Dr. Gonzo

I'm more interested in this

lol wtf

Why are players that don't really play in Asia listed as the best players "in Asia"

That's why he lowered taxes for the wealthiest and for massive corporations, but raised taxes on the middle and working class - Donald Trump doesn't support the interests of anyone other than Donald Trump and his campaign donors. Trump is hated because he's a brazenly corrupt dickhead who thinks because he was president, he is basically king of the US. He doesn't respect democracy, which is a bad quality for a supposed leader of a democratic country. He doesn't respect rule of law. And... These are all valid reasons why people think he's absolute scum when you couple that with him being a corrupt piece of shit who thinks he's untouchable.

Yeah there's some people online speculating Pakistan's army (but not the politician running the government) are coordinating with the IRGC so they can both strike at separatist groups without taking the blame for bombing their own land. But some people are saying an IRGC base was hit yesterday, and if that's the case... the mullahs will definitely be irate that their prize thugs were targeted in retaliation. Iran's state media's done very little reporting about Pakistan's retaliation, so piecing together what's actually happened is dependent on Pakistan's statements and from eyewitness accounts. But some reports are saying that none of the victims of Pakistan's strikes are Iranian citizens, which is in direct conflict with the reporting that a IRGC base was hit. Kind of hard to sift out what's real from the bullshit, unfortunately. But we do know that Pakistan's ambassador to Iran was summoned and I don't think that happens if the clowns in charge of Iran aren't pissed off about it.

Well they’ve just done something as a response. Now let’s watch what a bunch of irate mullah clowns pretending to be a government do next lol

Sounds like Pakistani’s army quietly supported Iran’s strikes without telling the politicians in control about it though. I doubt anything comes of it - at the end of the day both Iran and Pakistan agree they want the Baluchi separatists quashed. Both governments also are basically China’s testicle polishers in the region, so I can’t see China being too keen on them fighting.

What meltdown? Trump's been the front runner the whole time. It's no secret that he's going to be the GOP nominee. The others running for presidents are mostly seen as jokes, they've got as much chance of being US president as me - and I'm not even eligible to be US president.

If he doesn’t want to leave the UK, being a multimillionaire in London for half a season doesn’t sound too bad.

Yes & Robertson should be back around the time AFCON is over. Kostas should be back by the end of the month. So as a signing to address our depth at LB, he wouldn’t even be available while the LBs are out. I suppose the worry is at the moment Gomez is playing LB & is also the number one understudy to Trent, and is our first choice CB to fill in if we get any CB injuries. And he’s got a bad history of bad injuries himself. The only way I see this happening is if he’s been identified as the long time successor to Robertson and the club’s decided it needs to move earlier than expected because of Arsenal’s interest. I think that’s how we got Diaz while Mane was still here. He’s a good player and if the club feels Robertson’s time at the top might be coming to an end soon, I wouldn’t mind the transfer at all. But I doubt they feel that’s the case. And we’ve had Kostas and Gomez both look strong at LB this year - so I doubt it’s a serious consideration. I imagine our next big money signing will be a CB, I dunno why.

Doubt we’re interested

I think calling Forest and Everton small clubs is absolutely stupid. Shows very little knowledge of the football of English football really - does he really think his breakaway league re-invented the fucking game in 1992? Tbf I'm not sure that he hates any club outside the top 6 will try to break the glass ceiling. There was a time it was just called the big 4 and now one of the leagues most hyped commodities that they try to sell abroad is one of those clubs that did break the glass ceiling... and did so emphatically in that they've changed the face of modern football in the process. And to me it seems like he is very much trying to protect that club that did break the glass ceiling - probably because going down hard on them in his eyes would be a source of shame for the league. I've got to be honest though, I've got a lot more sympathy with Everton - and I fucking hate Everton - than I do with Forest. I think Forest invited the scrutiny from the league - and I think it's more likely that other clubs got fucked by what Forest did in breaching the rules. Everton actually tried to fix their problem and ended up with the hammer coming down on them. It's just stupid.

I don't think he's failed at Roma tbh. I honestly don't understand why Roma have sacked him. He's taken them to 2 European finals with that squad and pennies to build it, and won 1. He's only 5 points off 4th place and they've sacked him after a bad run of fixtures when Roma have a nice easy run of fixtures coming up next. Most Roma fans online also seem to think sacking him was a stupid decision and that he should have at least been given some of these matches that on paper are easier to fight for his job. Now they're giving the job to De Rossi. Club legend and all - but he wasn't really great at SPAL. I'd be very surprised if he does more than Mourinho was doing with this squad in all honesty.

And the Houthis have struck a European commercial vessel.

Tbh few countries recognise the Armenian genocide because they don't want to offend Turkey. Some countries have had their legislature or executive body recognise it - but formal recognitions are pretty rare because Turkey offers more economically as a trade partner and as a geostrategic partner than Armenia does. It's one of those things where I think a lot of countries end up making themselves look very hypocritical and stupid - standing up on a soapbox and preaching about human rights is all well and good, but they're all too often eager to forget certain human rights violations when it's convenient. When Azerbaijan blockaded the Armenians living in Artsakh, which is part of the Nagorno-Karabagh region, the world was pretty silent as Azerbaijan starved Artsakh into submission. But Azerbaijan has become a key trade partner for Europe in providing natural gas now that Russia's cut itself off from trading with Europe - so Europe was eager to turn a blind eye to avoid another energy crisis. In other news, Iran's been busy with military strikes - many strikes in the Kurdish region of Iraq & also strikes in Pakistan against what they claim is a terrorist group.

Honestly gutted he scored the equaliser

I actually think I misread this article: https://josimarfootball.com/2024/01/15/endgame/ - 777 subsidiaries are taking out these 52.5% interest rate loans. It's arguably worse than what I initially thought when I read it incorrectly though. The article paints a bleak picture for 777's financial condition. I don't see how they can be considered "fit and proper" when Bermuda's got administrative control. I think Moshiri's got to go back and set a more realistic price for Everton - otherwise I assume the league will push this deal through in a couple of weeks and it won't be too long before we're seeing more articles about Everton in dire financial straights.

Saw that Iran spanked Palestine, was met with some funny emotions from my family there.

Holy shit the interest rate 777s loans to Everton has is a 52.5% interest rate.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67984295 UK finally bans Hizb ut-Tahrir, imo one of the scarier terror groups operating in the west (because they believe in using our own political processes to bring about an Islamist government). The reasoning’s a bit dumb, but this is something that should have been done decades ago. So about time.

Well they came around before the Romans and the Romans kept their food. And spaghetti is close enough to prototype lasagna (which was probably very weird since they had no fucking idea what tomatos were).

The Etruscans, before the Romans, had a pretty similar thing to pasta - it was baked though not boiled & closer to lasagna than spaghetti or anything. It was used by the Roman soldiers because it could be taken long distances before going bad.

I thought this was funny: Israel does not recognise the Armenian genocide & worked with Turkey to aid Azerbaijan in the recent war to ethnically cleanse the Nagorno-Karabagh region of Armenians. Think it's interesting though that they remember it and seem to treat it as though it's a genocide when it's politically convenient for them too.

Hasn't that always been the case? It's not like the Roman Empire just spread because people thought spaghetti tasted good.

I think it's more sending a message that they can be hit much harder than the Houthis can hit anyone. The Houthis have withstood longer and more indiscriminate bombing campaigns from the Saudi led coalition (the Saudi foreign minister asking for the US and UK to show restraint was some pretty hilarious irony, considering the tactics his country used waging war on the Houthis) - and air strikes aren't ever going to remove them from power. It can open a sea blockage depending on how the Houthis respond. But if their goal is to try to suck America into a broader conflict, their goal will be to try to get US boots on the ground in Yemen I fear. If the Houthis stop fucking with shipping lanes after this, it'll all be over and those strikes will be considered very effective. If they keep it up, the west will see it as further escalation and will respond with further force. I don't think there's much appetite in the US or anywhere in the West to get involved in an expanded long term war anywhere in the Middle East though. But I think if the Houthis keep escalating, they could be subjecting Yemen to a campaign more indiscriminate than what happened last night - and maybe more than what they even experienced from the Saudis. And while Russia is publicly calling the strikes illegal... I think it's telling they said nothing and just abstained when the UNSC voted on it. Same as China, especially China tbh - China doesn't like the shipping lanes affected any more than the West does.