I’m not American, I’m German. Our constitution is somewhat different, though our judiciary has increasingly reigned in to keep the executive branch on the straight and narrow in recent years.

Ah, the Helm’s Deep automaton, perfect for keeping out an Orc army.

How about Boston Dynamics, the future creators of SKYNET, our mechanoid overlords.

Sounds like the United States at the moment.

“L’État, c’est moi!” (I am the state!)

Why does he look like he’s suffering from end-stage hemorrhoids in this picture?

Illegal penile enhancements could have prevented the Presidency of one Donald “just because my hands are tiny, doesn’t mean that...” Trump.

It’s springtime and there’s a smell of treason in the air.

Trump hardly has the smarts of a Londo Mollari.

I’m always amazed and saddened how uncompromised and deep the rift of politics in America is today. It tears families, marriages and friendships apart. That hasn’t happened over here since the 1930ies, and bodes ill for America’s future as a unified nation built on trust and mutual understanding.

What’s sad about Benghazi and really every other issue is that Republicans once again framed the issue - and rather than at least attempting to re-frame the issue, Democrats just ran with it. They never ever learn, like an abused wife that just takes the beatings instead of standing up for herself.

These people are running scared. They’re not in the best frame of mind right now.

The prison industry is all about maintaining a high recidivism rate in the US, though. There are ten times as many Americans in prison today than there were in the 1970ies, so there’s a lot of money and politics to be made with prisoners.

Both of these parties seem somewhat tired and worn out at this point. Since the US is not a parliamentary republic with proportionate voting, there’s unfortunately no easy replacing these calcified parties with newcomers.

I don’t think the Queen has ever tasted shrooms. It wouldn’t be proper.

There isn’t much of a serious queue for EU membership these days. There are a few small countries in the Balkans left, with Montenegro and Serbia currently undergoing the proceedings - and Turkey, but their application is no more than a political ploy to extort money from the EU at this point.

That sounds similar to most of the post-colonial states in Africa. Some African governments moved beyond that “let’s blame everything on the whites and live like kings on the public’s expense” phase - usually those without natural resources that seem to be a driving force of corruption and civil war - many didn’t. At…

Gibson is a capable director who funds his films independently and outside of the studio system. As much as the studio execs might loathe him, they can’t ignore his successes. Does that mean he will be allowed to act in blockbuster movies again? Or direct a big budget film with studio money? Time will tell.

Their recent top management choices - Pelosi over Ryan, Perez over Ellison at the behest of multi-billionaire Haim Saban - give the clear indication that they want to continue with business as usual. There doesn’t seem to be any learning curve that “lesser of two evils” might be good enough for Republican voters to…

Just look at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ as an example - the entire “Don’t miss” column is nothing but celebrity gossip and style critique, with the occasional bikini chick thrown in for the male viewer, and mostly caters to female viewers.