Dr. Gonzo

Out for at least 2 matches. Bit of a shame as he was sort of showing us the reason why he was so highly valued at Bayern in recent weeks. Definitely an easier time for him playing in more normal circumstances. Hope he's back soon. Keita and Jones get a decent chance to show why they should start once Thiago's back. At least it's an area we've got depth, because it's not great to have 2 injuries to starters in the midfield this early.

My cats have never seen a real mouse or brought me a real bird because where I live it's not safe to let them go out (I think if they fell off my balcony... they'd probably die) - but they love the birds when they see them at the window. But cats bring dead mice/birds to their owners as gifts - they think we'll want to play with the dead animal carcass the same way they would. Mine bring me toys they think they've "killed" in the mornings doing the same thing. They actually get quite offended if you just discard the gift so it was smart of her to give Puddin a treat for a job well done.

Only admitted it because of that NYT investigation tbh. We hear about civilian collateral damage with drones all the time. But the NYT did a great job of breaking down how wrong US intelligence was. Drones are obviously going to be popular with the militaries that use them… but I do think the ethical considerations of their use in warfare is often overlooked. What we have seen with western military intelligence in the war on terror and wars in the region… is it’s often wrong or the stuff that proves to be right takes years to collect the information and verify (like Bin Laden’s location). And when you have wrong intel but act quick with drone strikes… there’s a very high risk of just killing innocents. Btw this is completely off topic but… @Khan of TF365, what do you make of Pakistan having both very close ties to the US and being a partner of theirs… but also your government has close ties with Taliban leadership & Bin Laden’s hideout in Pakistan being basically impossible to believe the military didn’t know they were there? I can’t really fault any neighboring nation of Afghanistan for having better ties with the Taliban at most, because everyone there wants stability even if their neighbors are cunts. But like… wtf is the Bin Laden stuff? How can Pakistan walk that tightrope between dealing with the US as friends, but also housing a US enemy and getting 0 repercussions for it? Are Pakistani politicians the biggest smoothtalkers ever? They need to be giving lessons to loads of other countries.

I wish we could have had Klopp and Gerrard at the same time

Iran's now a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation - big news for the economic development of the country. No real surprise though, the way things have gone in the past few years after the JCPOA falling apart, Iran is no longer really looking to the West as it seeks to rejoin the global economy - they've turned to China. I hate Iran's government, but I can't deny that this is really a no-brainer for them. They don't have to adjust their position of challenging the US's global hegemony, they're aligning themselves with a country that is probably the biggest threat to US hegemony worldwide. The US and EU sort of took a harsh stance with Iran as it was complying with an international agreement - and I think there's only so many times you can hope to negotiate with countries that haven't really demonstrated they're willing to stick to the commitments they've made. Granted, I'm not sure China can be entirely trusted to not act similarly if any opportunity arose where it would be beneficial for them to fuck Iran over. But this news means greater access to global markets that the country hasn't had access to in a while - which is massive news for a country that's had it's economy ravaged by shit policy decisions coupled with US sanctions. From a human rights standpoint it's very shit though because China doesn't give a fuck what it's trade partners are up to within their own countries - just like they expect their trade partners to not give a fuck about what China does within China. Interesting to note that now 4 neighbors are member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are bordered with Afghanistan: China, Tajikistan, Pakistan and now Iran. It's not just an economic cooperation partnership, but also a military & security partnership. So this may be a signal that China is taking steps to move into Afghanistan.

I think if Bruce had no money to spend, they'd have gone down imo. St. Maximin is a big part of how Bruceball has worked at Newcastle - because his individual quality has sometimes been enough to overcome the fact Newcastle don't really have an identity in the way they play. Their net spend under Rafa was -£26m. I think Steve Bruce's net spend is over £100m. For comparison, Steve McLaren who was there before Rafa had a net spend of £96m. So I think Newcastle fans are right to question why Ashley didn't back him, when he was popular with their fans, and why he's backed two manager that Newcastle fans can't stand. I suspect he's willing to back managers who look like they won't be up to much without spending because all he really cares about is staying in the premier league and getting the TV deal money. With Rafa, Newcastle were safe and actually made a profit with transfers. With Bruce they look shit but can steal enough wins. Most Newcastle fans I know think Steve Bruce's football is unsustainable, whereas Rafa looked like he had a plan and was always looking to help Newcastle grow. But he wouldn't get the funding to bring in the players he wanted. He might be passed his prime as a manager, but I think Rafa is a brilliant tactician. I think most Newcastle fans would agree with that and I think that's why so many don't like Steve Bruce and don't want him there. They've replaced a popular manager with someone who antagonises the fans and the Newcastle players themselves (by the looks of recent leaks), while serving up some truly awful football to watch. So I'm not surprised they don't want him there and would like someone with a bit more competence to come in. But will Ashley open the purse strings for anyone competent that can guarantee Newcastle survival on Newcastle's tactics alone? Probably not because he doesn't care if Newcastle have any ambition or not - he just wants to make sure they stay in the league.

https://streamable.com/9njmic I lol'd

I think you raise a good point on it maybe taking years to have brainwashed her and groomed her to be a child bride. There's a good case to make that she is a victim. However, what little I know about ISIS radicalisation and recruitment online is that... it sadly doesn't take very long to recruit young western middle eastern descent men into "joining the cause" or at least it wasn't during the height of ISIS. And these were teens we're talking about that I think were old enough to know exactly what ISIS were and what they were signing up for. And all they really had to do to double check what they were getting themselves into was do a quick Google search and news about the atrocities they were committing in Iraq and Syria at the time would have been all over those google results. Now to be fair, all that I've read about how these people operate when they radicalise people is how they get young men from the west to join up as fighters - which is a bit different to how they'd recruit women, I imagine, so I don't know if we can apply the same time tables in this. But again, a quick google search could get tons of sources of what the fuck they'd have been getting themselves into. And that begs the question, even if you've been radicalised to believe that maybe western media is lying about what's happening... it's pretty much every news source (even some Middle Eastern news sources) that would be covering the exact same thing and giving the same news about the same atrocities... how do you willingly say "yes" to that kind of shit and that kind of lifestyle when you've grown up in the west? I imagine even the least comfortable life in the west is better than willingly sending yourself to an inhumane warzone. Let alone willingly signing up to be on the side committing acts of terror and daily human rights violations. And at the end of the day, she was more than just a child bride. She was involved with being a part of the "morality police" of ISIS. If that's like the morality police of Iran or Saudi Arabia (and tbh, I assume it's worse... because it's a group of die hard fanatical psychopaths), she's a human rights abusing cunt that probably got people killed for petty little things like "listening to western music" I know bigotry and Islamophobia are prevalent and a big factor in radicalising people... but to then join the people probably most responsible for these kind of views being so widespread? And the fact that it's people like ISIS and the rampant instability of the region that led so many of these peoples parents to try to get their kids away from that kind of shit... I just think it's mental, I don't understand it. I definitely blame the people behind the radicalisation quite a bit... but some of the blame has to be directed to these people who get radicalised as well. They were radicalised on the internet, so they know how to get on the internet and if you can do that... you should be able to know exactly what the fuck ISIS (or any group trying to recruit you) is. So I don't think it's right to just wash their hands of any responsibility for their actions. If you join up with a terror group that's committed some horrific attacks worldwide, but also notably in your home country... and then in an interview justify those same attacks (although to her "credit" she did say that innocent people shouldn't have been killed - but in the same sentence she justifies the attack on a group of innocents). There are consequences to joining a group of mass murdering fuckheads and you hold a degree of complicity with their mass murder when you participate in their reign of terror. It's just a weird situation where I think she's a victim to an extent, but I also think she's definitely guilty of some serious wrongdoing. And I'm not convinced however much she was a victim outweighs her complicity in crimes against humanity. And at the end of the day, even if she is deradicalised and even if she could be useful in helping the UK stop terror attacks (and tbh, I suspect if she is truly deradicalised she could be used as a tool to help deradicalise others)... I just don't think any western government can trust someone who did what she did. In ordinary circumstances, I'd agree that leaving someone stateless is a human rights violation - but with her complicity in her own horrific human rights violations... I'm not so sure it's so much of a human rights violation as much as it is a consequence of joining a group of mass murdering human rights violators. The only way I think she should be allowed back in the UK is if she's not allowed to leave, all of her internet/phone activity... and really all of her activities, are actively monitored (actively monitored humans, not just data collection that gets combed through eventually)... and if she's actively working with the government to aid in deradicalisation and stopping the spread of terror groups in the UK. So she could be back home in the UK - but she'd also be more of an asset to the UK that is monitored and controlled by whoever is in charge of counter-terror in the UK than a free person. And that's assuming she's not charged criminally for her involvement in any human rights abuses that took part in the areas she was in... and any jailtime would also require her being constantly monitored to make sure she's not radicalising anyone in prison.

If Origi can find some consistency, he's perfectly adequate as a squad striker. The issue is he can be very hot or cold... and for over a year he's been pretty cold. I feel for him because when it looked like he was developing well and he was getting regular time on the pitch he got that bad injury... and he's never really looked the same. And our front 3 being so difficult to displace has probably meant he's not gotten really anywhere near enough minutes to continue his development. He'll always be a cult hero for what he did in the CL that season... but if he can find some consistency and contribute to the squad more, I think a lot more people will be happy to have him around than they were at the end of the summer. Kind of the same way I felt about Shaqiri last season - he's great to have around if he's healthy and consistent... but he didn't have much luck in the way of staying healthy and as a result he wasn't consistent.

That was the first thing I played on their SNES emulator and… I forgot how fucking brilliant that game is. I probably hadn’t played a Metroid in 15 years at least.

If when I was 15 if some people groomed me to join the IRGC or MEK (probably the 2 closest things for an British-Iranian with a Shia Muslim background to ISIS cos Shias wouldn’t join ISIS as they think they’re infidels and would kill them upon attempting to join)… I’d probably have told them to fuck off. The reason my mum came to the UK in the first place rather than stayed at home is because Islamist shitheads ruined her country. I spent pretty much my whole life hearing about how they ruined the country. I assume most middle eastern immigrants to the UK (and the west generally) have similar experiences. They left to get their families away from that kind of bullshit that ruined their homeland. So maybe it’s her parents fault she wasn’t made more aware of why these people are dangerous weirdos. But while 15 is very young… it’s not young enough to be completely oblivious. I think most 15 year olds who’d have heard of ISIS should know they’re terrorist scum and shouldn’t be wanting to join them. When I was 15 I think Bush and Blair had pulled us into an illegal bullshit war that was on TV all the time (and set the stage for the creation of ISIS that she’d be joining in the future). I might not have known as much about what was going on in the world, but I certainly wasn’t completely oblivious to current events. And tbh, I don’t trust that the government would watch her like a hawk. The government’s had suspected terrorists come live in the UKand subsequently sat by as they’ve commit terror attacks.

While I’m sympathetic to young people being radicalised… to an extent… … I’m not really sympathetic at all to young Western kids of middle eastern descent getting radicalised and joining Wahhabi groups like ISIS. Of all people in the west, they should know best how fucking bad groups like ISIS are. And I know that the bigotry they race is a big cause that pushes them towards joining these groups but… experiencing bigotry doesn’t mean you should go become a terrorist. I do think she’s a victim to an extent. She was groomed to be a child wife. But I also think she should have known a lot fucking better and joining a terror group is a pretty serious thing, it’s not something easily forgivable

It’s not that long ago she went on tv and celebrated ISIS killing people at that concert in Manchester. I would just have a hard time trusting that she’s not still a terrorist

Has he ever played out on the wing while Firmino's out of the side? Genuinely curious. Because imo Origi's always looked best down the middle and have always thought playing him out wide was a bit strange.

Whale pulled carriage boats was more where my head was at

She’s probably right, but she’s still a terrorist traitor so I think it’s right for the government to want nothing to do with her.

You think one day they'll ever run ships (and shit like planes too, tbh) on something that's cleaner than diesel?

I don't understand how he could massage peoples feet or take their shoes off without them resisting? Or they were resisting and these descriptions that are being given are really shit.

I know there's responsible gun owners out there, and I'm not really worried about them at all. But there's also a shitload of irresponsible gun owners. That woman who bought the gun for her son to take to the riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin is a prime example of an irresponsible gun owner. The shitloads of people in California who legally purchased guns but illegally carry their guns around with them... that's not responsible. Even if most gun owners are responsible, there's definitely a huge number of gun owners who aren't. It's not a great comparison, but look at how many people in the US own cars - shitloads of them aren't responsible car owners/drivers, despite legally being allowed to drive. I imagine it's a similar percentage of gun owners that are as irresponsible as the numerous shitheads out there on the road. I just don't really think guns are adequately regulated in the US and that's why we see so many random shootings. There are other countries where guns are legal and we don't see the same kind of regularity of mass shootings as we see in the US... and I think a part of that is primarily down to the fact that the US does not put that many regulations on gun ownership because of their constitution.

I drove somewhere that was 7 hours away once and once I drove back I decided "well, I'm never fucking doing that again."

Isn't it a 5 hour drive?

Elliott's had a successful surgery and he's expected to be able to return to playing later this season. Probably the best news we/he can have regarding that injury. Looked nasty, can't believe he'll be back this season. Similar to Gomes at Everton, though, right?

I've been back in the office for a while now - but my wife's still working from home and the date she's been given to return is sometime next year.

And then they wonder why the government they propped up collapsed so quickly...