JamesHackerMP

I mean no schadenfreude at all. But I do envy Canada at times.

One can only imagine how bad it is in other countries....like Turkey. Do you have statistics for your own country?

Oh, wanted to post that I found this book called The Lord of the Rings, a Reader's Companion. It gives a history of the book (a little dull) and some of the possible meanings in words, paragraphs, sentences, events and so forth. Neat, but don't read it while you're reading it for the first time because it has some spoilers. On amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Readers-Companion/dp/0618642676/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541030719&sr=8-1&keywords=lord+of+the+rings+companion (there seem to be two different editions of it on amazon).

well I was hoping to be pointed in the right direction, first. Canadians, after all, do live under parliamentary government. And I doubt I'm really going to write a book per se, but plenty of other stuff will come up.

Really, George V? I thought by then the king was a figurehead like today?

Seriously, anyone? grrrrrr......

LOL! When was this video made? It involved Stephen Harper, so it must have been at least a few years ago, right?

Depends. Suppose the Libertarian Party won 50 seats, at most. They have a different mindset than the two major parties. It might change from one issue to the next, swinging the vote from left to right and right to left one vote after another. I'm curious to hear what you all think about this. What do you think would happen?

What exactly would happen to U.S. politics in the unlikely event that a 3rd party or some sort of independent bloc won, say, a couple dozen seats in the House of Representatives? Believe it or not, we haven't always had a "two party system". If you look at the House and Senate websites (rather annoying they don't have just one site!) you can see that there were times when there was actually a third party of some presence in those chambers. It's unlikely, but what would happen if it did? What would congressional politics be like in that event?

It's amazing what people don't know is up there. I read about an earthquake that occurred in Los Angeles (no unusual phenomenon of course) during which the power went out all over L.A. People were calling into radio stations reporting "strange lights in the sky" and "could they be responsible for the quake?" I kid you not. The strange lights were, of course, the stars, which Los Angelinos had rarely seen before. I hope that if I downgrade (in size that is) to a 6" from the 8", I'll be able to lug it places more easily, especially if I get the one with the built in battery. (No need to have a powertank, etc.) I hope it's at least 10 pounds lighter. Even that will help. I'm not the strongest person in the world, and putting the tube into the mount brackets after leveling the tripod and mount is hard work with my 8SE. I have to pick the thing up and hold it without dropping it while I slide the tube into the brackets. I think this contributes the amount of use it's gotten (or lack thereof). This is what I'm looking at now: https://www.celestron.com/products/nexstar-evolution-6 If you go and spent $3000 on a telescope, you must first ask yourself, is it something I am going to use, or will I just be blowing three grand? I spent $1200 on my 8SE, but after finding it cumbersome and non-Goldilocks sized for my meager strength, it's been money that has gone to waste, to some degree. So if you end up buying a 10" Scmidt-Cassgrain telescope that's so bulky and heavy that you rarely use it, what's the point? Go smaller (or lighter) and cheaper if it means you won't let it sit there in the garage.

Holy crap! That sounds expensive...

I own the Celestron Nexstar 8SE--so it's not only a go to scope, but an 8" Schmidt Cassgrain. It's a bit heavy to pick up the tube and attach it to the mount, so I'm pondering trading it in for a newer, and slightly smaller, one (maybe a six inch, dunno). I haven't made as much use of it as you'd think, though; so I'm still relatively new to the hobby even though I've had it a few years. Maybe with a less cumbersome telescope I might use it more often. There's even a newer model that's go to but you don't have to go through the complicated alignment process first (which I haven't totally mastered yet). The only real pain in the ass was aligning the darn finderscope. Still though, I do not regret buying that particular model, and I've seen Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and a few deep sky objects. The "tour" function particularly useful: it'll give you a list of interesting objects that happen to be up at the time. https://www.celestron.com/products/nexstar-8se-computerized-telescope I hope that going from an 8" to a 6" doesn't disappoint as far as how good things will look, since the former gathers more light than the latter. I belong to an astronomy club in the area, which actually built its own observatory at a local park. When I was at UMBC, we had a $2 million research telescope we (the astronomy club there) were able to screw around with. I don't get into astrophotography, however. To bcsapper: If you're looking to spend $2000-$3000, well sounds like the sky's the limit for you. But that depends what you want to drag around. Like I said, mine is slightly cumbersome, so maybe you wouldn't want more than a 6-8" if you're going Schmidt Cassgrain, for example. And you might as well get the go-to or the newer automatic go to's. (Get a good carrying case by the way. That's useful.) Like this: https://www.celestron.com/products/nexstar-evolution-8-hd-with-starsense It has a rechargeable lithium ion battery. Saves carrying around one of those power tanks as the battery is directly inside the mount.

Yes. Both Seven and T'pol were....um, generously endowed. (Forgive the crudity/crassness).

Then there was Suzie Plakson in the episode with the civil war in the Q continuum. (The Q and the Gray). I think she and Harve Presnell (Q's opponent in the war) were both in civil war movies? Maybe I"m wrong about that, but I know Plakson had been in things before that. I love the line she has "tossed aside...for someone 4 billion years younger!" Teri Garr was in Assignment: Earth. She was Inga in Young Frankenstein.

I like how when they land in San Francisco in the 1980s, Kirk says "everybody remember where we parked." The even numbered Trek movies (original ones) were better than the odd-numbered ones. did you know....Seth MacFarlane was in two episodes of "Enterprise" series? And King Abdullah of Jordan (then the crown prince) was in an episode of "Voyager" but only as a visual cameo, no lines.

Incongruity.....one sec I need my dictionary. Ok got it. But I'm still missing something here..... Oh ok yeah I get it. THe incongruity of right wingers liking Star Trek? Sorry I'm a bit slow on the uptake tonight.

Mmm, indeed. Kind of like a Jerry Springer "final thought."

Oh yeah, in the episode with Mark Twain. Loved that one (Time's Arrow).

Yeah they mess around with Time Travel quite a bit. THey just can't resist. And they always get in trouble when they do. Silly buggers....

Yes, but don't forget, Capt Picard in the first contact movie said they aren't interested in the acquisition of wealth in the 24th century. They work to better themselves, instead. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Like in the episode A Taste of Armageddon where he delivers a little soliloquy on war?

I can't wait until we have those. "Tea, Earl Grey, hot."

Yes I realized that, lol. Anywho, Bebe Neuwurth, to get back on topic, played Frasier Crane's ex wife, Lilith. She was a nurse in the alien hospital in that episode.

Beats me.

Except that I'm not a right-winger I just watched the Next Gen episode First Contact (on the list above). I love how Bebe Neuwurth says "I'll help you escape, but only if you make love to me. I've always wanted to make love with an alien."