pap

Why is that necessarily a problem? You and I manage this condition pretty well

Part of Ulster is still in the UK Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan are in the Republic. I know. It was bloody confusing for me too. As a matter of interest, I believe the PC term ( least likely to offend anyone ) is the North of Ireland.

The "war" has been largely over since the Good Friday agreement. There are still hotspots of activity, like Derry. South Armagh is still referred to as bandit country. I was privileged enough to spend three years living and working in County Down - I still go back now. There are very few people who would look to resume hostilities, and there isn't any good reason to. The dissidents can bang on as much as they like about occupation, but the people of Northern Ireland have the right to self-determination. Under the circumstances, that's really the best we could have hoped for. There are underlying concerns about the economy. I think something like 2/3rds of the jobs over there are in the public sector.

Turkeys voting for Christmas. I'm not sure whether it's deference, mindless tribalism or a lack of political ideas of their own. Maybe it's all three.

I know a lot of Trek fans think this, but for me, aren't most enemies in fiction supposed to be defeatable? "Good" must eventually triumph, right? If you're going to introduce a villain, they've got to be beatable if you intend on following the usual tropes. Besides, they did have Seven as an "in" to all of that stuff - which gave their victories an element of plausibility. Also, the Borg were much worse handled in First Contact, imo. Worst execution of a plan ever, plus they personified the Borg by creating the Queen. Part of the terror of the Borg was the impenetrable collective hive mind. That concept sorta gets diluted when you make a Queen 'cos you need an antagonist for a movie - and I think that the TNG movies have as much a part to play in the Borg becoming less scary. Personally, I thought they were scarier when they were an unknowable and quintessentially alien hive mind. The introduction of the Queen kinda made them seem like drones with a leader. Voyager was stuck with that from then on in.

I'd recommend that any Trek fan watches II, III and IV in order. Search for Spock really got slated at the time, but the three films together make an underrated trilogy. Actually a pleasure to see actors so comfy in their roles and just nailing it. Number V is a bit self-indulgent though Uhura's Dance. (shudders)

Thought Raven was a great episode. Isn't that the one where they find her family's old ship? Voyager fleshed out the Borg in the same way that TNG fleshed out the Klingons. Overall, I think they did a good job. Some questionable choices in places, but I probably feel better for having seen them.

Got to say - that's the first one that's even tempted me. Problem is, once you start looking at the various packages it can get pricey. Something like £900 for the full package. Youch.

Try saying that out loud five times in a row. Ain't easy.

I've watched political debates for years, TDD. The characteristics you're observing in the Labour Party are typical of an opposition party. Their default state is to oppose Government-sponsored legislation. There are exceptions, of course - matters of common consensus that a number of parties agree on, but disagreeing with the Government is what they are there to do. That said, that doesn't let them off the hook for not having a coherent plan for the future. The public will judge them on that in 2015. Current lot? Having a plan is only as good as the plan itself, and who it is geared to serve. Our current plan serves our creditors first, and the interests of the public second. Not saying we need to jip them all off, but we need a better balance between debt repayment and wealth creation.

To be fair, I at least qualified my opinion me ol' mucker. Do me the honour of yours. Do you trust David Cameron, and if so, why?

It's one of those things that I keep meaning to watch but am finding the first season a bit sticky. Worth it, in your opinion?

It is tough to see past some of the ropey performances from the leads. Sinclair always gave off a strange vibe and Sheridan can be jarringly upbeat when you first meet him. Can be a bit "speechy" at times too. I remember cringing through a couple of Garibaldi's exposition monologues. Some stunning performances from the other actors though, especially De'lenn, Londo and G'Kar.

Voyager's biggest problem was being on:- a) At the same time as DS9. b) After DS9 had finished. It got a lot better after Seven of Nine joined.

Spot on, and perhaps its a case of my profession informing my opinion here, but I like to change one thing at a time and seeing if it works. These buggers sweep to power and change everything. A good piece of advice for anyone starting a new job is to initially stfu, learn the lay of the land and then make constructive suggestions for improvement where you can demonstrate it'll work. If only ministers followed that advice, eh? Again, aimed at the lot of them.

What an entirely depressing prospect. I can see why you might think so. The two largest parties have no interest in changing the voting system to allow new parties a chance to flourish. On a very practical level, you might be right. Still, that is a far cry from saying that those three parties represent the universal set of of politics in this country. We've got UKIP, we've got proper socialists, far right racial purists, etc. Some might argue that it's a good thing that these parties are kept out of power by the system. Personally, I think it's counterproductive. It perpetuates the continuum of the big three parties, leaves people that they have very little choice and don't have a voice, which goes some way to explaining the apathy we see today. The truth is that under any sort of proportional electoral system, majority governments would probably be a rare thing. You can't take the composition of Parliament as an accurate indicator of public opinion. You need a popular vote for that. If you divided those votes up proportionately, UKIP would have 20 seats in Parliament. Right now, they have zero. If these parties are the only game in town, the game is rigged. I don't trust the inner core of the Conservative Party at all, Lord D. I was honestly prepared to give them a go out of a sense of grudging acceptance and the hope that the coalition might achieve something. Two years on, and they're failing on all fronts. For the first year, all "coalition" meant to the Tories was having some Lib Dems to take the brunt of public opinion after unpopular decisions. The Lib Dems certainly didn't help themselves by promising every man and his dog the moon on a stick. They have broken pre-election promises such as no top down reorganisation of the NHS. They are now pursuing this despite this being the very opposite of their manifesto. I believe that they are looking to privatise the NHS on the quiet. They've been in with the Murdochs from the start, laid off a load of public sector workers, forced benefit claimants to work for nowt at TESCO. They've also missed their economic targets continuously, and safeguards like the "Office for Budget Responsibility" are just convenient excuses to get out of criticism. "Don't blame us. The independent ORB forecasted these figures". I've watched his performances on PMQs. They're alright in a "bloke down the pub does a bit of quippery", but nasty asides have increasingly become his get-out for too many difficult questions. Entirely absent during the UK riots too. He does know how to play to a crowd. A demagogue sans the violence, but fear and resentment are the tools he's choosing to employ. This dragnet approach will undoubtedly catch some people who are genuinely taking the michael, but it'll also create massive social problems and a generation of kids that are ruined because their old dear made a bad decision at a young age. I'm not against welfare reform, but it needs to be a whole lot smarter than this. Arbitrary rules like "no housing benefit for under 25s" might be easy for Joe Public to understand, but its pretty grim news for the 23 year old that has worked his whole life and falls on hard times. Plus there are loads of other areas the government could be looking at outside welfare reform or within it, such as where their housing benefit money is really going, and how they might prevent that.

Ah, you'll have to forgive me. I was giving the ol' "terse sniping without really contributing" a go. I quite like it. Think you may be onto something here

Yeah, Firefly is a great show - it's only problem was being aired on the rather skittish Fox Network of the day, so was mishandled and cancelled. Would definitely recommend it to anyone yet to see it. Establishes itself slowly, but hits a run of episodes where each one seems better than the last. Serenity is a satisfying conclusion, but I wish we had more. Colinjb is right about the final season of Galactica. I really dug the ending, and to be fair to the writers, they kept the tension up throughout - even if the plot meandered into some weird places.

They would have it spot on if:- 1) there were jobs to go to 2) those jobs paid people enough to live independently 3) they weren't already paying Housing Benefit to working people under 25 4) they have a decent and well run assessment scheme to determine whether someone is at risk by returning home (wonder how much that'll cost) 5) that there is even a family room available ( according to the Guardian article, this government legislated to force parents in council accommodation to downsize after their kids have left the roost ). Loads of other families downsize for different reasons.

I'm not making that out at all, and you've pulled this line before. I agreed that perspective was important. That said, someone else also made the point that everything is relative. Most people will not be comparing the quality of their life to malnourished Africans. They'll be comparing it to how it was before. Aside from those benefiting from the 50% tax cut and they-who-must-be-paid, who else has the government helped out? What have they done to make things better? People aren't going to go the polls in 2015 and announce "I am not a starving African, therefore I'll vote Conservative". The government will be assessed on their performance here.

I'm a massive fan of Star Trek, particularly Deep Space 9. Excellent performances, and was very interesting to see characters have a go at each other. Currently on a limited re-watch, taking in the Mirror Universe and Dominion Arc episodes. Never done anything as geeky as go to a convention though. I am done with Star Wars. Can't stand the prequels or the fact that Lucas keeps mucking about with the originals (see redlettermedia.com for some superb SF reviews ). The Darth Vader Noooooo bolox on the BluRay was the final straw The best recent sci-fi show I've seen is probably the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. Bloody hard to watch at times, yet always compelling - couldn't take my eyes off it. Incredibly brave television. All time favourite sci-fi show has to go to Babylon 5. First and last seasons were a little bit dodgy in parts, but what a middle. Just didn't let up, dealt with massive themes, had some massive holy sh*t moments and by the end of it all, resolved all of its own questions. Bit dated now, so it'll take you a few episodes of acclimatising to relatively crap special effects - but it is still genius. Fave recent sci-fi film is District 9.

I'm not quite sure why you continue to try the Labour Party angle, Lord D. Don't you find it a bit limiting? Don't get me wrong - you might get a few card-carrying Labour members to froth at the mouth a little, but it is really an effective defence of your ideas when you're debating with someone like myself, who essentially believes that all three parties are ineffective neo-liberals who put artificial concepts like the financial system ahead of the welfare of its citizens. You fittingly made a football analogy earlier on. Allow me to reciprocate. You're trying to taunt me with the poor performance of a "team" I do not support. Even better, the "last Labour government", surely your biggest stick in any politics debate, are a government I have strongly criticised. One of their leaders is a war criminal. The other was a two-faced bully who spent too much of his time trying to get the war criminal out, and may have been complicit in war crimes himself. I'm not entirely sure you can call that unqualified support, Lord D. Whatever. If you want to distil politics down to three neo-liberal parties replete with career politicians, that's your business. Personally, I think politics is a bit broader than that. You do yourself a disservice with the oft-repeated "what about Labour" routine. I know trousers is a fond advocate of this particular tactic, but I get the sense he (ahem) gets caught up in the heady brew of SWF banter and is not always offering it up as the coup de grace in a crushing victory over the lefties. If we continue to view politics through the prism of different coloured neo-liberal glasses, we're f**ked. All of them believe in a financial system that leaves countries in perpetual debt. All of them prioritise the management of those debts and/or big business over the rights of their citizens. Is it any wonder that people are apathetic about politics when their choices essentially boil down to what colour tie the PM wears and no matter who gets in, we're f**ked anyway?

You're right. We can't judge him on one month. We borrowed £150bn more than budgeted in 2011, unemployment has sky-rocketed under his economic vision, the country is in recession and things look to be getting worse.

I'd add:- Plans to rebuild broken Britain completely f*cked. Two billion over budget this month. EDIT: It's actually three billion (more than we spent in the same month last year)

You actually lost me when you said that the Conservatives were the least worst option.