Perspective:"It's a matter of perspective. The thing with regret is this, Bill...yes, as a father you were a bit of a dickhead at times, but you treated the kids pretty well over all. No violence, no horror. Sure, the absences were too long. You failed at things you didn't want to fail at, sure, and your kids don't like you much at all, but that's not unusual. You should put down the regret for awhile. Don't worry, when you miss it, you can pick it up again. Remember that if you were a great Dad, the world being the random entity it is, for all you know, while driving the kids to Disneyland, you all could have been slaughtered by a truck driven by another happy Dad driving fast to bring home gifts to his happy kids. That kind of thing happens a lot to perfect parents."

as a police detective in China, noted: "it is easy for some artist to run away and complain about us, and sell his paintings in new york. it is much harder for me to do that, as i have a responsibility to catch murderers and rapists here, and it takes up all my working time. Nothing is perfect, but I will catch them."

The Hong Konger protesting folk are slowly realising their place in China...that no matter what they do, Beijing will not do anything. Beijing granted HK autonomous status, and they have it. If they wish to destroy HK in a fit of wanting to be someone else, they can. They can bankrupt their parents, destroy buildings, break the laws, destroy the economy, and nothing will happen...except they will be worse off than they were. They are most upset, not about democracy, but the simple fact that Mainland China is growing exponentially more wealthy than they are.

Australia from the air - stunning footage by the ABC's drone pilots | AB...

Friend living in Hong Kong who owns a small shop. "I carry a machete and a small ax in my car now in case stopped by violent pro-democracy people ordering me to keep my shop shut and to go home. I'm not going to do that".

Looking at the Brexit thing...well, yes, it will happen soon and things will just go on, or change, as they normally do to deal with change. People will do this, and do that etc. Nothing very interesting. The UK is not a dynamic or interesting 'thing' to anyone outside it, nor to a lot of people in it. That won't change. Grist for the mill of history. Kingdoms naturally die...it may well be what Kingdoms do best.

ah, El Paso...Ah, America, almost daily mass shootings. I don't know if we can expect any better from a country whose greatest achievements are Country & Western Clog Dancing, Agent Orange, and Wrestlemania. If they build a wall, hopefully it will be thick and high enough to keep them all in.