-TSS-

I could understand the argument in favour of FPTP if it really every time guaranteed a single-party majority but as was in the case of Canada in 2006 and 2008 as well as in the UK in 2010 it even doesn't every time result in one party winning the majority which is really the only credible argument in favour of the system whereby the votes cast translates into seats in a totally capricious manner.

I know it's a question of political culture and what you are used to but I still can't get my head around that some people actually defend the FPTP-system whereby the outcome of the election can be grossly unfair or even capricious compared to the actual votes cast only because of totally arbitrary divisions into constituencies, or ridings as I have noticed you call them in Canada. In 2005 in Britain Labour received 55% of the seats while gaining 35% of the votes and therefore had an absolute majority to do as they pleased.

There have been breakdowns and downfalls of entire civilisations especially on your continent. However, I wonder has there ever been a downfall of a civilisation because the very civilisation belittles itself into oblivion, which is what is happening in Western-Europe.

I must say I do agree with you on this one; Many people who have made a claim to have no religion are keeping a bit too much noise about their choice anyhere and everywhere.

I think we all agree that if anyone wants to believe in a sky-fairy it is his or her private busines as long as that him or her don't start imposing that medieval superstitious claptrap on people who are not willing to receive it not to mention acting acting aggressively against such people.

The problem with Ukraine is that with its present-day borders it is a completely artificial country. Hence the civil war. Do you really think the so-called separatists are some kind of terrorists as the west likes to paint them as? If they were how could they control just a large territory?

The pictures I have seen are mostly tacky, tasteless and simply stupid. However, to use that as an excuse to accept or at least understand attacks such as this one and the one in Paris is bordering on cowardice. The apologists for muslims surely inadvertently infantilisize the muslims by depicting them like people who just can't help themselves. Like little children or retards or any other group who can not be held responsible for their actions. Therefore the responsibility falls on you not to provoke them. A similar logic such as if you tease a dog and as a result the dog bites you. Your fault entirely; you shouldn't have teased the dog.

What's this thing about them hating to be referred or called as Daesh or something similar? As a result everyone who hates them calls them just that.

The whole world will gradually become secular. The so-called western world already is and even though it is very hard to believe today I have no doubt that in 50-100 years time countries such as Saudi-Arabia, Iran or any muslim-country will be as secular as our countries are today; religion will mean next to nothing for the vast majority of the population.

The Greek exit from the euro is inevitable. The later they leave it the more painful it will be. Had they done it already in 2010 they would by now be on a growth path.

How large a percentage of votes in Canadian elections are so called wasted votes? Meaning votes for unsuccesful candidates.

The astonishing thing is how the western propaganda has sunk in so uncritically regarding the Ukraine crisis.

There could be an independent Palestinian state but there will never be a partition of Jerusalem. That is the main obstacle to peace.

A strange co-incidence that this ISIS of which no-one had heard of before crops up right after the British parliament refuses to give green light to interference in the Syrian civil-war.

I will support any religion which gives as much holidays as possible.

The thing with FPTP is that as long as the two main parties get a combined share of over 90% of the votes the system works just fine. As soon as there is a third or a fourth strong party election results under FPTP become very capricious.

Partition seems to be the only peaceful way out of the crisis.

There has been enough trouble in the past centuries because of one desert religion. Fortunately most of the followers of that said religion have turned secular and don't care about the religion at all. The least thing we need is another desert religion and hopefulness that most of its followers become secular too.

I have a couple of Kurds as work-mates and although they are nominally muslims they really don't give two hoots about religion. They don't observe ramadan, they don't observe any praying times nor are they away half a day every Friday. The point I'm trying to make that every sensible person knows that ordinary muslims have nothing to do with islamic terrorism. Hence the irritation about whinging about islamophobia at every turn.

Another problem with the FPTP-system apart from that it results in unrepresentative election-results is that all too often those single-seat constituemcies are very arbitrarily or more likely suitably drawn. I know that in the USA those boundaries are in many cases terribly gerrymandered but can you in Canada trust the boundary-commission or whatever authority you have which redraws the boundaries of the constituencies following changes in the population that they are absolutely objective and impartial?

This collective victimhood is the thing which gets to anyone's nerves. Newsflash for every muslim and every muslim-huggers: Almost nobody thinks that all muslims are terrorists. All the more reason to get irritated about the whinging and whining about rising islamophobia after every event of islamic terrorism.

A bit obsolete as a statement as at least in European catholic countries such as Spain, Italy and Portugal etc the birth-rate has been very low for years, which indicates that religion no longer plays a significant role in people's lives. Even in countries such as Ireland and Poland where abortion is banned pregnant women just travel to neighbouring countries to get abortion.

There is nothing bad about people shedding the shackles of superstition. Christianity and islam can be compared in ways that a couple of hundred years ago in Europe if you said that religion is rubbish you were hanged. With islam they are still at that stage. Hopefully they will catch us a bit faster.

I could be mistaken to think that HK as a former British territory and even today's major financial centre that even though the city is Chinese it also practically functions in English and you don't have to worry about getting by in English. Nothing could be further from the truth.

New Zealand moved away from FPTP 20 years ago and adopted PR-system and it entered an era of coalition-politics. Many people have not been satisfied with the change but there was a referendum a couple of years ago whether to move back to the FPTP but the people wanted to stay with the PR. Their problem, as I see it, that they have a mixed system whereby there are still single-member constituencies and then there are list-MP's to ensure the proportionality of the outcome of the election. Needless to say that such a system creates two-tier MP's with different levels of idea of having received a mandate.