Peter Parry wrote:
On Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:09:47 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

For those of us who are recent users, how would we find out who are the
loons and who are the good guys? Not sure I'd trust Mr Firths comments.

The loons are

Ian Jackson ijackson@chiark
Jonathan Amery jdamery@chiark
David Damerell damerell@chiark
Matthew Vernon matthew@debian

Jackson is the lead loon. A rabid pedal cyclist whose Lycra seems to
be exerting too much pressure on his nadgers causing significant
intemperance. He pedals around with a helmet camera and posts endless
videos of himself having arguments with puzzled motorists as he
berates them for committing real or imagined transgressions of his
interpretation of the law. The sheer number of arguments he can get
into in one day is really quite impressive. He was removed from the
uk voting organisation a few years back when he came up with a simple
idea of disallowing votes from people who lacked the ability to
reconfigure their email clients to accommodate the extreme
idiosyncrasies of his personal mail server (which of course he built
himself and was therefore perfect - everyone else was wrong)

Well known for his support of one man one vote as long as he is the
man and he has the vote. Totally deaf to opposing opinion he would
make Stalin look like a member of the Liberal Party.

Dameral is another pedal bike rider hanging onto Jacksons coat tails.
Some years ago he was a member of the UK Usenet committee but got a
bit bored and left. Another exponent of the long drawn out pointless
argument school of debate.

Well that's about the way I see it. David will join any amusing cause,
in the name of whatever seems amusing at the time. But I wouldn't rely
on him if I were Jackson.


Amery and Vernon appear to be simply placeholders (or more properly
bike holders as all are enthusiastic followers of the new religion)
persuaded to participate presumably by Jackson. None of the four seem
to have any ability to deal with people.

Well I wouldn't say that exactly. Damerell to my certain knowledge has a
way of getting what he wants by using peoples own perceptions against
them. He's a highly skilled and subtle manipulator, but (when I knew
him) without a cause other than simply making people dance to his tune
for the hell of it. A court jester of the first order. I really rather
liked him. Think Boris. A solution without a problem.

Jackson I am not so sure about: I think I have met him, or crossed
swords on usenet... the faint impression I have is that your description
above is fairly accurate. Immature and earnest beyond belief. Think
Livinsgtone.

Amery and Vernon are probably as you say. along for the ride, to give
some credence to the 'new movement'.

I'd love more background on what actually happened with the biking
issue. There is a lunatic cycling lobby in Cambridge (where most of
these people reside IIRC), That has essentially reduced the whole town
to a haven for pedestrians and cyclists, and made it totally
inaccessible to any form of motor transport. As a result the town is
actually dying as a market town.