Prime Minister BoJo It Is.

[Duque de Bragança]

https://www.politico.eu/article/beer-boris-and-brexit/

He certainly has a kind of easy-going charm, and definitely wins the "guy I'd like to have a beer with" kind of sentiment.

Personally though, I'm well past voting for the guy I'd like to have a beer with.  Give me the cold technocrat with lots of experience any day.

Beer or wine? "I'm a wine man really," he says. Can he recommend me a good bottle? "Yes I can," he says instantly, bubbling with enthusiasm. "It's called ... erm ..." He stops. "Erm ... ahh... Oh god. Wait a mo, wait a mo, wait a mo, wait a mo, wait a mo. It's absolutely amazing. Bugger bugger bugger. It's gone completely out of my head. It's Italian. Wait — I'm going to find it for you." Johnson pulls out his iPhone and hunts manically on Google. "It's not Tempranillo. But it's some word that ends in 'illo.' Hang on. Not pillow, brillo. Hang on, hang on. Wait a mo. It is absolutely delicious."

A beer with him? Make that wine. 

[Tamas]

IDK guys. For me Johnson is so painfully obviously full of shit and no substance, why you'd want to hang out with him is completely beyond me.

[grumbler]

IDK guys. For me Johnson is so painfully obviously full of shit and no substance, why you'd want to hang out with him is completely beyond me.

Indeed.  His bonhomie seems as artificial as his intellectualism.  He's all hat, no cattle.

[Zoupa]

Seriously Speesh, what do you like about the guy?

He makes them libruls mad. That's enough.

[Admiral Yi]

He makes them libruls mad. That's enough.

Do me a solid and don't quote me to talk shit about Speesh.  He's a good dude.

[garbon]

[Zoupa]

He makes them libruls mad. That's enough.

Do me a solid and don't quote me to talk shit about Speesh.  He's a good dude.

Damn dude. Have a toke and chill.

Anyways, he might be a good guy offline, but he's a troll on this board. 

[Admiral Yi]

You're entitled to your opinion and I'm entitled to mine.  I'm asking as a favor not to rope me in.

[Eddie Teach]

I don't think being quoted should be considered an endorsement in any way.

[Zoupa]

Indeed...

[Tamas]

I don't get it: the Guardian was trying to steer up a scandal over a 2007 BoJo article where he accused Islam of holding back the Muslim world for centuries, and what an "outrage" this generated.

Surely the guy is terrible enough without trying to crucify him for opinions that might be offending sensibilities but otherwise quite clearly supported by history and reality?

[Josquius]

I don't get it: the Guardian was trying to steer up a scandal over a 2007 BoJo article where he accused Islam of holding back the Muslim world for centuries, and what an "outrage" this generated.

Surely the guy is terrible enough without trying to crucify him for opinions that might be offending sensibilities but otherwise quite clearly supported by history and reality?

Except they aren't.
The reasons for Europe surpassing the Islamic world have nothing to do with religion

[Duque de Bragança]

I don't get it: the Guardian was trying to steer up a scandal over a 2007 BoJo article where he accused Islam of holding back the Muslim world for centuries, and what an "outrage" this generated.

Surely the guy is terrible enough without trying to crucify him for opinions that might be offending sensibilities but otherwise quite clearly supported by history and reality?

Except they aren't.
The reasons for Europe surpassing the Islamic world have nothing to do with religion

Yeah, blame Vasco da Gama and Columbus instead.

[Tamas]

I don't get it: the Guardian was trying to steer up a scandal over a 2007 BoJo article where he accused Islam of holding back the Muslim world for centuries, and what an "outrage" this generated.

Surely the guy is terrible enough without trying to crucify him for opinions that might be offending sensibilities but otherwise quite clearly supported by history and reality?

Except they aren't.
The reasons for Europe surpassing the Islamic world have nothing to do with religion

I think it would be quite hard to dissect the secular Arabic societies from the religion, and I think a lot of people there would dissect you for trying.

I have always found it a very convincing argument that it cannot entirely be a coincidence that states with a religion that very directly and intimately deals with micro-managing secular affairs ends up stagnating and declining, in contrast to Europe where Christianity didn't benefit progress in itself of course, but being more detached in its dogma from secular affairs, it could defend its positions nearly that well in controlling secular affairs, hence the Englightement and subsequent advances could happen.

[Valmy]

I don't get it: the Guardian was trying to steer up a scandal over a 2007 BoJo article where he accused Islam of holding back the Muslim world for centuries, and what an "outrage" this generated.

Surely the guy is terrible enough without trying to crucify him for opinions that might be offending sensibilities but otherwise quite clearly supported by history and reality?

Except they aren't.
The reasons for Europe surpassing the Islamic world have nothing to do with religion

Islamic fundamentalists and their values were absolutely instrumental in ending the golden age of Arab science. I mean yes the Mongols invaded and that was certainly bad but the entire Muslim world was not taken over by the Mongols and in any case that era had already passed by at that point. And they were empowered by the lack of separation of religion and state in the Islamic world. I don't see on what basis one could claim that would have happened otherwise but I am interested to here more substance to your claim here.

Do you not think conservative politically charged religion being the dominant force in society does not have a regressive impact? I guess I never pictured you are this big proponent of religion.