Dr. Gonzo

Yeah, Russia (even before it was Soviet) has had a long and significant interest in Iran. But British and Soviet occupation of Iran is something that Iran dealt with for about 45-50 years after the Persian famine. But the Soviets successfully had Gilan as a Soviet state for a short while in history. I think if there’s a war in the Middle East involving Iran, it’ll probably be a horrific shitshow that makes Iraq and Syria look like a walk in the park. Probably like a hybrid of the Iraq war with some of this Yemen style slow genocide. I absolutely think you are right the media doesn’t cover our role in the Yemen conflict because we are tacit supporters in the genocide going on there. Don’t want to make the public too aware of horrible things done with our support or we might be asked to stop supporting horrible things. Theres probably a lot of issues that here in the west we ought to hit the reset button and take a better look at things. Foreign policy in the Middle East is definitely one of them. Because we’ve not made the region a better place… so many actions the west has made in the region have been short sighted and made the area less peaceful and more dangerous for everyone.

Maybe in the 40s, but I think since the US has been a superpower the US definitely has more influence over the Saudis & UAE. But of course the house of Saud is forever in the UK’s debt for being able to plaster their name on the country and for the kingdom they’ve set up.

Yeah especially with eggs I've noticed recently (at least here) - I feel like they're trying to confuse people between cage-free and free-range. And tbf, I don't know the fucking difference , I assume free-range means the animals have space to roam around freely, and I assume cage-free means they're just not in cages (but they could still be tightly packed into a space... so idk if it means much)

Both. I think what superstores are good for is the "common" cuts of meat and convenience. I used to think it was cheaper... but really, the price can depend on various things so... it's not always cheaper from superstores, I've found. But it's cheaper most of the time for the common cuts - so I definitely will buy meat from there. I still think there are lots of good reasons to go to your local butchers: Selection....not just the different types of meat you're more likely to find at a butchers... you'll also get better cuts Fresher & higher quality meat Putting money back into your local economy - superstores are either big national chains or international chains; your local butcher is most likely.... well local & part of your community. When you support local business, that's you putting your money back into your community. And chances are your local butcher gives a fuck about you eating good meat more than some rich dickhead running a giant grocer does I've also generally found myself shopping at superstores less and less for food (more for general things I need around the house, like bog rolls and shit like that) because aside from my fucking excellent local butcher... there's a few good local grocers around me. And some of them are significantly cheaper than the superstores around me for higher quality fruits and veg... so I'm glad I've learned about them.

I'm biased but I wholeheartedly disagree. The biggest destabilizing force is the US and their allies Saudi Arabia. The US creates power vacuums, the Saudis train/fund/support Wahabi and Salafist jihadists that make the region more unstable. The Saudis fund separatist groups in Iran, like the 3 Iranians that were convicted in Denmark today - all members of that separatist group (that was behind the London Iran embassy siege)... they were convicted of spying for the Saudis. And what the Saudis are doing in Yemen is an atrocity - it makes anything from the Israel-Palestine conflict seem humane tbh. And it's genocide that's being justified on the basis that their puppet is likely to lose power if they don't intervene. And it's typically these Wahhabi groups that are the ones that spread Islamicist terror outside the region as well (although their biggest victims worldwide are predominantly shia Muslims, which is why so many Iraqis and Iranians hate ISIS) - they're the ones that are spreading terror in Europe with ISIS... I don't want Iran to get a nuclear program because once they do it sets up the status quo that the IRI will control Iran forever. And to me, I'd like to see the country return to a democracy like it was before the US and UK shat all over that in the 50s. But I think it's funny that they're labeled the destabilising force in the region. Really I think the best evidence of that is the spread of their influence in Iraq... but what the hell did the world expect to happen, the US and UK came in, toppled Saddam (who's probably one of the most hated people ever in Iran) and then let the Saudis spread Wahhabi terror all along Iran's border. Of course Iran would try to gain influence over terrorists that want to kill their mostly Shia population. But surely if anyone is the truly destabilising force, it's the imperialists who came in from other continents to make a mess of the region, and their craven allies that profit from the mess the outsiders made

US raid on ISIS in Syria - some civilian casualties have been reported, but it looks like they are because an ISIS leader the raid was targeting put on a suicide vest and blew himself (and his family) up.

The lock on my washer broke, I looked into some YouTube videos to see if I could fix it - but the fucking replacement part is on backorder and is meant to take a month. I really need to do laundry and I really don't want to go some place else to wash my clothes. It's a fucking disaster.

I hope you are right

Weirdly, in places where currencies aren't all that stable... more and more businesses actually accept cryptos. But I think if you're finding a crypto currency more stable than a normal actual currency... you're in a country that's got some serious issues & I don't think cryptos are the long term solution there. For most of us, I think there's no real benefit to crypto currencies and I think shite like dogecoin and "coins" like that are definitely a way to take advantage of speculators wanting to get in on crypto "investing". Having said that, I know someone who's made a pretty significant amount of money trading crypto... but I think he's absolutely mental. But I also think he's one of those people taking advantage of speculative investors.

Swiss defensive midfielder, looks like he's just joined Juve

6 hour flight from me, so not the best flight but not too bad. The weed in Maui was disappointing though. If you ever head my way you’ve got to let me know.

What can I say... getting high is one of my skills.

Tbf you're probably right and he's overrated shite, Arsenal are in for him after all

Salah plays on the other side typically, but okay . And it's so much that I rate Kuleveski as a world class talent - it's more me not rating your hot takes on players. Gini Wijnaldum and Andy Robertson both joined us after getting relegated, Ramsdale was being relegated twice before joining Arsenal. Henry at Juve looked more shite than Pepe does with you now, despite Juve being one of the best sides in the world at the time. Are those players flops? Nah. There's more to judging a player's individual qualities than looking at the side they play for, it's not exactly rocket science.

Mines a sunrise, not a sunset also I also had to go up a volcano for mine. But if you look closely, what looks like an ocean in my pic isn't an ocean at all... those are clouds. Colder than a witch's tit up there (that's for @Bluewolf, so that phrase doesn't go extinct). Went from warm as fuck to below freezing and then back down the mountain to warm as fuck.

I haven't brought Willian up for a while until just now? But I don't think Chelsea fans like @Ciceroor @Bluewolfwould agree that he was their best player that season, regardless of statistics. Chelsea offered him a 2 year deal, but they also didn't offer him what he wanted in terms of wages because they didn't think he was worth what was being offered. Just saying it seems a bit strange to be excited about a rival's castoff, despite being a fan of the same league and probably having a lot more opportunities to watch him/them play rather than just rely purely on statistics... but be less excited about signing a player from a big club in Italy. I definitely think there's a more clear upside to this signing than Willian. Whereas with Willian, best case scenario, you'd be getting that inconsistent player from Chelsea that left their fans frustrated more often than not.

Football doesn't really work like that - a player on a team is just one individual part of a collection of players that make up the whole of the team. There can be good players on bad teams and bad players on good teams (although there'll be less bad players on good teams generally, as good players usually make up good sides). Henry (and Bergkamp) were shit in Italy and brilliant at Arsenal. And for what it's worth, Juve are only 1 point off CL places in 5th place. Arsenal are 2 points off 4th place in 6th place. You never really know how a player will do after a move until after they've moved and started to play. I wouldn't write off a player just because they're coming from a side that's not a top side in that league (and Juve's period of being substandard is substantially shorter than your own period of being substandard). Dunno, we're not too far removed from him looking brilliant at Atalanta. But the man who was excited about Willian reinforcing his attack thinks that But either way, the BBC make it sound like he's on his way to Spurs and not Arsenal.

When it was rumoured Bayern were in for him... was that as a free transfer or was that them paying Chelsea a transfer fee? I thought it was really weird Bayern were supposedly in for a player that hadn't really proven... well, anything, at that point in his career. If it was for a transfer fee, Chelsea may have missed a good opportunity to get a good fee for a player that maybe is not the best fit for this Chelsea side.

Wasn't Thierry Henry a Juventus castoff?

I hope this happens just for the twitter reactions

His lack of apology rubbed me the wrong way as well, so I can imagine it was worse for you considering you're the one he got nasty with. When he said he came back a new man he wasn't wrong. He was even more quick to anger than before I disagreed with him shitloads of times and I think sometimes we got a bit personal with each other (I remember one time he was livid with me that I'd used the word "moron" several times in a political discussion) - but nothing ever was quite the level of anger and personal shittiness as what he was doing with you. Honestly, right before his banning... him bringing you up in threads and seeming obsessed... it was borderline harassment. Dunno if it was gonna get quite as bad as Teso when Brian came back, but it definitely reminded me of it. It wouldn't surprise me if he's not doing well in some regard right now and him lashing out on here was a reflection of that. Not that it makes it okay to do that to another person on the internet, because it doesn't and what he was doing to you was not okay in the slightest. But we've seen it before where while I think this is maybe my favourite place on the internet and I love chatting with all of you, some people in the wrong mindset really tap into something a bit fucking weird when they're on here. I feel like in the last year, you've gotten loads of abuse for no reason whatsoever . Some of it was racist as fuck too, but that wasn't TAD (at least I don't think so). It's probably because you've got all the fucking rep points on the forum

It's a shame because when he wasn't possessed by his own anger, I actually really liked the bloke. I'd had hoped he'd mellowed once he returned, but he seemed angrier than ever.

He came back but was as aggro as he'd ever been. Couldn't stop getting personal with Stan for no good reason either.

I think from a personal perspective, showing Derby some loyalty here does a lot for his career. If he manages to keep Derby up with the position they are in, he's done wonders for his reputation. And other prospective employers will see that loyalty and think "this guy stuck by a club while they were in the absolute shit, he'll be committed with us." I also think there's something to be said about being relatively grounded and maybe knowing you might not be ready for a job. If your boyhood club asks you to save them... and you fail because you aren't up to it... it's going to feel incredibly shit. And realistically, there's going to be a massive difference between what he's doing at Derby and trying to get Everton looking good again. I'm sure he'd love to be the Everton manager, but he probably doesn't want to take that job and fail early on in his career. His reputation of being a dumb cunt might be overblown, but it's definitely a reputation that exists... failure too early in his career might ruin his image for prospective employers in the future. He's got a career to think about long term.

I don't think it's a hot take to look how he did in his last job, see his weaknesses, and think that might not be the best fit for a club that's got a squad best described as unbalanced. Who knows how he'll do. Tbf Rafa was doing decently before your star striker was got a serious injury. I think most managers would struggle with that squad and not having DCL for as long as he's been out. Maybe he'll inject some much needed confidence into the side & perhaps the Digne sale was necessary just from an FFP perspective and he'll be able to bring a player or two in before the window shuts. But in my opinion, I'm not sure this helps Everton in the immediate - he might be a good appointment long term tbf, we've not really seen how a manager does long-term at Everton since Moyes. With his defensive record, you'd be hoping to at least see a more free scoring Everton because improving blueshite firepower up front is the only way I see results improving. And while I love Rafa, he's not really a man-manager at all. No idea what Lampard's like with his players, but I think many Everton players probably need balance managing them mentally as well as getting his ideas for how they need to perform on the pitch rather than just expect them to be able to get on with their jobs on the pitch. And tbf, a lot of clubs need that - we certainly did imo. But at the end of the day I think it's a big job for any manager - let alone one with limited experience and who's never been in this sort of position before. It's a different sort of pressure for him, so who knows how it'll go. It could be shit, it could be great, it could just be somewhere in between shit and great (probably the most likely option because that's between two extremes ). Certainly his appointment should do well to wash away some of the toxicity of Rafa's appointment. They've removed a man they hated, they've told the board to fuck off the Portuguese guy and actually been listened to. And from many blueshite's perspective, it's someone we hate who also hates us... which is probably ideal for them as it gives them someone they can relate to in the position.