Dr. Gonzo

Why does the BBC like the Islamic Republic of Iran so much? It's probably the most IRI friendly English-language media source other than Press TV (which is the IRI's own government propaganda in English).

The people who think we can just rejoin the EU with all the privileges afforded to the UK to get us to join the first time around are so deluded it's unreal. No way we can rejoin the EU and keep the pound. I wonder how far the UK has to fall before people come to terms with the political reality the UK faces post-Brexit. I suspect it'd have to be pretty fucking far.

I literally said tories basically control the media In any case, all Corbyn had to do was do what Starmer did... unequivocally condemn anti-semitism. It's weird that he wasn't able to do so, tbh. And any Labour leader not prepared to deal with a hostile media that will attack them for anything and everything is a woefully unprepared Labour leader who's not suited for the role. In my lifetime though, we've never had a good PM. The closest we have to a "good PM" is Tony Blair and Tony Blair is a piece of shit that wasn't flushed down and came to life. I'm sure the next PM will also be a massive piece of shit.

@Devil-Dick Willie if I'd said something like "Milliband can't be PM because he eats like a weirdo" you'd maybe have a point. But Corbyn being inept at dealing with things that should be pretty easy for any "leader" to deal with when they're an opposition party leader and letting that affect how he's viewed in the media is down to his ability entirely. He invited pressure on himself and constantly wound up putting his foot in his mouth. And you're right, of course the media will prefer tories - they basically run the media, including the BBC. Which is why any Labour leader is going to need to have some bit of brains about them to deflect bullshit the media throws at them and reframe media messaging being positive towards Labour. It's literally part of the job because it's not like mass media run by billionaire dickheads is going to go anywhere anytime soon. It's probably the most crucial thing needed from a Labour leader in order to get elected, regardless of political beliefs.

It's not really regurgitating a talking point though, the man was so inept at doing something as simple as condemning anti-semitism. And by not condemning it, he invited pressure on him and his party to be labeled as anti-semites. I like his politics, but I think he's more than a bit of an idiot.

Congress passed a law a long long long time ago that says members of Congressmen/women and Senators can make trades based off their insider knowledge without getting penalised for insider trading - so long as they report those trades within 3 months of making them. So it's not so much illegal as it is blatant corruption. I was shocked though when a few senators last year were exposed of having made insider trades without having reported those trades. Imagine you have the ability to make money using insider knowledge nobody else in the country can do, so long as you follow those rules... and you decide not to follow those rules. And funnily enough... they remained unpunished for crimes that would send normal people (even wealthy people in the US) to prison, just because they had leadership positions. I think those people are more concerning than Pelosi - Pelosi is playing the corruption game, but she's playing by the rules like the rest of the corrupt leaders of the US. The US's biggest problem in politics is the incredible lack of accountability. I don't think any Congressman or Senator should be allowed to be making any trades tbh, they should be forced to have their investments held in a blind trust managed by someone independent. It is a disgrace they are allowed to benefit from a system in ways that nobody else in the country can benefit from.

He already did before running for President. Trump's the first president since Nixon to not release his tax returns. It's sort of become the normal practice for running for president, to demonstrate transparency. I think what I was most shocked to learn about Trump's tax returns is that he, as an individual that is not a citizen of China, has a Chinese bank account. It is incredibly difficult for foreigners to open bank accounts in China, even for people who live and work in China. It definitely poses questions of how the fuck he managed to get that account.

Corbyn would have been a disaster at PM though, the man was shit at leading his own party... I can't imagine him running a government that's not just an opposition government. Granted... he'd probably have done a better job than the horror show the Tories have been serving up for over 10 years. I honestly have no idea how Tories still have anyone supporting them in elections at this point. Basically nobody in the UK can reasonably think "we're better off than we were 10 years ago".... I doubt people can say they're better off than they were 3-5 years ago. The stupidity of the electorate is genuinely maddening, it's like having a mate that drink drives and can't stop crashing the car you let him borrow... and continually giving the fucking keys to them, being surprised when they crash... yet again... and then continually giving them the fucking keys.

It was really disturbing to watch live on television. Takes a big hit right where his heart is, he gets back up & immediately collapses. I think it was helmet to chest contact. They're saying the impact sent him into cardiac arrest. I think even if he pulls through, it's unlikely he lives anywhere close to a normal life... let alone returns to playing. It's a bit different to what happened to Erikson considering he can't breathe on his own.

We’re on the open market and just signed a player, I think if they want to get the most out of their investment they can’t just let United stagnate really.

I don’t think United fans have to really worry about him not getting the backing tbh.

I think most Liverpool fans don’t like him anymore

Lukashenko had to rely on Putin to stay in power before this war... I'm pretty sure if Belarus get more heavily involved than they already are he's got an angry crowd of people that want to depose him, with Russia way less ready to keep him in power. I don't think this war ends until Russia's had enough of throwing men into the meat grinder tbh. And who knows how long that will take. Putin and Zelenskyy are miles apart from what they both view as acceptable conditions for peace. Putin wants Russia to be able to claim the territories they've stolen from Ukraine, including some where they've been beaten out. Zelenskyy wants Ukraine's pre-Crimean borders back in place. I don't think it ends until Putin's out of power, however long that may take. Unless Ukraine and the west end up appeasing Putin and giving into his demands - but I just can't see that happening. We know appeasing an autocratic imperialist doesn't work from looking at the history of Hitler. I think it's even worse to appease an autocratic imperialist that has nuclear weapons. Shame Russian men (and women) have less balls than Iranian women (and men), because if Russians were putting the same strain on Putin's government as Iranians are putting on the IRI... I don't think Putin could wage war on Ukraine and cling to power at the same time. Even if it would mean massacring Russians demanding peace, I think the manpower required to control the country would significantly take away from the war effort. Especially as protesting Russians over this conflict would get considerably more international support and coverage than Iranians could ever hope to get.

They don't typically fabricate their entire life story especially when things are easily verifiable.

This George Santos stuff hitting the news over the last week and a half is pretty mental. This republican was elected in 2022 to be a congressman for one of New York's districts and he's lied about... so much of his life and it's all coming out now. He's lied about where he went to uni, he's lied about working at Goldman Sachs, he's lied about his grandmother dying in a concentration camp and being Jewish (his family isn't Jewish, not even a little), he claimed his mum died on September 11th, 2001 at the world trade centre (she died in 2016). He even lied about being gay. I've always felt that politicians have massive issues in lacking integrity. Especially amongst the modern American right wing. But this is mental and is something unlike anything I've ever seen before.

Is Lebron James’s stake in LFC as a FSG investor or did he just get 1% of the club?

Tbf to Dyche he has said he'd probably play differently if he had more money to work with in the transfer market - who knows if that's actually true or not, but I suspect he's hoping he one day gets the chance. I think he's a pretty good manager tbh and I'd be interested to see what he could do with a side with more money. I think he's a Liverpool fan though so I'm not sure how keen he'd be on managing Everton... but who knows, I'm sure he's been waiting for the chance to be a manager in the prem again and it's not like Everton will pay poorly. I think if Dyche or Pochetino are open to the job, Everton would be insane to stick with Lampard.

@Rab would probably love the fume from Celtic fans if they lost another manager to another premier league club mid season though.

Ali Daei’s on house arrest because he supports people having human rights & now they’ve stopped his wife and daughter from getting away to safety… I hope they stay safe. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64097382

Nunez probably shitting himself

Last night’s grigia turned out great. I think I used too much cheese in the sauce. Tasted good though

Fucking hell, that’s not a football challenge - that’s just assault.

Big credit to the male students of Afghanistan walking out on their universities after the Taliban banned women from continuing university education there. It's actually a fairly serious problem for Afghanistan, because as bad as the IRI is... the Taliban are much more backwards and repressive (and that's fucking saying something!). I'm fairly certain under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, women who have medical issues can only be treated by women doctors. Ending university education for women will ultimately lead to there being no more female doctors in Afghanistan... or at least no formally educated doctors. It's effectively cutting off a gender from... access to basic healthcare. Like the IRI, the Taliban is likely to react to any protests with extreme violence (in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it's more extreme and more violence). So these young men effectively are putting their lives on the line in protest of the extreme inequality the taliban want to force on them. Also, it is truly astounding the absolute mess the west managed to make in Afghanistan. Wtf was the 20 years of occupation for? Backing corrupt warlords didn't build a nation, it made people not trust the government. Funding armies made up of people that didn't exist to some generals could get rich was never going to be sufficient to protect the public from a taliban lying low hoping for the US to fuck off. Weren't NATO troops meant to be training these armies? How did none of these militaries make note of how this massive army they were meant to be training seemed to not have the same number of recruits it was claiming to have? I feel bad for the kids of Kabul who had 20 years growing up without the Taliban taking their lives to the Middle Ages who now find themselves in this absolute bullshit situation.

I hope we're seeing Mullahs hung in the streets in the not-too-distant future. But I'd settle for less if it just means an end to the theocracy.