Boris's Brain is missing

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reohn2
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Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by reohn2 »

thirdcrank wrote: 3 May 2022, 6:19pm Boris Johnson's stock-in-trade seems fairly simple to me: promise everybody just about everything they want then blame others when he cannot deliver. He does his pathetic Churchill impersonations which seem to impress some, but as far as I can see, he believes in nothing but Boris Johnson.
+1.
The man's an abomination both as a leader and as a human being,a head creep among many creeps!
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
Psamathe
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Psamathe »

cycle tramp wrote: 3 May 2022, 5:57pm ...
If the Conservative Party was cleverer, they would keep both Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg as figure heads, but they would be on a tight lead, and the back office team would do all their heavy thinking and ensure that whatever they did or said was edited before it went public.
If the Republican party had been thinking, they would have done the same thing with Trump....
I don't think the conservative "back office tam" is smart enough to do even "thinking" let alone "heavy thinking". Plus both Johnson & Trump can't be held on a leash as moment they are being recorded or in public the leash is gone and they are loose cannons (and they behave as loose cannons pretty well the whole time). And most TV & reporters wont give politician back office editorial control - once the words are uttered and recorded that's it.

e.g. Johnson claimed today to have introduced the "Freedom Pass" in London (when it was put to him about somebody having to spend all day on a bus using her Freedom Pass to keep warm).Freedom Pass was introduced in 1973 - when Johnson was 9 years old! So Johnson is claiming he introduced the London Freedom Pass when he was age 9!

Ian
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Sweep
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Location: London

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Sweep »

Psamathe wrote: 3 May 2022, 7:55pm
cycle tramp wrote: 3 May 2022, 5:57pm ...
If the Conservative Party was cleverer, they would keep both Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg as figure heads, but they would be on a tight lead, and the back office team would do all their heavy thinking and ensure that whatever they did or said was edited before it went public.
If the Republican party had been thinking, they would have done the same thing with Trump....
I don't think the conservative "back office tam" is smart enough to do even "thinking" let alone "heavy thinking". Plus both Johnson & Trump can't be held on a leash as moment they are being recorded or in public the leash is gone and they are loose cannons (and they behave as loose cannons pretty well the whole time). And most TV & reporters wont give politician back office editorial control - once the words are uttered and recorded that's it.

e.g. Johnson claimed today to have introduced the "Freedom Pass" in London (when it was put to him about somebody having to spend all day on a bus using her Freedom Pass to keep warm).Freedom Pass was introduced in 1973 - when Johnson was 9 years old! So Johnson is claiming he introduced the London Freedom Pass when he was age 9!

Ian
No fan of boris (AT ALL) but I had the idea that when the age for free travel went from 60 to 65 or more in the country, Boris stepped in so that Londoners continued to get free travel from 60 - bridged the gap until the national scheme kicks back in.
Sweep
Psamathe
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Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Psamathe »

Sweep wrote: 4 May 2022, 7:28am
Psamathe wrote: 3 May 2022, 7:55pm
cycle tramp wrote: 3 May 2022, 5:57pm ...
If the Conservative Party was cleverer, they would keep both Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg as figure heads, but they would be on a tight lead, and the back office team would do all their heavy thinking and ensure that whatever they did or said was edited before it went public.
If the Republican party had been thinking, they would have done the same thing with Trump....
I don't think the conservative "back office tam" is smart enough to do even "thinking" let alone "heavy thinking". Plus both Johnson & Trump can't be held on a leash as moment they are being recorded or in public the leash is gone and they are loose cannons (and they behave as loose cannons pretty well the whole time). And most TV & reporters wont give politician back office editorial control - once the words are uttered and recorded that's it.

e.g. Johnson claimed today to have introduced the "Freedom Pass" in London (when it was put to him about somebody having to spend all day on a bus using her Freedom Pass to keep warm).Freedom Pass was introduced in 1973 - when Johnson was 9 years old! So Johnson is claiming he introduced the London Freedom Pass when he was age 9!

Ian
No fan of boris (AT ALL) but I had the idea that when the age for free travel went from 60 to 65 or more in the country, Boris stepped in so that Londoners continued to get free travel from 60 - bridged the gap until the national scheme kicks back in.
Johnson claimed to have introduced the Freedom Pass - which he did not (he was aged 9 when it was introduced).
https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/boris-johnson-accused-lying-after-23847369 wrote:Boris Johnson accused of lying after claiming he invented London Bus Freedom Pass
...
The Prime Minister may have been thinking of the 60+ Oyster card, which allows free travel for over-60s on Transport for London services, but not travel in the rest of the country.
...
Ian
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Jdsk »

Jdsk wrote: 3 May 2022, 9:33am
simonineaston wrote: 1 May 2022, 12:03pmWhat's so puzzling is a) why do we continue to put up with it and b) why can't Labour (as the most obvious alternative) come up with some really good fresh ideas?
I'm pretty keen on really good fresh ideas.

But I'd put competence of administration and constitutionality/lawfulness even higher.
Screenshot 2022-05-04 at 20.26.18.png
https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status ... 8264976384

Jonathan
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Jdsk »

Psamathe wrote: 4 May 2022, 11:56am
Sweep wrote: 4 May 2022, 7:28am
Psamathe wrote: 3 May 2022, 7:55pm I don't think the conservative "back office tam" is smart enough to do even "thinking" let alone "heavy thinking". Plus both Johnson & Trump can't be held on a leash as moment they are being recorded or in public the leash is gone and they are loose cannons (and they behave as loose cannons pretty well the whole time). And most TV & reporters wont give politician back office editorial control - once the words are uttered and recorded that's it.

e.g. Johnson claimed today to have introduced the "Freedom Pass" in London (when it was put to him about somebody having to spend all day on a bus using her Freedom Pass to keep warm).Freedom Pass was introduced in 1973 - when Johnson was 9 years old! So Johnson is claiming he introduced the London Freedom Pass when he was age 9!
No fan of boris (AT ALL) but I had the idea that when the age for free travel went from 60 to 65 or more in the country, Boris stepped in so that Londoners continued to get free travel from 60 - bridged the gap until the national scheme kicks back in.
Johnson claimed to have introduced the Freedom Pass - which he did not (he was aged 9 when it was introduced).
FullFact on that and some other claims in the same interview:
https://fullfact.org/economy/boris-john ... g-britain/

Jonathan
Psamathe
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Psamathe »

Jdsk wrote: 4 May 2022, 8:27pm
Jdsk wrote: 3 May 2022, 9:33am
simonineaston wrote: 1 May 2022, 12:03pmWhat's so puzzling is a) why do we continue to put up with it and b) why can't Labour (as the most obvious alternative) come up with some really good fresh ideas?
I'm pretty keen on really good fresh ideas.

But I'd put competence of administration and constitutionality/lawfulness even higher.
Screenshot 2022-05-04 at 20.26.18.png
https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status ... 8264976384

Jonathan
Can a public inquiry judge an action unlawful? I thought they still hadn't yet sorted out the Terms of Reference for the inquiry.

Ian
Jdsk
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Jdsk »

Psamathe wrote: 4 May 2022, 8:32pm
Jdsk wrote: 4 May 2022, 8:27pm
Jdsk wrote: 3 May 2022, 9:33am
I'm pretty keen on really good fresh ideas.

But I'd put competence of administration and constitutionality/lawfulness even higher.
Screenshot 2022-05-04 at 20.26.18.png
https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status ... 8264976384
Can a public inquiry judge an action unlawful? I thought they still hadn't yet sorted out the Terms of Reference for the inquiry.
The draft Terms of Reference:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rence-html

Jonathan
Stradageek
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Stradageek »

simonineaston wrote: 1 May 2022, 12:03pmWhat's so puzzling is a) why do we continue to put up with it and b) why can't Labour (as the most obvious alternative) come up with some really good fresh ideas?
Bear with me, I'll get to the point -

I watched 60 seconds of Gogglebox last night (waiting for the next programme) where people were watching Donald Trump emerging from his brush with COVID and returning in carefully staged triumph to the Whitehouse.

My reaction; 'how can anyone take this narcissistic plonker of a showman seriously!'

The reaction of the reasonably diverse Goggleboxers; 'Isn't it amazing that the guy can even walk, he must be pumped up with the drugs or something'

My point is that in our 'sound bite', 'celebrity driven', propagandist society no basket of 'good, fresh ideas' stands a chance against a comical buffoon and millions of campaign donations from 'The 1%'.

I think it will take a major economic collapse (currently underway) to shift him :(
cycle tramp
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by cycle tramp »

If you ask the German people from 1930's I don't think populist leaders are a new phomenom.
Boris Johnson much like Donald Trump are very much divisive characters, as much previous post showed. I attributed some adjectives which some elements of society may attribute to Boris Johnson and there were several responses against these attributes - which after all is to be expected. Cycling is still at its heart a very much non conformist activity (despite the best intentions of dome elements of the industry) and has never seen much positive encouragement from that colour if politician (and still doesn't according to one of the recent posts on this thread).

Perhaps the next step in society is to remove politicians completely from the political process and substitute ourselves into that role instead.
..in his talks about anarchy Alan Moore suggests at best society needs an administration, rather than leaders. Which seems understandable - the process of being governed to that of not being governed isn't going to happen over night and may actually require a transition of two or three generations to achieve.
However it is entirely possible that the first step towards anarchy is that politicians are removed entirely, and that the public vote on many more matters of the country rather than leaving it to the politicians. The results of these votes are then placed into the hands of public servants (in a very real sense) who will then see that the decision is taken and give honest feedback of tge results of that decision.
For example, we could all have a vote on how our energy is generated, or any new laws or the future of education or even criminal justice. We could begin to actually trust our own judgement and our ability to understand difficult concepts and reach conclusions. As each of us play a stronger role in shaping our policies we may even encourage a greater sense of social inclusion, and if we were to be made aware of the feedbacks from our decisions, we may also elevate our sense of natural justice and start making steps towards a more equal society.
It's time to go :-)
Stradageek
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Stradageek »

cycle tramp wrote: 5 May 2022, 10:21pmPerhaps the next step in society is to remove politicians completely from the political process and substitute ourselves into that role instead.
..in his talks about anarchy Alan Moore suggests at best society needs an administration, rather than leaders. Which seems understandable - the process of being governed to that of not being governed isn't going to happen over night and may actually require a transition of two or three generations to achieve.
However it is entirely possible that the first step towards anarchy is that politicians are removed entirely, and that the public vote on many more matters of the country rather than leaving it to the politicians. The results of these votes are then placed into the hands of public servants (in a very real sense) who will then see that the decision is taken and give honest feedback of tge results of that decision.
For example, we could all have a vote on how our energy is generated, or any new laws or the future of education or even criminal justice. We could begin to actually trust our own judgement and our ability to understand difficult concepts and reach conclusions. As each of us play a stronger role in shaping our policies we may even encourage a greater sense of social inclusion, and if we were to be made aware of the feedbacks from our decisions, we may also elevate our sense of natural justice and start making steps towards a more equal society.
If only!

The problem, as outlined in great detail by Errico Malatesta, is that this means taking power (plus property and money, probably) from the 1% and they will not give that up without a fight.

He concludes that despite the peaceful ethos of an anarchist society it would probably only be attained through violence. That is if attempts to form an anarchist society are not first violently suppressed by those under threat - as Franco's destruction of the Spanish anarchists testifies.
Stradageek
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Joined: 17 Jan 2011, 1:07pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Stradageek »

Stradageek wrote: 5 May 2022, 8:03am
simonineaston wrote: 1 May 2022, 12:03pmWhat's so puzzling is a) why do we continue to put up with it and b) why can't Labour (as the most obvious alternative) come up with some really good fresh ideas?
Bear with me, I'll get to the point -

I watched 60 seconds of Gogglebox last night (waiting for the next programme) where people were watching Donald Trump emerging from his brush with COVID and returning in carefully staged triumph to the Whitehouse.

My reaction; 'how can anyone take this narcissistic plonker of a showman seriously!'

The reaction of the reasonably diverse Goggleboxers; 'Isn't it amazing that the guy can even walk, he must be pumped up with the drugs or something'

My point is that in our 'sound bite', 'celebrity driven', propagandist society no basket of 'good, fresh ideas' stands a chance against a comical buffoon and millions of campaign donations from 'The 1%'.

I think it will take a major economic collapse (currently underway) to shift him :(
Just to add, does this quote from the BBC news about Ferdinand Marcos's son's election strategy/rallies ring any bells?

The crowd is fired up with a mix of pop, comedy and dancing - before launching into a parade of pro-Marcos politicians, who deliver short and witty monologues. Policy proposals are rarely discussed in detail.
thirdcrank
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by thirdcrank »

Re Gogglebox

On the front page of BBC News one of today's top stories is about Scarlett Moffatt - whose sole claim to fame is being Scarlett Moffatt.

Scarlett Moffatt: I was so lonely I rang Samaritans

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61332060
Dingdong
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Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Dingdong »

Out! Out! Out! :lol:
Psamathe
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Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Boris's Brain is missing

Post by Psamathe »

cycle tramp wrote: 5 May 2022, 10:21pm ...
However it is entirely possible that the first step towards anarchy is that politicians are removed entirely, and that the public vote on many more matters of the country rather than leaving it to the politicians. The results of these votes are then placed into the hands of public servants (in a very real sense) who will then see that the decision is taken and give honest feedback of tge results of that decision.
For example, we could all have a vote on how our energy is generated, or any new laws or the future of education or even criminal justice. We could begin to actually trust our own judgement and our ability to understand difficult concepts and reach conclusions. As each of us play a stronger role in shaping our policies we may even encourage a greater sense of social inclusion, and if we were to be made aware of the feedbacks from our decisions, we may also elevate our sense of natural justice and start making steps towards a more equal society.
I believe the current system is not working (e.g. when our Government has been found "unlawful" in courts and FPNs more times in a year than I have in my lifetime).

But along with that is my loss of faith of human nature. More public votes will likely be people not bothering to research or learn about impacts and then voting purely on self-interest and prejudice (driven by the likes of vested interest). e.g. a vote on how our energy is generated would mean campaigns funded by the highly profitable fossil fuel industries (probably through hidden means) and countered by who? And when told (by vested interests) that a vote against their profits will mean no heating this winter ... without research/reading about such lies people will vote for cheap heat all winter.

Ian
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