h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

'15-minute writing exercise closes the gender gap in university-level physics'

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/11/25/15-minute-writing-exercise-closes-the-gender-gap-in-university-level-physics/

There is an iPhone app for killing Libyans from a Tornado jet, and it adds up the cost to taxpayers, per minute, in the air.

So, it's for sure now: the election campaign here in Canada should get under way tomorrow.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/03/25/pol-defeat.html



I find it endlessly amusing that in Britain there was panic when no party won a clear majority in the House of Commons and there was a cautious sigh of relief when a coalition was cobbled together while here we've had a minority government for five years (one of many we've had) and the very idea of a coalition is met with gnashing of teeth and wailing of 'undemocratic!' from many in Canada.

And we have fundamentally the same system of government in the two countries!

Labour's flat-earthers demand the cuts go away

http://www.economist.com/blogs/bagehot/2011/03/ed_miliband_0

"All these stories in the press about people ing it off on benefits, sorry for my language, but we are entitled. We are all entitled, we live in a modern country."

anhaga where are you getting that impression from? I don't think there was any panic..I think the Tories especially put it about that panic would ensue in the 'markets' if a coalition wasn't formed...and the country would disintegrate The Lib Dems made a big play that they were doing what was best for the country given the state of the economy. Big hypocrisy.

Lib Dems were desperate for a sniff of power..or rather Clegg was, and the the Tories also after the long years in opposition.

Most people I talk to think it's profoundly undemocratic. The Lib Dems have stitched the electorate up for 5 years. There's a very good chance the Lib Dems will be annahialated at the next election; I certainly hope so.

I don't know anyone personally that felt any panic about the idea of a minority Tory government.

(Is that you swl? When the hell is your pre-mod ending?..It's ridiculous..)

I think I got that impression from some thread around here, Effers.

This is pretty much the only place I every hear anything about what's going on in Britain.


Except for those wedding things that happen every couple of decades and seem to fascinate all news sources in the world.

'I don't know anyone who personally felt any panic about a minority Tory government'

Niether did I, in fact it was a source of reassurance and some of those were conservative voters

""'I don't know anyone who personally felt any panic about a minority Tory government'""

i felt panic about Gordy stopping on with a minority labour govt.!!!!!!

>> I don't think there was any panic.. <<

I think the panic set in when people realised that Gordon Brown might stay on as PM.

RF

>Except for those wedding things<

Don't you believe that...It's the anticipation of the long years of the lead up to the inevitable divorce that gets the media licking their lips.

Ah. I think I misunderstood. The Gordon Brown explanation makes it clear. It's sort of like the panic I feel about the prospect of Mr. Harper being PM again here, or, worse, being PM with a Majority Government. I would be happy with anything instead of his authoritarian rule.

I was a little non-plussed today when I discovered that our present Speaker of the House would not be running again. He has been an exemplary Speaker, devoted to the institution of Parliament. I will sadly miss him.

But that's all Canadian stuff, so, never mind.

and the long lens, grainy shots, of her getting her norks out on some private beach, then being reproduced on t-shirts at the time of the coronation

yes, the conservatives had a majority, but not an overall majority and if they had not been able to form a coalition and get an overall majority the queen would have had to invite Gordy, as incumbent to try to form a minority Govt.

You see, that's different from the convention here, Taff. For us, the party with the most seats gets first dibs on forming a government, no matter the incumbent's situation. So, if our Liberal party comes out of this election with one more seat than any other individual party, including the incumbent Conservative Party, they will be asked to form the government.

The interesting event would be if the Conservatives got the most seats, but not a majority, and the Liberals and the NDP joined in a coalition and they all marched up to Stornoway (the Governor-General's official residence) and told the GG that both bunches were ready to form a government. The GG would be pretty much bound by precedent to choose the coalition (which would be a great relief to me).

Rubbish. That wouldn't have been acceptable as the Tories won more seats. Yes theoretically true, but the British constitution doesn't work that way. Everyone knows it was a choice between a Tory Minority government or a coalition with Lib Dems. Clegg was always infatuated with the Tories,...and we have the evidence this week from that annoying mic left on..yes really NIck..how are you and Dave going to find anything to disagree about?

Clegg is now assured of some big international job..when he party he pretends to lead are massacred at the next election.

simpost

""Rubbish. That wouldn't have been acceptable as the Tories won more seats. Yes theoretically true, but the British constitution doesn't work that way.""

i beg to differ, thats how we ended up with a labour minority govt, under wilson in the 70s

no one won an overall majority and wilson was the sitting PM so got to carry on, he tried with the lib-lab pact to make it work but that fell apart and the country went to the ballot box again and returned heath with an overall majority

Again, that wouldn't happen here. The party (or coalition) with the most seats gets asked to form the Government. And, to make things even more interesting, after the King-Byng Affair (cf. wikipedia), if a coalition government were to lose the confidence of the house, the individual party which actually had the most seat (assuming it were not a part of the coalition) would *not* be asked to form a government: there would be an election.


This Westminster system is more complicated than making beer from treacle wine!

In February 1974, no party gained an overall majority but Labour won most seats. Heath the incumbant attempted to negotiate with the Liberals but failed, he resigned, Wilson formed a minority Labour government. There was another election in October 1974 and Labour gained an overall majority of 3. In March 1976, Wilson resigned as PM. Callaghan took over as PM. Within a year, through by-elections the majority disappeared and Callaghan negotiated with the Liberals to form a pact, whilst in office in March 1977.

I got this from,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Government_1974–1979

I maintain that the British constitution works according to what makes sense. I seriously cannot imagine the country putting up with Brown hanging onto power and doing a deal with the Lib Dems. It was *NEVER* going to happen. It was always the Tories..the idea of Brown hanging on is utterly laughable..

So, Effers, to paraphrase, are you saying that as here in Canada, in Britain it is simply having the most seats, whether a majority or a minority, which determines who is asked to form the Government, regardless of incumbency?

To paraphrase.