Dr. Gonzo

Can you imagine being such a miserable piece of shit that you ban music? Taliban rule has to be so incredibly shit for so many people…

Sad end of summer for gamer kids in China: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58384457 a bit of an absurd regulation, imo

I think expecting a hiatus of 10-15 years of no American intervention anywhere in the world is an absolute pipe dream. America has existed as a country for something like 240 years and been involved in some sort of military operation for 223 of those years. 10-15 years would be one of the longest period of "peace" for the US in it's history. So I don't think that'll be happening.

Kind of shit though that all Liverpool related discussion on deadline day isn't about us signing an attacker that we so sorely need (and you can tell we need one because when we needed to throw on someone to break down Chelsea with our final substitution... we substituted on our backup left back rather than the Ox & Minamino - which I think reflects a bit on what Klopp thinks they could have done against that Chelsea)... ... it's instead about us scrambling to see if we can maybe get Edwards to sign a contract extension. Feels like the club probably knew about his likely departure before today... but they've chosen to release this information as a bit of a distraction from our lack of activity on the market this window, while all of our domestic rivals have spent serious money trying to strengthen.

I agree it's unprofessional and grubby... but at the same time, I think many people think about the loyalty that players give to their clubs without really thinking about whether the clubs are being all that loyal to their players. Maitland-Niles is out of favour and wants to play. He's not getting time on the pitch at Arsenal, he sought a loan move - which in theory should benefit all parties (he gets to play more, another club gets a player they see value in, Arsenal get to keep ahold of the player and his value is maintained or boosted if he does well on loan). Arsenal said "nah, you can't move out on loan" - putting him in this position of either accepting that he won't play much this season or needing to weasel a way out of his club. Is the club being loyal to him in refusing to let him develop his career when it looks like there's very limited opportunities at Arsenal to do so? I'd argue... to an extent, yeah - I think the club views loyalty as a bit of a one-way street. So many football clubs are guilty of this really. Sadly, I think too many agents have told players to do anything to get a move away other than submitting an official transfer request - so as to not lose their "loyalty bonus." I think submitting official transfer requests is the right thing to do in these situations. If you want a move and the club doesn't want to give you that move, you should be willing to forgo whatever the "loyalty bonus" is to get the move away you want. These amounts must be fairly substantial where you've got players willingly coming out and looking openly unprofessional - because I'm not sure it's the best look in the eyes of a future employer seeing this kind of stuff. But it's clearly something that works for so many players and agents... I think it's a part of football that's here to stay, right or wrong.

I mean look at the job Edwards did up to us winning the title: only one real flop in Karius… and he was one of our cheaper signings. Even players like Grujic who came in early in Klopp’s reign we sold for a profit. City have dropped the gauntlet and made it look like a team has to be near perfect to win the title. We are fortunate they fell off in the league early… because the season prior shows that even with us in title winning form, a club with City’s resources can be even better than one of the best sides the prem had ever seen statistically. Honestly I’m a bit worried about what life after Edwards looks like, because it’s not often you get someone who gets so much to go right in such a short span of time.

Michael Edwards has been brilliant, tbh. I hope he’s trained his successor well… because I think we’ll definitely miss him. He’s got a good eye for talent and has been a brilliant negotiator for us. To go from the face of Rodgers’ scapegoated “transfer committee” to our Director of Football and have so much success in the new role with the new manager I think speaks to how good he is at his job.

DCL’s been playing with a broken toe.

There’s no way it was just them. It must have been commonplace for these dickheads to be so brazenly racist and abusive.

Here’s some fun footage of Evin security guards learning they’ve been hacked: https://www.vice.com/amp/en/article/5dbemq/video-iranian-evin-prison-hacked The video the hackers released I’ve watched and I’m not going to post on here because some parts are pretty disturbing. In any case, I am all the more happy for the world to be more aware of the human rights abuses in Evin. What the hacked CCTV footage doesn’t show is the torture and sexual abuse of political prisoners, so just know what you can see isn’t even close to the worst of what goes on there. It’s an awful place and it’s more evidence of why Iran’s government are absolute scum.

As someone British & half Middle Eastern (I'm not Muslim, but my grandparents on one side of my family are... so while that side of family became irreligious/non-religious) - I think your experiences are accurate regarding British Muslims/Brits of Middle Eastern descent being against those wars. And honestly, maybe my reading of the general sentiment was skewed as someone whos been part of the UK Middle Eastern community and someone on Merseyside... but I felt in Britain generally, at least at the time of the Iraq war (tbh, I think many people thought the US's intervention in Afghanistan to retaliate to that terror attack was justifiable... initially) were pretty strongly against us joining the US in Iraq. It felt like a very unpopular move by the government. I think the biggest issue in Afghanistan is the US & allied mission changed once boots were on the ground. The mission no longer became a matter of i.) catching and killing Bin Laden; ii.) rooting Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan; iii.) weakening the Taliban to ensure they wouldn't back global terrorists again - it became a matter of "nation building." And I don't think you can really "nation build" in Afghanistan without an excruciating long occupation that'd make the recent 20 year stay in the country seem insignificant. And if that was and is unpalatable to the US/UK/whoever else allied with the US that was there... then we really should have gotten out earlier. The two best times to withdraw would have been: 1.) when the Taliban offered surrender and Rumsfeld & Bush said no; 2.) after Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan. But I don't think you're 100% right... if you're not in the Taliban or a warlord that stands to gain from the resumption of civil war that was paused for 20 years... you're probably a million miles from being content if you're an Afghan right now. Especially if you're not Pashtun or worked with the US/allies, because then you've likely got a target on your back - those are who the Taliban will go after next. And any woman in Afghanistan is facing a severe rollback of their rights. This is a bad time to be an "ordinary" Afghan if you're in Afghanistan. And that's why I think that interview with the Taliban spokeperson and Iran's Press TV is strange/amusing because the Taliban spokesperson seems way more grounded in reality than the Iranian propagandist (although maybe I shouldn't be surprised by that ) - the Taliban spokesperson seems to recognise that when given the opportunity to get the fuck out of Afghanistan right now, Afghans are taking the opportunity to leave the Taliban and their oppression. The Iranian guy saying "This wouldn't happen in Iran" is ignoring that shitloads of Iranians that live under maybe less repression that Afghans face under the Taliban... but similar repression itself... want to get the fuck away from their government's rule and into the West. That's literally how my mum and uncles ended up in the UK and how I've got Iranian family scattered all throughout Europe now... and why the members of my family who are still there are desperate to get the fuck out by any means they can. But what's happening in Afghanistan is sort of us dealing with the US's foreign policy coming round to bite them in the arse again. They bare a lot of responsibility for the existence of the Taliban (and Al Qaeda) in the first place... and honestly, so many of the issues with stability and peace in the region can be traced back to some really really really shit decisions the US and/or the UK made during the Cold War. As citizens of Western countries and as participants in free western elections... we should be asking more of our elected officials who are representing us and who's policy mistakes lead to chaos that we then have to deal with in the future. We're privileged to live in democratic countries where we have a huge amount of freedom and political choice compared to other people. Sadly, I don't think it'll ever happen though because to most people in the West... the policy decisions made for the Middle East are so far removed from so many of them and we have a whole host of our own issues at home to worry about. And that's without even taking into account how partisan politics has become and how many people treat politics like supporting a football team. But imo, anyone living in the West that's concerned with stability or peace in the Middle East (and a part of that is stopping the spread of Islamic extremism, which does impact us outside the Middle East as well) should be asking for more accountability from our political leaders & should care about what the fuck sorts of foreign policy decisions we make.

If we get Salah to sign long term next, I think we've done pretty well this summer even with just one signing (although a part of me is still hopeful we add someone else in attack). Keeping ahold of our best players and guaranteeing that if someone is going to try sign them, we'll get a shitload of money - it's something we haven't really be able to do for a long time.

Also, I don't think the reports of Massoud surrendering the Panjshir Valley are true. Mostly because of this: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/23/the-two-men-challenging-the-taliban-in-afghanistan

Yeah, I think it's pretty clear that while we're going to go for the league and CL... the domestic cups are a bit of an afterthought for us under FSG. If we get far with kids, we'll probably begin to take it a bit more seriously - but for the most part, I think it doesn't matter who the opposition is, we'll likely rest the first team and go with a fairly youthful side.

It's gotta be a sad moment for any "journalist" when the Taliban spokesperson seems more grounded in reality than you... ... this ignores that pretty much any member of my family still in Iran would jump at the chance to get the fuck out of Iran and into a western country, with some semblance of stability and where people at least act like they care about rampant government corruption more than they do in Iran People may not like Western governments very much (and tbh, I think citizens of Western countries - myself included - should be demanding more and better of our political leaders, because their mistakes have consequences for us and for people all around the world)... but people would very much trade living under a corrupt and theocratic dictatorship for life in the West. It's just easier to have a normal life in the West and people are well aware of this. Stupid comment from Press TV or whoever the fuck it was.

I think we'll see Harvey Elliot in midfield more than as part of the front 3 tbh. He doesn't really have the same sort of pace you'd expect of Mane, Salah, and Jota... and I have no idea how he'd do in the Firmino role - but that's a very hard role for any player to fill and I think the Ox & Minamino would be ahead of him in that position tbh. I think we need more depth in case of emergency, if we're going to be wanting to keep up with City or Chelsea. Because I think we've got one of the best XIs in Europe when everyone is fit and in form... but we've not got great depth in attack tbh (depth in midfield is actually pretty decent, although we're relying on a lot of injury prone players imo). But I think FSG are hoping for a less injury ridden season than last season and will be hoping we can get through the season without too much trouble.

I wouldn't get your hopes too high. Most of our tier 1 journos are saying we're probably not bringing anyone in. They could be just being told to not get anyone's hopes up and then BOOM surprise signing (it's happened before) - but I'm not expecting anyone coming in. I also doubt we get Origi off to another club, although I think he really ought to be moving to a club where he can play more. I know he's never really been the same player since his bad injury, but if he plays more he might find himself developing a bit more as a player instead of this period of stagnation he's found himself in.

Go Ahead Eagles is a funny club name.

The Northern Alliance are going to need support airdropped into the Panjshir Valley (which, I dunno if any of you have seen pictures of... and I literally know fuck all about warfare so maybe I'm wrong... but it looks like an incredibly good "defensive position" for anyone to take in any war) - but they're basically surrounded as they were before. I'm sure the US will find some way to support the Northern Alliance - either directly through the CIA, or by increasing aid to India - who'll then be providing that aid to the Northern Alliance (if the US has any need for "discretion" in their support for the Northern Alliance). As long as they have food, ammunition, and explosives - I think the Northern Alliance will be able to defend the Panjshir valley... I don't believe the Taliban has ever had an air force and while they now have shitloads of US blackhawk helicopters (and probably other US military aircraft now) as well as drones they captured in their recent offensive - I'm not sure they'll be able to use them effectively against the Northern Alliance. I agree with you though, I think it'll be a civil war that results in a similar stalemate to pre-2001 - the Northern Alliance will probably have de facto control of the north of the country, the Taliban will likely control the south. You're absolutely right about the opium production in Afghanistan - it's their cash crop and their largest export by far. If the Taliban go ahead with stopping opium production, they'll definitely feel the financial impact. Regardless of whatever happens to the poppy fields though, I suspect Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will continue their support. I'm certain Pakistan will, tbh - they're a big part of the reason the Taliban is still around. If I'm Xi Jinping and I want to get lithium from Afghanistan... I think the last thing I'd want to do is make an enemy of either the Taliban or the Northern Alliance. So my plan for navigating the situation would be "can I throw money at these people to make them alright with me developing infrastructure, mining the hell out of the country, and exporting everything back to China as cheaply as possible?" And then I guess it becomes a question of speaking with both sides of the conflict and seeing how much it would take to get those assurances. And then even after those assurances, I think the biggest question on China's mind would be "can I trust the Taliban after throwing all of that money at them." And I'm pretty certain the answer is "No, you shouldn't ever trust the Taliban." So you're right, it'll be interesting to see what happens... but my guess is... it's not going to go that great for China unless they can get the Taliban to keep to their word. And even then, throwing cash at both sides doesn't guarantee that either side will be happy about their enemy having newfound riches from the same people that pay you. But if China's ultimately got to roll their military in... I think they're for an unpleasant surprise - nobody enjoys wars in Afghanistan.

Have you ever thought about the sanitation that would be required at Delos's theme parks with all those sexbots.

Yeah, pretty much. And it's worth noting that some of the warlords in the Northern Alliance aren't great guys at all - they're some of the guys associated with the collapsed Afghan government's complete corruption & kidnapping and trafficking of children, and other bad shit like that. But others part of the new resistance are members of the ANA who want to keep up the fight against the Taliban. And when we heard stories of so many soldiers immediately surrendering to the Taliban and letting them take over, it's worth pointing out that the notion the ANA genuinely had 300,000+ soldiers is looking increasingly like it was total bullshit and many sources are saying the Afghan military was about 70% smaller than it really was. Generals were inflating the size of the amount of troops they had when reporting to the US, so they could get extra funding from the US & allies... and then pocket a ton of extra cash. And many of those same generals were telling their troops to stand down & just go home when the Taliban approached their positions. It also appears many of the ANA hadn't been paid in months. So willingness to fight for generals who were essentially just stealing and who had no inclination to put up resistance to the Taliban was pretty low... ... but we're now seeing many of these former soldiers assemble in the Panjshir valley to join up with the Northern Alliance fighters. So one change to the civil war this time around is... we might see the Northern Alliance having better success with some better trained soldiers and maybe there will be some less shitty ideologies amongst the Northern Alliance so we see less of the bachebazi and other evil shit like that.

Does Afghanistan count as a coup? It was more of a total collapse of a government, imo. But I guess it was a coup in that power was seized...

Some prefer the Taliban to the previous government, some really don't want the Taliban. There have been a lot of resistance protests in bigger cities (not Kabul though, but I think they're overrun with Taliban there) - the Taliban has of course responded with violence to those protests. Some areas are seeing people massing to join the Northern Alliance, who'll resume their war with the Taliban under the son of their previous leader (who was killed a few weeks before the US invaded Afghanistan). And there's reports that resistance fighters have recaptured parts of Afghanistan from the Taliban. Pre 2001, Afghans were in civil war - some were okay with Taliban rule, some were fighting against it, others were just in villages with their tribes trying to live their lives normally as a civil war waged in their country. I suspect we'll see a return to that.

Well so much for hoping for a "reformed Taliban"... in the past 24 hours we've seen: the Taliban banning women from being news anchors & the Taliban executing Hazaras. I'm not really surprised though and I doubt anyone else is. I'm just surprised how quick the Taliban are going back to their old ways after attempting that PR offensive.

Yeah my first thought was "this looks pretty cool" and my next thought was "one day we'll be hearing about how a squad of robot soldiers slaughtered a village somewhere for no reason whatsoever"