Dr. Gonzo

Yeah. Other than Joe Cole, I quite like the other lads we've signed who've been dubbed "Chelsea rejects." Apparently we'd taken him on trial prior to signing him, so it seems to be a pretty well informed signing on our part, even though I know fuck all about youth football. The path to first team football with us is more straightforward than at Chelsea though, and Chelsea have a surprisingly good academy (that they hate using to improve their first team for some reason)... so this could be win win for both the player, us... and even Chelsea because as @Cicero said they've got more kids to push through.

What do you lads know about Isaac Christie-Davis?

Yeah, I'm not sure that objective morality's existence has anything to do with religion other than the fact that for some people to get other people to not do fucked up things they had to invent a god and impart morality on some people through that way. I entirely believe that it's just humans telling other humans how to act. Rules and social norms that govern how people live their lives and what they believe were, in my opinion, most likely invented to get people to act and behave pleasantly. As well as the fact that religion can/could explain things that are/weren't explainable. It's also just as possible that there really is some higher being that created objective morality. But then, which higher being is correct? Or are they all the same... and people coming up with different organised systems are all just misinterpreting the spiritual feelings imparted to them? Are people that lived a good life according to multiple religious texts, including the "correct one" barred from heaven (or whatever) if they didn't believe in the "true religion." And I don't think you or I or anybody can answer where objective morality stems from. We'll either find out when we die and it turns out some religious people were right and there's some sort of higher being that created everything. Or we won't ever know ever, we'll just die never knowing it. Anyone can believe whatever they want to believe, true or not. But to me it all just seems like a waste to believe in any of that or worry about any of that, when there's so much that's actually worth expending energy thinking about in life.

I mean, if you're on a team then there's a good chance that when you die you're going to be wrong. Even atheists might be wrong as fuck. But there's certain things in religion that I understand the purpose for - explaining things that just couldn't be explained at the time & keeping a form of social order and morality. Nowadays, a lot of what couldn't be explained can be explained. And if you need stories and fables to explain to you what is good and bad... that's pretty concerning. And yeah there's a lot of stuff that still remains unexplained still. And a lot of it is interesting stuff to think about. And it can lead to interesting thoughts and discussion. But when you're considering things like: why are we here? how did we get here? what's our purpose in life? what happens when we die? ... they're all interesting thoughts. And they can lead to existential crises to some people if there aren't any answers. And I can certainly see the reason why people would want these answers and have certain beliefs... because it's comforting. But at the end of the day, we're not going to know any of the answers to any of this stuff either ever... or until we kick the bucket and see what the next stage is. Why are we here? I don't know... but also who cares? We are here, and we're going to keep being here until we stop being here. People don't need religion to be good people. And people would probably be better to each other if they didn't have to worry about people having religious differences. Life is short. For all we know, we've only got one life (and if we don't, we've only got one of this life) - so we should be making the most of this one life we have. Especially because life can be fucking shit a lot of the time. Religion gets in the way of people making the most of their lives and creates more shit times for a lot of people. And I think that's especially clear in Iran and the Middle East largely.

Yeah no incest as far as I know I'd prefer more people going the route of not being fucking religious in Iran (and the Middle East in general).

Not that I know of, other than the link between ancient Persia and modern day Persians. Things like Nowruuz (the Perisan new year) and traditions like Chaharshanbe Suri (which is celebrated on the Wednesday before the Persian new year) are old Zoroastrian traditions that Persians have kept in our culture despite the Arab conquest of Persia & Islam becoming the main religion in the area. With Chaharshanbe Suri it's particularly easy to see the connection with Zoroastrianism because it involves jumping over flames for rebirth. But that's not really a personal link my family has with the religion at all. It's sort of just something all Persians have with that being part of the history of Persians. I've got a historical interest in Zoroastrianism because of it's historical ties to the Iran and the three Abrahamic religions. My family is pretty secular though, my grandparents were a bit more traditional "Muslims" but my Iranian granddad drank and ate pork all the fucking time when he was still alive. And I've seen my granny have wine. So they weren't at all particularly devout with those types of restrictions or anything like that. I wouldn't say that any member of my family is especially religious in any way though - the closest on either side would be my grandparents. But I know that in Iran there's something of a Zoroastrian "revival" - sort of based in politics (well not sort of, it's rooted in politics), they're embracing ethnic Iranian history and politically rejecting the Islamic Republic. I suspect it's either tied to people who've been brought up to be religious but want to rebel, or it's mainly symbolic rather than an actual rebirth of the old religion... but that's just speculation tbh.

You'd think so, but English refs are so shit that I assume having a much dirtier player will somehow give us more penalties somehow, even though that doesn't make sense. That's just how dogshit our refs are.

Yeah that makes me think much less of Ozil.

The Ox is out until November. Big blow, he's been pretty damned good for us since joining.

@Blue said Salah was African, not Egyptian. Hilarity ensues.

That reminds me I need to jump back onto the playthrough of Skyrim I started around the end of last year. I made a Khajit and gave him the same name/appearance as my cat, makes it a bit more personal I started Far Cry 5, but I got a bit busy with work and I totally forgot I owned it. It's a fun game though (at least so far, I'm not very far into it). Something I can't really get over, though, is how an entire county in a US state is apparently cut off from the world... and no state police/national guard or whatever thinks to at least fly by and see what's going on. Like seriously, I know America's fond of guns and whatnot... but having it deteriorate into an actual warzone is pretty tough to believe for me.

Ali Daei is probably the most universally loved Iranian to have ever existed.

Meme police, arrest this man! Improper meme usage is a serious offense: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/xzibit-yo-dawg

Has anyone ever mentioned that Brian isn't a very Peruvian sounding name? Then again neither is Nobby. Also lol wtf @Blue why the shit would you fake your own death? Also wtf @Dr. Gonzo how did you miss this bit of hilarity?

Lol who the fuck faked their own death?

Gomez out for the season & unavailable for the world cup (don't think he was getting a callup though).

Any particular field you're looking to getting into? Once you've found a field/industry you want to get into, the next step is just establishing a good foundation you can point to that can help you land an entry level spot. I know you're in the US, so something to consider is checking if the local community colleges have any "professional certificate" programs. I'd see if they do, see what those programs are, and email some professors/instructors for the required courses and ask them a few questions. With community colleges a lot of the professors actually work in the field as opposed to being full time teachers - you can explain your situation and ask whether the certificate would be useful to someone looking to break into that industry. And if it is, keep in touch as you're getting the certificate and pick their brains about how to best get the job. Keep in mind that who you know is just as important as what you know, even though it shouldn't be. And in that regard, having someone who's taught you & knows you are determined to break into the field, have a good work ethic, and are someone they like... it can definitely help you land a job (it did with me right out of school). And shit like that can help you break into a new field despite a lack of real world experience in the field. And the head of IT where I work got into IT despite no degree from a uni by getting a professional certificate from a community college. He started somewhere else at an entry level job and he's done alright for himself I'd say.

I'd just apply for them anyways, but I'm one of those people that applies to jobs thinking the "requirements" are mostly optional. I've gotten jobs I technically wasn't qualified for despite the listed requirements - if you've got enough about your CV/application to suggest that while you might not meet the criteria listed, you'd still be a good fit you might get an interview. At the interview just be ready to explain why the fuck you applied without having all the "requisite experience." For your situation, I'd point to other work experience you've had that demonstrates you've got skills that will cross over well to the apprenticeship. I'll ask my dad as well though, but I'm fairly certain the apprentices he's hired are all getting their first taste of professional baking with no prior experience. But it's probably good to double check that... and also to see if my advice is applicable to apprenticeships.

I haven't, but my dads a baker and has hired 1-year apprentices before giving them jobs as bakers. I don't know what you're looking into, like the job of the field. But if you've got questions about apprenticeship generally, I can ask him if you want.

You know I like you mate... but that's a poor way to save face. Better to just be embarrassed about calling Africa a country lol.

Lol how are you not getting this??? He is both. He is Egyptian and Egypt is an African country...

Egypt is a country inside the continent of Africa.