Ozfactor Posted July 22, 2017 #1 Share Posted July 22, 2017 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-20/swedish-train-to-be-named-trainy-mctrainface/8729284 An express train running between two major Swedish cities will be named Trainy McTrainface, after the railway company opened up the name to a public vote. good to see there is still some appreciation for silliness in an often times disturbing world x 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Auntyseptic Posted July 22, 2017 Popular Post #2 Share Posted July 22, 2017 (edited) I wanted to call my boss Arsey McArseface but the HR department said no Edited July 22, 2017 by Cat_From_Hell 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted July 23, 2017 #3 Share Posted July 23, 2017 See, this is why these ridiculous utopian ideas that some people have about "direct democracy" and allowing people to decide policy through the Power of the Internet would be absolutely ********in' disastrous if it was ever put into practice. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted July 23, 2017 #4 Share Posted July 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Manfred von Dreidecker said: See, this is why these ridiculous utopian ideas that some people have about "direct democracy" and allowing people to decide policy through the Power of the Internet would be absolutely ********in' disastrous if it was ever put into practice. Yep, it's just ******* puerile. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithisco Posted July 23, 2017 #5 Share Posted July 23, 2017 I've always liked the Swedish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfortunately Posted July 23, 2017 #6 Share Posted July 23, 2017 *Facepalm* 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsec Posted July 23, 2017 #7 Share Posted July 23, 2017 25 minutes ago, Unfortunately said: *Facepalm* *Trainy McTrainfacepalm* 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted July 24, 2017 #8 Share Posted July 24, 2017 I like it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdesert50 Posted July 24, 2017 #9 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Might we acquiesce to a great childrens writer who might have penned ... And today the great Trainy, the marvelous he, is king of the track. That is all he can see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobytwice Posted July 24, 2017 #10 Share Posted July 24, 2017 This is why I love the internet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeastieRunner Posted July 24, 2017 #11 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Better than some of the other names ... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted July 24, 2017 #12 Share Posted July 24, 2017 48 minutes ago, BeastieRunner said: Better than some of the other names ... I agree. It's actually a very good name. Humor is good. I wish Fort Wayne would have seen that 6 years ago when they decided against the winning public vote for naming the new government center. Harry Baales (pronounced balls) was a 4 term mayor who did many great things for the city. Embracing the humor would have been good. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOMBIE Posted July 24, 2017 #13 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Lame! Boaty McBoatface was funny. Once. Long ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperdyer Posted July 24, 2017 #14 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Well this sounds like a group of people stuffed the ballot box and the rest of the people didn't care to enter the contest. So why is this such an issue anyway. In these type of contests, the smartasses usually enter more then the legit people. What type of name were they expecting with that paint job? It does look like a toy, so the name fits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoofGardener Posted July 24, 2017 #15 Share Posted July 24, 2017 If the NERC had actually followed the public vote (which they requested), and called the research vessel "Boaty Mc Boatface", then it would have awakened interest in Environmental Science in a new generation of children. As it is.. well.. can ANYONE tell me what the boat is up to at the moment ? Or even what it is called ? WITHOUT googling it ? It has sunk - if you'll pardon the term - into obscurity. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted July 24, 2017 #16 Share Posted July 24, 2017 44 minutes ago, RoofGardener said: If the NERC had actually followed the public vote (which they requested), and called the research vessel "Boaty Mc Boatface", then it would have awakened interest in Environmental Science in a new generation of children. As it is.. well.. can ANYONE tell me what the boat is up to at the moment ? Or even what it is called ? WITHOUT googling it ? It has sunk - if you'll pardon the term - into obscurity. Great point. Generating interest should be one of the main goals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Monk Posted July 29, 2017 #17 Share Posted July 29, 2017 (edited) On 2017-7-24 at 6:53 PM, RoofGardener said: If the NERC had actually followed the public vote (which they requested), and called the research vessel "Boaty Mc Boatface", then it would have awakened interest in Environmental Science in a new generation of children. As it is.. well.. can ANYONE tell me what the boat is up to at the moment ? Or even what it is called ? WITHOUT googling it ? It has sunk - if you'll pardon the term - into obscurity. Yep. The Swedish actually went with the public vote, whereas the British authorities in question held a public vote, didn't like the result, and then just named it themselves, thus rendering the whole vote completely and utterly pointless. The ship, which hasn't been built yet, is to be called the RSS Sir David Attenborough, although a new fleet of yellow, unmanned submarines are each to be called Boaty McBoatface By the way, there's now also a racehorse in Australia called Horsey McHorseface. Edited July 29, 2017 by Black Monk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted July 29, 2017 #18 Share Posted July 29, 2017 On 7/24/2017 at 6:53 PM, RoofGardener said: If the NERC had actually followed the public vote (which they requested), and called the research vessel "Boaty Mc Boatface", then it would have awakened interest in Environmental Science in a new generation of children. As it is.. well.. can ANYONE tell me what the boat is up to at the moment ? Or even what it is called ? WITHOUT googling it ? It has sunk - if you'll pardon the term - into obscurity. Um, it hasn't been built yet. You don't just go into a showroom and say "I'll have that one in blue" and its delivered, with a full tank of gas and a year's MOT, on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoofGardener Posted July 29, 2017 #19 Share Posted July 29, 2017 (edited) Fair point Black Monk, and Manfred von Dreidecker. So, to rephrase my post.... the boat will be BORN into obscurity, outside of a comparative handful of research scientists and crew. I can't help but suspect that the proposed boat was ALWAYS going to be called the Attenborough, and that the 'vote' was just a publicity stunt that backfired horribly. The boat COULD have been a beacon. Now it is just another ship, and a severe blow to the NERC's public credibility. For the next decade, ANY media reference to the NERC will probably be suffixed with ".. the body that refused to name a ship Boaty McBoatface". Edited July 29, 2017 by RoofGardener 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoofGardener Posted July 29, 2017 #20 Share Posted July 29, 2017 *update* Ahhh.... it comes into focus. It wasn't NERC's decision to veto the public choice... it was a government minister. Tory Science Minister Jo Johnson , to be precise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Johnson His education consisted of a number of private schools, culminating in Eton and then Oxford. He has ZERO scientific training, instead reading Modern History, and then going on to become a financier. He is Boris Johnson's son. So, a career politician, son of a career politician, trained as a banker, and no scientific knowledge. And HE over-rode the public vote, and forced the name "Attenborough" on the boat. Because - of course - HE knows better than the public. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted July 29, 2017 #21 Share Posted July 29, 2017 Yes he ****in' does in this case, Tory who went to Eton or wherever or not. The public was taking the p***, pure and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted July 29, 2017 #22 Share Posted July 29, 2017 (edited) And are you seriously trying to say that Sir David Attenborough is a meaningless name imposed by Tories that the public can't relate to, whereas Boaty mcflippin' Boatyface is a much loved national figure? Edited July 29, 2017 by Manfred von Dreidecker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Monk Posted July 30, 2017 #23 Share Posted July 30, 2017 (edited) 14 hours ago, Manfred von Dreidecker said: And are you seriously trying to say that Sir David Attenborough is a meaningless name imposed by Tories that the public can't relate to, whereas Boaty mcflippin' Boatyface is a much loved national figure? What we're saying is that in Britain we held a vote for the public to decide the name of the new polar research vessel. The public decided to call it Boaty McBoatface. However, the government didn't like the public's decision and decided to call it RSS Sir David Attenborough instead, thus rendering the whole vote completely and utterly pointless. We're living in an age now in Britain where democracy is being eroded - we're seeing it in the wake of the public's decision to vote to leave the EU, with many politicians wanting the government simply to overturn the decision. However, in Sweden they seem to still know what democracy is all about. They allowed the public to name the train, the public decided to call it Trainy McTrainface, and the public's decision will be respected. That's proper democracy for you. Edited July 30, 2017 by Black Monk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Monk Posted July 30, 2017 #24 Share Posted July 30, 2017 18 hours ago, RoofGardener said: *update* Ahhh.... it comes into focus. It wasn't NERC's decision to veto the public choice... it was a government minister. Tory Science Minister Jo Johnson , to be precise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Johnson His education consisted of a number of private schools, culminating in Eton and then Oxford. He has ZERO scientific training, instead reading Modern History, and then going on to become a financier. He is Boris Johnson's son. So, a career politician, son of a career politician, trained as a banker, and no scientific knowledge. And HE over-rode the public vote, and forced the name "Attenborough" on the boat. Because - of course - HE knows better than the public. Jo Johnson is Boris's brother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoofGardener Posted July 30, 2017 #25 Share Posted July 30, 2017 15 hours ago, Manfred von Dreidecker said: And are you seriously trying to say that Sir David Attenborough is a meaningless name imposed by Tories that the public can't relate to, whereas Boaty mcflippin' Boatyface is a much loved national figure? No, not meaningless MvD.. far from it. However, which would give - ultimately - the greatest contribution to science ? A boat that everybody forgets about, or a boat that inspires the interest of a whole new generation of biological scientists ? Here's my prediction: when the Richard Attenborough is launched, it will barely get a mention in the national media. And such coverage as it DOES get will be in reference to the naming decision. On the other hand - in my opinion - had it been named Boatface, then the launch would have triggered a wave of national interest. Schools would have formed McBoatFace clubs and started monitoring the progress of the vessel. The McBoatface facebook and twitter feeds would be the most highly-subscribed ON THE PLANET.This interest might be transitory.. it might not last out the year.. but in that time, the seed of interest will have been planted in hundreds of thousands - possibly even millions - of schoolchildren. (and for that matter, adults). If 99.9% of those seeds fell on stony ground, and those people lost interest, then that would still mean HUNDREDS of new Richard Attenboroughs emerging ten years later. It would be the biggest attraction for potential new scientists that the UK has EVER seen ! But no.... because a politician with ZERO training in science - who is our science minister - decided it wasn't the "done" thing. He should be sacked, and ideally flogged. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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