Orotund Oxfordian orator...

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"He was a cross between Hugh Grant and a silverback gorilla." Absolutely. "Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man: A Profile of Boris Johnson". Quite an amazingly good article from Toby Young on Quillette (where he is an associate editor).

"My uncle had described him as a 'genius' and as a boy he'd been regarded as something of a wunderkind. There was the occasion when he was holidaying with his family in Greece, aged 10, and asked a group of Classics professors if he could join their game of Scrabble. They indulged the precocious, blond-haired moppet, only to be beaten by him."

Wow, there's hope for me yet: Boris I challenge you to a game of Scrabble!



Anyhoo, it isn't a Boris love-in although it is - and the comments - well worth a read (all of it). The toadmeister ends with "The next three months, between now and October 31st, will reveal whether that was a historical premonition or a sophomoric illusion." Boris has so much baggage that despite BBC et al pulling all stops to have him NOT win, they must be licking their lips and opening the many boxes full of sleaze to begin a steady drip-drip of poison, at which they are world beaters.



Boris has certainly made a good start, the "Action this day" Churchillian speech plus a major cabinet overhaul (only 6/10 in my book) has really set the optimism meters going as if it were 24th June 2016 again. That said, deliver or die: Nigel will not walk away again and TBP still has my vote.

Orotund Oxfordian orator...

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"He was a cross between Hugh Grant and a silverback gorilla." Absolutely. "Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man: A Profile of Boris Johnson". Quite an amazingly good article from Toby Young on Quillette (where he is an associate editor).

"My uncle had described him as a 'genius' and as a boy he'd been regarded as something of a wunderkind. There was the occasion when he was holidaying with his family in Greece, aged 10, and asked a group of Classics professors if he could join their game of Scrabble. They indulged the precocious, blond-haired moppet, only to be beaten by him."

Wow, there's hope for me yet: Boris I challenge you to a game of Scrabble!

Anyhoo, it isn't a Boris love-in although it is - and the comments - well worth a read (all of it). The toadmeister ends with "The next three months, between now and October 31st, will reveal whether that was a historical premonition or a sophomoric illusion." Boris has so much baggage that despite BBC et al pulling all stops to have him NOT win, they must be licking their lips and opening the many boxes full of sleaze to begin a steady drip-drip of poison, at which they are world beaters.

Boris has certainly made a good start, the "Action this day" Churchillian speech plus a major cabinet overhaul (only 6/10 in my book) has really set the optimism meters going as if it were 24th June 2016 again. That said, deliver or die: Nigel will not walk away again and TBP still has my vote.

Odible olid opposition...

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'Unherd' but loud and clear. "Why the Labour Left is doomed", "The disaster of 1983 looms large in the party's psyche" by David Kogan at Unherd. We live in hope...

Fusilamiento en la Sierra Maestra [Link]

The generation of young activists of the 1970s and 1980s – Corbyn, McDonnell, McCluskey and Jon Lansman – all earned their political stripes fighting the Right of the party. Lansman had been in the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and the campaign to elect Tony Benn deputy leader in 1981; Corbyn had been a trade union official in London during the winter of discontent in 1978-9. McDonnell had been deputy leader and Finance Chair of the Great London Council from 1981. McCluskey had been in Liverpool associated with the Militant Tendency that ran the Labour Party and council in the early 1980s.



That paragraph alone, should send shivers down the spine of anyone of a certain age with a brain. With any luck the current incarnation - McDonnell and Lansmans' Momentum - will die a grissly death; very soon. The 'freakish', lucky, 'quirk', last second, near-miss, chance to lift a inept, snide, political nobody to leader of the opposition by other political nobodies is quite a tale. Landsman of course, the danger man: never go full wierdy-beardy, especially when trying to excuse blatant antisemitism. Sinister. Evil. Maggots.

Odible olid opposition...

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'Unherd' but loud and clear. "Why the Labour Left is doomed", "The disaster of 1983 looms large in the party's psyche" by David Kogan at Unherd. We live in hope...

Fusilamiento en la Sierra Maestra [Link]

The generation of young activists of the 1970s and 1980s – Corbyn, McDonnell, McCluskey and Jon Lansman – all earned their political stripes fighting the Right of the party. Lansman had been in the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and the campaign to elect Tony Benn deputy leader in 1981; Corbyn had been a trade union official in London during the winter of discontent in 1978-9. McDonnell had been deputy leader and Finance Chair of the Great London Council from 1981. McCluskey had been in Liverpool associated with the Militant Tendency that ran the Labour Party and council in the early 1980s.

That paragraph alone, should send shivers down the spine of anyone of a certain age with a brain. With any luck the current incarnation - McDonnell and Lansmans' Momentum - will die a grissly death; very soon. The 'freakish', lucky, 'quirk', last second, near-miss, chance to lift a inept, snide, political nobody to leader of the opposition by other political nobodies is quite a tale. Landsman of course, the danger man: never go full wierdy-beardy, especially when trying to excuse blatant antisemitism. Sinister. Evil. Maggots.

One obvious option...

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"To put it bluntly: you can replace the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner but it still sucks."

Excellent! Stealing that. David Scullion, Deputy Editor at BrexitCentral writes "Boris Johnson has two options to get a Brexit 'deal' – but one of them is a trap"... "One is to offer a basic Free Trade Agreement and accept the countless 'mini-deals' that the EU has already offered us which keep goods flowing and planes flying. The other is to go for an official ‘Withdrawal Agreement’ under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union."



It is that simple: lancing the boil that is the German scripted, civil servant traitor adapted, Treason Mayhem presented, Surrender Treaty is essential.

"A relentless 'can do' attitude and focus on the goal of making a success of independence, is how we will do this and deliver on people’s ambition."

...as Marcus Fysh said yesterday, on the same site.

One obvious option...

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"To put it bluntly: you can replace the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner but it still sucks."

Excellent! Stealing that. David Scullion, Deputy Editor at BrexitCentral writes "Boris Johnson has two options to get a Brexit 'deal' – but one of them is a trap"... "One is to offer a basic Free Trade Agreement and accept the countless 'mini-deals' that the EU has already offered us which keep goods flowing and planes flying. The other is to go for an official ‘Withdrawal Agreement’ under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union."

It is that simple: lancing the boil that is the German scripted, civil servant traitor adapted, Treason Mayhem presented, Surrender Treaty is essential.

"A relentless 'can do' attitude and focus on the goal of making a success of independence, is how we will do this and deliver on people’s ambition."

...as Marcus Fysh said yesterday, on the same site.

Overall oblations...

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Intersting stuff from Carrie Osgood at CarrieOnAdventures (great name btw): "Major world religions: based on the proportional world population map" taken "a step further by incorporating data from the World Religion Database to show geographic trends across the continents (2010 figures)."

Detail and discussion by Frank Jacobs at the Big Think.

Overall oblations...

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Intersting stuff from Carrie Osgood at CarrieOnAdventures (great name btw): "Major world religions: based on the proportional world population map" taken "a step further by incorporating data from the World Religion Database to show geographic trends across the continents (2010 figures)."

Detail and discussion by Frank Jacobs at the Big Think.

October outrecuidance...

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Our very own Октябрьский переворот? Useful idiots. "Thirty Tory MPs led by Chancellor Philip Hammond are plotting to stop a no-deal Brexit in October in a move which would raise the chance of a second referendum" Sky News understands. Lidington, Gauke, Letwin, Grieve and other assorted weak, wet egomaniacs along with the (not for long) Chancellor Phil Hammond is being - and has been for months - "increasingly vocal about the risks to the economy and UK union."

The only thing that is a risk, the ONLY thing, is the repeated idicocy like this being spouted that creates uncertanty. Any business worth it's salt is already ready and has been for ages, the only problem is imbelcile egotist politicians, IYI's to a man. We could have and should have been riding high two years ago.

Plus, the course of the EU is becoming clearer to even the dimmest Remainer: with the crow-barring in of German Ursula von der Leyen, "the decision by leaders to reject all the candidates for European Commission president and instead pick a little-known ally of Angela Merkel in a closed meeting was “not the Europe I imagined", similar to that of German Martin Selmayr last year, "Martin Selmayr’s sudden appearance at the top of the EU pyramid via a series of shadowy manoeuvres is the exact opposite of due process", we are seeing the true EU take shape. Hammond's aim is clearly to try to stay part of it.

October outrecuidance...

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Our very own Октябрьский переворот? Useful idiots. "Thirty Tory MPs led by Chancellor Philip Hammond are plotting to stop a no-deal Brexit in October in a move which would raise the chance of a second referendum" Sky News understands. Lidington, Gauke, Letwin, Grieve and other assorted weak, wet egomaniacs along with the (not for long) Chancellor Phil Hammond is being - and has been for months - "increasingly vocal about the risks to the economy and UK union." The only thing that is a risk, the ONLY thing, is the repeated idicocy like this being spouted that creates uncertanty. Any business worth it's salt is already ready and has been for ages, the only problem is imbelcile egotist politicians, IYI's to a man. We could have and should have been riding high two years ago.

Plus, the course of the EU is becoming clearer to even the dimmest Remainer: with the crow-barring in of German Ursula von der Leyen, "the decision by leaders to reject all the candidates for European Commission president and instead pick a little-known ally of Angela Merkel in a closed meeting was “not the Europe I imagined", similar to that of German Martin Selmayr last year, "Martin Selmayr’s sudden appearance at the top of the EU pyramid via a series of shadowy manoeuvres is the exact opposite of due process", we are seeing the true EU take shape. Hammond's aim is clearly to try to stay part of it.