[ali k]

Football is way easier to predict than this. All these unpredictable rogue players. Boris Johnson is the Bruce Grobbelar of politics.

And Cummings the Diego Maradona?

[Stabbsy]

If you did then I predict you’d find mine were all correct. Except maybe this one. I did predict bojo getting worse and being hospitalised, plus a few others things.

Ah, so you’re one of these superforecasters we keep hearing about. Cummings has jobs for people like you. Just take this thread along to the interview and he’ll snap you up. Have you written any blog posts supporting eugenics recently?

[tomtom]

Football is way easier to predict than this. All these unpredictable rogue players. Boris Johnson is the Bruce Grobbelar of politics.

And Cummings the Diego Maradona?

Too much flattery there...

Boris is a Thomas Brolin (promised so much but was ultimately just fat and lazy)

[TobyD]

The Sunday Times has a long piece by Tim Shipman which is absolutely laying into Johnson, intimating that sage members are considering resigning due to his indecision and attempts to blame scientists,and multiple Conservatives comparing his performance to Theresa May....

[ali k]

If you did then I predict you’d find mine were all correct. Except maybe this one. I did predict bojo getting worse and being hospitalised, plus a few others things.

Ah, so you’re one of these superforecasters we keep hearing about. Cummings has jobs for people like you. Just take this thread along to the interview and he’ll snap you up. Have you written any blog posts supporting eugenics recently?

No need for superforecasting when you can rewrite history like they’re doing! Cummings is now advertising for an army of people to retrospectively edit all his blog posts. And govt papers probably.

[mrjonathanr]

Football is way easier to predict than this. All these unpredictable rogue players. Boris Johnson is the Bruce Grobbelar of politics.

Grobbelaar was good at his job! Plus he was a serious performer who pretended to clown around, rather than a clown who...etc

[seankenny]

By the way I wasn't intending that as a criticism of people making predictions. I know its just interesting conversation. I genuinely thought it would be interesting to see how good people have been at predicting the madness of the last few months unfold

As for the smart Leavers, who are like rich folks staying in trailers in a rain-soaked Festival of Dumb and trying not to get their chinos muddy, do you really trust your leaders to steer you through the course ahead? Boris, with his well known inability to grasp of detail. IDS, whose attempt to reform the benefits system reached about 150,000 people after six years of effort. Gove, with his flagship policy of creating new schools in areas that didn't need them, the radical destroyer whose own boss described him as "a bit of a Maoist". Steve "blue sky thinking" Hilton who wanted to close jobcentres, abolish maternity leave and alter the weather. Government by TED talk isn't my idea of fun. And, erm, Priti Patel and Penny Mordaunt.

You might want to divorce the principle from the personnel, but you can't. These are the people we'll have running the most complex and intricate challenge the government has faced in decades. Feeling lucky?

Okay so I was wrong about Steve Hilton. And whilst IDS might not be a player, his universal credit system most certainly is a big part of the game.

My gut feeling is the country wouldn't do any worse out of the EU as it has done in the EU.

That sort of statement is perfectly of its time. It might not age well, however.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[ali k]

My other half is reading Jon Ronson's book 'The Psychopath Test' and this morning pointed out the following standard psychological assessment tool called the Hare Psychopathy Checklist of personality traits and behaviours:

1. Glibness/superficial charm
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
3. Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
4. Pathological lying
5. Cunning/manipulative
6. Lack of remorse or guilt
7. Shallow affect
8. Callous/lack of empathy
9. Parasitic lifestyle
10. Poor behavioural controls
11. Promiscuous sexual behaviour
12. Early behavioural problems
13. Lack of realistic long-term goals
14. Impulsivity
15. Irresponsibility
16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
17. Many short-term marital relationships
18. Juvenile delinquency
19. Revocation of conditional release
20. Criminal versatility

I'm sure if he'd been born to different circumstances or his actions caught up with him the final three would also apply.

[nai]

Football is way easier to predict than this. All these unpredictable rogue players. Boris Johnson is the Bruce Grobbelar of politics.

Grobbelaar was good at his job! Plus he was a serious performer who pretended to clown around, rather than a clown who...etc

But was involved in a match fixing trial and while not convicted he was judged to have "acted in a way in which no decent or honest footballer would act and in a way which could, if not exposed and stamped on, undermine the integrity of a game which earns the loyalty and support of millions".

[Ged]

My other half is reading Jon Ronson's book 'The Psychopath Test' and this morning pointed out the following standard psychological assessment tool called the Hare Psychopathy Checklist of personality traits and behaviours:

1. Glibness/superficial charm
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
3. Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
4. Pathological lying
5. Cunning/manipulative
6. Lack of remorse or guilt
7. Shallow affect
8. Callous/lack of empathy
9. Parasitic lifestyle
10. Poor behavioural controls
11. Promiscuous sexual behaviour
12. Early behavioural problems
13. Lack of realistic long-term goals
14. Impulsivity
15. Irresponsibility
16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
17. Many short-term marital relationships
18. Juvenile delinquency
19. Revocation of conditional release
20. Criminal versatility

I'm sure if he'd been born to different circumstances or his actions caught up with him the final three would also apply.

Im sure you're only half joking but I don't see it. I get slightly irked with the way that the popularisation of psychology has led to diagnoses being dished out all over the place. A bit like the whole autism one, if someone's a bit quirk they must be autistic. If someone likes being tidy they must be ocd. I suspect bj is far below the level of most of those traits required to be anywhere near being labelled as a psychopath. I'm sure psychopaths everywhere will be cross with you for Trying to tar him with their brush!

[petejh]

Have you written any blog posts supporting eugenics recently?

Haven’t written any blog posts no, but I’ve always been a fan of Annie Lennox.

[ali k]

Im sure you're only half joking but I don't see it. I get slightly irked with the way that the popularisation of psychology has led to diagnoses being dished out all over the place. I suspect bj is far below the level of most of those traits required to be anywhere near being labelled as a psychopath.

Of course I'm only half joking(!), and I agree with your examples of diagnosing autism and OCD based on one tiny facet of a person's behaviour. But the whole discipline of psychology is based around studying human thoughts and actions so with someone like Johnson you have a long history of behaviour patterns to go off (from teachers' school reports, to testimonies from his family and old work colleagues/employers, to articles he's written, interviews he's done, masses of TV footage etc etc). I just find it interesting that he appears to tick many of the boxes to some degree. He does need a proper diagnosis to be sure though - is Nic keen?

[webbo]

My other half is reading Jon Ronson's book 'The Psychopath Test' and this morning pointed out the following standard psychological assessment tool called the Hare Psychopathy Checklist of personality traits and behaviours:

1. Glibness/superficial charm
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth
3. Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
4. Pathological lying
5. Cunning/manipulative
6. Lack of remorse or guilt
7. Shallow affect
8. Callous/lack of empathy
9. Parasitic lifestyle
10. Poor behavioural controls
11. Promiscuous sexual behaviour
12. Early behavioural problems
13. Lack of realistic long-term goals
14. Impulsivity
15. Irresponsibility
16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
17. Many short-term marital relationships
18. Juvenile delinquency
19. Revocation of conditional release
20. Criminal versatility

I'm sure if he'd been born to different circumstances or his actions caught up with him the final three would also apply.

Im sure you're only half joking but I don't see it. I get slightly irked with the way that the popularisation of psychology has led to diagnoses being dished out all over the place. A bit like the whole autism one, if someone's a bit quirk they must be autistic. If someone likes being tidy they must be ocd. I suspect bj is far below the level of most of those traits required to be anywhere near being labelled as a psychopath. I'm sure psychopaths everywhere will be cross with you for Trying to tar him with their brush!

As with Autism, Psychopathy has a spectrum. We will all have traits but some people have a lot more. As a generalisation most politicians are going to be Sociopathic as they are making decisions that for the whole of society rather than for individuals. As an example the decision to empty hospitals of care home patients, who ever gave the go ahead for that is pretty Sociopathic.

[Ged]

Im sure you're only half joking but I don't see it. I get slightly irked with the way that the popularisation of psychology has led to diagnoses being dished out all over the place. I suspect bj is far below the level of most of those traits required to be anywhere near being labelled as a psychopath.

Of course I'm only half joking(!), and I agree with your examples of diagnosing autism and OCD based on one tiny facet of a person's behaviour. But the whole discipline of psychology is based around studying human thoughts and actions so with someone like Johnson you have a long history of behaviour patterns to go off (from teachers' school reports, to testimonies from his family and old work colleagues/employers, to articles he's written, interviews he's done, masses of TV footage etc etc). I just find it interesting that he appears to tick many of the boxes to some degree. He does need a proper diagnosis to be sure though - is Nic keen?

He just seems a bit too dim to be a psychopath!

[webbo]

There are plenty of Psychopaths who are not very bright, however they tend to think they are more intelligent than the rest of society. That’s why they come unstuck.

[Ged]

Haha, there's me demonstratingy lack of knowledge of psychology whilst trying to diagnose someone

[ali k]

This is a good one. Govt awards largest PPE supply contract (£108m) to a minuscule company called Crisp Websites t/a Pestfix. Number of bidders...you guessed it...ONE.
https://goodlawproject.org/news/over-100-contracts/

[petejh]

Interesting. I deal with Pestfix for supply of various materials and speak to their owner a few times a year. I'll await the outcome with interest.

[SA Chris]

Glad to see Due Diligence rigorously applied.

Bet they can't believe their luck!

[ali k]

Interesting. I deal with Pestfix for supply of various materials and speak to their owner a few times a year.

Is that this guy who was desperately trying to source stuff on LinkedIn?
https://mobile.twitter.com/PaddingtonShort/status/1268585647666868225

[petejh]

No, not him.

[Oldmanmatt]

No, not him.

Ah, but has he got any Ferries?

[petejh]

I’ll ask him next time I need to contact them about small mythical flying female characters, along with whether he likes dags.

[Offwidth]

Hard hitting letter in the Guardian from earlier this week.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/17/public-health-england-is-not-fit-for-purpose

[tomtom]

So tracing app U turn and Dominic “game of thrones” Raab showing what an ignorant twat he is over taking the knee.

What’s the dead cat that’s going to come out at 4:30pm?

My moneys on something to do with pubs or restaurants opening.