Buenos Aires deserves more love. I've spent about 3 months all up in that city and would go back in a heartbeat.

Montevideo is pretty cool, but I've been there three times now. So... maybe Hamburg.

Porque no los dos?

Muh confession:

I'm an exceptionally good liar, at least face to face.

Slowly reading through the thread, but had to stop to make a particular post:


ILV! *hughughug*


Welcome

Yes, since I was about... 4?

My mum still has my sidestroke 1st place ribbon somewhere from grade 1.

Yeah, the private one has it's own pool, and the public one had a pool that was open to the public outside school hours.

East Asian Wars would be approx 1840-1920, sparking up and fading. Maybe a little bot earlier and a little bit later, depending on what people want to do with it. Basically between Japanese, Korean, and Chinese groups.

Vallejo now! :p

Paradox for me too. I was a Eutopian something or other. So long ago now... I feel old.

In this thread: Australians are right, Poms are wrong, and Americans are individuals.

I was being facetious before, but really i think the ranking ought to include a heavy bias towards how integrated the countries are with the US, and how likely it is that the US would defend them if necessary. As such, I think the real top five would be 1. US 2. Great Britain 3. Canada 4.  Japan 5. Australia.

Great Britain is actually probably behind Canada and Japan, but they do have their own nukes, so...

I was reluctant to put Australia in there ahead of Israel, but I think even more than Canada Australia is the country that the US population would refuse to allow the US government to not defend if attacked. Part of it is the history between the two countries, but mostly it's due to subtle racism, I suspect.  If one of the US's closest allies was attacked by Asians, and let's be honest, the only possible aggresors are all Asian nations, Americans would be incensed if the country did not come to our defence. There could be similar reactions for different countries, but the absolutely positive view of Australia in the US is at such an incredibly high level (never out of the 90s, always first or second in 'opinion of' surveys) that I really can't see a scenario in the current situation where the US could politically not come to Australia's defence. There are important startegic concerns too, obviously, but they're less critical.

In the end, with the US military being so absolutely dominant in the world context - it could handily defeat the combined forces of the next 9 militaries combined in a defensive war, and would have a good shot in a war over neutral territory - being ensured of US support in your nation's defence really has to be factored in for at least a few countries, especially Canada and Australia.

Same as Tik.

There is class in Australia, obviously, but income has absolutely nothing to do with it. It's about where you went to school, where your parents went to school, and where your kids go to school. If all three are in the top 25% of school by tertiary entrance rank, you're upper class. If all three are in the bottom 25%, you're lower class. Any variation within and you're middle class. Unless you're an immigrant, and then you're immigrant class.

Hamburger needs to be free from all pink, probably medium-well done. Steaks should be medium rare if they're quality meat, medium if they're not or marbled.

In all seriousness, the list should really just be ranked by number of nuclear warhead capable of travelling over 1000km times by the number of warships capable of destroying a city plus 1/100th of land military strength, and divided by the monetary value of air units. Maybe add in a point or two for material supply depth. Then, ignore all that and rank by how closely aligned they are to the US.

Or something like that.

*looks straight at Australia*

*not top  five*

Yeah, crap list.

Martin Ferguson supposedly just joined Twitter, if it's him it's quite hilarious.

https://twitter.com/MFergusonMP

There are quite a lot of fake politicians on twitter.

My favourite was fake steve fielding, but there are others worth checking out.

Neck, often. Fingers every night, and sometimes during the day. Toes sometimes, back sometimes.

Can we please go back to Africa/Middle East with the Kingdom of Arabia in that grouping?

Wueno... Y no hay una candidatura de Camila Vallejo porque po?

Australia escapes with a draw in Sydney vs Oman.

Quality :p

Remove veto power, expand to 21 members, and require 15 votes to pass a resolution. Also fundamentally change the election process, but not yet sure what to.

[Official Name:]

Official Name: Hokkaido
Territorial Description: Hokkaido and immediately surrounding small islands
Capital: Muroran
Government System: Constitutional Shogunate. The Shogun rules for life, elected from the fifteen members of the Daimyo Council, who in turn are elected for life by members of the Parliament of Hokkaido, with one member of the Daimyo Council representing each prefecture, and one representing the transient population. The Shogun has very limited legislative or executive power, the first held by the Parliament, the second by the Daimyo Council; but he remains the ultimate judicial power, including in constitutional matters. The Parliament is elected with universal adult sufferage at the age of twenty for five year terms, with party lists per prefecture (proportional to population) and a list for the transient population (educators, soldiers, etc).
Current Government: Shogun Nakai has lead Hokkaido in a calm, stable manner for 19 years. The Daimyo Council also leads towards the Conservative, although the Parliament is currently lead by a party that favours greater openness, democracy, and westernisation, very popular among the young. There is still immense respect for the Shogun, but general distaste for the DC.
Population: 7,890,600
Religion: Shintoism, Buddhism, and a mix of the two. No real equivalent with western religious concepts.
History: The first region of Japan to unify, Hokkaido established itself as a union of the northern prefectures within 50 years of the arrival of western traders. This early adoption of western concepts was in part forced by the militaristic threat of the Matsumae clan against other groupings. This early progression slowed, however, and what was once the most westernised and developed part of the Japanese Archipelago is now a relative backwater. Famously neutral in the East Asian wars, Hokkaido is widely respected by it's neighbours in the achipelago as the custodian of traditional cultures and a neutral place for diplomacy, banking, law etc.
Interesting Fact: One of the most important industries in Hokkaido is education, as many boys are sent to schools from about 15-20 on the island from all over Japan and North Asia to finish their education.

Vettel can get fucked.

Also yeah, they're Aussies.

DIICCEE. Not a mouthful at all.