Get Cameron out

It should be a simple task. Thousands of tellers counting local votes by hand, and a final tally in one single night. Shouldn't be too much trouble for a bastion of democracy, should it?

1. Why are presidential elections not direct elections? Would you rather they were?

2. Why are voting machines used in preference to low-tech methods like a ballot paper and pencil?

3. If there is a change of president, why is the transfer of office to the new president not immediate?

4. Why are Democrats and Republicans the only parties who can realistically win?

5. Why is the electoral process so protracted?

After being diagnoses with gallstones, I had an ERCP to remove a bile duct stone and fit a stent. I tolerated that ERCP, just about. I then had my gallbladder removed. I later got an obstructive jaundice. My gallbladder's final gift was some 20 or so stones in the bile duct.

A 2nd ERCP was performed to remove them, and the stent. I couldn't stand it and I was banging the table and trying to remove the endoscope. It felt like the doctor was ripping my insides out. He terminated the ERCP early to save me from the discomfort, leaving me with a new stent and 4 stones, to remove in a 3rd ERCP.

Can I have a general anaesthetic instead of that "sedation"? I really don't want to endure that again.

A handful of English towns have held a referendum on moving from a council/committee type governance to an elected mayor and cabinet style.

It seems odd that one complaint of the old system was that the council elected its own leader from its own ranks, rather than the public choosing. Then, when given the chance, who do the public elect? The former council leader!

After 47 local referendums on introducing the post of elected mayor, 34 towns rejected it in favour of the status quo. Stoke-on-Trent, having introduced the post in 2002, scrapped it in 2008.

Recently, in a day of 11 mayoral referendums, 10 of them resulted in rejection of elected mayors, with only Bristol voting in favour.

The question is, if Bristol wanted in future to scrap the post, how can it do it? Someone tells me that it is now virtually impossible thanks to the Localism Act 2011. I am not convinced this is the case and think that a referendum of the type that introduced the post can be used to scrap it.

Can someone clarify what procedure and legislation would be needed?

In some languages like French, it is normal to prefix the names of all countries with "le", "la" or "l'", effectively calling a country "The......."

In English it used to be common to use the definite article for certain countries and places. The Ukraine. The Lebanon. The Congo. The Philippines. The Gambia. The Netherlands. Now some people insist that the "the" be dropped. Why? Who said so? Did these countries dictate it or did it just become common in print media to do this?

Suppose there was an impressive supply of gold, silver and platinum on Mars or the Moon or wherever. Could it be worthwhile exploiting it if the Earth exhausts its own supplies?

So, there was a budget of £1.5m for Diamond Jubilee stewarding. A company was asked to provide stewards. It did so. Many of them were unemployed people working for no pay, made to change in the street, and sleep under London Bridge. Where did the money go? It turns out the company used had, last year, only £1,300 cash in the bank, a terrible looking balance sheet, and a director with a record of dissolved companies.

We are told the money went on coaches, boots and hi-vis vests. For that much? Pull the other one. Now this company is going to be working on the Olympics!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18338724

http://companycheck.co.uk/company/05750805

The British government's antics are not unique in the world right now. Pointless austerity measures, putting people on the dole, then calling them scroungers and cutting their benefits. Driving down demand, stifling growth, and having to borrow more than ever. The race to the bottom is under way - unemployed people forced to work for free and sleep under London Bridge. How long can this nonsense go on for?

This area of London must have had a name before Queen Victoria, so what was it? Where bits of if tagged on to others districts which have retained their names, like Plimlico, or did the whole area have a different name? Pointers to historic maps would help. Thanks.

Do you like the sound of four men harmonising a cappella?

Have you audition for BGT?

On the live semi finals and the final, each act gets 2 minutes. In the auditions, if you have a song longer than 2 minutes, should you cut it down and maybe pick it up in the middle, or would you be allowed to sing the whole song?

I noticed Paul Potts in series 1 sang Nessun Dorma and was allowed to sing it through, even though the whole song is a bit longer than the 2 minutes you get in the live shows.

Had ERCP to remove CBD stone and had stent placed.

Had cholecystectomy. No follow up ERCP and un-stenting yet.

Is it normal to still get colic type pain at this point?

The last Labour government kicked off the move from ceremonial mayors to elected ones with some clout, taking over the role of the council leader. With the exception of the Mayor of London, the second largest directly elected office in Europe, after the president of France, are these mayoralities absolutely necessary?

Many towns are voting today on whether to introduce the new post, or are voting for the first time for a new mayor. Some places, such as Rotherham, are seeking to scrap the position.

Should we have elected mayors or not?

Employment Services will pay for jobseekers to travel to interviews out of town. For the purposes of that scheme, do auditions count as interviews?

I know that these still exist; Cunard runs the QM2 on the transatlantic route, but it is to appeal to a luxury market.

What about a passenger liner running something like an "EasyJet" type service on the sea?

I realise ships use phenomenal amounts of fuel and are significantly slower than aircraft, but suppose something like the Icelandic volcano happened again? Eruptions can go on for a long time. Last time it kept air traffic grounded for several days. Suppose it went on for weeks, months, or even years? Or if aviation fuel ran dry? At least we know there are multitudes of ways of fuelling a ship.

I know Eastenders is famed for its gloom, gangland killings, and incompetent police investigations, but has it gone too far, now that another victim has been claimed (Heather Trott)?

We rarely see proper judicial punishments for criminals in Albert Square. We see botched investigations like that into Archie Mitchell's death, where the wrong man was suspected and hounded to death, and many of the characters still think it was him. We have seen Janine get away with murder. We have also seen her fitted up with the wrong murder so that she is seen to be paying for something, even if the crime is the wrong crime.

Now Phil has helped cover up the fact his son murdered Heather. Shouldn't Eastenders, for once, have made Phil say "sorry son, you killed someone and you have to face up to what you did and take responsibility for it"?

Without this, the message seems to be "do what you like, and maybe you will get away with it."