Dr. Gonzo

I posted it in the wrong thread, whoopsies

Looks like a Ukrainian passenger flight was shot down in Tehran tonight though Iran state media says it was a technical malfunction, but it went down in the ball of flames

That’s very good news

Read up on their current Foreign Minister - some of the shit he’s said has got him in a lot of shit with Iran’s hardliners. And before he was ever in Iran’s government, he got his degree in the US - went back to Iran to get married and then the revolution concerned him - and he went to live in NYC & Denver. His kids were born in America. He went back to Iran after he got his PhD, which was a thesis on when use of force is acceptable in international law - concluding only when force has been used on you. His PhD was centered around the Iran-Iraq war, and part of why he went back was he was disturbed about the US backing Saddam’s Iraq, while they were gassing Iranians. He’s not Ahmadinejad, or anywhere near a hard liner (and was actually forced out of the government under Ahmadinejad’s tenure). For a member of the Iranian government, and a very high profile one, he is someone that’s publicly stated very different ideological beliefs to others in the regime. It’s led him to be frozen out. He tried to resign after being left out of a meeting with Syria’s Assad, their foreign minister & Rouhani and Soleimani. His resignation was rejected by both Rouhani & Soleimani (who apparently had a say) - Khomeini was okay with him leaving as Javad Zarif is far too much of a reformer to him. But it’s weird to not have your top diplomat there while you’re meeting with an ally discussing military plans. Iran has something like above an 80% voter turnout, that indicates that people who even hate their government believe their vote can make an impact. I think if Iran’s ever going to change, they actually have a decent political framework to go with - they just need to drop the supreme leader shite & the Guardians Council. And Zarif would be a good transition leader for Iran - and quite frankly I’m shocked he’s got such a high position in the regime. I trust him a hell of a lot more than Pompeo, who has a long history of wanting war with Iran.

I'm scared for my family that's there

Pompeo's a twat that's wanted war with Iran for decades & almost everything that comes out of the Trump administration is bullshit though. I'd be inclined to go with what the Iraqi PM, who has to work with both sides, says. Unfortunately, I think shits about to get a whole lot worse because Iran has launched a dozen ballistic missiles at 2 US military bases in Iraq.

Australia rejects UK's appeal for freedom of movement between the two countries: https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/first-blow-for-post-brexit-britain-as-australia-rejects-trade-deal/07/01/

@Gunnersauraus @shut up @6666 @Chaaay AFC @...Dan... and other Arsenal fans that I’m sure I forgot (sorry) Its still early days... very early days, but I think these first signs of Arteta’s Arsenal are really promising. So lads, you think you’ll be active in this transfer window? And if so, who do you think is coming in? I suspect we’re done with our business and I want to see Arsenal good again... so if you’ve got any good hype coming our way, I’d love to hear it.

So they’re going for candidates born into wealth that aren’t really relatable to them at all?

Or this is Raiola's ultimate move in shithousery: "Let Pogba leave, or JLingz stays forever."

Jesus fucking Christ what in the fuck is wrong with the American right?

It's an interesting article. Peter Hitchens (and his late brother, Christopher) are two very smart people that were capable of navigating around complex thoughts. Even if I don't/didn't always agree with them. And I'm not surprised, because if you read up on them... they themselves are/were (weird using present & passed tense, but ya know... with Christopher dead I do have to) pretty complicated people. I think you have to be a pretty complex person to go from being an atheist to finding God in the modern era, for instance - because that's mental, but I don't think Peter Hitchens is crazy. He's also a Conservative with views on Brexit that I could have gotten behind - but that's besides the point. I think that article does a good job of showing how complex Iran is, societally and politically. For people who only know of Iran and Iranians as embassy storming, DEATH TO AMERICA, radicals... I think reading that article may be a good idea. It's a humanising article about a part of the world and a country that the media's done a good job of dehumanising over the decades that have passed. Sadly, I think this was written in a time where the JCPOA probably wasn't contemplated. Which is a shame, because I'd like to have seen his thoughts on what he would have thought about getting the Islamic Republic to the negotiating table and actually being able to participate more in the global economy would have meant. And I think that certainly means the deterioration of Western-Iranian relations after Trump pulling out of the JCPOA & the escalation in tensions we've seen wasn't contemplated... nor was Iran holding out on hoping the US would come back to the deal, up until the Suleimani assassination and them deciding "fuck this, we're going back to building nukes." I just hope war is avoided. But the rollercoaster ride of tension since 2015 makes me wonder: will Iran ever willingly sit back to negotiate with the US or west ever again after this debacle with the US abandoning the JCPOA?

Straight out of the taliban playbook. All of these right wing extremists are the fucking same.

Starting watching: “Don’t Fuck With Cats” on Netflix Pretty interesting documentary miniseries about a real life group of nerds that helped catch a killer, which started by tracking him posting videos of cats that he killed, but eventually he moves onto people

Ancelotti: Win stuff or I’ll give Terry your wife’s phone number

https://www.premierleague.com/news/1552880

I don’t think it’s that secret tbh

Well that depends, if the aftermath of this is Iraq kicking out US troops... then Iran and Russia are the big winners here. Its a joke though that the west stands with the side that backed Al Qaeda and ISIS though

Maybe 4 years ago. This guy is a hateful idiot and proud of it. And now he’s got a shitload of domestic pressure mounting on him

The UN will never do anything to the US. If the US does something horrible here, they’ll be completely unpunished. Laughable and naive to think otherwise

Also @Fairy In Boots if you could grab yourself a free tasty kabob just cos of your ethnicity, why not? fair play to your mate

I’m glad I read that last paragraph. I love ya mate and you know it but... ooooof that was not a pleasant read & didn’t come off across too great.

I just voted Solksjaer as PL manager of the month in the hopes he wins it and it puts off him getting sacked for a while. I suggest everyone join in

Yeah I’ve got family out there and tbh nobody really cares about Israel other than when they keep building settlements and then they bitch about how it’s bullshit they’re allowed to violate international law yet face no sanctions. People out there hate Saudis more, as Saudis pose a more imminent threat to Iran with their support of salafi/wahabbi extremists on their borders.

Nah not really. I can identify with Persians because I’m half-Persian but not because I’m Muslim. And maybe that means I can relate with other cultures in the region better than most. But I think as someone born in England and who grew up there, I mostly identify as English, just with a Persian mum. Fuck religion and religious people. They’re a big reason the Middle East is so utterly fucked.