In todays news...

[Bigjawa]

I sincerely doubt anyone with a right mind is suggesting Biden is anything more than a puppet figure. It is a shame really because it is bordering now on elder abuse.

Similar with Reagan towards the end of his presidency.

I seriously can't believe they don't have an upper age limit. Biden is clearly mentally infirm. Not often I agree with Screwd but its not right. I can remember them taking the piss out of Reagan on Spitting Image nearly 40 years ago, putting codgers that can be manipulated in the White House seems to be a thing.

[JackyJoll]

Still a force to be reckoned with!

Cutting the ribbon at a new bicycle shed.

https://twitter.com/susaninlangside/sta ... dVNm_bW6BQ

[Mr. Dazzle]

Parental uproar about Michelangelo's David being naked.

This was, quite literally, a joke on the Simpsons 30 years ago Strikes me as particularly daft cause the people who are parents now would probably have laughed at that episode growing up.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65087218

[Greenman]

Parental uproar about Michelangelo's David being naked.

This was, quite literally, a joke on the Simpsons 30 years ago Strikes me as particularly daft cause the people who are parents now would probably have laughed at that episode growing up.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65087218

Isn't there also a thing going around about Lisa Simpson having Autism!

Step way from the screens, seroiusly, STEP AWAY FROM THE SCREENS!V Those people have serious issues! - but it's in our news, WTF!

[irie]

I sincerely doubt anyone with a right mind is suggesting Biden is anything more than a puppet figure. It is a shame really because it is bordering now on elder abuse.

Similar with Reagan towards the end of his presidency.

I seriously can't believe they don't have an upper age limit. Biden is clearly mentally infirm. Not often I agree with Screwd but its not right. I can remember them taking the piss out of Reagan on Spitting Image nearly 40 years ago, putting codgers that can be manipulated in the White House seems to be a thing.

I also remember Reagan on Spitting Image.

[wheelnut]

I sincerely doubt anyone with a right mind is suggesting Biden is anything more than a puppet figure. It is a shame really because it is bordering now on elder abuse.

Biden being too old for the job and WH staff picking up the slack is different from him being installed as a ‘puppet’ with others pulling his strings.

[Screwdriver]

I sincerely doubt anyone with a right mind is suggesting Biden is anything more than a puppet figure.

Biden being too old for the job and WH staff picking up the slack...

Other opinions are available and there is scant evidence either way as to whether he was deliberately installed a sa puppet figure or as you suggest, merely became one as his feeble mind fades into oblivion.

For the most powerful nation on earth, it does not bode well whichever way you want to spin it.

[wheelnut]

Other opinions are available and there is scant evidence either way as to whether he was deliberately installed a sa puppet figure or as you suggest, merely became one as his feeble mind fades into oblivion.

It doesn’t work like that Screwd - what you are suggesting is Russell’s teapot.

For the most powerful nation on earth, it does not bode well whichever way you want to spin it.

On that we wholeheartedly agree. If Biden and Trump are the best candidates that the US can muster then it most definitely does not bode well.

[Screwdriver]

Other opinions are available and there is scant evidence either way....

It doesn’t work like that Screwd - what you are suggesting is Russell’s teapot.

I chose my words carefully.

There is plenty of evidence that Biden is literally doing as he is told.

In the first few weeks he was constantly making "jokes" about "getting into trouble" or "doing what he was told"
Cue cards on his rare stage managed "press conferences".
He has to be shown which way to go on stage (and still gets it wrong)
Numerous mumblefucks including the boots on the ground gaffe regards Ukraine (!) when he told troops "when you get there..."

But other than refuting your suggestion there is no possibility of disproof, I don't want to drag this off topic. Biden being a puppet is hardly "news"...

[wheelnut]

There is plenty of evidence that Biden is literally doing as he is told.

All US presidents will pretty much do as they’re told, whether it be from the consensus of their advisors or through the limitations of having lost congress/senate.

The US presidency isn’t a one man show. I have no doubt he takes advice and guidance from lots of sources.

[Screwdriver]

Fine then there seems to be a consensus that he's not in charge.

Even though I do not accept the propositions above, rather than argue with that, I'll just ask the obvious question then.

Who is actually in charge? Who is writing his cue cards? Who is deciding the political strategy wrt Ukraine?

While Biden certainly has his finger in that pie, at least we can agree he is not making decisions about how it is baked.

[Cousin Jack]

I think what you're looking for is a dictator that makes every decision, has a sufficient ego that he can't be influenced and listens to no one.

I am available.

[Screwdriver]

Who is actually in charge? Who is writing his cue cards? Who is deciding the political strategy wrt Ukraine?

While Biden certainly has his finger in that pie, at least we can agree he is not making decisions about how it is baked.

Respectfully I'm not sure you (or tbf very many people at all) understand leadership in any sort of large organisation.

He's certainly not sitting there knowing every detail and giving every order on every detail. He probably doesn't know half of what goes on, he can't. If you run anything big then sometimes you'll have senior people that have already decided on a course of action and they're just coming to you to explain the outline and get sign off. He'll know the gist of most major things, some things will be light on detail and he'll know literally nothing about other things even when his signature is on it.

Bidden might actually be a senile old fool and I think he certainly does show the signs of old age, but even if he was a thirty year old genius he'd still be getting shown which way to get up on stage.

Now then...that said, you're certainly right that there are powerful figures pulling strings and influencing decisions, but that's not just Biden, that's all democratic governments everywhere, they're influenced by money, connections and votes.

I think what you're looking for is a dictator that makes every decision, has a sufficient ego that he can't be influenced and listens to no one.

That is true. Of course I know nothing about how a large organisation is run, let alone a country. But a large organisation or country needs to have an objective, a purpose and for a country specifically, a moral compass and core values which shape decision making.

It is somewhat ironic then that the USA appears to be being run more like a business than a cultural entity or an exemplar for a capitalist democracy. Clearly that "business" is not geared towards benefitting its citizens which are increasingly being treated more like commodities. Nor do its objectives appear to be for the benefit of humanity generally or even world order and peace.

Instead it appears to have been taken over; politicians literally bought out by large global corporations and the entire country being run for the personal financial benefit of <whoever it is> that is telling Biden what to say and do. Given the recent revelations regarding the efficacy of the Pfizer "vaccine" (for example) it is shocking to think big pharma were able to "convince" the sitting government to make it illegal NOT to buy and use their product.

Then you discover their individual "advertising" budget (effectively sponsorship/bribery) constitutes fully three quarters of the entire mainstream media advertising revenue. Goodness knows how much they spent on "lobbying" (which frankly is literally bribery). Doesn't take a genius to work out why we were never told the truth about these medicines, nor why the government were so keen to enforce those mandates at the behest of corporate interests.

These are extraordinarily dangerous times with the creeping corporatisation of "democracy". A true leader, unlike Joe Biden, would stand up against these financial giants. After all, the government is merely a conduit for the enormous wealth that vast numbers of humans develop. Instead of humanity benefitting from their labours, the government squanders that wealth by funnelling it into the hands of big business in order to line their own pockets with kickbacks.

So yes, I appreciate a leader does not micromanage an entire country but they build a team around them which is supposed to represent the will of the people who have given them that power. What is happening now is the exact opposite. Governments are increasingly dictating to the people and silencing dissent.

[KungFooBob]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-65453874

I had trouble reading that, it made me feel pretty anxious, it's quite possibly my worst nightmare.

You'd think it wouldn't be a problem in a man built environment above ground.

The people who go underground to do it are mentalists of the highest order, imho.

[Cousin Jack]

I think what you're looking for is a dictator that makes every decision, has a sufficient ego that he can't be influenced and listens to no one.

I am available.

They tend not to last so long, or go mad with worry that everyone is out to get them.
Eric Blair reckoned that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I wouldn't fancy it.

Personally I'm of the Richard Branson school (or was it Steve Jobs?) - hire good people that know more about their job than you do, clear the path and then get out of their way.

I don't have long to last, I am about the same age as Biden, but (perhaps a little less senile. 4 years will do me, I won't run for a 2nd term. Power corrupts, very true, but I am going to enjoy being corrupted!

[Yambo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-65453874

I had trouble reading that, it made me feel pretty anxious, it's quite possibly my worst nightmare.

You'd think it wouldn't be a problem in a man built environment above ground.

The people who go underground to do it are mentalists of the highest order, imho.

Tragic.

A long time ago when I was a squaddie I did a bit of caving in Germany. I enjoyed it but wasn't passionate about it. It was something to be somewhere where so few people have ever been but it didn't have the same draw for me as climbing hills. On my next to last 'expedition' I got stuck in a very small tunnel which had to be negotiated on one's back. I made the very basic mistake of not stretching my hands/arms out 'over my head' and consequently my shoulders got stuck.

I had about a 3 second exposure of complete terror - all I could see from the glow of my acetylene lamp was solid rock a couple of inches above my nose, perhaps 200 feet of solid rock. It was a seriously bad moment. Luckily I wasn't the last in line and the lad behind me clouted my feet and I came back to reality, told him I was stuck and took the shit for being a complete wanker. He pulled my legs and I worked my way out then got my arms sorted and went back into the tunnel. It wasn't that long, about 4 metres and I got another serious ribbing from the rest of the guys when I got through. The way out of the cave was back the same way so I had to do it again. It wasn't pleasant but I wasn't going to stay down there. . I did one more cave with no dramas but that was enough and I stuck to hills.

[Screwdriver]

These are extraordinarily dangerous times with the creeping corporatisation of "democracy". A true leader, unlike Joe Biden, would stand up against these financial giants. After all, the government is merely a conduit for the enormous wealth that vast numbers of humans develop. Instead of humanity benefitting from their labours, the government squanders that wealth by funnelling it into the hands of big business in order to line their own pockets with kickbacks.

Nothing outside of a utopian fairy story will sort that, throughout human history it's been brick by brick, war after war, oppression after oppression, murder after murder, etc, all aimed at enriching the people calling the shots.

I recommended a book recently called The Blazing World by Jonathan Healey, it's a really good read and certainly through most of it I kept thinking to myself that not much has changed really, there is nothing new happening today, just a slightly different landscape.

No and I don't appreciate the "fairy story" angle either. I am not describing a utopia, merely the proper exercise of the societal structures that have been carefully engineered over the millennia. Our tax system would work if it wasn't for greed and corruption turning a blind eye to the various dodges and avoidance/evasion which has become commonplace.

I carefully suggest "These are extraordinarily dangerous times" because of my constant reminders regarding mass media being perverted. People are literally being brainwashed by ill conceived strategies which we all know are designed to subvert any efforts to achieve some balance in the discussion but are also leading to mass psychosis.

The human mind is a complex, powerful and yet fragile thing. In these times when the entire world can be scammed for the benefit of the rich and powerful, our society is slowly being dismantled. I recently pointed out the irony in an observation that a "dumb AI" which beat the best human player off the planet could easily be beaten (in the game of Go) by a relatively simple cheat.

Now consider what happens in an environment where the world depends on online communications for its news, views, opinions and a "dumb AI" discovers a similar exploit which it uses against humans. It is difficult enough already to establish what is true and what is media spin or downright lies. And no, I don't imply we're going to end up being "mind controlled" by robot masters, I mean devious humans already realise they can wield that power for their own ends (advertising is a good example of psychological mind tricks) and they neither know nor care what side effect such strategies have on the human psyche so long as it keeps them in power and makes them money.

Dangerous times.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Thing is though, even with my most optimistic anti-cynicism hat on, I struggle to think of a time when that wasn't the case. The rich and powerful have always got to be rich and powerful by standing on the backs of everyone else. It used to be the case that people like you and I weren't even given the pretence of an input. So are things actually better or worse than they've historically been?

[Screwdriver]

Thing is though, even with my most optimistic anti-cynicism hat on, I struggle to think of a time when that wasn't the case. The rich and powerful have always got to be rich and powerful by standing on the backs of everyone else. It used to be the case that people like you and I weren't even given the pretence of an input. So are things actually better or worse than they've historically been?

It is of course the concept of "ownership" that this Brave New World is forged from.

But "you will own nothing and you will be happy" is the mantra from our new egalitarian masters.

Historically, the world has never been "owned" by a fucking chemist shop or so tightly controlled by news media, also owned by the same global corporate gods.

The "pretence of an input" is an interesting observation. It's really what we used to call "free speech" back in ye olden days when that was allowed. I did not ever expect my individual "input" to be given any pretence of merit but allied with a million other like minded people or myself with them, our society would progress towards a common goal, driven by the wave of public opinion.

It is now difficult if not impossible to gauge what public opinion is because we are being told what to think by a handful of vested interests.

If I was being deliberately conspiratorial, I might suggest we don't have too long to wait until another pandemic inducing virus is released upon the world. That would seal our fate. Governments around the world, at the behest of global corporations are gearing up for it.

But I do not go that far. I merely report that despite the years of subterfuge, denials and media backed lies, SAR-CoV-2 it transpires was most likely a weaponised virus, developed in a lab in Wuhan with American financial backing. Todays "news" is the most likely circumstance being the black market re-selling of diseased bats after they had been experimented on.

[Cousin Jack]

But I do not go that far. I merely report that despite the years of subterfuge, denials and media backed lies, SAR-CoV-2 it transpires was most likely a weaponised virus, developed in a lab in Wuhan with American financial backing. Todays "news" is the most likely circumstance being the black market re-selling of diseased bats after they had been experimented on.

If SAR-CoV-2 has been 'weaponised' they have done a piss-poor job of it. Most people survive, many just suffer mild annoying discomfort for a few days. And do you seriously think you could smuggle live bats out of a secure virus lab?