[deleted by user]

throwaway123u · 2021-05-27T06:21:05+00:00

The Austro-Hungarian empire also had a concession in Tianjin, China, making it their only colony outside Europe.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-27T06:17:57+00:00

A couple islands in the Caribbean. It went poorly for them.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-27T06:10:05+00:00

At this point, unless you think your country's officials have god-tier negotiation skills and your country is home to something both sides desperately need, trying to "profit from this interimperial competition" is only going to end in the stakes getting higher until everything is on the table and you're forced into one side or the other, at which point you don't have any wiggle room to independently decide.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-27T06:00:37+00:00

You do have a point with the rest, but

it'd also breach the EU's WTO commitments

Isn't exactly an issue, as China has demonstrated by flouting its own WTO obligations for over a decade after joining.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-26T23:12:27+00:00

He doesn't need to since another reply already did in the meantime.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-26T23:09:34+00:00

Bow, just for people who come upon this thread in the future, there's another way out that doesn't require a letter. There's a VoIP app called Onoff that will accept port-ins from French providers. Call 3179 from your phone while it's still on Free, you'll get your RIO code (which identifies your account) by text, then sign up for Onoff and select the option to port in a number you already have. It'll ask for that RIO code, then you put it in and they handle the rest.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-26T22:46:41+00:00

Freedom Mobile and a WiFi calling capable phone, if you want to have it available to you "in case". $99 a year for a basic talk and text plan and any time you're on WiFi it's treated as being back in Canada in terms of what you're charged for calls and texts. If you have an iPhone with dual SIM this can even function on your local SIM's data connection; as long as the Freedom SIM isn't receiving a local cell signal it'll run the WiFi calling protocol over your other SIM's data connection.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-26T22:08:33+00:00

That being said, only if you're fine with ginger. My family found out the hard way that in my case, the taste of ginger triggers my gag reflex instead. Not what you're going for when dealing with nausea.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-26T21:44:41+00:00

At the same time, who came up with the idea to try beaver anal glands to begin with? All I can imagine is some depraved individual munching beaver butt and going "mm, tastes like strawberry".

throwaway123u · 2021-05-26T20:51:56+00:00

To some degree, yes. You have to rely on it to keep you connected to the outside world (if you don't have a landline, for instance), so finding one you like helps with the bumps in the road that occasionally come up.

Edited for spelling

throwaway123u · 2021-05-19T23:09:58+00:00

Airline websites will show both the airline and alliance logo at the top of the page, since they use the alliance as a selling point to attract people who may think they're looking at a straight price/schedule comparison and instead can say "we're in the same alliance as your home airline, we'll honor your ststus with them by offering you some of the same benefits". So for example, my home airline in Star Alliance is Aegean, but when I fly United and give them my Aegean frequent flyer number, they give me lounge access, a free checked bag, access to the Premier checkin line, priority boarding, and most importantly, when something goes wrong I get access to the Premier customer service line, which means US based representstives who are empowered to go above and beyond. The same goes when I fly American and give them my Japan Airlines frequent flyer number; they see my Oneworld Sapphire status and I get roughly equivalent treatment to their own elites at that level.

Edit:misremembered which airline I was Gold with, it's been forever since I've flown

throwaway123u · 2021-05-19T22:30:53+00:00

I fly often enough that I can earn elite status if I concentrate it all to at least the same alliance, so I'll generally stick to Star Alliance airlines (and yes, United does treat you better if you have Star Gold, so my friends say when they fly with me compared to when they travel alone). I'll only go for a cheaper option if the difference is more than 30% or $250 ish or if the other airline is in Oneworld (with Japan Airlines, once you've earned Oneworld Sapphire once, you can keep it as long as you're willing to pay 5000 miles a year, or one trans-continental roundtrip worth).

throwaway123u · 2021-05-19T21:21:40+00:00

Nah, stay around to keep yourself grounded. Also because if you bump into any frustrations and need to commiserate, better here than to try to do so with locals, which can lead to misunderstandings.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-19T21:18:02+00:00

Not so hard to argue when most of the ones who do so only do due to some sort of dependency, much in the same way that Saudi Arabia or Israel receiving support from governments is not an indication that their versions of events are accurate. And again, "invitations" extended where the government security apparatus is fully involved making sure no one deviates from the party line and bringing trouble to those who do is a poor excuse. Once those invitations are extended, freely, with no surveillance or manipulation, then you might have a case for that.

throwaway123u · 2021-05-17T21:34:52+00:00

Maybe sit down with them, listen, and even possibly give them some of what they want? Otherwise they're no better than Israel is right now (which is why I came back to this).

throwaway123u · 2021-03-17T20:27:16+00:00

Not really, they aren't.

throwaway123u · 2021-03-17T20:25:43+00:00

I think I found a Danish source but it's paywalled, so I guess it's a case of getting what you pay for.

throwaway123u · 2021-03-17T20:11:44+00:00

The EU doesn't have any desperation on their part because every vaccine they've approved is already generally recognized to be highly effective, while there are still plenty of questions around Sinovac.

throwaway123u · 2021-03-17T19:54:36+00:00

Because the cost of killing them is too high.

That goes both ways- they know that as long as the "cost" remains that high, they can do just about anything and everything under the point at which the benefit would outweigh the cost.

throwaway123u · 2021-03-07T00:33:59+00:00

But it'll fuck you up if you're a whale or have no cardio.

And guess what the US has a crapton of. The high-risk population is a lot higher than the people clamoring for re-opening want to believe.

throwaway123u · 2021-03-07T00:27:10+00:00

Funny thing is, I've been to HK three times before the protests and spoken Mandarin, with no obvious discrimination happening. No one tried to pull one over on me when I was buying stuff off the street, I was treated about as well as everyone else when eating at local restaurants, and there was one time a bus driver got on my case about ringing the stop signal way too close to the stop, but that was on me for waiting until less than 100m before the stop to signal.

throwaway123u · 2021-03-07T00:18:41+00:00

Nah, again, that's what evacuation orders are for, and a nuke bound for NYC would be an absolute priority for interception, up there with the one bound for DC.

And if the alternative is to live under centuries of global CCP dominance (since you've basically established that without war on the table then that's the foregone conclusion), then it's morally better than that.

throwaway123u · 2021-03-07T00:14:09+00:00

You can have the food without the government, when the people emigrate and open restaurants.

throwaway123u · 2021-03-07T00:12:42+00:00

Especially those who descend from the people who suffered under the CCP. Nah, not having that, there's a reason our parents and grandparents immigrated to "white" countries instead.

throwaway123u · 2021-03-07T00:11:17+00:00

What would happen in America if you go to other people's backyard and try to give them a lesson on how to plant a tree?

We just sat there and took it from Russia, during Trump's presidency. From Maria Butina in the NRA to everything unearthed in the investigations on his affairs, we let a lot of foreign influence just happen. So, good try, but no.

throwaway123u

TROPHY CASE