Small comparison between Starfleet Ranks:
Next Generation era and modern Terran militaries,
by way of Babylon 5

Starfleet ranks in apparent order as shown in "The Next Generation",
showing position of Command (1) above Engineering (2) and Science (3),
from Captain to Crewman, not including Petty Officer:

Captain

Commander,1

Lt-Commander,1

Commander,2

Lieutenant,1

Lt-Commander,2

Commander,3

Lt. (junior grade),1

Lieutenant,2

Lt-Commander,3

Ensign,1

Lt. (junior grade),2

Ensign,2

Lieutenant,3

Lt. (junior grade),3

Ensign,3

Crewman (1+2)


However, the above ranks do not incorporate 'Petty Officer';
of which there are several grades in SF all or some of which
are apparently equivalent to the 'commissioned' ranks.

The above system is also slightly contradictory and adds
confusion between which ranks are commissioned and which
aren't as, for example,an Ensign must serve two years before
being promoted to Lieutenant, but must stay at junior grade
level for a further three years.

This is similar to the promotion structure in the
non-commissioned ranks of many Earth armies, with Starfleet
Lieutenant being roughly equivalent to a senior
Non-Commissioned or Warrant Officer.

Promotion in the Command and Medical Fields also requires further
training as well as promotion though merit. For example, Troi had
to pass a series of Officer training tests to be promoted to full
Commander.

All Ranks below, in order, in comparison with EFMC
ranks Babylon 5:


Firstly though, the use of non-commissioned ranks as an example
reflects the slightlyambiguous nature of non-command officers
and petty officers having some authority over junior officers
and so gives a better comparison between command officers and
junior officers.

It would seem that the 'yellow' ranks of Engineering and Security
plus the 'blue' rank of 'Commander' (i.e Med/Sci Commanders Crusher
and Troi) follow fairly closely the ranks used in the Security/Army
of EarthForce (which are loosely based on, and offer a good
comparison with, those of the existing present United States
Marine Corps) and can be incorporated into the
'Starfleet' command structure as follows:

Command (red)
1.Captain
2.Commander
5.Lieutenant-Commander
8.Lieutenant
11.Lieutenant (junior-grade)
14.Ensign

Engineering/Security and Medical
3.Commander=Colonel
4.Commander=Major
6.Lieutenant-Commander=Captain
9.Lieutenant=First Lieutenant
12.Lieutenant (junior-grade)=Second Lieutenant
15.Ensign=Command Sergeant-Major

It can be assumed that M/Sci ranks below Commander and above
Ensign are equivalent to the ranks of:
Senior, Master and Chief Petty Officer, giving:

1.Captain=Colonel

2.Commander=Major

3.Commander (2)=Captain

4.Commander (3)=First Lieutenant

5.Lieutenant-Commander (1)=Second Lieutenant

6.Lieutenant-Commander (2)=Senior Chief Warrant Officer

7.Senior Chief Petty Officer=Chief Warrant Officer

8.Lieutenant (1)=Warrant Officer (class 1)

9.Lieutenant (2)=Warrant Officer (class 2)

10.Master Chief Petty Officer=Command Sergeant-Major

11.Lieutenant (junior-grade)(1)=Sergeant-Major

12.Lieutenant (junior-grade) (2)=Master Sergeant

13.Chief Petty Officer=Gunnery Sergeant

14.Ensign (1)=Staff Sergeant

15.Ensign (2)=Sergeant

16.Ensign (3)=Corporal

17.Crewman=Private First Class

18.Crewman (2nd class)=Private

http://tgm.firstones.com/wiki/Earthforce_ranks

Question Time/Thursday night (obviously!)

I think Griffin made a complete tit of himself, but I doubt any racists and homophobes would see that. I imagine that both anti-Fascists and Fascists would see their views justified.

What is really despicable is the way he smirked when he tried to justify not justifying his views on the Holocaust. Frankly well is that any better than digging up someone's grave and hiding or violating the body? I'm insulted and frankly if I had family who died in the Holocaust I'd want his head on a pike. However, unfortunately I doubt that every one watching or in the audience would see that . Some people do not see between the lines and many BNP voters/members would not have seen the broadcast (or not cared) and seen a respectable looking (hah!) man in a suit being publicly vilified.

No I don't think the BBC was biased, in fact people from UAF etc who applied to go on were not let on, leaving mostly young people or of sections of society who would be targeted by the BNP but unlikely to be experienced activists or orators to challenge Griffin.

Unfortunately the BNP would ultimately have the upper hand in these kinds of debates, simply as soon as the words 'immigration' and 'muslims' were mentioned, ringing the right bells in those susceptible. The point being the BNP should not be seen to have a monopoly on these issues and it was a shame that the BBC and the politicians present were not allowed to defend allegations that they are "pandering to the Left"....if only they would, maybe we'd have some reasoned debate in this country for once!

(Other than 'Captain Atom', who was the inspiration
behind the Watchmen character,and was one of the
characters who were originally to be featured
in the comic series)
Dr. Manhattan is easily one
of the most powerful comic/movie superheroes or
characters in general, having almost godlike
abilities.

However, in science-fiction generally, these
abilities are hardly without precedent and in
fact Dr. Manhattan has quite a few limitations,
being: he cannot actually fly or predict the
future in general terms, although he does appear
to; similarly,he is not actually telepathic and
only possesses limited telekinetic abilities.
His 'powers' are also limited to objects in his
own line of sight or at least in close proximity.

All the following characters or types posses one
or more of the above 'powers':
A 'Mind' or vessel etc containing an 'Effector'
(Culture novels)
Paul Atredies (Dune saga)
Any sufficiently powerful telepath or telekinetic;
i.e. Jedi Master, Sith Lord, (above) P13 (Babylon 5),
Cthulhu and, arguably, Q (Star Trek:TNG,DS9 and VGR)

The last two, arguably, have beyond godlike powers as
they apparently consist of exotic matter and so presumably
would be (mostly) immune to Dr. Manhattan's abilities.

Dr. Manhattan's apparent precognitive abilities are
'merely' a form of deja vu; he apparently has access
to all his memories simultaneously: past, present and
future.

His main abilities concern the manipulation of the
quantum mechanical wave function of himself or any
object in his line of sight, presumably following
the Observer Principle. Arguably, a civilisation
such as the Culture or the Monolith Builders
(Odyssey saga)
would have greater power.

Any conflict between beings with godlike or near
godlike powers could be resolved on the assumption
that one godlike being has a high probability
of being defeated by two others, of the same or
different type.

It should be finally added that Dr. Manhattan
cannot become invisible, access parallel or
higher dimensions personally, travel back in time
or,technically, travel faster than the speed of light.