The “blue sky” question lost me. I don;t know what that means.
But I can tell you that the “big three” have long since dropped to the bottom of my list of news sources. Except, of course, when I want to know what Lindsay Lohan is up to.
Hay Doc, you’re a world traveler. Jave you ever watched the British PM in tha House of Commons? I love that format. I dream of Obama being subjected to a true “grilling”.
“Americans basically invented the automobile”
Ummmm…no.
Where does such misinformation originate?
The earliest internal combustion car was made by Siegfried Marcus, in Vienna, in the late 1860s.
Daimler & Benz (who are wrongly credited by Mercedes Benz as the inventors of the internal combustion car) independently displayed their gas-powered buggies in 1885.
On this side of the pond, the Duryea brothers did not produce the first “American” car until 1893.
Henry Ford did not unveil his Quadracycle until 1899, and both Ransom Olds and Alexander Winton produced their cars in the same year.
US inventors came late to this automotive party, in comparison with Austrians, Germans, and–yes–French inventors. While it is true that Americans introduced true mass-production to automotive assembly, it is absolutely untrue that Americans invented the automobile.
And then, we have the question of why so many people see fit to insert the word, “basically”, into every response that they provide.
@asecular Those are the HEADINGS. The articles then go into great detail as to what should be done and what will work. For instance whether we want to or not, outside intervention is necessary in Syria to stabilize the country.
Mountainbike; We toured the British House of Commons last year, but it was summer and parliament was not sitting. The Candian House of Commons works the same way, and yes, during “Question Period”, one hour a week, the goverment gets raked over the coals by the opposition. It’s also broadcast live on the Parliamentary network. If you are ever in the capital, Ottawa, not in the summer, you can attend the proceedings by sitting in the visitor’s gallery.
Every now and then an opposition member gets out of line and has to be escorted out by the Sargent at Arms. But it is nothing like the Italian, French, Korean and Japanese parliaments, where there often fist fights among the congressmen.
The advantage of the system is that the Prime Minister can directly introduce bills and laws and they get discussed right away, and everyone there has a kick at the cat. When the bills are passed they go to the Senate, which usually approves them quickly, often with some minor amendments.
In Britain the House of Lords approves bills already passed by the goverment.
Asecular, I finally figured out the “blue sky” comment. My brain must have been resting that day, as it so often does.
Doc, I love that format, the PM going before the House of Commons.