Humodour

Those are called 'party factions' here. They're usually a core part of a party's internal democratic mechanics.

http://www.landoverbaptist.net/showthread.php?t=14171

I consistently maintain that Stargate would make an excellent RPG setting.

Just replay it. Any game worth its salt is worth replaying anyway, and I hear FO:NV is worth its salt.

I think we should rename Australia 'High Earth'... and not because of any reference to height or superiority.

Japan was racially motivated. In essence any western influences were to be eradicated. This does not sound correct. Anybody else able to comment? Sure, the Japanese at the time were extremely racist and xenophobic (and arguably still are in a far more peaceful manner), but I was under the impression simple brutal imperial desire was the motivation.

Sounds like fireworks. I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think it was you could buy them in Canberra but only set them off interstate, except on the Queen's Birthday (which I believe is multiple times per year...?).

Yes, a slap on the wrist does a much better job of detering spies and traitors. The notion of somebody like yourself trying to justify murder is just so repugnant that I have a hard time responding without malice to anybody who does so. Maybe America could put all those gaols to good use for once and gaol extreme criminals for life rather than filling them up with drug users.

Sweet! I forgot I made this thread. gonna trawl through it for some gems. BTW I recommend 'Singularity Sky' by Greg Egan for AI/futurist fans.

Ah yes, I forgot how much Americans love capital punishment.

Since digital distributors localise now, censorship hits regardless of whether you buy the product in Australia or not.

Japan was the single biggest threat to Australia during any war we've been in (had invasion plans all lined up, bombed a few of our cities, killed a few thousand people, and Australia confronted them directly and pushed them back during the Kokoda Track Campaign). Now they're far and away our single closest trade partner. Chinese trade is about equivalent in quantity, but our political ties with China are extremely tenuous and frail, whereas with Japan they're deep and strong. Funny how things work out.

It was and did, yes. That's common knowledge.

Which is also amazingly hypocritical. But still, one step at a time I guess.

I can't really talk about the Vatican of the past though, only the Vatican which I have observed in my time alive on this Earth. That Vatican is quite progressive. I struggle to find evidence to the contrary.

Hmm. That's a pretty good point about NK's lack of an ideological motivation. Edit: Although Japan didn't have one either.

Country bailouts are a disturbing notion. Not necessarily because they are the wrong thing to do (the alternative seems worse), but because the government was so incompetent it let it get that far in the first place. Basically it screams "we declare bankruptcy!" except they never have to actually mention the politically and economically loaded word 'bankruptcy'.

Germany, Finland, Croatia, Romania, Italy, Japan and Hungary springs to mind And I imagine North Korea would likewise be able to accrue opportunistic allies (some of them small fish as some of those you mentioned were) from corrupt and despotic regimes. What's your point? The biggest thing preventing a repeat of WW2 is WW2 - countries which would normally love to invade and conquer other countries would heed the lessons of WW2 and fear the consequences of failure, whereas their status quo is probably at least reasonably comfortable for the despots and their elite.

Why are people talking about North Korea like they are lead by rational people? Frankly I'm expecting the North Korean Old Guard to go "Well chaps, we're getting old. This is boring, we'll die soon. Wouldn't it suck to die without leaving a legacy? Those ****ing Americans and their South Korean dogs, let's give them something to remember." And boom, World War 3! Does it qualify as World War 3 if it's just the world against one country? Yeah, methinks he is giving NK too much credit there. Iran is probably the closest thing they come to a country with "shared interests" and I doubt they would stand up for them if the bullets start flying. China who kept NK alive in the first conflict has lost interest and desire economic stability and profit more than any outdated concepts of world communism. What was World War 2 guys? Germany was just one country, too. Then you've got the opportunist countries as well as terrorist groups who would take advantage of the conflict - Iran, the Qaeda, etc. But you're right, it wouldn't be the same scale I don't think.

Unfortunately not, due to America's electoral mechanics which enforce a stagnant two-party system. At least on a federal level in America (IIRC some states are more nuanced), third parties pop up, hang around for a few years, never break past a certain level of support, don't win any seats due to lack of preferential or proportional voting, then sputter out and fade into the aether as voters lose faith because the parties cannot gain any seats, even if a significant minority votes for them. Not terribly democratic. There are exceptions (LibDems in the UK?) but these exceptions rely on certain situations which do not seem to exist in America In a system with, at least, preferential voting, minor parties can sustain themselves with at least a fighting chance of electoral success. Still, it can bring issues into the mainstream, and force the two main parties to act from time to time on issues they otherwise would ignore.

Why are people talking about North Korea like they are lead by rational people? Frankly I'm expecting the North Korean Old Guard to go "Well chaps, we're getting old. This is boring, we'll die soon. Wouldn't it suck to die without leaving a legacy? Those ****ing Americans and their South Korean dogs, let's give them something to remember." And boom, World War 3!

The system will become too complicated for the general public and people will instead vote for their favorite drink/food. The downfall of the Tea Party. It's funny, in a lot of countries people are able to keep track of multiple parties just fine. Stupid Americans - not just a myth after all?

The last post I have seen from you was something like TROLTROLTROLTROLTROL, and now this. Can you teach me to be a verbal hero like you? I simply had to reply to that post. "Seppukuk" would be a very peculiar dirty word joke in Swedish. Since I am a very humble person, I wouldn't advice you to listen to my advice about writing. Coincidentally, I'm reading Borges' "On Writing" at the moment though, which I would strongly recommend to anyone interested in mastering the craft of prose, even if it's more centered on thematics than communicating through holophrastic interjections such as "TROLTROLTROLTROLTROL".

I like the Vatican. Having a central authority means they, like any 'government', can do some stupid things at times. But it also means that they can make bold moves to change minds. Compare this to the disparate cells of anti-science evangelical protestant groups often found in America (and elsewhere? don't know how it is in Europe) for example. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1978...ref=environment So the Vatican supports the science behind: evolution, the birth of the universe (and thus heliocentric model), genetic engineering, contraception. Some of these perhaps with varying levels of caveats, but still, it's refreshing to know that the Vatican supports science, even if it tends to be a few decades slow in doing so.

http://smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Industry/K4T2G8K6