I am very sad to hear of Captain Sir Tom Moore's passing, he was a true hero and a beacon of hope when the world needed it.  His passing is also a reminder that vaccines and masks are not only there to protect us but to also protect wonderful people like Captain Sir Tom who could not be vaccinated against COVID.  

@cat I am afraid that you are right in that Russia and Putin will shrug off any sanctions.  I am not advocating sanctions against the people; what might work is international attention and focus on the fate of his democratic opponents and even more likely pressure on the rich oligarchs that rule Russia with Putin as the "Godfather" of the whole criminal syndicate.  If their wealth outside Russia, and there is a lot of it, is frozen or confiscated I think they will move very quickly to undermine and unseat Putin.  The replacement might be beholden to them but if they are committed to some sort of plural democracy there will be a hope for the Russian people.

The snakes, freezing water and scorpions challenge (people can get an allergic reaction to repeated scorpion stings) were cruel and very dangerous.  I watch this show to see some "celebrities" in a different light and to laugh at some silly stunts.  To deliberately inflict pain though and put their lives in danger is not something we want to see. I stopped watching after the freezing water challenge but came back for the elimination challenges and now I feel guilty.

Putin, an ex KGB agent, was furious when the Soviet Union collapsed, considering Gorbachev, the then leader, as a traitor to the country.  He's been secretly and now openly harbouring the ambition of expending Russia to the territories it occupied as a Soviet Union hence the wars with Georgia and Ukraine and the destabilisation of the Crimean region. He has been working tirelessly for the dissolution of the European Union and NATO, aided the last four years by his puppet Trump and a foolish and greedy for power Boris Johnston and the Brexiteers.   

My wife and I LOVE Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.  It makes us laugh, sing along and cry all within one episode.  Each week we are hanging out for the next episode which we watch a couple times but I see that you listed only episodes 5 & 6 only for February!  Is it a mistake or is there a pause in production? The horror.. 

A good summary of the major fails of that failed POTUS. Just his handling of the Pandemic, his corrupt nepotism and his disregard for laws, democratic conventions and rules are enough to mark Trump as one of the worst Presidents ever but I'd like to make a couple more points.

It is a relief that only one person was shot during that coup attempt by Trump ams his supporters. However there is no doubt that if these were BLM protesters there would have been more than 13 arrests and that the number of the dead would have risen by a few dozen.

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were also the founders of neo-liberal economics and the proponents of tax cuts for the wealthy, dismantling government services and reducing public spending and trickle down economics.  Even though George W Bush derided Reaganomics as voodoo economics, they still influence politicians, especially in the English speaking world, including Australia.  They have resulted to the unprecedented wealth for the top 0.1% of the population, degradation of education, public health and other government services, privatisation of money-making government services, ever increasing wealth inequality and insecure jobs.  If it weren't for the fall of the Soviet Union, Reagan would have been competing with Trump for the title of the most destructive president.   

I am upset that the whole state shut down because of a lie but I am also upset by the reaction of the SA Premier - it smacks of scapegoating and vindictiveness.  When the federal government decided not to assist casual workers, overseas students and other temporary visa holders who were stuck in this country with just as few employment opportunities they were many warnings that this populist decision will endanger the whole community.  We saw that in Victoria and now in SA with casual desperate workers clinging on work by any means and becoming sources of infection. That's the real cause of all these "lies" and risk taking behaviour.  Also if that person is thrown the book at them, what's the incentive for any one else who might have missed some facts when talking to contact tracers to own up on their omissions?  Populist politics are often not the right politics and I am disappointed with Premier Marshall.

I find disconcerting that every time Candice talks about her "mistake" the angry Poms keep digging for more details.  Last night she said she found herself in a compromising position and pretty much everyone knows what she was talking about.  However the DS wanted her to spell out what she meant, almost a voyeuristic attitude.  I haven't seen them questioning the others in such detail or even if they did that footage was left in the cutting room.   

The above just reinforces the belief that President Obama was one of the finest men to occupy the office of POTUS.  That Obama was followed by Trump, who went on to get over 70 million votes this year, defies logic. I share Obama's sadness and anger on the Sandy Hook massacre and its follow up.  I did comment that time in the New York Times that Americans seem to love their guns more than their children, a comment that got more than 1600 recommendations by NYT readers - a sign that many Americans feel the same anger as Obama but their toxic political divisions prevent any sensible measures to reduce gun deaths in their country.

All power to Amy Dorris and the 25 other women who have come out over the years exposing Donald Trump as the sexual predator and molester he is but unfortunately I cannot see that making any difference to his chances of re-election.  The whole world heard Trump in his own words confessing that he sexually assaulted women who let him do it because he is a "star" and still 59 million Americans voted for him, dismissing his confession as locker room talk.  I hope that decency prevails this time.

@guest2 Biden has agreed to debate Trump so not sure what are you getting at.  However Biden should have not agreed without Trump agreeing to real-time fact checking of the both Biden's and Trump's claims and an announcement before the end of the debate how many were true or not, something Trump refuses to agree. Trump lies or distorts facts every time he opens his mouth and the American public should find out what lies he will repeat again and again during the debate. He lies so often that he doesn't even look like a liar, he probably believes his own made up "facts" so Biden should not give him a free go. We saw how he behaved during the debates with Clinton, his walking behind her while talking was almost a bullying behaviour. 

As a middle aged male I hoped that the ‘bro code’ was a fossil of times long past by as many of us were challenging it in the 80’s. Unfortunately it’s a beast that cannot be put down - even a self-confessed misogynist gets to lead the most powerful nation. Keep calling up the double-standards but it is up to us men to expose this behaviour.