They still should have done whatever social programs they could have afforded, though (which may well have been less to a lot less than what they did). There was genuine popularity there for a while because before that, their previous leaderships were doing so much less. Similar situation with Thailand, I believe…

Well, in a strange way, this would have taken some effort given it was the only tree for 250 miles.

Well, there's also voting for the Senate which is fractionally less futile so there's still that.

Yes but I want to break it down accurately.

It was the time of the Red scares. Definitely Chinese.

I can tell you that if you want if even my voice is nothing like that guy from Perfect Strangers, I can at least say I tried.

Oh yes, the days of the IRA and such things as mortar attacks on buildings full of politicians in the UK itself weren't that long ago and that's just the tip of the iceberg including things like what the film "Who Dares Wins" was about.

That was one of the things that we talked about and that Trudeau had at least said a proper investigation was going to be started into this after all those years of stonewalling or worse by the previous administration. Of course, the proof will be in their actual actions but it's some kind of a start, at least.

Well, that's the thing, isn't it? Now with so much of Venezuela's total national income being dependent on oil, if they'd been in theory like Norway, where when the prices were high they put the designated surplus money into a fund that wasn't corruptly run (Norway's is worth between $800 billion and $1 trillion, I…

Civil Forfeiture by the police in the US can be an absolute disgrace. I've heard some terrible stories. I can't believe it hasn't made it's way to the Supreme Court yet. Though given the past makeup of the Court, maybe just as well it hasn't before now.

You have to be really lazy to get fined. All you have to do is write an explanation as to why you didn't vote on the form they send you asking why you didn't vote and send it back and that's the last you'll hear of it.

Well, about 64% of them (and probably more so in the cities and urban areas) can speak English.

Stargate SG-1 worked very closely with the Air Force who even proofread the scripts for accuracy.

Now don't be ridiculous.

I thought the Chinese picked him up in a submarine. I mean that's the word around here (which is actually where I now live).

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking …

You've seen our politicians. They're never completely happy unless they're kissing some other country's ass. Used to be the UK but now it's been the US for some time now.

I'm friends and acquaintances with a number of Canadian webcomic authors. They surprisingly do have a lot of insider knowledge on what's going on it that secret underbelly of yours. It would explain where they get a lot of their ideas.

I did realise that as I was typing my post and it was definitely a terrible thing but it is quite rare for the UK these days. For us until fairly recently, not so much and the possibility does still loom there in the background.

Being from Australia, I don't have that luxury. Definitely would have traded Abbott for him. In your opinion, if we had the choice for argument's sake, Turnbull or him, though?