I think the TPP has mainly failed simply because the political tide has turned against increasing globalization. And that's probably because of rising inequality in Western countries and teh failure of government to spread the benefits of globalization.

Potus, or at least one of his interns, likes Gin Wigmore apparently
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/08/10/listen-president-obamas-summer-playlist

Unfortunately the only journalist with the requisite skillset and drug capacity to even attempt to makes sense of the absolutely terrifying and surreal spectacle that is the RNC has been dead for more than a decade. RIP Hunter S

I remember being a scrawny 5th former at Gisborne Boys High and having a couple of much bigger, older boys stand over me and tell me i was a faggot if i didn't sign. To my credit i didn't.

One area where there is definitely some room for improvement is in the selection of post-match celebration music
http://www.theage.com.au/rugby-union/rugby-world-cup/rugby-world-cup-final-2015-all-blacks-celebrate-by-dancing-to-justin-bieber-song-20151031-gknv7d.html

Saw the film last night - thought it was a good but not a great movie. It seemed pretty faithful to Into Thin Air but lacked something (I'm not quite sure what) to make it really compelling. It didn't get me really emotionally involved - i.e, - I remained dry-eyed during the phone calls between Rob and his wife - which seemed specifically intended to wring tears out of the audience. Saw it at a cineplex in Indonesia and was surprised at the fairly large turnout (American superhero movies and schlocky horrors are big here). I suspect many in the audience thought they were going to get a more traditional alpine disaster style film.

Robbie's hilarious - although he's kind of like a Jon Stewart tribute band.

The view that societies will naturally evolve towards liberal democracy has been pretty widely discredited i thought? Just because thats what happened in western europe over several centuries, because of a variety of unique historical factors, doesn't necessarily mean the same thing will happen in very different circumstances elsewhere. The obvious example is China, which made the transition from a tribal to state-based society about 1,500 years before western europe, but still hasn't experienced anything resembling liberal democracy.