Dr. Gonzo

How the fuck can you be black and also be a neo-Nazi? Also the Pride Boys guy he’s been palling around with, Fuentes… is a Mexican neo-Nazi. Bit weird to pick white supremacy as your worldview non-whites?

He’s always been a piece of shit

Farideh Moradkhani, Khamenei's niece, posted a video a few days ago urging world leaders (mostly EU, UK and India are the ones who can be trusted to cut off these ties) to cut all ties with the IRI. She's been arrested. Got nothing but respect for her tbh, she could have kept quiet about the oppression taken some of the country's wealth and fucked off to Canada or the UK like so many other family members of the leaders. Instead she's stayed in Iran and become an activist. Also I know it is a difficult thing for the EU with Russia being a bunch of cunts, but cutting off the IRI is necessary. It doesn't matter that they have lots of oil and natural gas and Europe needs it right now. Europe can not pretend it stands for human rights while maintaining any sort of relationship with the IRI. The nuclear talks don't matter at the moment either. Maximum pressure on the IRI is the only thing that matters with regard to foreign policy with Iran right now. Sever all ties. Confiscate Iranian assets funneled out of the country by the leadership. Detain, or better yet, deport their families - the way Ukraine deported Iranian students back into harms way... but this time it would be the children of the people who make the rest of the country suffer. People who might actually change Iranian leadership's mind about their oppression. And for those who are curious - here's her video:

I guess the last one, I guess I don’t check this thread enough or I’ve seen you on here and that’s why

I'm late as fuck to this but: Congrats @Lucas and also wtf @JoshBRFC literally looks like the splitting image of how I fucking pictured he would look

Boo!

There's footage I'd like to share... but I also think it might be a bit too disturbing to post on a football forum. It's pretty disturbing following this as closely as I can sat half a world away.

I see your reply but not the Moretti review

Bloodbath in Mahabad (Mahsa Amino’s hometown in Kurdistan) today. And IRGC troops going into houses kidnapping people, giving off some Nazi-esque vibes in the videos that have gone around insta. It’s basically genocide, they’re trying to blame the nationwide protests on Kurdish dissidents and separatists & cracking down on Kurds as a scapegoat.

And for this, Argentina > Brazil for eternity.

It was alright - better than the last 3 seasons of GoT for sure.

Eh he's not really progressed much since his breakout season - I think it's hard to say he's a "key" part of our present right now. He's really got a lot to do if he wants to hold down a regular place in the side.

I kind of think he's a massive bellend too. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure one of the hardest jobs in the world is being leader of a country being invaded by a bigger military. But I don't think his attitude in the media has particularly helped - picking arguments with allies that are actually helping out quite a bit, making statements that don't really give Russia a way out from peace (saying "I'll negotiate with Russia, but with Putin's successor" - isn't going to do much in the way of bringing about peace talks any time soon), to the over-the-top criticism that Ukraine's given to India, Pakistan, Israel, and a shitload of African and Asian nations for having their own foreign policy goals that aren't always in line with Ukraine. I think you've always got to worry about world leaders that act like they like being a leader in wartime.

Well the majlis (their parliament) did vote that anyone arrested in the civil unrest should be sentenced to death in a summary trial (I'm not quite sure what a summary trial is - but my guess is they just haul you up in front of a judge, say you were arrested in these protests, then give you a death sentence). They started issuing the first death sentences yesterday - but there's no way all 15k have been sentenced yet. That's what they did in the 1980s when they purged political dissidents, academics, military officers... so it's not really beyond the realm of possibility. Honestly, that's what Raisi - the current president - was probably most famous for in Iran, his role in the purges. This is a government that has people fire indiscriminately into crowds to disperse riots. Now that people no longer seem afraid of getting beaten and shot, they need to make people afraid to challenge them again. I do think the government is very much in panic because these large organised protests are the biggest since 1979. And national strikes, especially oil & steel workers striking & the bazaars in big cities shutting down, where a big part of what spread the 1979 revolution. But the youth no longer seems afraid. And mass incarceration and the threat of mass executions... I think is likely to provoke an angry reaction from their parents. So yeah, there's no reason to make stuff up about this government. They are evil and while they definitely haven't sentenced 15,000 people to death... it's basically a given that LOADS of people will receive death sentences over this. And honestly, at least 300+ people have already received their death sentences before these summary trials started - because the government has already killed 300+ people who have taken to the streets demanding for a better life.

Poland's calling an urgent meeting of their national security committee. AP is saying US intel has confirmed the missiles that hit Poland were Russian. Not a great day on the whole "let's hope this Ukraine conflict doesn't spill into a world war" front...

Today and the next 2 days are probably going to be the biggest days of the protests so far. Nationwide strikes resuming in nearly every industry & people protesting on the streets of the cities since 11am (it's nearly midnight right now).

I have a hard time believing the US would attack civilians of a NATO ally, tbh - which makes me think it's just Erdogan doing Erdogan things so he can block certain social media and rally against Kurds.

Against Iran, if Southgate doesn't play a back 4 and a fairly creative midfield... I think he's an absolute coward. Iran's a side that's weakest in central midfield & their best attacker is probably not going to be fit to start the group's opener. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out how Carlos Queiroz will have Iran set up - the same way he's always set up Iran, compact & defensive looking to hit sides on the counter. But the midfield's not as strong as it was in the last world cup. As someone hoping both teams make it out the group stages, I'm hoping Southgate and England are complacent & Iran get revenge for Mossadegh on the pitch. But realistically Iran's best hope is that Azmoun has a miraculous recovery and he and Taremi can have a few moments of magic. On paper, even a completely turgid and defensive England side should be getting a comfortable win I think.

Isn't that because Turkey's saying the attack was done by Kurds that the US is financing?

I'd seen some Bayern Munich (and Dortmund) banners in support of the protestors in Iran, so I was wondering if it was something more talked about with German football fans.

@Viva la FCB do you or any other Bayern Munich fans you know have any thoughts/feelings on 2 former Bayern players becoming leading voices for the protests in Iran (Ali Daei & Ali Karimi - especially Karimi, because he's not in Iran right now so he's not under house arrest and internet restrictions like Ali Daei is). I always liked them as players (I mean, Ali Daei's basically a god in human form for Iranians ) but I've got such respect for them for this. Daei's basically lost his freedom (probably only in house arrest because of who he is and the reaction to news that he's being tortured in Evin or killed would likely make things worse for the government) and Karimi's basically had all his assets in Iran confiscated.

The thing is the big news networks are really mostly watched by older demographics. Younger people tend to get more of their news from social media (rightly or wrongly) and that often includes links to print media websites. And most Americans get their TV news from their local news stations - some of which are locally owned and operated, some of which are owned by national media firms.

Yeah that's all well and good, but he's also gone around pushing weird conspiracy theories for the last few years. Just strikes me as another grifter using populism to resonate with people who won't look into things too hard.

Literally anyone else, tbh. Getting lectured about politics by a multimillionaire is always annoying as fuck.