentry within a generation. If it leaves with a deal it might soldier on

    6. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Ok, try these:

      - If the UK votes to leave the EU the Chancellor will have to pass a budget that "would have to be increases in tax and cuts in public spending"
      - "Brexit could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the EU but also Western political civilization in its entirety,"
      - "A vote to leave would tip our economy into year-long recession with at least 500,000 UK jobs lostâ
      - Leaving the EU would put peace at risk.

      I haven't even touched the onslaught of stories from the BBC blaming any negative news on Brexit irrespective of actual causality. While the person to whom you replied was being hyperbolic he captured perfectly the politicians' and media's approach to commenting on this issue.

    7. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by Chas · · Score: 1

      Strawmen?

      While I've joked some of them up, ALL OF THESE are anti-Brexit arguments that have ACTUALLY BEEN MADE!

      So who's the dipshit here dipshit?

      --


      Chas - The one, the only.
      THANK GOD!!!
    8. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by Chas · · Score: 1

      Guess again. I've joked up the points a bit.
      But all of them are actual anti-Brexit arguments that've been made.

      --


      Chas - The one, the only.
      THANK GOD!!!
    9. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by Chas · · Score: 1

      Basically the UK has had OVER TWO YEARS for the people in power to map out a plan for everything INCLUDING No Deal.

      But they've essentially sat upon their thumbs and complaining about how that made their colon feel.

      Now, having basically whistled through the graveyard and done NOTHING (but hope that someone nullifies the will of the people)...

      --


      Chas - The one, the only.
      THANK GOD!!!
    10. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      No deal was always political suicide. No Tory leader could ever get anything through because their party was so divided, as May demonstrated. There was never any chance of it going well.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    11. Re:Brexit is Ancient Sumerian for Apocalypse! by Chas · · Score: 1

      I shouldn't hold their idiocy against them...

      Wait...yes I should!

      --


      Chas - The one, the only.
      THANK GOD!!!
  14. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  15. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  16. Sorta but not really by r2kordmaa · · Score: 2

    Putting up barriers hardly helps, it is in fact going to be quite damaging, but to claim that companies just wouldn't do business in UK anymore is nonsense. If you have engineering intensive work to do you go where ever you can find competent engineers to do the job. Limitations of a location can be worked around, at a cost. Lack of engineers in your preferred location is not so easily solved.

    1. Re:Sorta but not really by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      If you have engineering intensive work to do you go where ever you can find competent engineers to do the job.

      Which is not going to be the UK - most UK engineers are moving out because they can see that learning a foreign language is less painful than going without food and, most likely, work - even for English speakers. (see poll in Soylent). Plus there is Ireland - where they speak English and brew Guinness.

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    2. Re:Sorta but not really by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Aerospace has some unique issues, mainly around things like type approval and other permissions that are needed. Even if you get engineering work done in the UK, it has to be to EU standards and approved by EU regulators and testing bodies.

      That's a pretty big disadvantage for companies based in the UK.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Sorta but not really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you have engineering intensive work to do you go where ever you can find competent engineers to do the job.

      Which is not going to be the UK - most UK engineers are moving out because they can see that learning a foreign language is less painful than going without food and, most likely, work - even for English speakers. (see poll in Soylent). Plus there is Ireland - where they speak English and brew Guinness.

      A smart move for any UK engineering graduate, assuming they want to be properly rewarded for their intellectual efforts and financial investment, is to decide pretty early on to go abroad for decent money or to choose a different career route (degrees such as Chem Eng are still respected and can be leveraged to get on finance related graduate programmes in London etc). Nothing new here, this has been the case for decades. UK engineers probably have lower social status in their own country than anywhere else in the developed world, even the USA (which still a repectively large manufacturing capability that it actually takes pride in). To the average person in the UK, an engineer is someone who replenishes granules in the coffee dispenser, not a professional in the same class as doctors, lawyers, bankers, hell pretty much any weasel in a suit commands more respect. This is not the case in continental Europe or the nordic countries, where engineers are definitely respected. So in other words, Brexit probably won't make things that much worse for UK engineers, except maybe in the long term if it contributes to the diminishing status of the English language in european and global business.

  17. Brussels has nothing to do with it. by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

    Back in the day it was the UK who insisted that no third country would have access to the internal. What goes around, comes around, I guess.

    --
    "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  18. Re:More anti-British nonsense by HiThere · · Score: 1

    There were, as always, lies on both sides. There was, however, as far as my information says, a grossly unbalanced tilt with most of the lies, and most of the more outrageous lies, being on the side of "leave". OTOH, if the real reason that people voted "leave" was xenophobia, then the truth might have served equally well. And it could be. In times of economic stress there's a strong tendency to "blame the foreigner". AFAIKT it's a universal human tendency. (The alternative, which also happens, is "blame the ruler", and that's been the real reason for many civil wars.)

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  19. As Opposed To EU Membership? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    EU membership has only cost the UK gigantic swathes of industry since joining the Common Market.

    Project Fear gunna project...

  20. Re: A BIGLY Good Laugh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We've all seen Trump's gigantic ass and tiny hands. Tell us about your African-levels of economic disparity and lack of universal healthcare. C'mon.. impress us with your freedumbs!

  21. Re: More anti-British nonsense by c6gunner · · Score: 1

    You believe that the side which you personally don't like had more lies?

    I'm shocked. Shocked I tell you!

  22. EU flag by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    Even when you vote to leave EU, a Slashdot editor still has the idea to stick the EU flags on a story about your country.

  23. Re: More anti-British nonsense by HiThere · · Score: 1

    You happen to be wrong. I have no (known) skin in that game. My source does, admittedly, but he's someone I trust a lot more than I trust any politician. Charles Stross. http://www.antipope.org/charli... You'll need to search back a ways to find the pages where he discusses his analysis, and the what and the why of it.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  24. I'm 93 you know by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Imagine if we'd had bureaucratic nonsense like that in 1940 when we were building Spitfires out of old saucepans & school railings and you couldn't get oranges. The beastly Germans would have ended up running the whole bloody continent!

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:I'm 93 you know by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      That's one of the most batshit things you have ever posted, and you have some form on the matter.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:I'm 93 you know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Drink! Amimojo throws insults and gaslights people when he has nothing else to say!

  25. Europhile agitprop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazingly, the Brits once ran much of the world and there wasn't an EU flag in sight. The sun, as they used to say, never set on the British Empire (there were Brits running things all around the globe).

    Also amazingly, the Brits once stood alone against the might of NAZI Germany - and that was back in the day when German men had testicles.

    but now, ooooooh, aaaaahhh, the UK cannot POSSIBLY exist without some unelected fascists in Brussles managing their every action. Apparently, Britain will sink beneath the waves if some pencil-pusher in Brussels does not tell them the maximum number of Watts their vacuum cleaners can draw, or exactly how curved a bannana must be to be legally sold.

    For CENTURIES the only connection between the UK and maniland Europe was by boat, but now if somebody might need to go through a customs check before riding a fast train through the chunnel, THE WORLD MIGHT END!

    It used to be a classic definition of "treason" to favor a foreign government over your own, and doubly so to take such a position while having a financial interest to do so, but over the past several decades this has become the accepted norm for the Elites of the UK and Europe. The British House of Lords is stuffed full of people who desperately want to be ruled by Brussels and who have financial interests on the continent. Even the Queen, who in a saner world would have ordered a few beheadings has caved-in and accepted an EU passport - the most-shameful thing I can imagine any Monarch doing.

    Somebody should be investigating the personal finances of all the UK politicians who either openly opposed Brexit or who are trying to sabotage it, and of all the high-profile rich elites of the UK working against the independence that the UK fought for centuries to attain and preserve.

    Oh, and while we're on the subject of the EU....

    This faux-government fancies itself "The United States of Europe" but apparently does not want to play by the same rules. I eagerly await the following announcement from the EU member nations:

    "We the formerly-independent nations of the EU do hereby surrender all of our UN seats and foreign embassies. From this date forward, we will have one seat in the UN for the entire EU and it will not be on the Security Council, since most of our member states were not on the winning side in WWII. We will also all be represented in any non-EU countries by EU embassies" - France, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc

    I'm not holding my breath.

    The USA is composed of 50 states. The USA has only one seat in the UN, not 50 - if the EU member states each retain UN seats then the US should have 50 seats - and they should ALL be on the Security Council since they were ALL on the winning side in WWII.

    1. Re:Europhile agitprop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol, delusional claptrap. Thanks goodness my family saw the light and along with most other people with a half decent iq got the hell out of the backwards soon to be third world shithole that was the UK. Watching this self harming stupidity would be amusing if it wasn’t so damaging for the people. The one thing that made keeping UK citizenship worthwhile was the Eu, now it ain’t worth shit. Brexit will be an economic disaster no matter how many strawmen you build to support your delusions.

    2. Re:Europhile agitprop by Cederic · · Score: 1

      the backwards soon to be third world shithole that was the UK

      So where did your family go that's so much fucking better?

      Brexit will be an economic disaster no matter how many strawmen you build to support your delusions.

      Brexit was never about the economy. The only people that voted based on the economy were remainers scared to stand up and take responsibility for their own country.

  26. Oh yeah? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These predictions remind me of when U.S. states started implementing conceal carry gun laws. All the nay sayers were claiming that it was going to be Dodge City all over again. It wasn't.

  27. Let me fix that for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Brussels says a future Britain, as a "third world country" outside the EU, " ...