# Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 5, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657 "2024-01-05T16:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 386
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7701 "2026-07-08T04:07:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Meanwhile, can anyone explain how Farage’s stunt is supposed to accomplish anything? Farage is getting righteously hammered for being in the pocket of various shady billionaires. He knows he’s very popular in his electorate and that his constituents don’t care. So he will be re-elected, but with (in effect) voter approval of his funding sources which will kill the story. The other parties won’t run against him because (a) they will lose and (b) not running against him gives them a (somewhat pathetic) basis for denying that voters gave their approval. It’s a dastardly clever move by Farage, basically. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7702 "2026-07-08T04:49:13Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > It’s a dastardly clever move by Farage, basically. Unless Count Binface wins, which we all pray he will. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7703 "2026-07-08T04:53:36Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Unless Count Binface wins, which we all pray he will. He’s in the pocket of Big Rubbish. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7704 "2026-07-08T04:56:24Z")
Apparently this is his first campaign poster; [![](https://preview.redd.it/so-can-we-get-binface-to-actually-win-v0-irck1vg35wbh1.png?width=1077&format=png&auto=webp&s=65ee845aa6282192ea26541a90c5b19f2ed0e59a) ](https://preview.redd.it/so-can-we-get-binface-to-actually-win-v0-irck1vg35wbh1.png?width=1077&format=png&auto=webp&s=65ee845aa6282192ea26541a90c5b19f2ed0e59a) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7705 "2026-07-08T09:34:26Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > As noted in the article, Parliamentary convention prohibits Members from speaking while wearing a hat Only while addressing parliament in the house of commons. Outside that it’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7706 "2026-07-08T09:40:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If the major British parties refuse to run anyone against Idjit Farage, his margin of victory will serve as great propaganda fodder for his cause. > > Even if the vote tally ends up 97 to 3 in a seat with 10,000 eligible voters, the 97% of votes cast victory will be spun as a huge endorsement of Farage himself and his party and his ideology. Hmmm! I’m not sure it works like that. Especially if Binface et al. do well. I have seen reporters asking locals for their opinions, and while some are vehemently supporting NF, some say they dislike him intensely. The people who would normally vote for the other parties will either not bother to vote or vote for anyone who isn’t NF. If I lived in Clacton, I would certainly be voting for the BIN. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7707 "2026-07-08T11:34:10Z")
And even if Farange wins, if the vote ends up being, say, 65 Farange, 35 Binface, that’s really not what you can call a mandate. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I often wonder if that’s part of the problem with the world today. When the UK’s National Oceanography Centre started a poll on what to name their new research vessel, a few wags thought “oh, what a laugh it would be to vote for Boaty McBoatface.” Except it wasn’t just a few, it was enough to win. The thing is, there’s no harm in a research vessel being named Boaty McBoatface. It’s silly, of course, but we probably can use a little more silliness in our lives. The problem isn’t with Boaty McBoatface, nor, for that matter, with the good Count here. The problem is when people do actual harmful things to troll, and then go “Ha ha, you got triggered just because my side killed a bunch of people, you fragile snowflakes, that’s so funny”. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7708 "2026-07-08T12:29:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And even if Farange wins, if the vote ends up being, say, 65 Farange, 35 Binface, that’s really not what you can call a mandate. That would be a strong margin, in most elections. Farage isn’t concerned about substantive and intellectually convincing evidence. He and his supporters just need a figleaf that they can use to brush off criticism. 65/35 would easily be sufficient for that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7709 "2026-07-08T12:31:38Z")
That’d be a strong margin against a normal candidate. Not so much, against an obvious joke candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7710 "2026-07-08T12:41:09Z")
“I went to the people and they voted me back in”. End of story. Most people wouldn’t know voting margins if you tattooed it on the inside of their eyelids. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7711 "2026-07-08T13:00:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The thing is, there’s no harm in a research vessel being named Boaty McBoatface. I think there’s some of the same thought process at work. “Nothing matters. Everything is stuck in a rut. Let’s do something different, throw a wrench into the works, blow things up, who cares.” It starts with dissatisfaction with the way things are, so anything different must be better. Boaty McBoatface is different. Donald Trump is different. Ironically, that’s the same thought process that inspired people like Count Binface in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7712 "2026-07-08T13:25:53Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I think there’s some of the same thought process at work. It might be the same thought process. But in some cases, that thought process is right, and in some cases, it’s wrong. And Binface’s campaign platform actually has more substantive issues in it than Trump’s, even if he mixes them in with obvious jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7713 "2026-07-08T13:35:56Z")
What happens if a joke candidate like Binface wins? Does the person behind the mask take the seat? (Googling, that person is Jonathan David Harvey.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7714 "2026-07-08T13:45:36Z")
If he runs, and he gets elected, he takes the seat. There’s no law, nor should there be, that says “but only if the candidate isn’t a joke”. The only question is whether he continues to wear the costume, and I guess that’s his choice. I guess there’s also the matter of his name, but plenty of politicians go by a name other than what they were given at birth, and appear on ballots that way. For an American example, no ballot has ever read “Raphael Cruz”. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7715 "2026-07-08T13:58:47Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Already has its own MPSIMS thread (minus the Spiderman element): I wasn’t aware of the MPSIMS thread (I start reading the Dope with the Pit and work up). In any case, I felt there was a significant "Stupid MF"element in slapping more than a dozen stories onto a 50 year old building without first making serious improvements to the existing structure. A video from inside the area of the collapse suggests improvements may have been underway, but at the very least were insufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7716 "2026-07-08T14:15:33Z")
It really depends. The age of the building does not necessarily matter and adding floors to buildings is not uncommon. In these sorts of projects, some engineer signed off, and they can be criminally charged if they were negligent in that design. But if the original construction does not match the final blueprints used to plan the new construction or if the building was not originally constructed as specified, that could be a serious problem that was not foreseeable when planning the extension. The eventual investigation and conclusions will be interesting to see. It could easily be construction error or design error, either of the original structure or the new construction. Or poor maintenance over the last 50 years. Or all of the above, with everybody screwing up 50 years ago and today and along the way and just getting lucky with safety margins until now. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7717 "2026-07-08T14:40:11Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > with everybody screwing up 50 years ago This is NY. Who knows how watered down the concrete was. Never mattered until now. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7718 "2026-07-08T20:22:23Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Take a look, overhead! No! And don’t call me Overhead. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7719 "2026-07-08T20:35:56Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > > Take a look, overhead! > > No! And don’t call me Overhead. - Better than Under pants. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/7720 "2026-07-08T21:02:04Z")
Incompetent ? Stupid ? You decide. > **[Arizona toddler found alive after declared dead from drowning](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg5x0vvrmro?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)** > > After he was discovered to still be alive, the 18-month-old was flown to another hospital and survived. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=385) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=387)