49 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

Being able to read is one thing, understanding what was read is on a whole different level

I did one of those 'speed reading' courses and read 'War and Peace' in 90 minutes.

Great book, it's about Russia.

25 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Looks like he is reading the David Cameron edition and confused himself???? 

Doubt that, he suffers from foot in mouth, not the act accredited to DC. 

5 minutes ago, overherebc said:

I did one of those 'speed reading' courses and read 'War and Peace' in 90 minutes.

Great book, it's about Russia.

Seems then the course wasn't a complete waste of time... 

I’m reminded of an old joke about Richard Nixon.

”There was a fire in the Nixon Library last night and both books burned...and he hadn’t finished coloring one of them!”

5 hours ago, AlexRich said:

Pigs with their nose in the trough?

 

"Big Joke" went for 1984.

 

 

 

9 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Seems then the course wasn't a complete waste of time... 

I admit I might have missed some of the more trivial points.

20 minutes ago, overherebc said:

I did one of those 'speed reading' courses and read 'War and Peace' in 90 minutes.

Great book, it's about Russia.

I read a dictionary once.  Boring as all get-out but at least it explained things as it went along - - -

I am aware of the implication G. Orwell intended as he was a democratic socialist. Basically he just didn't like the regime  or Stalin. However, there have been many interpretations over the years so I don't intend to discuss that. What amazes me is what this junta comes out with; not long ago it was advised (by the army) to listen to the song Paen Din, now it's advice about reading a novel about animals. I'm surprised they don't come out with Cinderella and the midnight deadline, or Alice through the Looking glass. (The latter was written by a Mathematician/Logician so I doubt 'this lot' could understand it, Ha!). Am I correct in saying that a student questioned because he was reading '1984'? Perhaps 'this lot' should start reading books that are truly educational...how about this for a start:

Ha!

Edited May 31, 20197 yr by TKDfella

2 minutes ago, Lenny Jones said:

I read a dictionary once.  Boring as all get-out but at least it explained things as it went along - - -

Wish I had read it. Many years ago my secretary at the time once asked if she could borrow my dictaphone. When I replied no, use your finger as normal I nearly lost my job.

4 minutes ago, TKDfella said:

I am aware of the implication G. Orwell intended as he was a democratic socialist. Basically he just didn't like the regime  or Stalin. However, there have been many interpretations over the years so I don't intend to discuss that. What amazes me is what this junta comes out with; not long ago it was advised (by the army) to listen to the song Paen Din, now it's advice about reading a novel about animals. I'm surprised they don't come out with Cinderella and the midnight deadline, or Alice through the Looking glass. (The latter was written by a Mathematician/Logician so I doubt 'this lot' could understand it, Ha!). Am I correct in saying that a student questioned because he was reading '1984'? Perhaps 'this lot' should start reading books that are truly educational...how about this for a start:

Ha!

????

Does not seem to be available in the shops I looked in yesterday, maybe they keep it under the counter.

I have to wonder what the Elite are thinking, they have this unintelligent megalomaniac nutjob as their protector, and he is one step away from total control of the country. What exactly do they think will happen when he eventually turns on them? Think Stalin, but with less brains, little if any common sense, lack of self-control, and oblivious to his own authoritarianism.

Time to go back to the barracks... as time goes by people are starting to see the intelligence level isn't up to the required level for PM.. only enough for barking out orders!

5 hours ago, AlexRich said:

Pigs with their nose in the trough?

They also eat their own faecal material.

'nuf sed

19 minutes ago, ocddave said:

I have to wonder what the Elite are thinking, they have this unintelligent megalomaniac nutjob as their protector, and he is one step away from total control of the country. What exactly do they think will happen when he eventually turns on them? Think Stalin, but with less brains, little if any common sense, lack of self-control, and oblivious to his own authoritarianism.

I think the Thai phrase "Som Nam Na" would be appropriate for the Elite. Sadly everyone else will have to deal with the repercussions. 

One section of Animal Farm is stuck in my memory forever. When the pigs took over from the humans they said:

"Two legs bad, four legs better" 

But having eaten from the full trough and enjoyed the power they stood on hind legs and changed to"

"Four legs good two legs better" 

Quite a good analogy. 

Oink! Oink!

51 minutes ago, Lemonltr said:

One section of Animal Farm is stuck in my memory forever. When the pigs took over from the humans they said:

"Two legs bad, four legs better" 

But having eaten from the full trough and enjoyed the power they stood on hind legs and changed to"

"Four legs good two legs better" 

Quite a good analogy. 

My small mistake. "Four legs good" 

5 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Does he really think that the book is about animals? Do you know the word "metaphor"?

 

Met her for what? 

How apropos! ????

6 hours ago, rkidlad said:

And this is what the Thai people need to be doing. Every mistake he makes, every time he ‘misspeaks’, etc; the Thai people need to be on top of it. They need to criticize and pass judgment. This is after all what we call democracy. If the PM doesn’t like it, he can change his ways, or even better, he can quit. 

The kids that made the Prathet Guu Me video and those Thais who understood it may be able to buy into  your post.  Everyone else?  Sorry man, the proles are dumbed down beyond belief, and not just in Thailand.  

Words fail me. 

 

I think he missed the point. Orwell didn't write it as a blueprint!

10 hours ago, webfact said:

The novel is about farm animals that are treated badly, overworked and underfed by their human owners. The animals are led by a pig to revolt against the farmers, by overthrowing the men and taking over the farm themselves. Pigs take over the administration of farm and assign different duties to all the animals. Yet their rule proves no better than that of humans,

although they claimed democracy, equality, etc. His point seems clear and quite valid. 

1 hour ago, connda said:

The kids that made the Prathet Guu Me video and those Thais who understood it may be able to buy into  your post.  Everyone else?  Sorry man, the proles are dumbed down beyond belief, and not just in Thailand.  

Yes indeed, Connda (above). The tiny less-than-1% of Power Wielders want to keep the bulk of the population ill-informed, ignorant, docile (distracted by 'games' and 'selfies' on their mobile phones) and intellectually powerless. Then it is all the easier to dominate and control - and brainwash - them.

It is so, so sad when one sees young children - Thai or otherwise - with all that natural curiosity and eagerness to learn about this amazing world, and then to see that native curiosity largely expunged, systematically wiped clean from their brains.

 

Only inhuman monsters could do this to other human beings.

A troll post containing a disallowed reference to the PM has been removed. 

If he has actually read the book , which I doubt , then he clearly misunderstood its message.

23 hours ago, soalbundy said:

It lies in the humane spirit that we, or most of us, would become Napoleons given absolute power which is why checks and balances are essential in any political system. The chaos that is the modern democratic landscape works reasonably well for society.

Napoleon wasn't given power, he seized it by force, inhumanely.

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 1:21 PM, Baerboxer said:

 

I think he missed the point. Orwell didn't write it as a blueprint!

George Orwell said, "It's not power that corrupts absolutely , but obedience."

“It is the natural rule – we have to take care of things surrounding us, including animals on the farm.”

 

Proves they did not get the gist of the book. They probably thought and still think it's a comedy about animals