Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 5]

[Scrump]

Continued from here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[V8mate]

Why did all this stuff happen on this rock in space? Is any of it real?

I mean, what even is 'real'?

[SpeckledJim]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

That wouldn't be possible under our party system. In the UK, the electorate chooses the party that will form a government and then the party appoints members of the party to positions of power, including Prime Minister. That's why it was so ridiculous people going on about Gordon Brown being "the unelected Prime Minister" because no PM is elected.

I don't think that's quite true. The leader of the party which has been invited by the Queen to form the government by convention would appoint him or herself Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister appoints the other ministers, but I don't think there's any actual requirement for those ministers to be members of his or her party, or even members of parliament.

Happy to stand corrected.

[Ayahuasca]

What prevents an engine running backwards?

Not as in reverse, I mean as in the crankshaft moving clockwise when it should go anti-clockwise or vice versa.

Is is just the way it is spun on start-up ?

Can a normal engine be run the wrong way?

[Roofless Toothless]

SpeckledJim said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

That wouldn't be possible under our party system. In the UK, the electorate chooses the party that will form a government and then the party appoints members of the party to positions of power, including Prime Minister. That's why it was so ridiculous people going on about Gordon Brown being "the unelected Prime Minister" because no PM is elected.

I don't think that's quite true. The leader of the party which has been invited by the Queen to form the government by convention would appoint him or herself Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister appoints the other ministers, but I don't think there's any actual requirement for those ministers to be members of his or her party, or even members of parliament.

Happy to stand corrected.

I cannot recall ever having been asked to vote for the party I think should form a government. All I have ever done is choose which candidate I think should represent my constituency in the House of Commons.

[V8mate]

Roofless Toothless said:

SpeckledJim said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

That wouldn't be possible under our party system. In the UK, the electorate chooses the party that will form a government and then the party appoints members of the party to positions of power, including Prime Minister. That's why it was so ridiculous people going on about Gordon Brown being "the unelected Prime Minister" because no PM is elected.

I don't think that's quite true. The leader of the party which has been invited by the Queen to form the government by convention would appoint him or herself Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister appoints the other ministers, but I don't think there's any actual requirement for those ministers to be members of his or her party, or even members of parliament.

Happy to stand corrected.

I cannot recall ever having been asked to vote for the party I think should form a government. All I have ever done is choose which candidate I think should represent my constituency in the House of Commons.

That's a particularly pedantic claim.

[The Mad Monk]

Ayahuasca said:

What prevents an engine running backwards?

Not as in reverse, I mean as in the crankshaft moving clockwise when it should go anti-clockwise or vice versa.

Is is just the way it is spun on start-up ?

Can a normal engine be run the wrong way?

The timing would be all wrong.

However some engines can, and do, run in reverse.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Roofless Toothless said:

I cannot recall ever having been asked to vote for the party I think should form a government. All I have ever done is choose which candidate I think should represent my constituency in the House of Commons.

Technically true, although a little disingenuous. In a General Election the vote you cast is for the party that will form a government in addition to that, and the two are inextricably linked.

[Roofless Toothless]

V8mate said:

Roofless Toothless said:

SpeckledJim said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

That wouldn't be possible under our party system. In the UK, the electorate chooses the party that will form a government and then the party appoints members of the party to positions of power, including Prime Minister. That's why it was so ridiculous people going on about Gordon Brown being "the unelected Prime Minister" because no PM is elected.

I don't think that's quite true. The leader of the party which has been invited by the Queen to form the government by convention would appoint him or herself Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister appoints the other ministers, but I don't think there's any actual requirement for those ministers to be members of his or her party, or even members of parliament.

Happy to stand corrected.

I cannot recall ever having been asked to vote for the party I think should form a government. All I have ever done is choose which candidate I think should represent my constituency in the House of Commons.

That's a particularly pedantic claim.

Its true, though, isn't it? I suppose my somewhat cynical pedantry comes from having spent years voting for the losing party.

[V8mate]

Roofless Toothless said:

V8mate said:

Roofless Toothless said:

SpeckledJim said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

That wouldn't be possible under our party system. In the UK, the electorate chooses the party that will form a government and then the party appoints members of the party to positions of power, including Prime Minister. That's why it was so ridiculous people going on about Gordon Brown being "the unelected Prime Minister" because no PM is elected.

I don't think that's quite true. The leader of the party which has been invited by the Queen to form the government by convention would appoint him or herself Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister appoints the other ministers, but I don't think there's any actual requirement for those ministers to be members of his or her party, or even members of parliament.

Happy to stand corrected.

I cannot recall ever having been asked to vote for the party I think should form a government. All I have ever done is choose which candidate I think should represent my constituency in the House of Commons.

That's a particularly pedantic claim.

Its true, though, isn't it? I suppose my somewhat cynical pedantry comes from having spent years voting for the losing party.

I didn't say it wasn't true. Just that it was a pedantic rather than incisive contribution to the conversation.

ETA: We all vote for the wrong party - because whoever we vote for we just get 'the government'

[vonuber]

Is it me or are summers getting hotter and hotter.

[Halmyre]

The Mad Monk said:

Ayahuasca said:

What prevents an engine running backwards?

Not as in reverse, I mean as in the crankshaft moving clockwise when it should go anti-clockwise or vice versa.

Is is just the way it is spun on start-up ?

Can a normal engine be run the wrong way?

The timing would be all wrong.

However some engines can, and do, run in reverse.

I think two-stroke engines can run backwards - or some of them. Supposedly there was a micro-car that you had to stop the engine and start it the other way to get reverse.

[captain_cynic]

V8mate said:

Why did all this stuff happen on this rock in space? Is any of it real?

I mean, what even is 'real'?

I can't speak for everyone, but I'm a figment of your twisted imagination.

[MartG]

Halmyre said:

The Mad Monk said:

Ayahuasca said:

What prevents an engine running backwards?

Not as in reverse, I mean as in the crankshaft moving clockwise when it should go anti-clockwise or vice versa.

Is is just the way it is spun on start-up ?

Can a normal engine be run the wrong way?

The timing would be all wrong.

However some engines can, and do, run in reverse.

I think two-stroke engines can run backwards - or some of them. Supposedly there was a micro-car that you had to stop the engine and start it the other way to get reverse.

Big marine diesels do this - though they are designed to alter the timing when they go into reverse

[P-Jay]

SpeckledJim said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

That wouldn't be possible under our party system. In the UK, the electorate chooses the party that will form a government and then the party appoints members of the party to positions of power, including Prime Minister. That's why it was so ridiculous people going on about Gordon Brown being "the unelected Prime Minister" because no PM is elected.

I don't think that's quite true. The leader of the party which has been invited by the Queen to form the government by convention would appoint him or herself Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister appoints the other ministers, but I don't think there's any actual requirement for those ministers to be members of his or her party, or even members of parliament.

Happy to stand corrected.

Yeah, I think it's actually possible.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I've got this idea / memory that Tony Blair offered a Cabinet position to a Conservative during his first term, but they turned it down.

[RammyMP]

vonuber said:

Is it me or are summers getting hotter and hotter.

July wasn’t. It was crap.

[StevieBee]

P-Jay said:

SpeckledJim said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

That wouldn't be possible under our party system. In the UK, the electorate chooses the party that will form a government and then the party appoints members of the party to positions of power, including Prime Minister. That's why it was so ridiculous people going on about Gordon Brown being "the unelected Prime Minister" because no PM is elected.

I don't think that's quite true. The leader of the party which has been invited by the Queen to form the government by convention would appoint him or herself Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister appoints the other ministers, but I don't think there's any actual requirement for those ministers to be members of his or her party, or even members of parliament.

Happy to stand corrected.

Yeah, I think it's actually possible.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I've got this idea / memory that Tony Blair offered a Cabinet position to a Conservative during his first term, but they turned it down.

It's possible and happened recently - the coalition government.

There's no obligation to form a coalition - that's the choice of the party with the most seats compared to others. Cameron could have decided to form a minority government with just the conservatives but the risk is that you get nothing done as you don't get the votes you need on the bills you put forward so it's better bring another party into government and agree between yourselves what bits of each party's manifesto you're going to back.

[StevieBee]

V8mate said:

Why did all this stuff happen on this rock in space? Is any of it real?

I mean, what even is 'real'?

A near infinite number of independent physical actions timed to such coincidentally timed perfection as to be beyond fathomable. Attempting to make the unfathomable, fathomable has divided man since we first started to think about it.

[V8mate]

RammyMP said:

vonuber said:

Is it me or are summers getting hotter and hotter.

July wasn’t. It was crap.

Exactly. Couple of warm days and people think the planet's dying. I still vividly remember summer 1976 - three months of heat!

[Exige77]

V8mate said:

RammyMP said:

vonuber said:

Is it me or are summers getting hotter and hotter.

July wasn’t. It was crap.

Exactly. Couple of warm days and people think the planet's dying. I still vividly remember summer 1976 - three months of heat!

Yes, it was absolutely boiling and 1977 wasn’t much better either.