Fullerene

I find this image very disturbing. Where does that table lamp plug in? .. and why exactly does he need it?

Actually, it's the urinals that you really want to avoid.

Yeah, you're right. I stole a "I love Donald Trump" knee pad. That will come in handy.

Actually I understand the whole thing with the national anthem, oath of allegiance and saluting the flag stuff. America is a basically a nation of immigrants and there was a need to establish a common identity to avoid having ghettoes of various nationalities. So, for example, when somebody comes from Italy, they want them to be Italian American, or more precisely Italian AMERICAN as opposed to just an Italian living in America. Of course, this means you see the Stars and Stripes everywhere - including virtually all uniforms (maybe I am exaggerating but it seemed like that to me). It also means the national anthem at virtually any sporting event. Domestic league fixtures - that is only the start. School team fixtures as well! Don't try buying anything in any of the shops at the time - not going to happen. The shop assistants are all standing to attention with their hand on their heart. You could probably run out the shop without paying and half of them wouldn't know what to do. Maybe they would sing the remaining words at double time and then chase after you. Not that I have done this - I am just saying.

The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state but it was definitely better to have Gorbachev in charge and not another Stalin, Khrushchev or Brezhnev. Unfortunately, for him, being more open and less brutal could not overcome the weaknesses of the Soviet Union and it collapsed. I remember several Americans saying, "No, he is still a commie - don't trust him." Fortunately, Reagan and then George H Bush, were prepared to think otherwise. Iran is far from perfect and the elections so rigged that it is not truly democratic by any means. However, I think we should be more encouraging when Iranian leaders do the things we want them to do.

Sometimes Iran has a hardline leader and some times it has a moderate. Personally I prefer when it has a moderate leader - such as Hassan Rouhani (who went to University in Glasgow, as I am sure you know) as opposed to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, there are some Americans who can't cope with moderate opponents - "No, no - it's all a trick." If the moderates gain nothing from being moderate - then guess what - the hardliners return. Maybe the Americans prefer that.

Kwasi Kwarteng, Paul Mason and Dia Chakravarty are all keen Brexiteers and I fully expect the angry pointy finger types in the audience too! The usual crap, such as: "We voted to leave - what's the hold up. We shouldn't be paying anything to Johnny Foreigner and they all need to leave. Let's restore the empire and make Great Britain Great again." I think I'll watch Horizon on BBC 4 instead - Goodbye Cassini or something like that.

The inventor of the typewriter made a mistake visiting Kenya. They threw him in prison for a year. Apparently "Qwerty" is a very rude word in Swahili.

Trekkie.

Thanks. BTW: I know your name isn't Bud. I heard some Glaswegian calling you Jimmy.

Actually I did go to school in Inverness. That was me trying to sound like an American. Didn't pull it off I guess. Obviously it doesn't convince anyone unless I use the word "awesome". Oh well, how disawesome? unawesome? aweless?

Obviously there are a whole bunch of would-be terrorists at their training camps, who have now just dropped their bombs, knives, suicide belts and everything and said "That's it. I'm out of here. I don't want anyone calling me a loser."

Hey Bud, you mean there are other words for describing stuff. Wow. That's .. er .. um .. can you tell us one of them? BTW - You should ask them why is "awful" a negative word. "Full of Awe" sounds like a good thing.

"Ever since I was a naughty little girl running through the wheat fields - I have been a massive fan of Florentina Football Club. Great win against Bologna, by the way and that was never a penalty. In any case, I am not convinced this 4-4-2 formation is best suited to the club and I would like to see a more attacking style of play. I also think there is a need to improve the scouting system to compete more effective against the likes of AC Milan and Juventus. And finally, maybe it is time for a new assistant manager. That's all I have to say." Okay - not very likely she will say this but it would certainly catch them off guard if she did.

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."

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.