British aggressors, please enlighten us about the "B" conspiracy

[BeBMan]

So what are your thoughts about Blair leaving, Brown taking over?

Does anyone even care?

And do all British premiers need to have names starting with B from now on? BeBro is just wondering.....

[Cort Haus]

Some here: http://www.apolyton.net/forums/showt...hreadid=167482

More to come, I'm sure.

Here's a critique of Brown :10 reasons why Gordon Brown is not fit to be prime minister

Summary:

Illiberal, miserly, curmudgeonly and a coward: under our new PM, things can only get bitter.

1) He’s yesterday’s man
2) And he espouses yesterday’s politics
3) He sees security as the highest aim of politics
4) He’s an enemy of liberty
5) He wants to change our ‘bad behaviour’
6) He’s a political coward
7) He’s a New Colonialist
8) He’s a politician of low expectations
9) He’s a miserabilist
10) He has a weird effect on commentators’ critical faculties

It's written by a bloke called Brendan.

[Az]

9) He’s a miserabilist

what the hell does that even mean?

[Cort Haus]

What it means is that just about anything people might enjoy doing is wrong, and should be banned. Miserabilists are people who in attempting to ban accidents are effectively banning life.

Wheras once politics was about improving standards of living, now the miserabilist agenda is to downgrade it. So firework displays are banned for health and safety reasons, the Mayor of London orders people not to flush their toilets much to save water, rather than seeking alternative solutions to make more water available. Eating the wrong food, drinking, using the car, going on holiday and festive lights are all frowned upon as immoral and degenerate.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Cort Haus the Mayor of London orders people not to flush their toilets much to save water, rather than seeking alternative solutions to make more water available.

A. Maybe im slow on UK politics, but are Gordon Brown and Ken Livingstone really dear political allies? Did Brown not support Blair in his attempt to elect another Labour party candidate?


B. We've had the water limitation for some time. Some folks smuggle in toilets from our neighbors to the North, to get the full pleasure of a big flush. Myself, Ive never really seen the intense sensuality of the big flush.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
What it using the car,

My vague impression is that auto sales have increased in the UK since Blair was elected.

Is having to pay a fee to drive in central (?) London what you are referring to?

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
Maybe im slow on UK politics, but are Gordon Brown and Ken Livingstone really dear political allies? Did Brown not support Blair in his attempt to elect another Labour party candidate?

Ken's only dear ally is himself. Any others are there to be manipulated. He's a very shrewd, able and effective politician. He's also smug, sanctimonious and self-righteous.

He used to stand for gay rights, and was allied to this movement - until he switched his affections to gay-bashing muslim clerics, as they suit his priorities more (destroying Israel).

The inclusion of Ken and Gordon on the miserablist list was not to indicate allegience, but the extent of miserabilism in UK politics.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


My vague impression is that auto sales have increased in the UK since Blair was elected.

Is having to pay a fee to drive in central (?) London what you are referring to?

Car sales themselves don't indicate car usage. Although we are hectored against using cars, train fares around the country are so ball-breakingly expensive, and the service so patchy, that anyone who has a car and has to watch the pennies can ill-afford to take the train.

The congestion charge in central London - recently extended out west and intended to be extended out in other directions is part of the anti-car crusade. Its initial implementation was a good example of Livingstone chicanery. In the months leading up to it London was infested by roadwords - causing massive delays everywhere - and in the days before the charge was introduced they all magically evaporated - helping it look like the charge was doing a wondrous job. The whole thing was orchestrated by Ken to make his scheme look good.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Cort Haus


Car sales themselves don't indicate car usage. Although we are hectored against using cars, train fares around the country are so ball-breakingly expensive, and the service so patchy, that anyone who has a car and has to watch the pennies can ill-afford to take the train.

The congestion charge in central London - recently extended out west and intended to be extended out in other directions is part of the anti-car crusade. Its initial implementation was a good example of Livingstone chicanery. In the months leading up to it London was infested by roadwords - causing massive delays everywhere - and in the days before the charge was introduced they all magically evaporated - helping it look like the charge was doing a wondrous job. The whole thing was orchestrated by Ken to make his scheme look good.

Car sales dont indicate usage thats correct. I have nothing handy on Vehicle usage in the UK (here we measure VMT - vehicle miles traveled, there id guess vehicleKM traveled) Ive certainly not heard that usage has declined.

Problems in rail intercity trains would likely not be all that relevant, as most vehicle usage (here certainly, and Id think there) is local, not intercity.

Congestion charges are a widely discussed remedy to congestion issues around the world, and make sense in terms of charging for a scarce resource, and using price as a rationing mechanism. They need not be used in exclusion of building new capacity, though at least here building new capacity is too expensive and otherwise difficult to really be the prinicple solution in already built up areas.

I cannot speak to the details of how it was implemented in London.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Cort Haus Eating the wrong food, drinking, using the car, going on holiday and festive lights are all frowned upon as immoral and degenerate.

Frowning stops you from doing those things, if you want to?

[Japher]

I heard they were going to change the name of London to... yup, you gessed it, Bondon! Where you can take the Bunderground to Bukingham Palace!

It's a conspiracy! Blood 'el!

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Japher
Bukingham Palace!

Erm, that's the same (except you mispelt it )

Blood 'el!

Nope, dunno what that means

[BeBMan]

I admit I don't know much about Brown, but the "new colonialist" bit seems somewhat tinfoilhatty to me. I mean "good governance" as evil imperialist tool? What's the non-colonialist alternative then, promoting bad governance?

But the other guy who "orders people not to flush their toilets much to save water" seems really ....errmm strange, I can't recall anyone here in (often seen as rather greenish) Krautland calling for something similar....

[Heresson]

also, it seems they are both for Scotland. Is is a scottish plot to still rule England after they get independent?

[Cort Haus]

The "new colonialist" label simply refers to the assumption that it is right invade countries like Iraq at will. There may be lofty intentions, but many of the original colonialists had lofty intentions too.

Of course, everyone who opposes such adventures is a tin-foil hatted deranged nutcase whackjob insane lunatic who believes in mind control rays and should be mocked, ridiculed and immediately placed in a psychiatric ward for their and everyone elses protection. After all, they might do something like start a war leaving 00's of 000's dead.