The lying liar Boris Johnson and more

Posted on 7th December 2019 by dizzy

It is documented and established beyond doubt that Boris Johnson is a lying liar. While that is enough to establish that he is totally unsuitable to hold any high office, there is further evidence that he is a dangerous, unstable twat totally unsuitable to be the UK’s prime minister.

Ridicule and disbelief as Boris Johnson insists he’s never told a single lie in his whole political career

Appearing on ITV, the prime minister was asked whether he could look the presenter “in the eye” and say he had never lied in his career – spanning back to 2001 when he was first elected as an MP. 

“Absolutely not, absolutely not,” Mr Johnson replied. “I have never tried to deceive the public and I’ve always tried to be absolutely frank.”

Pressed again, he continued: “I may have got things wrong, I may have been mistaken, but I’ve never tried to deceive people about the way I see things.” 

…

He’s recorded on video saying that lying lie.

The trouble for lying liar Boris Johnson is that it is widely accepted that he is a lying liar and that his lies are well documented. It is disappointing that he is permitted to lie so blatantly without being held to account.

Is Boris Johnson a “known liar”? Here’s six times he’s known to have lied

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-lies-conservative-leader-candidate-list-times-banana-brexit-bus-a8929076.html

Boris Johnson’s quotes in full

“We are getting ready to come out on October the 31st…Do or die, come what may” (25 June, TalkRadio interview)

…

“We are going to fulfil the repeated promises of Parliament to the people and come out of the EU on October 31, no ifs or buts” (25 July, first speech as Prime Minister)

“There are no circumstances in which I will ask Brussels to delay. We are leaving on 31 October, no ifs or buts” (2 September, speaking in Downing Street)

“I am confident of getting a deal. We will leave on 31 October in all circumstances. There will be no further pointless delay.” (3 September, speech in Commons)

“I’d rather be dead in a ditch” (5 September, asked to promise he would not request a delay to Brexit)

…

later: It’s an old joke but a good one. How can you tell when Boris Johnson is lying? You can see his lips moving.

The Brexit lies above were while he was campaigning to be leader of the Conservative Party. Now he’s lying to win a general election.

later still: More

There is a debate about BSters vs. Liars proposing that BSters are more dangerous than liars and have very little grasp of the concepts of truth and deliberate deception. It appears that Boris Johnson also has very little grasp of these concepts and is very willing to deliberately mislead without realizing or accepting that he is a lying liar e.g. his statement “I have never tried to deceive the public and I’ve always tried to be absolutely frank.” Should we instead regard him as a BSting BSter?

As well as being unable to trust anything he says Boris Johnson’s inattention to detail and/or his daytime drinking have had serious effects.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jun/30/nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-richard-ratcliffe-boris-johnson-gaffes

Johnson, who told a Commons committee when he was foreign secretary that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was “teaching people journalism” in Iran, should acknowledge his mistake, he said. Iranian officials cited his words as evidence that she had engaged in “propaganda against the regime”. The family have always maintained she was visiting relatives in Iran when she was arrested. She has strenuously denied spying. She was sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to overthrow the Iranian government.

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I’m a climate change scientist – and I’m campaigning for Labour this election

Posted on 3rd December 2019 by dizzy
School climate strikes have encouraged some political parties to be more radical. SewCream / shutterstock

Simon Lewis, UCL

The 2019 UK general election matters because the climate emergency means that the next decade is critical for the future of humanity. Only a Labour government can really turn things around, not just in the UK, but globally. This may sound exaggerated, but it’s true. Let me explain.

While flooding has affected people in Yorkshire during the election period, look further afield and many millions are suffering the impacts of catastrophic floods in Central and East Africa. Fires have raged in Australia and things will get a lot worse until humans stabilise Earth’s rapidly changing climate. To do that means carbon emissions need to decline to zero. Fast.

Pursuing policies to limit warming to 1.5℃, as the Paris Agreement mandates, is a two part process. Stage one is to halve global emissions by 2030. Stage two is to eliminate the other half by 2050. Getting the world to zero emissions is extremely difficult as it means every sector of every country needs to get to zero. We can still pollute, but every tonne of carbon dioxide emitted will need to be immediately captured again, giving a net impact of zero emissions.

A serious plan

Finally, after 30-plus years of scientists explaining the problem, a major political party of a major economy has a serious plan for part one of the process. After wrangling between grassroots activists and trade unions, the Labour Manifesto pledges that the “substantial majority” of UK emissions will be eliminated by 2030. This isn’t bluster, as there is serious investment planned across electricity production (more wind and solar), buildings (retrofitting all UK houses to high efficiency standards), transport (investment in buses, only electric cars sales from 2030), and heavy industry (research and development into hydrogen and carbon capture technology), to name a few sectors.

Crucially, this would be driven by those who control the finances of the country. A new Sustainable Investment Board would bring together the chancellor, business secretary and Bank of England governor to oversee and co-ordinate these major investments. A National Investment Bank with £250 billion allocated for decarbonising the economy provides serious funds. And climate and environmental impacts will be included in the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts, so that the cost of not acting will be factored into every government decision.

Labour are calling it a Green Industrial Revolution. And it would be. It is a far-reaching set of policies and investments befitting the scale of the problem.

Tory plan ‘lacks ambition’

By comparison the Conservative Party manifesto lacks ambition and seriousness. Capital spending on climate – broadly conceived – is just £20 billion. There is no overarching strategy to reach net zero. As the independent analysts, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said of the whole manifesto, “If a single Budget had contained all these tax and spending proposals we would have been calling it modest. As a blueprint for five years in government the lack of significant policy action is remarkable.”

While the Conservatives have a net zero target of 2050 and official UK emissions have dropped by 43% from 1990 levels, most of the reduction has come from the power sector, and the low-hanging fruit of switching from coal-fired electricity generation to gas and renewables. Beyond this, their record over the past decade in government has been poor – emissions from transport, buildings and agriculture have not declined over recent years.

Ditching coal power was a relatively easy win. Steve Allen / shutterstock

In 2019, the government’s own independent advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, said that only one of 25 policy recommendations had been delivered, and the UK is on track to miss its binding interim carbon budget for 2023 to 2027.

The stakes couldn’t be higher

Of course, UK emissions are just 1% of the world’s total, so does it matter what the UK does? It does. First, because every country needs to get to net zero emissions. Second, as the fifth largest economy in the world, large and sustained reductions in emissions across all sectors simultaneously would become a beacon to other countries to learn from the UK and reduce their emissions more quickly. Third, Labour would use £4 billion of new overseas development funds help countries leap-frog the fossil fuel age.

Finally, geopolitics matters. The world is gripped by right-wing populists who are often hostile to tackling climate change. Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro abandoned hosting this years’ UN climate talks, while Donald Trump plans to pull out of the Paris Agreement. Fearful inward-looking nationalism means that the internationalism necessary to tackle climate change is being eroded.

The antidote to the rising right-wing populism that Brexit and Boris Johnson are part of, is a Labour government with a Green Industrial Revolution at its heart. And just as Brexit spurred the Trump campaign, a win for Labour would increase the chances of the Democrats in the US reaching office and pursuing a similar Green New Deal. The tide would be turning towards deploying the tools of the state to reshape the economy to seriously tackle climate change.

Scientists working on climate often say some form of transformation of society is needed to tackle climate change. Here’s a rare chance to lever serious resources to do just that. Of course, supporting any political party is a major compromise, especially with our voting system.

When it comes to the environment, you can’t beat the Greens, but they can’t form the next government. The big prize is to grasp the chance to turn things around. So, I won’t just be voting this election. I’ll be out knocking on doors to canvas for Labour. It’s the least I can do. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter if you believe this election should be all about the facts.

Simon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science at University of Leeds and, UCL

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Posted in Climate Crisis, Climate Emergency, General Election, Labour Party, politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

UK wealth inequality

Posted on 3rd December 2019 by dizzy

How billionaires extract wealth rather than create it

M/Y Topaz is a 147m motor yacht making it the fourth-largest Superyacht in the world. It was custom built in 2012 by Lurssen Yachts in Bremen, Germany and registered in the Cayman Islands. Pic by Yoshi Anahory This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

It is difficult to comprehend the sheer scale of UK wealth inequality, which is twice as high as income inequality. New research published today by the Equality Trust has shown that the five richest families in the UK control as much wealth as the poorest 13 million people and that the number of billionaires has almost doubled over the last decade. The top 1 per cent of the population now owns the same wealth as the bottom 80 per cent of the population.

…

The other side of the wealth of the property tycoon is the poverty of the family being shunted between different forms of temporary accommodation because they cannot afford to keep a roof over their heads. The other side of the wealth of the private equity manager is the poverty of the worker he laid off to “turn around” his latest investment.

The other side of the wealth of the few is the poverty of the many. Fourteen million people in the UK are living in poverty — 4.6 million of whom are children. Children are going to school “unwashed” and “hungry” — nine out of ten schools in the UK are being forced to distribute clothes to students. 135,000 children will be homeless this Christmas, in a society with hundreds of people so rich that they couldn’t even count their wealth.

These patterns are replicated at the level of the international economy. Globally, the 26 wealthiest billionaires own as much wealth as the bottom 50 per cent of the population. And their wealth is not “earned” either. According to Oxfam, one-third of global billionaire wealth comes from an inheritance while another third comes from “crony connections to government and monopoly”. Much of the rest originates from land, oil or finance.

…

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Scientists say that average temperatures from 2010-2019 look set to make it the warmest decade on record.

Posted on 3rd December 2019 by dizzy

Climate change: Last decade ‘on course’ to be warmest

Scientists say that average temperatures from 2010-2019 look set to make it the warmest decade on record.

Provisional figures released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) suggest this year is on course to be the second or third warmest year ever.

If those numbers hold, 2015-2019 would end up being the warmest five-year period in the record.

This “exceptional” global heat is driven by greenhouse gas emissions, the WMO says.

…

Posted in climate change, Climate Crisis, Climate Emergency | Leave a comment

Climate emergency: world ‘may have crossed tipping points’

Posted on 28th November 2019 by dizzy

Warning of ‘existential threat to civilisation’ as impacts lead to cascade of unstoppable events

The world may already have crossed a series of climate tipping points, according to a stark warning from scientists. This risk is “an existential threat to civilisation”, they say, meaning “we are in a state of planetary emergency”.

Tipping points are reached when particular impacts of global heating become unstoppable, such as the runaway loss of ice sheets or forests. In the past, extreme heating of 5C was thought necessary to pass tipping points, but the latest evidence suggests this could happen between 1C and 2C.

The planet has already heated by 1C and the temperature is certain to rise further, due to past emissions and because greenhouse gas levels are still rising. The scientists further warn that one tipping point, such as the release of methane from thawing permafrost, may fuel others, leading to a cascade.

The researchers, writing in a commentary article in the journal Nature, acknowledge that the complex science of tipping points means great uncertainty remains. But they say the potential damage from the tipping points is so big and the time to act so short, that “to err on the side of danger is not a responsible option”. They call for urgent international action.

…

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Statement on the Climate Crisis: Revised

Posted on 28th November 2019 by dizzy

The Earth’s climate is in crisis, it is an emergency. There is no doubt about it – scientists are in near unanimous agreement that humans are causing severe damage to Earth’s climate. This is our home and we have to care for it. I particularly feel for future generations – our children and their children – who we have failed. I propose that the appropriate response is that we do whatever is necessary and that we have already delayed too much.

[Revision 28/11/19

There is a clear Left vs. Right political orientation divide on the need for urgent action to address the climate crisis. It is within right-wing politicians that – despite the absolute deluge of evidence – deniers of human-caused climate change are found, figures such as Donald Trump and Nigel Lawson in the UK. It is within right-wing political parties – in the UK the Conservative, Brexit, UKIP and the Neo-Liberal Liberal Democrats parties – that there is little appetite for emergency action to reduce damage to the climate from human actions.

We need to prevent Climate change deniers and those most resistant to climate action i.e. the right-wing, from getting elected and being in positions of power.]

While I am no expert there are plenty of experts and we should listen to them.

This post is to be revised and elaborated.

[21/11/19

World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency

Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to “tell it like it is.” On the basis of this obligation and the graphical indicators presented below, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.

…

Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.

As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.]

Posted in climate change, Climate Crisis, Climate Emergency, conservatives, politics | Leave a comment

Register by 11:59pm on 26 November to vote in the General Election on 12 December

Posted on 25th November 2019 by dizzy

Register to vote gov.uk

Register by 11:59pm on 26 November to vote in the General Election on 12 December.

If you want to apply to vote by post in England, Scotland or Wales, register before 5pm on 26 November.

If you’re going to be abroad on election day, you can apply to vote by proxy after you’ve registered. It takes time to vote by post from overseas.

…

Posted in General Election, politics | Leave a comment

Jeremy Corbyn to announce Labour manifesto

Posted on 21st November 2019 by dizzy

UK’s Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn is announcing the Labour manifesto today.

While I am not and have never been a Labour member, I strongly support the current Labour party and their policies. Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party are presenting a real alternative. Instead of sucking up to the rich and powerful they are going to represent ordinary people.

How on earth is democracy so perverted that the rich increase their obscene wealth while we have so many people freezing to death homeless on the streets and so many of the working poor relying on food banks? (The Tories’ Universal Credit has no doubt hugely contributed to that actually.)

I am concerned with delay in addressing the climate crisis. Knowledgeable scientist are virtually unanimously agreed that action needs to be taken immediately.

World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency

Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to “tell it like it is.” On the basis of this obligation and the graphical indicators presented below, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.

…

Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.

As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.]

Posted in Climate Crisis, Climate Emergency, General Election, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, politics, Socialist, the filthy rich | Leave a comment

Climate Change: The Facts

Posted on 20th November 2019 by dizzy

[21/11/19

World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency

Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to “tell it like it is.” On the basis of this obligation and the graphical indicators presented below, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.

…

Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.

As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.]

Posted in climate change, Climate Crisis, Climate Emergency | Leave a comment

Climate scientists are agreed.

Posted on 19th November 2019 by dizzy

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_consensus_on_climate_change

There is currently a strong scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and that this warming is mainly caused by human activities. This consensus is supported by various studies of scientists’ opinions and by position statements of scientific organizations, many of which explicitly agree with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) synthesis reports.

…

[21/11/19

World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency

Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to “tell it like it is.” On the basis of this obligation and the graphical indicators presented below, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.

…

Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.

As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.]

Posted in climate change, Climate Crisis, Climate Emergency | Leave a comment

The SSL Certificate is valid for this site

Posted on 19th November 2019 by dizzy

The SSL Certificate for this site expired on 1 November 2019. It was resolved within 1 or 2 days and now has a valid certificate.

Browsers are reporting warnings about this site. The warnings are unjustified and only appeared after the most recent post concerning climate change, climate crisis, climate emergency. [ed: except when it was actually invalid from 1 Nov for a day or two.]

There are websites available to assess the validity of this site’s SSL Security Certificate.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Statement on the Climate Crisis

Posted on 18th November 2019 by dizzy

The Earth’s climate is in crisis, it is an emergency. There is no doubt about it – scientists are in near unanimous agreement that humans are causing severe damage to Earth’s climate. This is our home and we have to care for it. I particularly feel for future generations – our children and their children – who we have failed. I propose that the appropriate response is that we do whatever is necessary and that we have already delayed too much.

While I am no expert there are plenty of experts and we should listen to them.

This post is to be revised and elaborated.

[21/11/19

World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency

Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to “tell it like it is.” On the basis of this obligation and the graphical indicators presented below, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.

…

Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.

As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.]

Posted in climate change, Climate Crisis, Climate Emergency, politics | Leave a comment

Boris Johnson’s lies

Posted on 18th November 2019 by dizzy

It’s not just Boris Johnson’s lying. It’s that the media let him get away with it

Peter Oborne

…

During a speech lasting no more than 10 minutes, viewers learn that he is building 40 new hospitals. Sounds good. But it’s a lie that has already been exposed by fact-checkers, including the website Full Fact.

The prime minister tells Sky viewers that “20,000 more police are operating on our streets to fight crime and bring crime down”. This assertion is misleading in a number of ways. Recruitment will take place over three years and do no more than replace the drop in officer numbers seen since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

Sky viewers are then informed by Johnson that Jeremy Corbyn “plans to wreck the economy with a £1.2 trillion spending plan”. Labour’s manifesto hasn’t been published, let alone fully costed. Johnson’s £1.2tn is a palpable fabrication. As Full Fact concluded: “Many of the figures behind this estimate are uncertain or based on flawed assumptions.”

Johnson then goes on to say that the Labour leader “thinks home ownership is a bad idea and is opposed to it”. I have been unable to find any evidence of Corbyn expressing this view. Perhaps Johnson is referring to the floated Labour policy that would give “right to buy” to private tenants. The policy, which was only ever supposed to target the wealthiest landlords, has since been dropped and, according to the Financial Times, will not appear in the party’s manifesto.

…

In theory Johnson should not be able to get away with this scale of lying and deceit. In a properly functioning democracy, liars should be exposed and held to account. But that isn’t happening. As with Donald Trump, for Johnson there seems to be no political price to pay for deceit and falsehood. The mainstream media … prefers to go along with his lies rather than expose them.

…

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Boris Johnson: F*** business

Posted on 18th November 2019 by dizzy

Boris Johnson appeared before the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today. The CBI are not keen on Brexit. BJ wanted a general election to gain a majority of MPs so that he can pursue a no-deal Brexit without democracy preventing him.

We fully know Boris Johnson’s attitude to business because he’s told us. He said “F*** business”.


https://www.ft.com/content/8075e68c-7857-11e8-8e67-1e1a0846c475

…

The UK’s foreign secretary apparently outlined his new business strategy at a private reception, when challenged about the clamour from Airbus and BMW over the threat to jobs and investment. Mr Johnson’s aides say the remark was aimed at business lobbyists. It makes little difference. (He has now fled to Kabul to avoid having to resign rather than vote with the government for a new runway at Heathrow. The foreign secretary had said he would lie down in front of the bulldozers. It turns out he preferred to lie low.)

“F**k business.” It may have been a casual aside but it was also a revealingly contemptuous one, not least in its indifference to the fate of Airbus’s UK staff. This is the strategic nihilism of a spoiled child lashing out. After two years of failing to offer up even a scintilla of a plan, relying on magical thinking and the belief that if Britain just held its nerve, Europe would fold, this is all he had left — a petulant explosion.

…

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Boris Johnson: Disappointed at the size of your wife’s tits? Vote Tory

Posted on 14th November 2019 by dizzy

Boris Johnson’s misogyny

It’s insulting that the Conservatives can only offer such a dishonest, arrogant, infantile and misogynist ^£$€ as their leader and prime minister of UK. In addition to the widespread recognition that truth is totally alien to him, BJ has a huge history of extremely offensive remarks – sexist, racist, anti-gay – that expose how unsuitable he is to public office.

“Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3.” Boris Johnson during 2005 general election campaign.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-fast-lane-the-johnson-guide-to-cars-book-criticism-women-india-a9118196.html

The Conservative Party leader’s review of the Ferrari F430 also includes references to sex.

Mr Johnson wrote: “It was as though the whole county of Hampshire was lying back and opening her well-bred legs to be ravished by the Italian stallion.”

Posted in Boris 'Rice pudding' Johnson, Boris Johnson, conservatives, General Election, politics | Leave a comment

Boris Johnson on w@@king

Posted on 13th November 2019 by dizzy

Boris Johnson is today presenting a general election speech using a ‘clever’ euphemism for w**king. He will say “We can honour the wishes of the people, or else we can waste more time, at the cost of a billion pounds per month … more political self-obsession and onanism.”

The Conservative Party have been in power in UK since 2010. It is successive Conservative governments who are responsible for instability, indirection, not doing anything useful, not achieving anything, not governing. While Boris Johnson uses obscure phrases to veil racist, sexist and infantile, schoolboy remarks it is successive Conservative governments who have lost control causing the desperate desire to regain control.

Posted in Boris 'Rice pudding' Johnson, Boris Johnson, General Election, politics | Leave a comment

I’ve just now realised that we’ve won

Posted on 7th November 2019 by dizzy

Capitalism and climate change deniers are defeated.

We’ve had the most ridiculous vestiges of nonsense presented to us.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Tory criticisms of Jeremy Corbyn a century out

Posted on 7th November 2019 by dizzy

Conservative criticisms of Jeremy Corbyn reveal that the Tories are divorced from reality by a century.

1.15 It’s fantastic but also fantastically ridiculous. There is no ratinatinally here.

ratinationally

apologies: rationallity

It’s so irrational. Are they totally alien to reality?

It’s irrational

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How to campaign in a general election

Posted on 6th November 2019 by dizzy

This post discusses traditional campaigning methods in a general election i.e. those followed by political parties, for those that want to participate. It’s not strictly necessary to be associated with a political party to participate in elections although I would suggest that you operate in an open and honest manner e.g. by behaving honestly based on established, verifiable facts and disclosing your group’s contact details on leaflets and when asked. I have postponed this posting since I was worried that it may assist the opposition. Then I realised and appreciated that we are many …

General elections are about electing a candidate to represent their constituency as a Member of Parliament (MP). Under the UK’s first past the post electoral system, it’s all about securing more votes than any other candidate. Because there is more to achieve than available resources – usually voluntary workers – there is a concern to be as effective as possible. Being effective means persuading as many people as possible to vote for your candidate or not voting for a likely close opposing candidate for the effort that you expend. Politics can turn nasty or abusive because less votes for your nearest opponent has the same effect as more votes for your side, because people often have deeply-help political views and because people involved in politics are often insane.

It’s a long time since I’ve done this but political parties depend on 4 main methods to campaign: the election communication, leaflets, canvassing and turning out the vote. They also use a copy of the Electoral Register which is a list of all the people who can vote. There may be newer ways to campaign online today but I would expect that most people you reach that way are probably already committed (or should be ;). [13/11/19 I am not qualified to comment on online campaigning since I avoid social media. I’m going to be more creative;]

The electoral communication is a letter that each political party gets delivered for free by the post office [ed: Royal Mail]. Political parties often ask for help stuffing envelopes so that’s what’s going on there.

Leaflets are often ignored and never read. If you go for leaflets, I would suggest a simple graphic and short message perhaps with a url to follow up. Leaflets can also double as posters to display in a window. It’s worth considering having different simple leaflets and delivering them not to every home, perhaps one to so many homes. I suggest that you should identify your group on the leaflet with a shortened address e.g. p&p by group name, house number, postcode.

Canvassing is knocking on doors and engaging people in conversation. This is often not done by political parties since it is so labour-intensive. This is probably the most effective way of campaigning since you reach the highest proportion of the electorate this way and you can present your case in person. What to expect: If you’re polite and well presented, most people will engage with you. Many people will be very poorly informed, some people will be rude, some people will be mad. How to do it: Prepare beforehand so that you have e.g. a leaflet to leave behind if they have no time for you “Can I just leave this for you to look at?”, ask if they’ll be free later, do it with a partner until you get comfortable with it, if a pair do opposite sides of a street you can call your mate over for help. If you’re doing it informally yourself just do however many houses you choose on your own street and meet your neighbours ;)

Turning out the vote is about making sure that those who have said that they will support your candidate actually vote on election day. You can ring them if you have their number, knock on their door or turn up in a car to give them a lift. Political parties make notes while canvassing. There may be some data protection issues involved in making records (especially electronic records) without registering and having people’s consent.

You can – of course – approach a political party and volunteer to campaign for them. If you’re devising a campaign independent of political parties, I suggest that you should be realistic in your assessment and expectations (unlike some political party). Elections are well documented so that you can research what to expect online. I have been successful gambling on general elections: we’ve had general elections in 2015 and 2017 as a guide. If you gamble, I suggest that you hedge (gambling term is dutch or dutching) your bets. [8/11/19 Gamblers can benefit from odds that are often skewed on general elections due to inexperienced gamblers having unrealistic expectations. There are also many different bets offered. I personally don’t gamble other than on politics – you’ve got to be in it to lose.]

ed 17.30 https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biz088/5610806

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Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.

As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.

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Posted in General Election, politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

THE STATE WE’RE IN :: Climate change: ‘Clear and unequivocal’ emergency, say scientists

Posted on 5th November 2019 by dizzy

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50302392

A global group of around 11,000 scientists have endorsed research that says the world is facing a climate emergency.

The study, based on 40 years of data on a range of measures, says governments are failing to address the crisis.

Without deep and lasting changes, the world is facing “untold human suffering” the study says.

The researchers say they have a moral obligation to warn of the scale of the threat.

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“We have rising emissions, rising temperatures, and we’ve known this for 40 years and we haven’t acted – you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know we have a a problem,” said Dr Newsome.

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6/11/19 17.35 https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biz088/5610806

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Mitigating and adapting to climate change while honoring the diversity of humans entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems. We are encouraged by a recent surge of concern. Governmental bodies are making climate emergency declarations. Schoolchildren are striking. Ecocide lawsuits are proceeding in the courts. Grassroots citizen movements are demanding change, and many countries, states and provinces, cities, and businesses are responding.

As the Alliance of World Scientists, we stand ready to assist decision-makers in a just transition to a sustainable and equitable future. We urge widespread use of vital signs, which will better allow policymakers, the private sector, and the public to understand the magnitude of this crisis, track progress, and realign priorities for alleviating climate change. The good news is that such transformative change, with social and economic justice for all, promises far greater human well-being than does business as usual. We believe that the prospects will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity promptly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency and act to sustain life on planet Earth, our only home.

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Posted in Climate Crisis, Climate Emergency, politics | Leave a comment