In figures: Brexit and its most famous ad viz the European Union.

This was initially writen as a reply in a forum.

Damage report

If and when the UK officially leaves, its farmers and other fields will be bereft of all the EU subsidies, though the UK government has promised to continue (some of) those into 2020, though Brexit, if not stopped, might come into force in 2019.

Paint no evil

Every political ad is implicitly a promise.

The "£350-million-a-week" payments into the EU, an infamous and false claim that was painted on the "battle bus" of the Brexit supporters' "Leave" campaign, calculates to £18.2 billion for an entire year, and this is not the kind of money that the UK has ever annually paid into the EU budget.

Figure it out

The very generous estimate of a £50 billion divorce bill is more than five times greater than the UK's £9.4 bn net payment into the EU in 2016, despite the £18.9 bn gross contribution. (Source: UK Office for National Statistics, 31 October 2017)

The gross divorce bill could be as high as £89bn, which is 9.4 times greater than the net payment. (The Guardian, 29 Nov 2017)

While the UK budget presented on 11/2017 is £769 billion + £40 bn deficit (the deficit is 1.9% of the UK GDP).

The 2016 net payment of £9.4B into the EU is only 0.44% of the £2.131 trillion UK GDP in that same year. (The UK GDP calculated from the dollar amount of U.S. $2.629 trillion at the rate of U.S. $1.23321 for one pound sterling on 31 December 2016.)

All this means, that the UK practically gets half its money back — into projects, subsidies, and investments that Britain itself really hasn't had the thought to finance.

A New Hope

What I hope for, is a turn-around to cancel Brexit through a possible second referendum, which was alluded to by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk on 16 January 2018.

The Next Best Thing (or least worst)

The next-best option would be a soft Brexit, which would give the UK the same status as Norway: stay in the European Economic Area (EEA), and follow those same EU rules anyway — without the benefit of having any say in the decision-making on EU policy and external relations, and on those "pesky" regulations, current and future.

If the UK wants to sell (export) any stuff to the EU, then that stuff would still have to be designed according to EU standards, and there's no escaping that.

The digital divide in the Alien franchise

I wrote this first as a reply to a YouTube video that comments about why the tech in "Alien" is so outdated compare to "Prometheus", which canonically took place many years previous to the events in "Alien".

I think, that there's a digital and class divide of sorts: the miners get CRTs on the ships they run, which is just enough to get the job done, and the scientists get all the fancy stuff. — But not always, if the company knows, that any such mission with the xenomorphs is doomed from the outset. And anyway, the most advanced thing onboard Nostromo was Ash. The most advanced thing in Aliens was the atmospheric processor.

I can guess, that at some point, Weyand-Yutani might have thought it cheaper to recycle old technology than to mine and make new stuff, because they came to be short on resources back on Earth and any colonies. The Nostromo was sent out to bring back the very necessary readymade ore to manufacture new things, but its mission failed.

A good explanation is, indeed, that for certain objectives, obsolete[-looking] tech is used.

Dune the movie and series

I like the Dune movie for its very baroque and steampunk feel, but it seems that the plot was rushed, and that there was not enough world-building. The space-based special effects and the Toto soundtrack in the movie are timeless; compare with Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain.

Whereas the series is much better in terms of worldbuilding, character development, actor work, storytelling, and planetside visual effects. And that unforgettable music by Brian Tyler, which was used in the Star Trek 2009 trailer.

Space-based VFX in the series were very drab, though, and remain so to this day. Ultimately, if a Blu-ray version is ever made of the series, then the space-based effects should be redone entirely, and if Lynch and the movie studio are ever okay, then the space-based effects (especially the heighliners) should be fashioned after those in the movie.

That way, it would be an ideal combination with Lynch's baroque/steampunk elements, and good storytelling.

Unlike Star Trek/Star Wars and other science fiction, a lot of the Dune story happens planetside, and worldbuilt space tech is more like an afterthought.

Family, and character development on Star Trek: The Next Generation

Data did not develop much throughout the series. It was in Generations where he did. Wesley developed in the beginning, and we see plenty of that, but then he was "put on a shuttle".

Riker's development was just the beard (because he was getting visibly older at one point), and that over time, his midsection got softer and softer.

Troi did develop, albeit slowly, and we get to see her in different settings; her role as "Major Rakal" in "Face of the Enemy" stands out. Oh, Deanna's fab mom Lwaxana, a dead father and a dead sister she didn't know about.

Throughout TNG's run, Worf got the most development of all people, as we see him promoted once or twice, find a mate, have a child later on, and we get to see his brother Kurn, and his (Worf's) adopted parents.

Data had just as much: a grandfather in Dr. Ira Graves, a father in Dr. Soong, a mother in Juliana Soong Tainer, his late daughter Lal, an evil brother, and B4, presumably a half-brother.

Compared that, we only saw Picard's brother and maybe nephew; Riker had an estranged father, a dead mother, and a clone brother; Dr. Crusher was the widow of a dead husband.

Tasha had a sister whom we saw only after Tasha's death, and her alternative-universe self got into the prime universe, and had Sela.

Let's not forget Ensign Ro. Her life seemed in some ways to reflect that of Tasha. Ro eventually left Starfleet and joined the Maquis.

O'Brien married, and he and Keiko had a daughter.

In the end, I could posit, that TNG had character development, but it was slow for all characters, and there were few who had more than even the primary characters.

Character development on Deep Space Nine

I can't claim, as if Garak's development was not phenomenal — it's all simply in the details. In the beginning, we learn from here and there, that Garak had to have been quite a ruthless operator, and was looking out for himself only. And Cardassia, if it benefited him. As time went on, he gradually began to look out and care for others. And Cardassia.

The show's characters all catered to different demographics. Like, Nog was there for the kids and aspiring youth, and Garak for a more discerning viewer. Think also about how Kira's relationship with her past evolves.

Interestingly, the most flawless characters were somewhat the most boring. There wasn't anything flawed about Dax, but I enjoyed seeing her romance with Worf. Or that Worf had a really romantic streak, and that he could give excellent advice on love (I should thank the writers). Ezri had the best Dax episode (meant to be 'special' for just her).

The stories revolving around Nog and Damar were a very modern take on the rags-to-riches theme. For some, it was like accelerated development. Some even had Cinderella themes (Rom).

Whereas with Kira, it was reconciling her past; with Quark, it was about being less greedy; and Bashir, well, he became less blue-eyed.

DS9 was overall about how each character developed as time went on, and it was really dynamic. In TNG, we don't see that kind of drastic character development, which hovered on being static. And now I'm not sure, which of those takes is more realistic.

The Q and the Borg

Written as a reply to a discussion thread under a YouTube video about the two subjects.

Why do the Q avoid 'provoking' the Borg?

The Borg are not afraid to enter alternate dimensions, or even to travel back in time. The Q exist on an alternate plane in a vulnerable form (as seen in Voyager), but they manifest as superbeings in our familiar Star Trek universe (or dimension, if you will).

To 'provoke' the Borg would be to capture their interest to the point of the Borg travelling to the Q-verse and causing mayhem there, or possibly even acquiring the powers of Q through assimilation.

Even if the Q managed to undo the damage, they must have resolved not to capture the interest of the Borg again.

My best theory is, that there might be a link between the Q and the Omega molecule, and that could be why the Borg are so interested in capturing one such molecule, and cultivating more of them.

Lethe, and Lorca's motivations.

Reply in this G+ thread.

Lorca has probably realised, that his command might be on somewhat wobbly feet, and so that seeming wobbliness has little to do with his ship, its crew, or the Klingons. There are many indications as to why. So, danger to his command manifests from outside the ship, not from within, and not because Lorca has his own issues.

On one hand, he likes Burnham, and her continued presence has given him a very good track record, especially with regard to getting the ship to jump multiple times, and making several missions successful. Essentially, winning. Burnham is like a good omen, or an amulet or talisman.

On the other hand, anyone he doesn't like, or which may potentially harm him, his command, or his ship, is put on a shuttle. Losses are inevitable during wartime.

On TNG, DS9, and Voyager, people usually survive a Starfleet shuttle trip. Sometimes, by only a hair's breadth, but still. But Discovery's track record of putting people on shuttles places the putting of Dr. Moriarty on a shuttle in TNG into what now is a very different context from back then.

Another problem is, that this young Starfleet apparently only accepts flawless people. The picture is different by TNG (Lt. Barclay).

I've noticed, that these apparently flawless people (Landry) do die on Star Trek: Discovery. Other Star Trek shows usually never show Starfleet officers of relative or low importance die, even if it's talked about. Granted, the the dead person is shown or talked about only after the death has occurred. And then an investigation happens. The difference is, that in Discovery, people are now shown on-screen, some of the viewers already root for even the minor characters, and then they die. Or maybe we have seen the comeback of redshirts in a different form.

I wouldn't see "Lethe" or every episode through the prism of trauma and other such afflictions.

Burnham's decisionmaking wrt the Klingons has, though, been informed by her trauma from her early childhood and the Klingon attack, but also the Vulcan drive to suppress her human emotions, which she's been unable to process properly for much of her life, especially when in a critical situation. The lack of war, and her posting on U.S.S. Shenzhou has shielded her from critical situations. The Battle of the Binary Stars was the first such occasion.

Whereas Lorca's conduct is not based on trauma, but survival instinct. Admiral Cornwell is also much too nosy, thinking the rescue mission to save Sarek as trivial. Strange that. For Lorca, Sarek is an important puzzle piece that keeps Burnham in order.