Realpolitik of the Smoky Skies - The Reboot

[GreekAnalyzer]

I'd like a runoff personally.

 

[Melda]

((Melda Travels, Day 12: Hoi An

Not much to say today.

Went cycling. Didn't notice as a passenger previously how much the lanes are just a guide here.

Wondered why people were burning paper in the street. Turns out there was a festival for the Full Moon.

Picture quality is quite poor at night with my phone's camera but here are some shots of the Full Moon festival.))

 

[Melda]

((Melda Travels, Day 13: Hoi An

Have collected all of our tailor made clothes. Definitely ready to head back home now. The holiday's been good and we're definitely recharged and ready to go back to work. Only now are some things starting to grate on our nerves such as: being considered by the locals to be walking wallets ("you buy!", "please come into my shop!", etc.), the horn honking, the inability to enjoy a meal without a sore throat from someone else's cigarette smoke. Give it a week and these complaints will fade away and be forgotten because we've overwhelmingly had a good trip.

Sitting in a sports bar run by an Australian ex-pat watching the football game on in Queensland. In just under two hours we'll be catching a transfer from our hotel in Hoi An to Da Nang to catch a domestic flight to Saigon, from where we're catching our international flight back home tomorrow afternoon.

Photos for today: an example of the cutely broken English on display in our hotel, an example of the kiddy sized chairs people sit on to enjoy street food and an example of the excellent traffic lights that include a countdown timer to indicate when the next light change is going to occur (an amazing idea that I think should be rolled out universally ; would certainly cut down on frustration / road rage at traffic lights).))

 

[Melda]

Pulian general election, 1822

A general election was held in 1822 to elect seven senators to the Pulian Senate. It was the second general election held in Pulias.

Please note: Senator Bouncy Mischa was not a member of the Pulian Advancement Union but according to the Pulian Electoral Commission many voters considered him to be, therefore in the below information there are two listings: * indicates for that count he is considered to be in the Pulian Advancement Union, ** indicates for that count he is considered to be an independent.


Results of the Pulian general election, 1822

| Pulian general election, 1822||||
|Enrolled voters|28|+7|10 players (+2)|18 POPs (+5)
|Votes cast|68|Turnout|80%|+17.5%
| Summary of votes by party |||
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | Change ██ | Pulian Advancement Union |28.5*/24.5**|41.9*/36**| 3*/2** |+1*/±0**
██ |Pulian Imperial Party|22.5|33.1|2|New
██ | Pulias People's Party |17|25| 2 |+1
| Total | 68 ||+3|

Number of seats versus popular vote

| Party | % of seats | % of votes | Difference (%) ██ |Pulian Advancement Union|42.9*/28.6**|41.9*/36**|+1*/-7.4**
██ |Pulian Imperial Party|28.6|33.1|-4.5
██ |Pulias People's Party|28.6|25|+3.6

Results by city

| Pulian general election, 1822; Pulias ||9 POPs|+4
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % ██ |Pulian Advancement Union|The Honourable Ernest Barnard|14.5 (elected)|40.2
██ |Pulian Imperial Party|Albert Bazil|9.5 (elected)|26.4
██ |Pulias People's Party|The Honourable Gustavus Gurra|8 (elected)|22.2
██ |Pulian Advancement Union|Howard Stevenson|4|11.1

| Pulian general election, 1822; Haven of Peace ||5 POPs|+1
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % ██ |Pulias People's Party|William Melda|9 (elected)|50
██ |Pulian Advancement Union|The Honourable Heerlo Antilles|6 (elected)|33.3
██ |Pulian Imperial Party|Greek Analyzer|3|16.7

| Pulian general election, 1822; Coventry ||4 POPs|±0
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % ██ |Pulian Imperial Party|The Honourable Augustus Absoluti|10 (elected)|71.4
█ █ |Pulian Advancement Union*/Independent**|Bouncy Misha|4 (elected)|28.6
██ |Pulias People's Party|The Honourable Silverman|0***|0

***The Honourable Silverman withdrew his candidacy before the election was held.


Edit: Corrected the record that the candidate Greek Analyzer had left the defunct National Expansion Party and contested the election as a candidate for the Pulian Imperial Party. Also include the vote percentages from the city tables which had been left out.

Second Edit: Renamed 'Magnive' to 'Ernest Barnard' due to the retroactive name change.

Third Edit: Replaced the '+2' in seat count for PIP with 'new' to reflect their status as a new party.

Fourth Edit: Made bold the seat numbers and party names of the parties that formed government in the party summary table.

Fifth Edit: Went through and added the appropriate titles and honourifics (e.g. the Honourable).

Sixth Edit: Instead of just using the numbers with the assumption that Senator Mischa was part of the PAU I've broken it down to two versions: one where he is and one where he's independent

Seventh Edit: Accidentally flubbed the non-Mischa numbers for the seats vs. percentages. Fixed it.

Eighth Edit: Added in 'Absoluti' surname to Augustus due to retroactive name change.

Ninth Edit: Added 'Antilles' surname to Heerlo due to retrospective name change.

 

[Melda]

((Melda Travels, Day 14: Saigon

Our final day in Vietnam.

Might have been a bit hard on the smokers yesterday ; must have just been a coincidence that I got a sore throat while surrounded by cigarette smoke because I have a cold. I'm not a fan. Have cold and flu drugs but because pseudoephedrine is banned from the country I only have the second rate phenylephrine which is not particularly effective.

Didn't get to enjoy business class last night. Either the operator I spoke with at Vietnam Airlines lied or there was a communication problem. Had I known I was paying a lot more just to move my economy ticket a day earlier I would have worn the cancellation fee and rebooked with a low cost carrier like Viet Jet. I previously had a high opinion of Vietnam Airlines.

Really hot in Saigon today; our driver said it was thirty -six degrees Celsius. Somehow we managed to dodge most of the heat this trip.

No photos today.

Waiting in the terminal to catch a flight to Singapore to catch a connecting flight to Sydney then Canberra. Can't wait to have a proper bath and drink tap water again.

Will check back in when I've landed in Australia.))

 

[MiguelBazil]

(( Safe trip Melda, take your time to rest ))

 

[Gurra09]

May I ask how Magnive and Bazil each got half a vote?

 

[GreekAnalyzer]

((Um, I'm in the PIP. Just ask Absoluti)

 

[cpm4001]

((Um, I'm in the PIP. Just ask Absoluti)

Yeah, that looks like an error on Melda's part...don't worry, when tallying the votes you were calculated as being in the PIP .

May I ask how Magnive and Bazil each got half a vote?

One POP split their votes between the two candidates.

 

[Melda]

((writing from Sydney Airport

Wait, what? I thought the NEP was undefunct?))

 

[PortugalPower]

Well, according to the tally, I've got some catching up to do.

 

[cpm4001]

((writing from Sydney Airport

Wait, what? I thought the NEP was undefunct?))

They got redefunct when GreekAnalyzer hopped to the PIP.

 

[Melda]

((Um, I'm in the PIP. Just ask Absoluti)

Yeah, that looks like an error on Melda's part...don't worry, when tallying the votes you were calculated as being in the PIP .

I respectfully send forth my sincerest apologies to Mister Analyzer and the entire Pulian Imperial Party. Please accept my explanation that this was an honest error made in good faith and I have now corrected the record. No disrespect was meant to the Pulian Imperial Party, the National Expansion Party nor the candidate.

((All the stats have now been recalibrated in the tables. I also added in the voting percentages for each city which I had for some reason left off.))

They got redefunct when GreekAnalyzer hopped to the PIP.

((Fair enough. I did notice that on the main page but I assumed it had happened post-election.))

Well, according to the tally, I've got some catching up to do.

((True. However it could be that Senator the Honourable Magnive is so popular he's hogging all the PAU votes. ))

(( Safe trip Melda, take your time to rest ))

((Many thanks. Back home now. It's lunchtime and we've been awake for twenty-four hours. Need to stay awake until nightfall to try and resynchronise our body clocks to this time zone!

Also, I was expecting to report 'oh my god typing on a real keyboard feels AMAZING!' but my I keep getting tongue-tied, but with my fingers. It's very unusual and frustrating. The last two weeks is probably the longest I've gone without daily computer use for . . . well, probably ever. I normally type 100+ words per minute with 98%+ accuracy so I feel really, really clumsy at present. Hopefully that goes away once I'm well rested. ))

 

[MiguelBazil]

((Only got to do this now, I've been trying to reduce my steam library in my spare time, and not an easy feat, considering Cities: Skylines is gonna come out and I might just dump quite a few hours on it

May I ask how Magnive and Bazil each got half a vote?

Our campaign was so powerful, we achieved the ilusive vote fission, one of the greatest misteries of politics. We now have proof that with enough energy spent on a campaign, the collision of ideas can indeed split one vote into two perfect halves. ))

Bazil makes a speech to the population of Pulias:

Spoiler :

People of Pulias, I thank you all for your support, time and dedication, and for taking some of your precious time to vote and showing us what you want. I am filled with joy as I take a seat in the chamber of senators, and to be able to dedicate my work into making our nation bigger and greater.

I want you to know that I do not want only to develop science, but infrastructure and improve the safety of our people. I want to show you that your confidence in my is worthy, and that together we can achieve more, and live better.

Long live our great nation, long live Pulias.

I'd like to also support Augustus proposal.

I'll generate an NPC senator for the seat for the time being

May I suggest contacting our good old senator and prime minister candidate:

Spoiler :

​

He’s very popular with the tinfoil hat crowd.

 

[Melda]

May I suggest contacting our good old senator and prime minister candidate:

 

[Melda]

((While there's not much happening in here at the moment, with the prime ministerial nominations pending and the fate of the seventh Senate seat up in the air, here's something to pass the time for roleplaying purposes.))



Today's edition of the Haven Herald contained the following article:

Historian Makes History: an interview with Senator Melda
by Harland Godwin

It here follows:

Spoiler :

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down and interviewing Senator William Melda, formerly a historian at the local museum and now newly elected Senator for Haven of Peace in his electorate office here in our fair city. I must confess I did not know what to expect; I had never met the man before, although I had of course read about and witnessed some of his speeches on the campaign trail. I did not know whom I would meet: the mild-mannered historian or the fiery attack dog who enlivened the dying days of the recent election with his spirited attacks on the Pulian Imperial Party.

H. Godwin: Before we begin today, Senator, I wanted to congratulate you on winning your Senate seat and thank you for taking the time to speak with me.

W. Melda: Not at all, Mister Godwin; the pleasure's mine.

H.G.: I wanted to ask you something I'm sure some political observers have been wondering: with no prior political experience do you feel you are well equipped and fully prepared to represent the people of Haven of Peace in the Pulian Senate?

W.M.: Well, nobody who ever runs for office for the first time ever has prior experience in it. It's just not possible to already have experience without having held public office. All Senators in the First and Second Senates of Pulias were newcomers to the political scene, and in fact neither of our two Prime Ministers had ever been Prime Minister before they were sworn into high office. So I think it's an absurd proposition and I won't be engaging with it.

H.G.: What about your unusual, you'd have to admit, unusual ascension to your party's leadership in the course of the election campaign. Was that difficult for you, adjusting from your background of party member and candidate to suddenly being thrust into such a senior leadership role?

W.M.: It was a shock when my comrade, the Honourable Silverman withdrew from the contest, and it was a blow to the party, the people of Coventry and to me personally. Taking on the leadership did bring some challenges, but the great thing about the Pulias People's Party is that we are not a traditionally hierarchical party. We have a very flat party structure and employ consensus-based decision making so that every member is intimately involved in all decisions of the party. I feel honoured to have been chosen by the party membership for this role, and I hope I have served them well and continue to serve them well into the future.

H.G.: Was there any awkwardness in taking over a party when the party's founder and former leader had returned? Did this cause any tension?

W.M.: Not at all. It is an honour to work with the great, Honourable Gurra. It is absolutely inspiring to be in the presence of the man who not only single-handedly founded and led this party, but also led the nation as its first modern Prime Minister. His support has been significant and invaluable and it was a massive boon to have him return to Pulias when he did, both for the party and in my opinion for the nation. I cannot thank him enough for all the good work he has done, is continuing to do, and I'm sure will do into the future. And as for leadership speculation . . . as I previously noted, we're just not that kind of party. Leadership struggles simply don't exist, because if there were any questions about the party leadership the membership would deal with it accordingly.

H.G.: On the subject of leadership, some commentators have noted how strange it is to have a member of the upper class lead what is obviously a working-class party.

W.M.: But we're not a working-class party because we're not a class-based party at all. We don't support any class more than the other, we believe in ensuring fairness for all, no matter what class of family you're fortunate enough to be born into. I would also dispute that there are any issues with this, because no-one had any objection when the Honourable Gurra or the Honourable Silverman led the party, and their backgrounds are evidently from the upper class of society. It's clearly not an issue.

H.G.: Is that not proof that perhaps class is an issue? If all of the leaders of your party have all been from the upper class is this not proof that class does matter and that the lower classes are not being fairly represented, if they cannot aspire to leadership of the 'people's' party.

W.M.: No, that's not true at all, and I'm insulted by the insinuation. Any member of the party may put themselves forward for the leadership, and it is only a candidate who has the support of the entire party membership who will lead. The fact that, as you say, the party's membership is largely drawn from the lower classes . . . since they all have an equal say in choosing the leader doesn't that tell you that the leaders are chosen by merit and not by class? Because if the working-class members didn't feel adequately represented by their leadership, they would vote another way.

H.G.: I would like to talk for a moment about your party's proposed 'national railway project'. Is this likely to go ahead, and if so, should it? Some have commented that it is an expensive extravagance whose expense the country can ill afford with the nation's finances as they are.

W.M.: Firstly I'd like to state with absolute conviction that yes, the national railway will be undertaken. It enjoys tripartisan support, in other words unanimous support in the current Senate; it will be done. And as to those who have made those comments. May I say that kind of backwards, flat-earth thinking is unsuited to the modern world and if we listened to those sorts of views we would never have reached this glorious age of steam. The railway will go ahead and it is not a cost, it is an investment. An investment in the country's future. Some people look at the cost of something and see only a price. I think anyone with vision who looks at the project will only see its worth. Connecting the nation will revolutionise life for the better. I dream of the day any citizen can travel from the farthest city to the capital in modern style and comfort. It will boost trade and spread wealth and luxuries all throughout Pulias. What you need to understand is that it's possible to expand the economy and invest simultaneously; you don't have to choose one over the other.

H.G.: There has been some talk about your temperament, namely that you appear to have a quick and volatile temper. Some have said it makes you unsuitable to hold public office as your temper could prove a divisive issue in the Senate and the electorate. Would you care to comment on that?

W.M.: Not really. People are entitled to their views, people whose views you've put forward anonymously I would note; if you believe something strongly enough, you shouldn't be afraid to associate your name with it. I have strong beliefs about this country, where it's been, where it is and where it should be. And I become very passionate about expressing it sometimes. Unless you bring me specific concerns raised by people courageous enough to attach their name to those claims that's all I have to say on the matter.

H.G.: Let us discuss for a moment your mooted 'town hall meeting', the one you promised during the election campaign. Is that going to still happen now you've won enough votes, and was it in fact a fig leaf to provide a cover for not having any concrete policies?

W.M.: The town hall meeting in Haven of Peace will definitely take place but I am waiting until the new government is constituted and sworn in beforehand. There is a lot to organise at the moment. I made the pledge during the election and I will honour that pledge. I am committed to my campaign promises. As for the policies part . . . the national railway, giving the people a say in their involvement with war, pursuing secularism, socialism, cultural policies . . . I could go on. Can we move on from the ridiculous claim that my party did not have any policies, please?

H.G.: Very well. With regard to those policies, what if you are not in a position to implement your preferred policies? What if your party doesn't form government in the Third Senate?

W.M.: If we are not party to government I will petition the government and the Senate to undertake the policies in the platform I was elected to fulfill; my voters would expect nothing less. Also, if my party is unable to form government I would be honoured to constitute the first parliamentary opposition in modern Pulian history; I would hold the government to account and ensure the voice of the voters who put me in the Senate, and the voices of this city and my party membership from all across Pulias are heard. So while obviously I would prefer the possibilities being in government would provide, I would certainly not consider my Senate seat as wasted; all Senators have an important job: to represent their voters and try to shape Pulias for the better.

H.G.: Do you have any ministerial aspirations? Will we soon need to refer to you as 'the Honourable'?

W.M.: Well, Mister Godwin, I won't deny that becoming a minister of the crown in the Pulian government would greatly please me because it would be the most effective way for me to pursue my party's policy objectives. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. Right now it's quite enough to feel honoured by the trust placed in me by the voters who have sent me to the Senate.

H.G.: Speaking of the Senate, quite some time has now passed since the results of the election were declared and we appear to be no nearer to a working government in the Third Senate. Is this because a working government is not possible? Will we be all going back to the polls soon?

W.M.: No, I wouldn't say that at all. These things take time.

H.G.: Do you have any comment on the progress of these negotiations? Whom do you expect to the be the next Prime Minster of Pulias?

W.M.: Again I'd like to say it's perfectly proper and appropriate for these decisions to be made in due course. Nobody wants a rushed Senate which makes rash decisions without due and detailed consideration of all the issues. I am not prepared to comment on any negotiations that might or might not be ongoing until any outcomes are publicly declared. As for the next Prime Minister, I think there are many fine, upstanding candidates in the current Senate. For example we have two former Prime Ministers in our ranks: the Honourable Senators Gurra and Heerlo. So I don't think the Senate will have any problems with ensuring a talented Prime Minister can be selected.

H.G.: But can you confirm that negotiations are ongoing? Can you comment on what outcomes you would like to see?

W.M.: I'm not discussing this further at this stage. Why don't we wait and see what happens?

H.G.: Have you been approached, or have you approached, the Pulian Advancement Union?

W.M.: I'm not prepared to comment on that, Mister Godwin.

H.G.: What about the Pulian Imperial Party? Have you had any discussions with them regarding the formation of government?

W.M.: I've already said I will not be commenting on any negotiations which might be taking place. Can we please move on?

H.G.: Very well. Are you at all concerned that your conduct during the Coventry part of the campaign may have harmed your chances of forming government? The Pulian Imperial Party would clearly not want to work with you after your clashes with them, and the Pulian Advancement Union might have been put off by your abrasive and personal attacks.

W.M.: I'm not going to sit here and say that I'm not worried about any of these things. Of course I am. The fact of the matter is that things get said during campaigns and people get fired up and passionate. But it's in the past; there's nothing I can do to change it now. If I've burned any bridges then so be it: while I obviously will regret that if it's true I'm not going to dwell on it because there's nothing that can be done about it now.

H.G.: Would you be prepared to resign as leader of the Pulias People's Party if it were to better increase your party's chances at forming government and working with the other parties in the Senate?

W.M.: I'm not going to comment on hypothetical scenarios like that, Mister Godwin. Why don't we wait until the next government of Pulias forms before I answer this question?

H.G.: Certainly. But on a related topic, with the evident and obvious hostility between you and the Pulian Imperial Party, especially Senator the Honourable Augustus and Senator Albert Bazil: how will you find yourself working with them in the future, given that their party makes up a not-insubstantial proportion of the new Senate?

W.M.: I don't deny the debate in Coventry with my fellow Senators packed fire, vim and vigour, and I doubt I've made many friends. But just as I recognise I need to work with a party that makes up two-sevenths of the Senate, I think everyone recognises that my party has the same amount of representation so it's best that we all find ways to work together moving forward.

H.G.: During the campaign your pacifist credentials were questioned based on the personal attacks you undertook against the Honourable leader of the Pulian Imperial Party. What do you have to say about this?

W.M.: I believe I addressed this quite adequately and thoroughly in the election campaign, which I am pleased to say is over. And I'm sure I am not the only person to be pleased that the adrenaline-fueled heightened emotional time of the campaign is over.

H.G.: But what about---

W.M.: I have nothing more to say on this matter.

H.G.: But---

W.M.: I have no further comment. Please move on to another question!


For the first time I came face to face with the fiery and thunderous personality lurking below the surface of the apparently calm and measured leader of the Pulias People's Party. I think I had a brief brush with the firebrand the voters of Coventry, and the Pulian Imperial Party representatives in particular experienced a few weeks ago.


H.G.: Just briefly, you released a statement at the end of the campaign where you referred to the possibility of taking legal action against the Pulian Imperial Party, specifically Senator Bazil. Do you feel that is an appropriate use of the judiciary or would you concede that it could constitute an abuse of the judicial system to shut down political debate and therefore impinge upon freedom of speech?

W.M.: Well, clearly no I do not feel it would be appropriate. And I would point out that I did not launch legal proceedings so this accusation is completely baseless. Anyone who read my statement clearly would note that I was in fact doing the opposite of what is being claimed here: despite having legal avenues available to me I chose not to for the good of democracy. Any other reading of this situation is, dare I say it, unhelpful and misrepresenting the truth.

H.G.: Moving on, do you have any comment on the situation with the short-lived senatorial career of the Coventry Senator Bouncy Mischa, specifically the confusion regarding his party membership and the fact he has not chosen to take up his seat in the Senate?

W.M.: I would just like to point out that Senators, like all people, are just as susceptible to suffer from unfortunate personal circumstances which could prevent them from fulfilling their duties. I think the most responsible thing for people to do in these circumstances is step down or resign if their personal circumstances are going to interfere with their ability to carry out their duties. I commend the former Senator for Coventry for recognising that his circumstances were not compatible with his role as a representative of the people of Coventry. Could he and should he have done so in a more timely and official manner? Of course. But I cannot judge someone who clearly has personal and private matters that must be serious enough to prevent him from carrying out his duties and his actions in dealing with them. I wish him all the best and hope that whatever his personal circumstances are that he can deal with them to the best of his ability. Regarding his party affiliation, that's really an issue for the Pulian Electoral Commission and I don't wish to comment on the operations of the statutory authority nor be thought of as interfering with the independence of the office. Should candidates be clearer about their party affiliation and membership? Perhaps, but I will leave those considerations to the diligent and capable members of the electoral commission in whom I have complete and utter faith and confidence.

H.G.: Finally today, how is your family coping with your newfound political status?

W.M.: My wife Anne is always supportive and I am truly indebted to her for the way she has run the household and raised our son while I was out on the campaign trail. She is a dutiful and amazing wife and I don't know what I would do without her.

H.G.: And how is your son?

W.M.: Charles? He's fifteen years old, so not a man yet. He's coped with my absences during the election campaign as well as a good lad can.

H.G.: Any possibilities of him following in your footsteps?

W.M.: Well . . . I doubt it; he's more of an artistic personality rather than an academic. He knows his way around the museum well enough but I think his true passion lies in music. He's an avid performer on the trombone and I wouldn't be surprised if he grows up to be a musician.

H.G.: I actually meant politically.

W.M.: Oh, I'm sorry; I misunderstood. Considering I've had a long academic career before I entered the political sphere I would not be surprised if he has a long and fulfilling career in the arts before he thinks about running for office, if indeed he's even interested in it. Who knows? He might see what it's like for me to do it and decide one Melda in the Senate is enough!


The Senator laughed. And on that note the interview concluded.

So how do I feel about meeting the new Senator for Haven of Peace?

Is he a buttoned-down academic? Or a raging firebrand?

I guess we'll have to follow his career in the Senate and see for ourselves. In any case, by being the first historian to be elected to the Senate he's already made history. We will see what else he makes of it.

 

[Gurra09]

After reading the article on William Melda in the Haven Herald, Senator Gurra wishes to comment on some information stated in the article.

The Pulias People's Party is indeed a party with members whose backgrounds are within different socio-economic classes, but our work is based on the fact that there are power imbalances in our society where the working class suffers a large amount of social and economical injustice and we strive to even out these differences by empowering the less fortunate.

Mr. Godwin also falsely states that all leaders of the Pulias People's Party have come from the upper classes, which just isn't true, and he questions on that basis whether our party is really a party for the people. I myself, to name one PPP leader, come from a family of farmers and my listed occupation as an "Industrialist" does not mean I am in any way part of society's inner circles. Prior to the establishment of our party I was merely working as Chief Engineer at the Pulias Department of Public Works, a position I reached thanks to being able to pursue higher education in spite of my working class background - an opportunity that the Pulias People's Party seek to make possible for all citizens of Pulias to have.

 

[Melda]

((Haha; Mister Godwin dodges a bullet on that one; I misread the player screen so that's on me.

I'll chalk it up to the Senator's first public interview and a detail got flubbed in the heat of the moment. ))

 

[MiguelBazil]

((Hmmmm, I wonder, what about doing these interviews once in a while, to several candidates? It could be an interesting mechanic, or at least add a very good level of role play to the whole thing.

Still reading it all, maybe tomorrow, I was caught in Helmling's awsome story.))

 

[Melda]

((It's a possibility.

As long as no-one gets offended because as you can see above, he doesn't go easy on his interview subjects. ))