Dr. Gonzo

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.

Beheaddie Howe talking about how “Newcastle have no friends to loan us players” lol

Apparently this ship that's been seized is the same one the US seized sometime last year.

Not the first time Iran's navy's done this either so they've got a bit of experience. I'd imagine they helped train the Houthis on how to do this too.

Iran's seized an oil tanker - US is demanding it's immediate release. Iran's playing a dangerous game, either thinking the US doesn't have the strength or will to strike at it - or doing what it can to force a US strike on Iran so they attempt to turn the Israel v Palestine conflict into a West v Islam conflict. They're not leaving many options available for the West. Sanctions haven't worked as a deterrent for... decades. It's just squeezed a desperate people, while the corrupt elite there have hoarded the remaining wealth. Diplomacy's a limited option when you don't have anywhere near close to normal diplomatic relations with a country. From the IR's perspective, conflict with the US gives them a convenient excuse to really clamp down on all dissent as brutally as possible and they can use an attack by the US to attempt to get the same sort of "rally around the flag" affect Israel's had since the October 7th attack.

If you're referring to the first Gulf War, I'll have to remind you that: the US led coalition did not remove "the head of the snake" - they stopped Iraq from taking over Kuwait's oil fields, they didn't remove Saddam Hussein from power. If you're referring to the second Gulf War, they removed Saddam Hussein from power - and then the remnants of the Baath party of Iraq into the eager arms of the Saudis and unleashed ISIS on the world. Wahhabis and Salafists teach and force others to accept a poisonous form of Islam that is as dangerous as the Shia extremist crap the IR pushes. And with Hamas, they're not even Shia, they're just extremist Sunnis being backed by Iran because Iran views them as useful pawns in it's proxy war with the US and Israel. It's Qatar that's more similar in ideology and dogma. But either way, referring to either Gulf War in this instance is a bit weird. Neither war accomplished much in terms of combatting extremism, in fact the second war led to the spread of radicalised Islamic terrorists. Most, if not all, of the US's adventures in the Middle East have been abject foreign policy failures that at best don't affect the status quo too much and at worst just ended up enflaming an already enflamed region. The Houthis won't be crushed easily, it's just a conflict that would inflict more Yemenis to be caught in that brutal battle between Iran's puppets and Saudi Arabia's puppets for years to come. It's pretty clear that Russia and Iran (and probably China too) are hoping to pull the US into more open conflict in the Middle East. With Iran, they've learned from the US invasion of Iraq, Syria's civil war, and Yemen's civil war is that instability in the region gives them greater influence. It's why they've encouraged their proxies to kick off the way they have - stability was leading to peace between two of their geopolitical enemies. Iran's banking on the US being unlikely to invade and occupy them. Russia's banking on the US getting involved in expensive Middle Eastern conflicts means they'll care less about Ukraine.

Israel’s tried slapping down Hamas and Hezbollah with military might and it’s not really done much for Gaza, the West Bank, or Lebanon other than keep people radicalised and keep the conflict going on forever. Expanding the conflict makes Israel less safe in all honesty. Israel couldn’t beat Hezbollah the last time they tried, it ended up in a stalemate that just left Lebanon in dire straights… but did nothing to change the status quo of the conflict. Expanding the war to 3 fronts for Israel just means they will need the US and UK more than ever. Hamas, Houthi, and Hezbollah all just want to escalate this conflict as large as it can be because that’s the worst case scenario for Israel and their allies & the best case for the allies of these terror groups - Russia and Iran. Escalation doesn’t really benefit anyone in Israel other than Netanyahu who needs the war to go on for as long as possible so he puts off his trial and prison sentence.

Really? I think from the outside looking in, I've got more confidence in your squad to get results than I've got in Chelsea's squad. And a part of that is while I think some United players look like they're checked out at times... while I've not watched a lot of Chelsea this season, when I see them I just think they look so carefree and unmotivated. I think the long contracts they've given to some of their newer, younger, and more expensive signings have kind of had the opposite effect those at Chelsea thought it might give them. I think they've inadvertently loaded up on players who now think they've got it made and can just sit back for the next 7 years or so.

I remember playing it a while back shortly after it launched and I thought "what the fuck is this bullshit?" and considered it the worst Fallout game I'd ever played. Since launch though they've added a lot to it... and in the process made it feel like more of a Fallout game. And now I think it's quite a good Fallout game. It's obviously not a "traditional" Fallout, partially because there's no way to make it a traditional Fallout while keeping it an online game... but it's a pretty good game and I think the improvements they've made have taken it from a total piece of shit into something that's quite enjoyable. Particularly if you need to scratch an itch that only a Fallout game can scratch. I'll give Cyberpunk another go when I'm less busy. That game was very time consuming and my god... so many fucking cutscenes.

Poch is better than Lampard, that's certain. But is he doing any better than Potter was? Or is it likely that Chelsea's problem has fuck all to do with the manager and has everything to do with the players? Imo, it's a little bit of both. But I've not watched a lot of Chelsea this season. But to me it looks like Poch is washed as a manager and that Chelsea have a problem where they've got a load of players that nobody can seem to motivate.

I think it's wild to think Yemen's been given "soft hands" at any point in the last decade. The Houthis withstood the Saudi led coalition (that included the US Navy) waging war, deploying Al Qaeda as a proxy fighter force, and even use of famine and disease as weapons of war. Yemenis generally have suffered immensely due to the civil war between the Houthis and the Saudi puppet government that came before the war broke out. I do think the US and UK have demonstrated a lot of restraint in responding to the Houthi threat to international trade and sooner or later, I do expect the US Navy to dust off some of their more impressive weaponry against the Houthis. Regardless, I think the US and UK have demonstrated a commendable amount of restraint in not acting how Israel almost certainly would - refraining from seriously pummeling Yemen and avoiding further collateral damage while trying to strike the Houthis. There are a lot of people in Yemen caught in between the evil game Iran and Saudi Arabia have been playing in their country. What the Houthis are doing is causing more trouble for the international community than it is for Israel and the more they escalate, the more likely it is that they bring more death to Yemen. But I don't see how anyone can give the US or UK any shit for what they've done in response to the Houthis latest (and largest) attack, tbh. They managed to protect the ship that was being shot at by making the Houthi munitions 100% ineffective and without causing loss of life to any innocents. This conflict has already grown so much since it started - a more bloody response from the west almost certainly guarantees a further escalation of the conflict. Do we really want the worst of the Yemeni civil war to be reignited in 2024? I don't think so.

What is the shitty thing anyways?

Not very far lol, I’ve been playing a lot of Fallout 76 with some friends instead

I guess it's easier to respond to that than the questions @Spike and I asked

Yeah, for a broken bone that's pretty quick. Although Google tells me for a broken collar bone, it's 6-8 weeks to heal, and end of January's about 6 weeks.

I know our Pep said he expects him to be out for 3 weeks, but I think the tear he's got usually keeps players out for about 4 weeks. I doubt he makes the Chelsea match as a result, and I think touch and go if he can make it for the Arsenal match after.

DCL red card overturned. Correct decision I think.