Dr. Gonzo

The food there is incredible, you've got to go just for the food

I don't see why Pakistan would want to get involved in this conflict other than outside influence pressuring them into it. I don't even see why the US would want to put Pakistan in this sort of uncomfortable position. Moral objections aside, it'll also enflame relations with Pakistan & Iran - which likely will lead Iran to turn more than a blind eye to Balochi separatist movements and possibly even encourage them in Pakistan to create more instability. And it seems weird for the US to want to degrade that relationship - because they use Pakistan as their official channel for most diplomatic discussions with Iran. But really the moral objection is the biggest reason to object though because honestly... fuck the Houthis, they're also awful people. But the blockade and bombings of Yemen fit the UN definition of genocide - so it's an awful thing to have your country attach itself too (even though the Saudis and their coalition allies stand no chance of ever facing repercussions for their crimes... so there is that).

Some states will outright ban abortion in all instances. Which I think is mental because only 37% of the country seems to support banning abortions. So people living in those states that want abortions will either get illegal abortions in their state or they'll have to travel to where it is legal in order to get an abortion. Really no such thing as a "free" procedure of any sort, let alone abortions which aren't considered necessary medical procedures in most instances, in the US. So whether it's a state facility or a private clinic performing the abortions, they'll be banned in the states where abortion is made illegal. Some commentators are saying the rationale used in the decision could also be applied to let states ban contraceptives, birth control, and gay marriage. So the decision could have big ripples in states that criminalise these things - because it essentially gives government reign to control what happens in peoples' bedrooms. This leaked draft is a draft and that still gives the court time to change their mind... so hopefully that happens. I'm not sure it's right that 9 people appointed for life, 6 of whom were appointed by presidents that did not win the majority of the votes in the country, get to make such a massive decision and rollback rights over what women can do with their bodies and possibly beyond.

Going to Italy in September! Rome and the area around Bari. I've never been south of Naples, so I'm looking forward to it because every time I've been to Italy it's been fucking fantastic & this'll be new.

I don’t understand why they even have the supreme court Why do a bunch of unelected judges get to basically write laws for a country they aren’t accountable for?

A case has to get appealed up to the Supreme Court (idk how many levels of appeals there are) - then the court has to approve the case for Supreme Court appeal. Repealing abortion has been a central issue for republicans for a very long time - so it’s not surprising a court packed with Bush and orange man picks is doing this. Why republicans care so much about abortion though? No clue. They tend to be pretty religious so maybe they just want more kids to molest

Leaked SCOTUS documents indicate that the US's highest court is planning on rolling back abortion rights - saying that there is no federal fundamental right to an abortion.

The housing market is insane right now. I own where I live but I wanted to sell it and move somewhere bigger - but the prices are so insane here I can't really afford anything better than where I currently live. Rent is almost double what my mortgage is too - so I can't even temporarily rent somewhere bigger and hope to save. It'd cost way too much for no real benefit whatsoever. So while I'm not content with my living situation, I've got friends paying out the arse for far shittier living situations who are feeling even more bleak about their prospects of ever owning property at all and thinking they'll be paying extortionate rent for the rest of their lives.

To an extent I think that’s true, but part of me feels Howe’s done an incredible job with the players already at the club. He signed what, 3 players in January? I don’t think their turnaround in form is wholly down to bringing in these players (but I do think these signings have made a significant impact for them). Especially Trippier who’s spent a chunk of the season injured. I think the most remarkable thing about the turnaround is there’s players at Newcastle that I thought were dogshit… that have spent the past few months proving they’ve got decent quality. And whoever decided Joellinton should be playing in midfield rather than as a striker deserves a big raise. But ultimately I agree with you, Howe and co. will be wanting to bringing higher quality players in. But I’m not so sure as many players need to be cleared out of Newcastle as I previously had thought. If they can push some of their current starters into squad roles rather than nailed on starters & bring in the right players… they could have some serious depth. I thought Howe would be a mistake because of his defensive record but he’s basically come in and been the opposite of what I expected he’d be… while still playing positive football. I think @Honey Honey & @OrangeKhrush have lots of reasons to be excited about the future of the club.

Wouldn’t be the first time they’ve got some corporate guy in charge of football operations though. I don’t think they have a director of football - closest thing will probably be when Rangnick’s a consultant next season

Yeah probably, I think you should probably have tiered goals. Realistic and “best case” and a couple of tiers in between. But given the turnaround Howe’s given Newcastle, I imagine the best case scenario is pretty good. The right kind of signings in the right positions and you’re a fairly decent looking side. But I think there’s a lot of scenarios where Newcastle could be saying they had a good season next year.

Matt Judge has resigned from his position as Manchester United’s head of corporate development. Judge was responsible for negotiating transfers and contracts for Manchester United. Good news for United because this guy was obviously a fucking idiot

You think they'll do that though? They used their money pretty intelligently in January, imo. Some ambitious signings, but also clearly kept their feet on the ground and didn't reach unrealistically high. And as a result, they sort of really turned things around considering how absolutely shite they were. I think they'll spend big but they'll probably be signing players that fit into a realistic goal for next season - which could be breaking into the top 6.

Rumour is Kyle Walker is likely out for the season & Stones is unlikely to make the match vs Leeds.

I just worry his confidence might be seriously impacted by all the criticism he's (justifiably) received all season. I agree that he's better for England than he is for United and the England setup does a lot to paper over some of the flaws in his game.

Yeah didn't his mum die right when it looked like the wheels came off our season? And then Alisson's dad died shortly after his mum died. Probably not the best mood around at training back then. COVID, injury crisis, historically shit form, parents dying... can't really blame someone for feeling downtrodden considering the circumstances.

City's owners doing more to aid Russia in Ukraine than Roman Abramovich: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-28/manchester-city-s-owner-helps-usher-more-russian-tycoons-to-uae Interesting, I wonder if Zinchenko will say anything... after all, he did say a pretty recently "silence is violence" regarding the conflict. Seems weird that they'll probably remain unsanctioned despite this news tbh. It's the owner of a British business helping beat sanctioned people through British, EU, and US sanctions though... should get a response from the government.

Does Maguire keep his place in the England side after the awful season he's had?

What the fuck? You still have Tosun?!

HOLY SHIT YES

Would be so massive if we can get him to stay longer

I think it's weird too. Is their argument that Hirohito's Japan wasn't fascist? Maybe that's true, but even if it is true... it's also true that if Imperial Japan wasn't fascist, it was certainly very close to being fascist. But I know there's a large part of Japan's population that likes to pretend that they were never a part of the Axis powers and that Japan are just victims of WW2, rather than aggressive imperialists that brutalised China, Korea, etc, committing horrific war crimes (Unit 731 is notable because it is absolutely horrific)... going so far as to deny that war crimes ever happened. I think it's a stupid thing for Japan to get offended about; Italians and Germans weren't offended (at least not many of them) because they're more ashamed of their past in WW2 I suppose.

We've got one too: but ours is mostly just shit like that

I think adjusting the way some of our more injury prone players train and recover from matches is a huge part of why we're not seeing those same players injured constantly. Just look at Matip, he's been a rock at the heart of our defense and is arguably our player of the season - he's played so many more matches for us this season than any other season with no real injury woes. Keita's another player we could never really rely on for selection. Also last season, we had a massive injury crisis with players having to fill in at CB and without really having the same depth we had at the beginning of the season because... players kept getting injured, which meant players couldn't be rotated in and out. So some players had massive burnout because they were unable to get a rest. Our depth this season is what... two additional players compared to last season. One's Konate and he's been slowly bedded in, mostly getting his chances in Europe or any time where we've got more than 1 match a week (so Matip can get his well deserved rests that keep him match fit) - the other's Diaz and we've just signed him fairly recently. I guess you could make the argument for Elliott - but it looked he was going to slot into our midfield 3 (and take Gini's place in the squad) - then he got his injury now he's found it harder to get back into the team. For me, I think the biggest thing is that the training staff has taken the steps to avoid another crisis like we suffered last season once VVD was out and we were relying on Matip and Gomez - two very injury prone players - to perform week in week out, sometimes multiple matches a week.

Tbf after last year the coaching staff worked out different training schedules for players like Matip, Keita, Thiago, and Gomez... and this season, unlike other seasons, we've not seen them as injury prone as they were before. Also worked out a different training regime for our Muslim players during Ramadan, which seems to be paying off as our Muslim players have played pretty well despite probably being starving when they take to the pitch. Smart stuff from them in all honesty.