Fullerene

They are also celebrating the fact that all the other British colonies are either remote or being battered by hurricanes.

When Kim Il Sung was in charge, anybody who mentioned the word "bogey" was shot

.. actually for the sake of world peace - they should ban golf!

I recall a story of Ronald Reagan being deep inside a mountain (Cheyenne, Wyoming or somewhere like that) where the US had their missile command. Reagan said "Well I guess if the Russians start firing their missiles, we'll be pretty safe in here." The answer he got was "No sir. We would still be dead."

Apparently this was true of Gorbachev as well. On one occasion, they did a simulation to test the system and his response was: "No I won't press the button - not even for a test." Of course, we have no way of knowing if that was actually true.

Imagine this: Donald Trump is on the golf course and has just missed an easy putt. He is so annoyed he vents his anger. "You know I just getting totally fed with those North Koreans. They are putting me off my game. Let's just nuke 'em." Under those circumstances - do you think it would actually happen? Do you think he comes off the golf course later to scenes of missiles flying everywhere and say "Hey you guys - I didn't really mean it"? I don't think much of Donald Trump but I suspect there are formal steps and safeguards involved. By contrast, Kim Jong Um is a dictator and there is a possibility of being shot for questioning his orders. Not sure is Kim is a golfer - although according to North Korean propaganda his grandfather was the greatest golfer that ever lived and once played a game where he got 18 hole-in-ones."

I totally agree but you could have worded it differently.

Personally I think the Brexit strategy was this: We leave Other countries leave The EU falls apart Since stage 2 hasn't happened, they are stalling for time and saying "What do we do now?" Probably sending letters to Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and wherever saying "If you want to join the EU, we will support your bid 100%, provided you then promise to leave."

The comparison with Germany is a good one. From what I recall West Germans were roughly twice as rich as East Germans. Even today, the most prosperous cities in Germany are all in the West apart from Berlin and Jena. South Koreans are more then 20 times richer than their cousins in the North. Also, West Germany found it hard to employ East German policemen. While West Germany dealt with crimes in the conventional sense that you or I would recognize, the East German spent a lot of time spying on ordinary people and arresting anyone who went against the party line. Imagine people in this country being arrested because they thought Brexit was a bad idea and said so. From what I have read, in North Korea, you almost need to break the law in order to survive. The state is not very good at providing everything so everybody turns to the black market. Not sure the South Koreans would be keen to acquire this mindset. Also from what I read, because the state supposedly provides everything, a lot of North Koreans don't know the value of things. "Give me your house and I will buy you a new fridge." "Hey - that sounds like a bargain!"

Which makes me wonder if the hydrogen bomb is to get rid of that horrible bully who picked on young Kim when he was at school. Look out Switzerland - I would say.

Wary of your neighbours maybe, but would you dispose of your own family members because you no longer trusted them Kim had his uncle put in front of a firing squad and they used an anti-aircraft missile to get the job done. What a lovely family - eh.

This is the sort of thing those nasty Americans got up to against those lovely people in North Korea. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/19/world/clinton-approves-a-plan-to-give-aid-to-north-koreans.html?pagewanted=all&mcubz=1 Yet, the North Koreans would still describe the US has filthy capitalist pigs at the same time as accepting their help.

Yes, Korea - not North Korea and South Korea - just plain old Korea. My point is why would modern Japan be seen as more of a threat to North Korea than South Korea.

The same could be said for South Korea but they are not seeking nuclear weapons. Yes, the Japanese were total shits in the Second World War but back then it was not North Korea and South Korea - it was just Korea. Where is the evidence that Japanese is likely to attack them? Their postwar constitution prevents them adopting a military stance on anything. Where is the evidence that China would not intervene if anyone threatened North Korea. North Korea does concern me because it is a dictatorship and a paranoid one at that.

If that were true, why wait a few years? Why not do it now? In fact, why did they not do it years ago? The living standards in most of North Korea (outside of Pyongyang) are really poor - even compared to China and Russia. Why would China want a few million North Koreans to make their stuff when they have a population of more than a billion people. Even if China had fifty million millionaires that would still leave a lot of other Chinese to do the dirty work.

If you were talking about Iran or Iraq or Libya or Syria or even Cuba, I might be inclined to agree with you. Not so with North Korea. If North Korea really can count on the Chinese for protection then why do they need a deterrent at all? Why not feed their people instead? North Korea has a very short border with Russia, a longer border with supposed ally China and one of the most impenetrable borders of all with South Korea. Who would invade North Korea and how? Without the threat of these nuclear weapons - why would anyone bother?

Okay, we need to accept that Kim is not going to be incredibly stupid and/or suicidal. For example, he would never dream of detonating a hydrogen bomb when his country is next door to China and they are trying to convince the world that they can control him. Also, there is no question he is paranoid - like most communist leaders. Trump can talk tough but I really can't see him doing anything without China being in on it - and probably Russia as well. I think Trump's rhetoric is aimed at China - i.e. do something or we will.

Yeah it is conjecture but I think of numerous plane crashes that occurred because subordinates refused to challenge the captain (such as the Tenerife air crash). I get the impression that nobody challenges Kim - or at least they risk death if they do. Whatever you might think of Trump - I doubt he would order the immediate execution of anyone who dared to question his opinion. If Kim is anything like Stalin or Hoxha or numerous other communist leaders - I am not so sure. I remember Ronald Reagan joking "Tomorrow we bomb Russia." It was a poor joke but at least everybody knew it was a joke. Would the same be true of Kim?

You would think the Chinese would tell them not to bother with nukes in the first place. Who would risk attacking North Korea if it might mean retaliation from China?

Yeah but Trump being crazy is not enough to launch his missiles. He needs the co-operation of a lot of people who agree that the missiles should be launched. Kim is a dictator who kills anyone who is a threat to his power including his uncle and his half-brother. In a country where blind obedience is demanded - there is a risk that the mechanism would be there but no individual would have the courage to use it.

In Euro 88, England lost to the Republic of Ireland. Then England lost to the Netherlands while the Republic of Ireland drew with the Soviet Union. In those days when there was not dozens of channels to choose from, it was then the game between the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands that was shown, instead of England being beaten by the Soviet Union.

Yeah. I was there in July. Nice place. So was Seattle. Saying that, I was also in other parts of the USA and didn't see anyone with horns or pitchfork or pointed tail. I guess your average Trump supporter might look outwardly normal. Bit of a scary thought that I would say.

Is it possible to get a flight from Boston to Seattle?

So people were rebelling against people like (former city broker) Nigel Farage by voting exactly how he wanted them to vote. Not sure I can follow your logic there. Similar to Americans protesting about the super-rich by voting for Donald Trump - I guess

The American President plays two roles at the same time: the political head of Government and the ceremonial head of state. In the U.K., these are two separate roles - namely the Prime Minister and the Queen. When the head of state shows up at some disaster - local people cheer in as much as to say - "hey you have noticed that this has happened to us". They are actually cheering their own country for taking notice of their plight as symbolized by the appearance of their own head of state. (Similar to the Queen visiting Grenfell Tower - compared to the prime minister) That would happen for any president and even if these people thought he was the worse president in history. Americans have been known to get fairly patriotic from time to time, flying the flag, singing the nation anthem and all that. That is what they are like.