Republican

Trump ‘scary’, Hillary ‘a liar’ – pick your US President

/ Ian Franks / Leave a comment

DJT_Headshot_V2_400x400 HCFront runners: Republican Trump and Democrat Clinton.

Presidential hopefuls in the race to become the Republican party’s candidate in the USA presidential election may have been reduced to three but it is quite possible than none of those three may be the eventual nominee as chosen by the party’s convention.

And, if that seems to make a complete nonsense of the whole system of primaries and caucuses … well, yes it does.

However, if no candidate gains an overall majority of pledged delegate votes in time, the convention will become contested and then, it seems, anything can happen. The chosen candidate may, in fact, be none of those involved in the primaries and caucuses.

Does that strike you as crazy?

Over in the Democrat camp, former first lady, former senator and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has amassed a great deal of delegate support so far but, at the moment, she has not gained enough and rival Senator Bernie Sanders has pulled off some remarkable primary wins to keep up the pressure.

Her biggest problem seems to be her reputation. Because of the controversy surrounding her using her home email server while Secretary of State, she is seen by a large proportion of voters as being untrustworthy. And that is only one of a number of concerns.

Now, as I am British, I don’t feel qualified to comment about the qualities of those currently seeking their own party’s endorsement. However, my wife Lisa was born and raised in New York City, so here are her thoughts:

Republican:

Trump: “I like the fact that he is not a politician but he could and would quickly become one. His arrogance scares me and I think he is a danger to the USA and the world.”

Cruz: “A senator from Texas with a Hispanic name. There never has been a Hispanic president and I don’t believe he is the right guy to break that tradition. He hasn’t got what it takes.”

Kasich: “Who? Oh yes, the Governor of Ohio. His poor results in the primaries show he is not in the running for anything.”

Bernie Sanders.

Bernie Sanders.

Democrat:

Clinton: “I could never, ever vote for Hillary. She may never have been convicted of a crime but I don’t trust her. Added to that, her well-documented flip-flops on various policies on which she claims to have always been ‘consistent’ show she is a liar. While I’d love to see the USA have its first female president, please let it not be her.”

Sanders: “Probably the safest of any of those still in the race for either party’s nomination. Certainly, the least of all evils.”

Looking at the 12 months ahead of us

/ Ian Franks / Leave a comment

genelect queen reign HCFrom left: Spanish party leaders seek coalitions, UK’s Queen Elizabeth II will be 90 in April, Hillary Clinton set to win Democratic nomination but President?

January – now. Spain’s national politicians are trying to put together a coalition to form a government after last month’s general election created a hung parliament for the first time since democracy was restored. They have until January 13 to succeed or a new election will be called. (50shades: It seems no-one wants a second election but to avoid that some tough compromises will need to be made).

March 14 – European Space Agency and Roscosmos plan to launch the joint ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter on a mission to Mars following postponement of original planned launch on January 7. (50shades: Good to see some international cooperation, if it goes ahead this time).

April 21- Queen Elizabeth II of the UK will mark her 90th birthday. (50shades: So many years of service to her country).

May 5 – National Assembly for Wales election (where we lived before moving to Spain). (50shades: There is likely to be a new party in the Assembly after the election with UKIP possibly gaining as many as 10 seats. This could herald the end to Labour’s monopoly on power and mean a return to coalition rule. The only question being: Which parties would be in such a coalition? Most likely Labour/Plaid Cymru/Liberal Democrats).

May 9 – A transit of Mercury will occur when the planet comes between the Sun and the Earth, and Mercury is seen as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun. Full transit will be visible in South America, Eastern North America, Western Europe, and a partial transit everywhere else except Australia and far eastern Asia. (50shades comment: Nothing to get excited about, fairly frequent most recent one was in 2006).

May 12-15 A special celebration will take place in the grounds of Windsor Castle, UK, in celebration of the Queen’s 90th birthday.

June 1 – Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest (35.4 miles) and deepest rail tunnel, is scheduled to be opened in Switzerland. (50shades: The Swiss are good at creating tunnels. This will help trade).

June 10-12 – UK national commemorations to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday.

July 4 – America’s NASA Juno spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter. (50shades: Wait for pictures of Jupiter to fill TV screens and newspapers).

July 18-21 – Republican Party National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. (50shades: Maybe too close to call but, sticking out neck, it will be Ted Cruz as nominated candidate).

July 25-28 – Democratic Party National Convention at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia. (50shades: Hillary Clinton will win the presidential nomination).

August 5-21 – 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (50shades: Expect thrills and spills aplenty plus a scandal or two. Wow, is it really four years since London Olympics?).

September 3 – NASA plans to launch the OSIRIS-REx mission to retrieve a sample from the asteroid Bennu. (50shades: Doubtless it will be a success but what’s the point?)

Sometime in September – China plans to complete the Five hundred metre Aperture Spherical Telescope. (50shades: So China wants its own telescope but will it be any better than what we have now?).

November 1 – Sierra Nevada Corporation plans to launch Dream Chaser, a privately built spaceplane on an unmanned debut mission. (50shades: Sounds interesting).

November 8 – USA presidential election (50shades: Republican candidate, whoever he is, will win).

December 31 – The last remaining American, British and Australian troops ‘will’ withdraw from Afghanistan. (50shades: It won’t happen, there will be a reason why they need to remain).