Liechtenstein, a country of only 40,000–50,000 people, manages to sustain five political parties, countering the argument that Malta's small size necessitates a two-party system.
Where this was said
At 26:10 · chapter starts 22:10
With First Past the Post and the French model as contrasts, the hosts turn to Malta's own system. Jon walks through an STV ballot: you rank candidates 1, 2, 3 across parties — Labour first, Nationalist second, a third party third. When your first preference is elected with surplus votes, those extras transfer down your list. When your first preference is eliminated, your vote moves to your second choice. The Droop quota determines how many votes are needed to win a seat. Theoretically this ensures almost no vote is wasted and diverse preferences are reflected in parliament. The problem, David argues, is that most Maltese voters vote straight down one party's list, effectively treating STV as a party-list system. The Ferrari sits in the garage.
Malta's STV system divides the country into 13 districts each electing 5 MPs, totalling 65 seats under normal conditions.
A total of 8 states have filed lawsuits against social media platforms, including an ongoing case in Tennessee, using product liability and public nuisance theories to seek accountability.
France built 56 nuclear plants in the 1970s and now has the cheapest energy in Europe, making it independent of Russian or Middle Eastern energy geopolitics.
Estonia has a single tax form, a law preventing the government from asking citizens for the same information twice, and a flat rate of tax — enabling competitive taxation.
Portugal's Lisbon, once a city with a major heroin problem, legalised drugs and redirected enforcement spending into rehabilitation and housing, dramatically reducing crime.
The first Boland Amendment banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras passed the House unanimously — yet the Reagan administration ignored it.
Over just two years, Saudi Arabia alone donated $32 million to the Contra rebels, giving loosely affiliated factions millions they had no way to spend on arms.
The National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty raised $6.3 million for the Contras but only $3.3 million reached them — a shockingly low 52% program expense rate.
Richard Secord and Albert Hakim marked up their arms shipments to the Contras by as much as 300%, making enormous personal profits from the covert operation.
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, tapped to run the entire covert Contra support operation, had no prior experience in covert operations whatsoever — he was learning as he went.
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