Regular readers of this car crash, sorry blog will know that even though Bogg Society was originally my idea of a joke, the very clever Dom Blond from Republica (he's drop dead gorgeous and ready to go) has appropriated it as his own and made it a central plank (dead wood) of the government's policy.
As well as spending lots of time not explaining what it is properly (we'll empower citizens to volunteer to explain it for themselves and misinterpret what it is so the State doesn't have to) Blond (is he a natural blond or is it bleached? I often struggle to find any highlights) has now taken to bizarre justifications of Bogg Society in action.
On Twitter, using his spoof name @phillip_blond, Blond's reaction to the government's u-turn on selling off the forests (which lest we forget was lauded as a bogg society opportunity for people to club together and run some woodland or something - I wasn't really concentrating) was:
"Superb news on forests - great the govt is listening - big society winning the debate "
Presumably he is suggesting that the u-turn was as a result of people taking responsibility and kicking up a fuss.
If the government keeps u-turning on every unpopular decision it makes, though, where will people's sense of moral outrage and need to protest come from? Did no one think of the poor "save our forests" campaigners? What will they do now? Flatten the forests, flog the trees I say - save the save our forests campaign.
But I digress.
Taking Blond's logic we might as well claim that Bogg Society is responsible for everything that happens.
Presumably the High Court judgment on BFS is also great news that shows Bogg Society is winning the debate.
Muboggarak standing down in Egypt? It was Bogg Society what won it.
Hodgson going to West Brom is also a feather in the cap of Bogg Society. Or Boing Boing Society.
I just had a lovely home made lunch (spicy couscous salad) - much kudos to Bogg Society.
I have sent my thoughts to Blond and suggested that if he replied to any of them it would be an example of Bogg Society winning the debate. He hasn't.
Ultimately, it would be good if the government could also u-turn on Bogg Society - after all, as Blond might say, it would show it is listening and that Bogg Society was winning the debate.
PS I wasn't going to blog about this but @pennyhomer demanded a blogpost. "It'd be a victory for Bogg Society" she claimed. "I want a blogpost from anyone, and I'm too lazy to do it myself. If it doesn't happen, the Bogg Society will have lost."
So I have been empowered to do it myself. How very Bogg Society.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query "bogg society". Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query "bogg society". Sort by date Show all posts
Saturday, 12 February 2011
Monday, 14 February 2011
Launching the relaunch of the launch of something that isn't being relaunched even though it is
I pity the poor people of Humberside. What a shithole. But at least they had the good fortune to hear me explaining my view of Bogg Society and denouncing cuts on their local radio. As did loads of other godforsaken holes around Britain. This Knighthood means the BBC obviously think I have some credibility. Though a Knight shouldn't be made to get up early and served shite coffee.
As the media marathon ends I head to the PM's Bogg Society relaunch speech. But this exercise in media vanity isn't just an exercise in media vanity. It's a superb opportunity to get a message across about cuts in brolly funding. And frankly it has been the relentless pounding by BUBB on cuts that has helped shift opinion and partly explains Cameron's relaunch.
Yep, it's all down to me.
Now you know you have arrived when you discover that Nick Robinson is reading your blog though he looked like a man who had been caught looking at snuff movies on his laptop. Hi Nick! You biased prick. I spoke to him this morning at the relaunch event in Somerset House with my colleague Sir Hubert.
Bogg Society may be one daft idea that the PM is running with as his personal mission. He thinks it's genius. It isn't. Well it might be. No one can tell.
And his relaunch scam is another example of potential genius let down by shabby execution. I love a launch event as you may know. An opportunity to get some sponsored canapes and fizz and swan around giving it large. And the PM has now relaunched Bogg Society 485 times, while smoothly denying that the relaunches are launches.
But he has completely neglected the catering side of things. Poor show. Ultimately Bogg Society may collapse for the lack of a sausage roll. Presumably Cam expected someone to volunteer to put on a bit of a buffet, provide a few cakes etc. Unless there was some intervention by Derek Gherkins.
Still it was a good speech. David Cameron is a superb communicator. You know exactly what message the smarmy insincere privileged upper class shitehawk is putting across - you're all screwed, ha ha ha. Couldn't be clearer. Except when it comes to Bogg Society.
It was a top class performance in bullshitting and you can tell that this is something he believes in, the deluded, stubborn toff. And thanks to Dave's efforts today I am sure everyone is so much clearer about Bogg Society now. We may as well have looked for answers on Dave. The TV channel.
Some highlights from his speech: "Really, the Bogg Society is very simple. And so are you if you don't get it"
"The Bogg Society is not empty rhetoric. It's much less full and lacking substance than that"
"The Bogg Society is so easy to understand that even George reckons he comprehends it (he doesn't)"
"I order you to revolt against the top down statist approach and volunteer to build an active society"
"This isn't a top down solution. I order you to be empowered and make Bogg Society work. It's my mission and comes from the top"
If Cameron spent as much effort explaining what Bogg Society actually is as he has constantly relaunching it then it probably wouldn't help much.
At least has finally got everyone talking about Bogg Society - now a far greater percentage of the public don't understand it at all rather than just the handful that had heard of it.
As the media marathon ends I head to the PM's Bogg Society relaunch speech. But this exercise in media vanity isn't just an exercise in media vanity. It's a superb opportunity to get a message across about cuts in brolly funding. And frankly it has been the relentless pounding by BUBB on cuts that has helped shift opinion and partly explains Cameron's relaunch.
Yep, it's all down to me.
Now you know you have arrived when you discover that Nick Robinson is reading your blog though he looked like a man who had been caught looking at snuff movies on his laptop. Hi Nick! You biased prick. I spoke to him this morning at the relaunch event in Somerset House with my colleague Sir Hubert.
Bogg Society may be one daft idea that the PM is running with as his personal mission. He thinks it's genius. It isn't. Well it might be. No one can tell.
And his relaunch scam is another example of potential genius let down by shabby execution. I love a launch event as you may know. An opportunity to get some sponsored canapes and fizz and swan around giving it large. And the PM has now relaunched Bogg Society 485 times, while smoothly denying that the relaunches are launches.
But he has completely neglected the catering side of things. Poor show. Ultimately Bogg Society may collapse for the lack of a sausage roll. Presumably Cam expected someone to volunteer to put on a bit of a buffet, provide a few cakes etc. Unless there was some intervention by Derek Gherkins.
Still it was a good speech. David Cameron is a superb communicator. You know exactly what message the smarmy insincere privileged upper class shitehawk is putting across - you're all screwed, ha ha ha. Couldn't be clearer. Except when it comes to Bogg Society.
It was a top class performance in bullshitting and you can tell that this is something he believes in, the deluded, stubborn toff. And thanks to Dave's efforts today I am sure everyone is so much clearer about Bogg Society now. We may as well have looked for answers on Dave. The TV channel.
Some highlights from his speech: "Really, the Bogg Society is very simple. And so are you if you don't get it"
"The Bogg Society is not empty rhetoric. It's much less full and lacking substance than that"
"The Bogg Society is so easy to understand that even George reckons he comprehends it (he doesn't)"
"I order you to revolt against the top down statist approach and volunteer to build an active society"
"This isn't a top down solution. I order you to be empowered and make Bogg Society work. It's my mission and comes from the top"
If Cameron spent as much effort explaining what Bogg Society actually is as he has constantly relaunching it then it probably wouldn't help much.
At least has finally got everyone talking about Bogg Society - now a far greater percentage of the public don't understand it at all rather than just the handful that had heard of it.
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Bogg Society - time to piss or get off the Bogg
I am flipping cream crackered. Three conferences in a row. There is only so much flesh pressing and bullshit and cheap fizz one man can take. And even though I am not that man, I won't be doing it again next year (except if I do).
And have we moved any further forward on Bogg Society? Have we bollocks.
It is still rhetoric without substance. My Great Aunt Maud admitted it will be chaotic which translates as "we haven't got a fucking clue how it will work either".
Gnat Pee described it as "a society in which people do not feel small" which is a circular nonsense non-definition. Never has one man said so much and yet said so little than good old Gnat.
Cam's speech had so much waffle about Bogg Society that it should have come with jugs of maple syrup. Still the Party faithful lapped it up though they were warned for health and safety reasons to remember to remove the wool from their eyes when driving home.
Still, it has at least been good for numbers at events and the BUBB fringe event was packed. There were health and safety concerns but Derek Gherkins responded magnificently by simply eating delegates that were blocking the fire exits.
And it looks like the Bogg Society Network has been a damp squib with meetings cancelled for fear of violence. Empowered citizens marching on Northern town halls wielding brollies was obviously not the image that cuddly, lovable, employer with impeccable HR record Walmart wanted to be associated with. People talk about the Lidlisation of the brolly sector as a negative thing but I find it particularly hypocritical that the Bogg Society Network should be sponsored by Asda. Replacing Big State with Big Fuck Off Supermarket Chain isn't really on.
Seriously. this whole Bogg Society nonsense needs hammering out. And throwing away. It's all very well Dom Blond speaking at 345 floppy fringe events and giving it the big "ooh look at me, I am Dave's ideas man" but it requires more. Especially when you get the constant impression that the government's only idea generally is making things up as it goes along.
I fully expected Dave to open his speech yesterday by saying "I will be making some major policy announcements but I can't say what as I haven't thought of them yet".
It is no good the government saying Bogg Society is what you make of it. By empowering citizens to volunteer to come up with ways in which citizens can be empowered to volunteer to do things, the whole thing ends up getting lost in a cycle of confusion.
Still, it should mean plenty more opportunities to get people together to talk about it. Which generally means free canapes. And hot on the heels of the news that Greggs (Patron Saint - St Derek of Gherkins) are to start selling croissants, it does mean I will be exhibiting a well fed contentedness in the pre Xmas run up.
And have we moved any further forward on Bogg Society? Have we bollocks.
It is still rhetoric without substance. My Great Aunt Maud admitted it will be chaotic which translates as "we haven't got a fucking clue how it will work either".
Gnat Pee described it as "a society in which people do not feel small" which is a circular nonsense non-definition. Never has one man said so much and yet said so little than good old Gnat.
Cam's speech had so much waffle about Bogg Society that it should have come with jugs of maple syrup. Still the Party faithful lapped it up though they were warned for health and safety reasons to remember to remove the wool from their eyes when driving home.
Still, it has at least been good for numbers at events and the BUBB fringe event was packed. There were health and safety concerns but Derek Gherkins responded magnificently by simply eating delegates that were blocking the fire exits.
And it looks like the Bogg Society Network has been a damp squib with meetings cancelled for fear of violence. Empowered citizens marching on Northern town halls wielding brollies was obviously not the image that cuddly, lovable, employer with impeccable HR record Walmart wanted to be associated with. People talk about the Lidlisation of the brolly sector as a negative thing but I find it particularly hypocritical that the Bogg Society Network should be sponsored by Asda. Replacing Big State with Big Fuck Off Supermarket Chain isn't really on.
Seriously. this whole Bogg Society nonsense needs hammering out. And throwing away. It's all very well Dom Blond speaking at 345 floppy fringe events and giving it the big "ooh look at me, I am Dave's ideas man" but it requires more. Especially when you get the constant impression that the government's only idea generally is making things up as it goes along.
I fully expected Dave to open his speech yesterday by saying "I will be making some major policy announcements but I can't say what as I haven't thought of them yet".
It is no good the government saying Bogg Society is what you make of it. By empowering citizens to volunteer to come up with ways in which citizens can be empowered to volunteer to do things, the whole thing ends up getting lost in a cycle of confusion.
Still, it should mean plenty more opportunities to get people together to talk about it. Which generally means free canapes. And hot on the heels of the news that Greggs (Patron Saint - St Derek of Gherkins) are to start selling croissants, it does mean I will be exhibiting a well fed contentedness in the pre Xmas run up.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Gnat Pee and the famous five
I have been very busy this week having meetings with loads of brilliant individuals, all basking in the glow of my own ubiquitous omnipotence.
Bogg Society continues to get on my tits. But it was interesting to see the government's Bogg Society guru, Gnat Pee, dipping his toe into the Twitter waters. Using the pseudonym Nat Wei (do you see what he did there?) Gnat asked for suggestions of 5 people he should "follow" to gain insight into Bogg Soc gubbins. 5 isn't many but then Gnat is a very busy man. Trying to turn rhetoric into substance requires the commitment and optimism of an alchemist trying to turn air into gold. And it is interesting that his approach to research was to empower a community to do it on his behalf to save him the bother. Very Big Society.
Anyway, imagine my surprise and horror when the first five names were duly followed and mine was NOT AMONG THEM. I ask you. I invented Bogg Society before Dom Blonde got his grubby mits on it and my subsequent repeated renouncement of it means I am ideally placed to comment with credibility.
Fortunately Gnat has now followed a further tranche of experts. And I am number 6! Yes that's right - a person who some people can hardly believe actually exists is number 6 in Gnat Pee's famous 5. Gnat - as one of the unofficial advisers to the government's adviser on Bogg Society, I won't let you down. But don't expect me to come round to your flat in the Shoreditch ghetto for a glass of homebrew. I do have standards.
I am sure Gnat will have noticed that Jez Topgun of the Old Crumbling Foundation, who is very very clever, has savaged the Bogg Society. He states that it is "in danger of being reduced to slogan, with ministers failing to establish what the programme will entail and the public baffled by the few things seen so far".
As the architect of some of New Labour's airy fairy buzzword policy cul-de-sacs, Topgun is certainly speaking from experience.
Bogg Society continues to get on my tits. But it was interesting to see the government's Bogg Society guru, Gnat Pee, dipping his toe into the Twitter waters. Using the pseudonym Nat Wei (do you see what he did there?) Gnat asked for suggestions of 5 people he should "follow" to gain insight into Bogg Soc gubbins. 5 isn't many but then Gnat is a very busy man. Trying to turn rhetoric into substance requires the commitment and optimism of an alchemist trying to turn air into gold. And it is interesting that his approach to research was to empower a community to do it on his behalf to save him the bother. Very Big Society.
Anyway, imagine my surprise and horror when the first five names were duly followed and mine was NOT AMONG THEM. I ask you. I invented Bogg Society before Dom Blonde got his grubby mits on it and my subsequent repeated renouncement of it means I am ideally placed to comment with credibility.
Fortunately Gnat has now followed a further tranche of experts. And I am number 6! Yes that's right - a person who some people can hardly believe actually exists is number 6 in Gnat Pee's famous 5. Gnat - as one of the unofficial advisers to the government's adviser on Bogg Society, I won't let you down. But don't expect me to come round to your flat in the Shoreditch ghetto for a glass of homebrew. I do have standards.
I am sure Gnat will have noticed that Jez Topgun of the Old Crumbling Foundation, who is very very clever, has savaged the Bogg Society. He states that it is "in danger of being reduced to slogan, with ministers failing to establish what the programme will entail and the public baffled by the few things seen so far".
As the architect of some of New Labour's airy fairy buzzword policy cul-de-sacs, Topgun is certainly speaking from experience.
Friday, 4 February 2011
Bogg Society bogged down
I am not one to say I told you so (and I have told you all that many times) but I told you Bogg Society would not work while the government was cutting funding to community groups.
So it was no surprise to hear yesterday that Liverpool City Council has pulled out - no more Bogg Scousiety.
And Lord Gnat Pee has been trying to address some myths about Bogg Society after his embarrassing decision to scale back his own involvement. He has quite brilliantly countered arguments about Bogg Society being hot air with more hot air. As usual, there is a lot of waffle about what Bogg Society isn't but not much about what it is, other than the usual airy-fairy vague rhetoric.
So it was no surprise to hear yesterday that Liverpool City Council has pulled out - no more Bogg Scousiety.
And Lord Gnat Pee has been trying to address some myths about Bogg Society after his embarrassing decision to scale back his own involvement. He has quite brilliantly countered arguments about Bogg Society being hot air with more hot air. As usual, there is a lot of waffle about what Bogg Society isn't but not much about what it is, other than the usual airy-fairy vague rhetoric.
Friday, 10 December 2010
Bogg Society Commission
I am still hiding out in Scotland. I have caused a bit of trouble with my Spokieleaks website revealing secrets that compromise umbrella security such as the fact that I encouraged Sir Hubert at NCVO to declare war on Dylan Twirley at NAVCA. To top it all, Interbroll have issued a warrant for my arrest on some trumped up charge involving sexually assaulting a swede. I don't even like root vegetables, let alone rooting them.
But it hasn't stopped me launching yet another Commission, this time on Bogg Society, chaired by Lord Well'ard and bringing together high profile political and brolly society thinkers.
It's an interesting group which will try to define and analyse the "Bogg Society" concept from the point of view of brolly society. Will it bollocks. It will talk itself round in circles trying to figure out exactly what Bogg Society really means while empowering itself to eat and drink tasty morsels and discussing the plight of the less well off in society, so that they don't have to.
It includes; Madge Bishop, Phil Collins (Genesis singer), George Boateng, Louise Redknapp, and loads of other important and wonderful BUBB members.
The Commission will hold their first meeting in January. There will be a series of Commission evidence gathering meetings around the country (well, we might talk to some working class people in Leeds), and research to support it, including the work of NCVO through the support of their talented head of research, Earl Scalding. I didn't want to involve him as he is so fussy what with wanting to base things on proper evidence and statistics and things rather than broad suppositions designed to meet a pre-determined conclusion, but my preferred choice of headhunter to find someone else, Donald Holding of Feudal, is busy on a different sort of commission. The commission that comes from creating senior managerial upheaval in large brolly organisations.
But it hasn't stopped me launching yet another Commission, this time on Bogg Society, chaired by Lord Well'ard and bringing together high profile political and brolly society thinkers.
It's an interesting group which will try to define and analyse the "Bogg Society" concept from the point of view of brolly society. Will it bollocks. It will talk itself round in circles trying to figure out exactly what Bogg Society really means while empowering itself to eat and drink tasty morsels and discussing the plight of the less well off in society, so that they don't have to.
It includes; Madge Bishop, Phil Collins (Genesis singer), George Boateng, Louise Redknapp, and loads of other important and wonderful BUBB members.
The Commission will hold their first meeting in January. There will be a series of Commission evidence gathering meetings around the country (well, we might talk to some working class people in Leeds), and research to support it, including the work of NCVO through the support of their talented head of research, Earl Scalding. I didn't want to involve him as he is so fussy what with wanting to base things on proper evidence and statistics and things rather than broad suppositions designed to meet a pre-determined conclusion, but my preferred choice of headhunter to find someone else, Donald Holding of Feudal, is busy on a different sort of commission. The commission that comes from creating senior managerial upheaval in large brolly organisations.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
My pate's too thin
Well. Dame AlwaysUsesABrollyToKeepHerHairDryAsHerCoatIsHoodless, outgoing chief executive of Community Service Gampteers (CSG), dressed like a blancmange on BBC breakfast, sticking it to Lord Gnat Pee. The formidable matriarch of the brolly volunteering sector was highlighting the problem that cuts are making for the mission to drive up umbrella volunteering schemes and Bogg Society. She's quite right - these savage cuts mean we'll all be running around like hoodless chickens.
Those fuckwits at the Cabinet Office are slashing funding left, right and centre and say this is to cut our dependence on gampouts. What they appear to miss is that these strategic grants are made as a transaction in return for services. Which is a payment. DO YOU GET THAT YOU IGNORANT WASSOCKS? A PAYMENT. They seem to think that we should give out umbrellas for free. What do they think we are? Fucking charities?
And there are reports that my old mucker Derek Gherkins, communities minister, is also causing trouble by rebuffing attempts by Cameron to reward local authorities for contributing to Bogg Society. If Gherkins is determined to block something, it's very hard to shift him or get past him. So it seems that Bogg Society will be blocked by big arsery. A big, fat, wobbly immovable arse.
You can't move on the internet at the moment without tripping over another Bogg Society story, or opinion or blog post, most of them failing to grasp the main issues as I see them. It's become trendy to have a dig at it, especially for high profile pundits and columnists. Worse still are those defending it through little more of a defence than people have simply misunderstood what Bogg Society is about, without bothering to properly clarify the misconceptions that have arisen. Which is the whole problem in the first place. But where were all these sages back in March eh, when I was a lone voice?
[Next bit cut as I am even beginning to bore myself here. Right, back on message]
We all need something to cheer us up at the moment. Like a bloody good drink. [That's better]. It's depressing to get daily emails and calls from members angry at cuts meaning I have to actually pretend to do something on their behalf.
I was supposed to be at a party last night to celebrate Dame AlwaysUsesABrollyToKeepHerHairDryAsHerCoatIsHoodless' retirement. The Dame has been a long standing member of BUBB and chief executive of CSG for 458 years. Ironically, as such a keen proponent of volunteering, she resisted taking voluntary redundancy for ages. I am all for CEOs outstaying their welcome if at all possible. What a star!
Or maybe not. Her gobbing off on TV this morning meant I didn't make her leaving drinks as I had to go the BBC and then Channel 4 News in the wake of the media frenzy. I was right looking forward to some free fizz, but no, the selfish bitch had to have her little moment and ruin my evening.
My mother's main comment on my appearance with Rick T'Hurd MP on the Channel 4 News was that they had done a shot from behind us which showed off my fast developing bald patch. What with my knighthood it seems I am morphing into Sir Hubert Carrington And to make things worse, the foie gras I was served for lunch lacked substance. Its awful when your pate's too thin.
Those fuckwits at the Cabinet Office are slashing funding left, right and centre and say this is to cut our dependence on gampouts. What they appear to miss is that these strategic grants are made as a transaction in return for services. Which is a payment. DO YOU GET THAT YOU IGNORANT WASSOCKS? A PAYMENT. They seem to think that we should give out umbrellas for free. What do they think we are? Fucking charities?
And there are reports that my old mucker Derek Gherkins, communities minister, is also causing trouble by rebuffing attempts by Cameron to reward local authorities for contributing to Bogg Society. If Gherkins is determined to block something, it's very hard to shift him or get past him. So it seems that Bogg Society will be blocked by big arsery. A big, fat, wobbly immovable arse.
You can't move on the internet at the moment without tripping over another Bogg Society story, or opinion or blog post, most of them failing to grasp the main issues as I see them. It's become trendy to have a dig at it, especially for high profile pundits and columnists. Worse still are those defending it through little more of a defence than people have simply misunderstood what Bogg Society is about, without bothering to properly clarify the misconceptions that have arisen. Which is the whole problem in the first place. But where were all these sages back in March eh, when I was a lone voice?
[Next bit cut as I am even beginning to bore myself here. Right, back on message]
We all need something to cheer us up at the moment. Like a bloody good drink. [That's better]. It's depressing to get daily emails and calls from members angry at cuts meaning I have to actually pretend to do something on their behalf.
I was supposed to be at a party last night to celebrate Dame AlwaysUsesABrollyToKeepHerHairDryAsHerCoatIsHoodless' retirement. The Dame has been a long standing member of BUBB and chief executive of CSG for 458 years. Ironically, as such a keen proponent of volunteering, she resisted taking voluntary redundancy for ages. I am all for CEOs outstaying their welcome if at all possible. What a star!
Or maybe not. Her gobbing off on TV this morning meant I didn't make her leaving drinks as I had to go the BBC and then Channel 4 News in the wake of the media frenzy. I was right looking forward to some free fizz, but no, the selfish bitch had to have her little moment and ruin my evening.
My mother's main comment on my appearance with Rick T'Hurd MP on the Channel 4 News was that they had done a shot from behind us which showed off my fast developing bald patch. What with my knighthood it seems I am morphing into Sir Hubert Carrington And to make things worse, the foie gras I was served for lunch lacked substance. Its awful when your pate's too thin.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
More attacks on brollies
What is going on? Another attack on umbrellas in The Times letters column, this time from a Conservative MEP, Snide Camel. People like Camel give me the right hump. This is beginning to look like a concerted campaign to attack the brolly sector for daring to speak out about cuts in state funding taht will hamper their ability to provide shelter for the dampest members of society. Or it could just be the random witterings of a desperate and deluded out of touch MEP wanting his 15 minutes. But it's more fun to suggest a conspiracy theory.
What is chilling about this letter, apart from the fact that it is written in camel's blood, is that it reveals that some politicians clearly have the view that Bogg Society is in fact about the withdrawal of state funding for shelter. Even though the Prime Minister has been explicit in his view that it isn't (even though between you, me and Lord Gnat Pee, it is).
Camel says, "the attacks on Bogg Society from some umbrella leaders...(perhaps he means me, actually no perhaps about it, he must mean me, I am the only one worth reading on this)...stem from their unwillingness to accept greater responsibility without money from the State in return." No they stem from Bogg Society being a pile of old shite. And does he think umbrellas go out and get soaking wet for the love of it, without receiving anything in return? Apparently, according to someone suckling at the teat of the State and milking the taxpayer, many brollies need to be weaned off State dependency.
The whole ideological muddle of Camel's argument underpins the confusion at the heart of Bogg Society, not least among those representing the State. If his are the best arguments around the issue of the State withdrawing then the State should withdraw from making arguments about the State withdrawing.
The truth is that the politicians who seem to delight in attacking brollies are unlikely to win over the masses. The public trust umbrellas. Pick a fight with us by all means but we will simply batter you round the head with our ducks head handles and ram the pointy spike bit up the place that you talk out of.
What is chilling about this letter, apart from the fact that it is written in camel's blood, is that it reveals that some politicians clearly have the view that Bogg Society is in fact about the withdrawal of state funding for shelter. Even though the Prime Minister has been explicit in his view that it isn't (even though between you, me and Lord Gnat Pee, it is).
Camel says, "the attacks on Bogg Society from some umbrella leaders...(perhaps he means me, actually no perhaps about it, he must mean me, I am the only one worth reading on this)...stem from their unwillingness to accept greater responsibility without money from the State in return." No they stem from Bogg Society being a pile of old shite. And does he think umbrellas go out and get soaking wet for the love of it, without receiving anything in return? Apparently, according to someone suckling at the teat of the State and milking the taxpayer, many brollies need to be weaned off State dependency.
The whole ideological muddle of Camel's argument underpins the confusion at the heart of Bogg Society, not least among those representing the State. If his are the best arguments around the issue of the State withdrawing then the State should withdraw from making arguments about the State withdrawing.
The truth is that the politicians who seem to delight in attacking brollies are unlikely to win over the masses. The public trust umbrellas. Pick a fight with us by all means but we will simply batter you round the head with our ducks head handles and ram the pointy spike bit up the place that you talk out of.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Gnat Pee's off
Found time out from my busy schedule prancing round the Balkans to read the news that the government's Bogg Society adviser, Lord Gant Pee has err peed off. This whole issue reveals a basic contradiction at the heart of the government's thinking. Was he a Tsar or a Czar?
The fact he did this on the same day that Cameron relaunched Bogg Society for the 485th time (more failed reboots than a broken computer) was particularly well timed. It was all in all what Dom Blond might call a victory for Bogg Society. And it was nice to see Cameron try and add some substance and flesh to the concept's rhetorical bones by ramping up the rhetoric. But it was all overshadowed by an unnamed footballer who everyone knew the name of having his name named by an MP taking a very brave step forward in promoting the cause of John Hemming.
I am all for free speech myself and will silence anyone who says otherwise. I may be going out on a legal limb here, but I don't care. You people have the right to know. The footballer's name is
RYAN GIGGS
Anyway, back to Bogg Society. No one's listening Dave. You can't keep switching it off and back on again and hope it finally works. But then you know all about not listening, what with this NHS listening shambles. But if you listen to one thing, listen to this. I assume Lord Pee won't need his Lordship now so if there is a vacancy remember that I am ready to go and have already bought my ermine.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
What's the "the big idea"?
I have noticed a creeping tendency to refer to Bogg Society as THE Bogg Society, as if adding that little word somehow elevates its importance.
Actually, this is a very good linguistic trick. Something described as "bollocks" has a very different meaning if subtly rebranded as "the bollocks".
And once everyone accepts it as "the Bogg Society" it is but a short step to refer to it as the "the Bogg Society" etc etc etc
It's easy to add words - now if Lord Gnat Pee et al could also add some flesh to a rapidly decaying carcass of an idea as the cuts add complications, then there is a slim chance it still might add up to something other than the Cameron's the big idea.
Actually, this is a very good linguistic trick. Something described as "bollocks" has a very different meaning if subtly rebranded as "the bollocks".
And once everyone accepts it as "the Bogg Society" it is but a short step to refer to it as the "the Bogg Society" etc etc etc
It's easy to add words - now if Lord Gnat Pee et al could also add some flesh to a rapidly decaying carcass of an idea as the cuts add complications, then there is a slim chance it still might add up to something other than the Cameron's the big idea.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
James. Just James. Oh and pay as well. But mainly James. And a little bit of Donald Holding
Last week ended in a flurry of meetings, topped like cream on a trifle by one with James Purnell, who in my eyes will always be the real leader of the Labour party. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell. James Purnell.
We talk about Bogg Society. My Great Aunt Maude has said recently that it will be messy and anarchic which is of course government speak for "we don't have a fucking clue what we're doing with this". I questioned Gnat Pee about another glaring paradox at the heart of current government thinking on Twitter last week but he hasn't bothered to reply even though I am number six of his famous five of Bogg Society unofficial advisers. Presumably he has empowered some active citizen to volunteer to reply on his behalf so he doesn't have to.
Bogg Society, as much as anyone has bothered to define it, is about strong local communities yet the government cuts mean half a million public sector brollies will be unemployed. Osborne seems to think that the private sector will magically find a use for these gamps, but even if it does, it still assumes that brollies can just move freely from the driest parts of the country to the wettest, which even if it were practical, would mean disrupting the very communities upon which Bogg Society relies.
We also had our BUBB pay survey launch, sponsored by brolly headhunter extraordinaire, Donald Holding of Feudal. What he doesn't know about securing gratuitous plugs in my blog isn't worth knowing. Interestingly the price of umbrellas has remained largely static over the last year despite the best efforts of headhunters such as Donald to keep prices artificially high so as to secure larger commissions.
We talk about Bogg Society. My Great Aunt Maude has said recently that it will be messy and anarchic which is of course government speak for "we don't have a fucking clue what we're doing with this". I questioned Gnat Pee about another glaring paradox at the heart of current government thinking on Twitter last week but he hasn't bothered to reply even though I am number six of his famous five of Bogg Society unofficial advisers. Presumably he has empowered some active citizen to volunteer to reply on his behalf so he doesn't have to.
Bogg Society, as much as anyone has bothered to define it, is about strong local communities yet the government cuts mean half a million public sector brollies will be unemployed. Osborne seems to think that the private sector will magically find a use for these gamps, but even if it does, it still assumes that brollies can just move freely from the driest parts of the country to the wettest, which even if it were practical, would mean disrupting the very communities upon which Bogg Society relies.
We also had our BUBB pay survey launch, sponsored by brolly headhunter extraordinaire, Donald Holding of Feudal. What he doesn't know about securing gratuitous plugs in my blog isn't worth knowing. Interestingly the price of umbrellas has remained largely static over the last year despite the best efforts of headhunters such as Donald to keep prices artificially high so as to secure larger commissions.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Bogg Society blah blah
I can't believe how some of my colleagues are swooning and slathering over the government's Bogg Society drivel. It's like policy pornography to them. You would never catch me getting all excited over government promises and initiatives like a teenager being able to reach the top shelf for the first time.
Even though I invented the whole stupid half baked idea potato, where the State rolls back and lets communities get on with it - a sort of volunteer led anarchy that would place umbrellas at the heart of society (which Dom Blond keeps trying to take credit for), I never in a million years expected any one to run with it.
Apart from anything else these things are expensive. If the State is serious about withdrawing from doing stuff to save money it will need to spend money. Which has run out.
We have tried to engage with government about the role of brollies in public services. We made George Osborne a Bogg Offer. He told us to Bogg off.
Interesting that former Tory shadowy brolly sector spokesman Reg Spark has been made decentralisation minister. Genius. A government post created to control the removal of control.
Never fear, though. I have called a round table meeting next week so I can listen to the sound of my own voice. I suspect there will be plenty more about Bogg Society over the coming weeks.
Elsewhere last week I chaired a meeting of the Brolly Investment Business and I welcomed the election to parliament of my vice chair Millicent Oddbin as MP for Worst Westershire. She was still attached to her ripcord and safety harness after being parachuted into a Tory stronghold but it will be good to have her influence in the Commons.
I see two of my sworn enemies have once again been in the news. First of all, Donnie Fiddly, joint general secretary of dinosaur union Divide, has once again been making ridiculous comments about salaries in the brolly sector while fully justifying his own huge wedge by being a hypocritcal prick.
And former witchfinder general Sandy Burnham-Drownham joins the Megagrand brothers and Fred Bollocks in the Labour leadership race (plus Leanne Robot who has only entered to get away from Andrew Neil on This Week). After all of his preferred provider nonsense I hope he falls on his own brolly. I was going to make a joke about him not being the preferred provider of leadership services but my spoofer Stephen Bubb got there first. He has made quite a few comments in the last week that have been suspiciously close to my own views. I fear he may be losing some of his capacity for comedy nonsense. Though I suspect he'll be back on top form soon enough.
Oh, and I have made a decision on the winner of the competition to pick the official name of the chief executive of the Umbrella Commission. An announcement will be made tomorrow.
Even though I invented the whole stupid half baked idea potato, where the State rolls back and lets communities get on with it - a sort of volunteer led anarchy that would place umbrellas at the heart of society (which Dom Blond keeps trying to take credit for), I never in a million years expected any one to run with it.
Apart from anything else these things are expensive. If the State is serious about withdrawing from doing stuff to save money it will need to spend money. Which has run out.
We have tried to engage with government about the role of brollies in public services. We made George Osborne a Bogg Offer. He told us to Bogg off.
Interesting that former Tory shadowy brolly sector spokesman Reg Spark has been made decentralisation minister. Genius. A government post created to control the removal of control.
Never fear, though. I have called a round table meeting next week so I can listen to the sound of my own voice. I suspect there will be plenty more about Bogg Society over the coming weeks.
Elsewhere last week I chaired a meeting of the Brolly Investment Business and I welcomed the election to parliament of my vice chair Millicent Oddbin as MP for Worst Westershire. She was still attached to her ripcord and safety harness after being parachuted into a Tory stronghold but it will be good to have her influence in the Commons.
I see two of my sworn enemies have once again been in the news. First of all, Donnie Fiddly, joint general secretary of dinosaur union Divide, has once again been making ridiculous comments about salaries in the brolly sector while fully justifying his own huge wedge by being a hypocritcal prick.
And former witchfinder general Sandy Burnham-Drownham joins the Megagrand brothers and Fred Bollocks in the Labour leadership race (plus Leanne Robot who has only entered to get away from Andrew Neil on This Week). After all of his preferred provider nonsense I hope he falls on his own brolly. I was going to make a joke about him not being the preferred provider of leadership services but my spoofer Stephen Bubb got there first. He has made quite a few comments in the last week that have been suspiciously close to my own views. I fear he may be losing some of his capacity for comedy nonsense. Though I suspect he'll be back on top form soon enough.
Oh, and I have made a decision on the winner of the competition to pick the official name of the chief executive of the Umbrella Commission. An announcement will be made tomorrow.
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Free at last
Phew. At last I am out. While in Taunton I popped into the Umbrella Commission's office there to have a piss and ended up accidentally locked in their vast archives on brolly activity throughout history. 4 days I was in there without a bite to eat. And it was cold and damp in the cellar. Luckily there was plenty of old paper lying around that I was able to use to make a fire.
I did find some vaguely interesting stuff about my ancestors and their involvement with umbrellas through the ages and some fascinating stuff about umbrella sharing initiatives instigated by local groups - a sort of early incarnation of Bogg Society.
But there is only so much interest that you can sustain hearing about what some do-gooder with the same surname did in the olden days and thankfully the indomitable (ie. fierce) Juice Hoisins eventually heard my screams and let me out. For which I will reward her someday by publishing a blurry photograph of her sitting sheepishly at a desk.
And what do I find when I get out? More Bogg Society nonsense. Some of the latest mad cap schemes include:
To meet a shortfall after cuts in the RAF, citizens will be empowered to wear goggles and flying helmets and dick around in planes talking in a posh voice. It will be called the Biggles Society.
And to cover cutbacks in rail transportation, citizens will be empowered to run their own train networks and rob the profits so that the rail operating companies don't have to. This will be known as the Biggs Society.
Finally, I see the government's Bogg Society Network will be going on tour forcing organisations to buy into this supposedly bottom up volunteer led pile of arse.
I did find some vaguely interesting stuff about my ancestors and their involvement with umbrellas through the ages and some fascinating stuff about umbrella sharing initiatives instigated by local groups - a sort of early incarnation of Bogg Society.
But there is only so much interest that you can sustain hearing about what some do-gooder with the same surname did in the olden days and thankfully the indomitable (ie. fierce) Juice Hoisins eventually heard my screams and let me out. For which I will reward her someday by publishing a blurry photograph of her sitting sheepishly at a desk.
And what do I find when I get out? More Bogg Society nonsense. Some of the latest mad cap schemes include:
To meet a shortfall after cuts in the RAF, citizens will be empowered to wear goggles and flying helmets and dick around in planes talking in a posh voice. It will be called the Biggles Society.
And to cover cutbacks in rail transportation, citizens will be empowered to run their own train networks and rob the profits so that the rail operating companies don't have to. This will be known as the Biggs Society.
Finally, I see the government's Bogg Society Network will be going on tour forcing organisations to buy into this supposedly bottom up volunteer led pile of arse.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
What's in a name?
I have already commented on the rebrand of the Office of the Brolly Sector as the Office of Gampal Society but the more I think about it the more I feel I need to throw my toys out of the blogging pram. Especially since my spoofer Stephen Bubb so effortlessly parodied my own blog post his morning.
In times of crisis an Oxford educated chap will always reach for the high brow quote in an attempt to confuse people or make himself seem more credible. Even if it isn't relevant. As Shakespeare put it "a rose by any other name would still be a sodding rose". I have said before that what the umbrella sector calls itself doesn't matter. Please bear this in mind as you read the rest of my rant where I make that point forcibly while at the same point undermining it by repeatedly arguing that what we call ourself really bloody does matter if it isn't what I want.
Despite my Great Aunt Maude telling us last year that there wouldn't be pointless name changing, there has been pointless name changing. I am shocked that stuff politicians have told us at a conference has proved to be a lie. Making a glib promise because it appeals to the audience should constitute a contract. I wonder what else we will be let down on.
This anger at the name change has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that BUBB's strapline is Brolly Sector Leaders while NCVO favours the term Gampal Society.
You'd never catch BUBB (also known at various points as bubb, Bubb and even BNUBB in the old days) rebranding or wasting money on such fads.
But never fear. I have the stubbornness to ignore this name change and will simply carry on as if nothing has happened. Which my members will thank me for when no one in government is talking to me. I have previous on this. I still call Snickers, Marathons, and Starburst, Opal Fruits. I still refer to Sri Lanka as Ceylon and Thailand as Siam.
It would be really embarrassing as well if I now said that I think Gampal Society as a term will go the same way as Bogg Society (kicked into very long grass) 5 minutes before the government reveals, admittedly vague, plans about Bogg Society. I really would look a tool if that happened eh?
Good job that brollies getting on with the day job have better things to do than worry about what we are called! Because what we call ourselves doesn't matter. Even when it clearly gets right on my tits.
In times of crisis an Oxford educated chap will always reach for the high brow quote in an attempt to confuse people or make himself seem more credible. Even if it isn't relevant. As Shakespeare put it "a rose by any other name would still be a sodding rose". I have said before that what the umbrella sector calls itself doesn't matter. Please bear this in mind as you read the rest of my rant where I make that point forcibly while at the same point undermining it by repeatedly arguing that what we call ourself really bloody does matter if it isn't what I want.
Despite my Great Aunt Maude telling us last year that there wouldn't be pointless name changing, there has been pointless name changing. I am shocked that stuff politicians have told us at a conference has proved to be a lie. Making a glib promise because it appeals to the audience should constitute a contract. I wonder what else we will be let down on.
This anger at the name change has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that BUBB's strapline is Brolly Sector Leaders while NCVO favours the term Gampal Society.
You'd never catch BUBB (also known at various points as bubb, Bubb and even BNUBB in the old days) rebranding or wasting money on such fads.
But never fear. I have the stubbornness to ignore this name change and will simply carry on as if nothing has happened. Which my members will thank me for when no one in government is talking to me. I have previous on this. I still call Snickers, Marathons, and Starburst, Opal Fruits. I still refer to Sri Lanka as Ceylon and Thailand as Siam.
It would be really embarrassing as well if I now said that I think Gampal Society as a term will go the same way as Bogg Society (kicked into very long grass) 5 minutes before the government reveals, admittedly vague, plans about Bogg Society. I really would look a tool if that happened eh?
Good job that brollies getting on with the day job have better things to do than worry about what we are called! Because what we call ourselves doesn't matter. Even when it clearly gets right on my tits.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Outrageous
Bogg Society this, Bogg Society that. Putting umbrellas at the heart of rebuilding communities was my stupid idea. So when Dave Cameron, my MP in Blacbury no less, has a meeting to discuss it with brolly sector notables, why the fuck wasn't I invited? Still, it's not all bad news as Hubert didn't go either. What is the point of us writing all of those letters pleading to be allowed a say in brolly policy if the government is just going to stick them straight into recycling?
I have asked for a list of who did go to the meeting. From the pictures on the Prime Minister's flickr page (get him with his fancy schmancy new age social media innovation) I can clearly see Prunella Wonderwomanghelidjh was there. She does some excellent work with children's brollies but is legally obliged to attend any government gasbag gathering as she looks nice and cheerful in the pictures and ticks a lot of diversity boxes.
But the Office of the Brolly Sector (I told you I wouldn't call them by their new name) has refused to release it. Which is somewhat ironic given that the Bogg Society document talks about the government being more open with data. So much for new politics.
Aside from that it is great that the government has committed to setting up a brolly bank with unclaimed umbrellas. Apparently this concession was made to stop me going on about it every 5 minutes. And I am encouraged that the very clever Gnat Pee has been given a key role. Hopefully this frothy nonsense will translate into something meaningful. With brollies at the heart of change. But I am not holding my breath.
I have asked for a list of who did go to the meeting. From the pictures on the Prime Minister's flickr page (get him with his fancy schmancy new age social media innovation) I can clearly see Prunella Wonderwomanghelidjh was there. She does some excellent work with children's brollies but is legally obliged to attend any government gasbag gathering as she looks nice and cheerful in the pictures and ticks a lot of diversity boxes.
But the Office of the Brolly Sector (I told you I wouldn't call them by their new name) has refused to release it. Which is somewhat ironic given that the Bogg Society document talks about the government being more open with data. So much for new politics.
Aside from that it is great that the government has committed to setting up a brolly bank with unclaimed umbrellas. Apparently this concession was made to stop me going on about it every 5 minutes. And I am encouraged that the very clever Gnat Pee has been given a key role. Hopefully this frothy nonsense will translate into something meaningful. With brollies at the heart of change. But I am not holding my breath.
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Has Gnat Pee met Conscience Clean?
Sir Conscience Clean has revealed glaring problems in how government commissions. For example, commissioning a tax evader to report on government waste is a major error. Or huge common sense depending on how you look at it.
Clean's 145,648 page report, 245,000 copies of which have been printed on non-recycled paper, on government waste concludes that government needs more central commissioning of brollies and a more joined up approach. He is right. Calligraphy is very important.
But it is also an extreme waste of time to try and suggest that different government departments should talk to each other and have a common approach just to be efficient. It would be madness. Next he'll be suggesting that all of the umbrella bodies get together and agree about stuff.
For example, Clean has clearly not met Bogg Society guru Lord Gnat Pee. In a discussion I had with him he suggested that most government brolly commissioning will move local (ie. local areas such as Monaco - where the tax advantages are always Greener).
Yet in many cases to do so will involve the loss of economies of scale and encourage duplication and waste; exactly what Clean is warning against.
Of course I agree with Gnat that all brollies must look to their laurels. Big brollies need to continue to show flexibility of approach and guard against rainfall. They must retain trust of their users.
But also, and Gnat did not raise this point let alone raise a brolly, small brollies need to develop capacity and professionalism so as to provide the best shelter for their beneficiaries. This is not a game of small good, big bad.
The problem of Big Brolly is one I don't recognise as he articulated it. I think Gnat needs to get to know our great national gamps a tad better before preaching about them. Of course as umbrellas grow they must take care to marry efficiency with not poking pedestrians in the eye. Trying to divide the brolly sector on size is hardly a helpful contribution to building a Bogg Society is it Gnat.
(And we still await clarity on what Bogg Society means. The latest definition is that the government is empowering citizens to define it for themselves so that the State doesn't have to).
So I shall be looking to Gnat spending time with the big brollies to get to know their work. I am sure we can allay any concerns he has. And we shall get him on side! Even if we have to threaten him with the biggest brollies we have. Markov style.
And Gnat, do meet Conscience Clean! He will advise you in no uncertain terms that Shoreditch is not a tax efficient place to live.
Clean's 145,648 page report, 245,000 copies of which have been printed on non-recycled paper, on government waste concludes that government needs more central commissioning of brollies and a more joined up approach. He is right. Calligraphy is very important.
But it is also an extreme waste of time to try and suggest that different government departments should talk to each other and have a common approach just to be efficient. It would be madness. Next he'll be suggesting that all of the umbrella bodies get together and agree about stuff.
For example, Clean has clearly not met Bogg Society guru Lord Gnat Pee. In a discussion I had with him he suggested that most government brolly commissioning will move local (ie. local areas such as Monaco - where the tax advantages are always Greener).
Yet in many cases to do so will involve the loss of economies of scale and encourage duplication and waste; exactly what Clean is warning against.
Of course I agree with Gnat that all brollies must look to their laurels. Big brollies need to continue to show flexibility of approach and guard against rainfall. They must retain trust of their users.
But also, and Gnat did not raise this point let alone raise a brolly, small brollies need to develop capacity and professionalism so as to provide the best shelter for their beneficiaries. This is not a game of small good, big bad.
The problem of Big Brolly is one I don't recognise as he articulated it. I think Gnat needs to get to know our great national gamps a tad better before preaching about them. Of course as umbrellas grow they must take care to marry efficiency with not poking pedestrians in the eye. Trying to divide the brolly sector on size is hardly a helpful contribution to building a Bogg Society is it Gnat.
(And we still await clarity on what Bogg Society means. The latest definition is that the government is empowering citizens to define it for themselves so that the State doesn't have to).
So I shall be looking to Gnat spending time with the big brollies to get to know their work. I am sure we can allay any concerns he has. And we shall get him on side! Even if we have to threaten him with the biggest brollies we have. Markov style.
And Gnat, do meet Conscience Clean! He will advise you in no uncertain terms that Shoreditch is not a tax efficient place to live.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Bogging a dead horse
Have you noticed? Where has Bogg Society gone?
Last week marked the first anniversary of the coalition. They produced a paper listing all their achievements. I say paper, more like a post it note of the positive ones and a 1,500 page apology. But the term Boggsoc was strangely absent probably because all it has achieved is confusion.
Last week marked the first anniversary of the coalition. They produced a paper listing all their achievements. I say paper, more like a post it note of the positive ones and a 1,500 page apology. But the term Boggsoc was strangely absent probably because all it has achieved is confusion.
Which is a shame really because BUBB launched its Commission on Bogg Society only yesterday. I love a commission , me. I am forever commissioning them. But I'd hate to think that all of the hard work we (members of my team) have put into this will result in nothing more than a launch and a lunch and then fall by the wayside as the government focuses on less hard to explain bullshit concepts.
The event went well. I took a break from my 114 hour shift at the hospital (snuck out when matron wasn't watching) to put in an appearance and spent most of the event blogging. I am a bit confused who exactly I am working for at the minute and cannot decide if I should offer poor value to the members who pay my wage or to the taxpayer who is funding my secondment to the NHS. Actually, I am being unfair to myself as I did spend all weekend working on NHS stuff by taking a break from bedpans and phoning the other people working on reports for Cameron screaming "Competition is crucial. And I'm going to produce my report first, you loser".
Even if Bogg Society does go down the pan and is flushed away, our initial report had some helpful stuff in it. By placing a huge focus on banks and social investment and lending brollies to damper communities it coincidentally ties in nicely with the stuff the Brolly Investment Business, which I chair, is involved in even though any suggestion that I am once again blurring my supposedly two distinct roles are of course merely mischief making.
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Bogg Society Day
Yesterday was when Dave launched his Big Vanity Project, his government's Big I Am (soon to be its Big We Aren't Going To So You Will Bloody Well Have To). Again. Yep, Bogg Society was wheeled out for the second time as everyone was so confused by the epic vagueness of it all first time round.
They still are.
I have made my views on this very clear many times. State rolling back as way of achieving cuts by pretending to empower citizens, promised role for umbrellas but against a backdrop of reduced funding etc etc. I would never be so cynical as to point out the neatness of promoting a statutory culture of community led volunteer activism and social enterprise so that people currently paid to perform public services could well end up doing the same roles pro bono in the many hours of spare time they will soon have.
But at least two things are now clear. Firstly, the Bogg Society Bank set up with unclaimed umbrellas that people leave behind on buses, trains etc will definitely go ahead. But the number of gamps it will be able to loan out is only a raindrop in the ocean of what will be required to meet the demand for shelter from being pissed down on from a great height in communities up and down the land.
And secondly, now that we have had a glimpse of exactly just what Dave's Big Ideological Penis Extension looks like, citizens around the UK will now feel empowered to voluntarily join together collectively and actively say "Dave, frankly I think this is load of old cock".
They still are.
I have made my views on this very clear many times. State rolling back as way of achieving cuts by pretending to empower citizens, promised role for umbrellas but against a backdrop of reduced funding etc etc. I would never be so cynical as to point out the neatness of promoting a statutory culture of community led volunteer activism and social enterprise so that people currently paid to perform public services could well end up doing the same roles pro bono in the many hours of spare time they will soon have.
But at least two things are now clear. Firstly, the Bogg Society Bank set up with unclaimed umbrellas that people leave behind on buses, trains etc will definitely go ahead. But the number of gamps it will be able to loan out is only a raindrop in the ocean of what will be required to meet the demand for shelter from being pissed down on from a great height in communities up and down the land.
And secondly, now that we have had a glimpse of exactly just what Dave's Big Ideological Penis Extension looks like, citizens around the UK will now feel empowered to voluntarily join together collectively and actively say "Dave, frankly I think this is load of old cock".
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
At last. Recognition from Dom Blond
Regular readers will know that Bogg Society was my idea, nicked by Dom Blond. I have challenged Dom on this before, especially on his keenness to attribute any positive happening as a victory for his (mine) brainwave.
But only now has Dom Blond had the good grace to recognise that I am a driving force behind this rhetorical, hard-to-explain, Emperor's new spats nonsense.
On Twitter earlier I suggested to Dom that the Olympic countdown clock breaking down is a victory for Bogg Society as we'll now all have to count the days ourselves without official help.
Dom, using his Twitter handle Phillip Blond replied thus
So it is official - I am a victory for Bogg Society. And of course I "get it", Dom. In so much as there is nothing to get.
Dom has since admitted to teasing me about this (always nice to be teased by a blond) but the fact he has shown the willingness to engage is truly a victory for etc etc
And while we're on the subject of the Olympic clock, it was always going to go wrong after a misheard instruction led to a great big cock being installed to countdown the days until the opening ceremony by mistake.
But only now has Dom Blond had the good grace to recognise that I am a driving force behind this rhetorical, hard-to-explain, Emperor's new spats nonsense.
On Twitter earlier I suggested to Dom that the Olympic countdown clock breaking down is a victory for Bogg Society as we'll now all have to count the days ourselves without official help.
Dom, using his Twitter handle Phillip Blond replied thus
So it is official - I am a victory for Bogg Society. And of course I "get it", Dom. In so much as there is nothing to get.
Dom has since admitted to teasing me about this (always nice to be teased by a blond) but the fact he has shown the willingness to engage is truly a victory for etc etc
And while we're on the subject of the Olympic clock, it was always going to go wrong after a misheard instruction led to a great big cock being installed to countdown the days until the opening ceremony by mistake.
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
New Bogg Society initiatives
In the wake of the row and confusion over whether free milk was going to be snatched or not and which party started the snatching in the first place, a new Bogg Society initiative was launched. Citizens will now be empowered to get together and run cow clubs to provide their own milk. They will be called farmers.
And following David Cameron's announcement that credit ratings agencies (who have never ever made a mistake about a person's financial position - what could possibly go wrong?) will lead the fight against benefit fraud (MPs are exactly the right people to form policy on tackling those who defraud their benefits) there will also be a Bogg Society scheme whereby active volunteer nosey parkers will be able access people's financial records if they suspect "they are on the fiddle".
And following David Cameron's announcement that credit ratings agencies (who have never ever made a mistake about a person's financial position - what could possibly go wrong?) will lead the fight against benefit fraud (MPs are exactly the right people to form policy on tackling those who defraud their benefits) there will also be a Bogg Society scheme whereby active volunteer nosey parkers will be able access people's financial records if they suspect "they are on the fiddle".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)