Dr. Gonzo

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.

I have a hard time listening to celebrities talk about politics. If I wanted to hear him talk about something serious, maybe something he's got good experience in, like talking about the difficulties of overcoming drug addiction - or using comedy to give social commentary. I didn't even really know how political of a person he was until he started bitching about covid incessantly.

I don't think it's really surprising that people prefer relative political stability, even in rough economic times, compared to daily scandals during the rough times. The constant state of absolute chaos in US politics was tough to take even during the stable times, but I think COVID under Trump really pushed more moderates away from his brand of "governance" & I also think the constant defense of the use of violence to promote political causes has turned a lot of moderates off from many of the Republican candidates that were floated. I don't think the recent attack on Pelosi, where her husband got beaten with a hammer, and the reaction from certain republican leaders... not just not condemning the attack, but making jokes and seeming to condone it... I don't think that really presented the best optics to a lot of voters. It's funny because if Trump had just a bit of competence, I think things could have gone very differently for Republicans. All he really had to do was throw the weight of the US government into a strong and serious COVID response instead of waiting around, not really doing anything, and blaming people for taking a pandemic seriously. Clearly American voters reward action in the face of crisis. So constant states of political crisis in a time of crisis outside of politics... it shouldn't be surprising that people aren't so into that... I think it's telling that these midterms went differently to how must US midterm elections went. Especially when you look at voter ages and how certain generations turned out to vote - it's more younger people than typically voting in a midterm election too. Republicans need to adapt if they want their policies to resonate with more voters. And it's something these 24/7 news channels need to come to grips with as their average viewer age is really high, mostly watched by people over 55 (Fox News' median voter age is 69!), and flipping between their 3 big news channels on election night was absolutely hilarious. They were stunned that their predictions were all bollocks and that they didn't really have a pulse on the voters of the country. Which is a bit weird because they didn't really have a pulse on the voters of the country in 2016 either. But I do think it's interesting that typically the biggest issue for voters is the economy. And that was definitely true of the US elections in 2022 as the world is facing energy costs having exploded & global inflation... and yet the party in the white house did not take an absolute battering in the election. But I think it's got to be because enough people who turned up were worried about what divisive morons who only push culture wars and tax cuts would do in these times where the world seems like a tinderbox and many people are feeling economic pressure.

Why on earth are you watching politics videos by Russel Brand?

Election results are bad reading for Trump tbh, which is good. DeSantis having such a strong showing in Florida indicates to me that he's probably got the best chance out of every republican out there to get the presidential nomination. Honestly, I think that's pretty grim. He's got the fascist tendencies of Trump... but unlike Trump, he's not an absolute fucking moron and is actually quite competent. I think he could do some real damage if given power over the US's executive office. But it's nice to see a "red wave" that was predicted by the corporate backed media didn't come to fruition, and in fact... is a pretty poor showing given how mid-term elections typically go very poorly for the sitting president. And I'm hoping the Trump loyalists and the Republicans that want to move on from the divisive moron by moving to DeSantis end up at each others throats and divide the party in the next couple of years. Republicans with unity are fairly good at consolidating power - to see them have a sort of split, like the democrats did with Sanders v. Clinton, would be something I've not seen in American politics today. But that didn't go well for democrats, so here's hoping the republicans follow in their footsteps and fuck themselves over.

Isn't this always a dirty game of world power and politics? Like that's basically the story of human history, with regular people just sort of living as the people in power go around fucking the world up.

I think it streams for everyone in the party so it’s like we’re watching it together when we aren’t. Idk though it would be my first one

If it’s on Netflix then absolutely

Adobe are cunts - charging a subscription fee for photoshop is probably just the start of them doing this with more and more things

Karaj (west of Tehran) is an absolute bloodbath after today. But the good news is many protestors were able to overpower basijis, despite being fired on by live rounds (which means these people just swarmed the basijis like zombies, I imagine many died - but holy shit, how brave)... beat them and got their guns.

Netanyahu back in charge in Israel...

I watch low budget horror flicks for the comedy mostly tbh.

Aw that’s shit. Best time to come is February or in the weeks right before the summer rush though, imo. But hotels everywhere have been absolutely fucking mental, I can’t imagine what it’s like for San Diego now… but judging by the prices of pretty much everything in San Diego now I imagine “not cheap” is an understatement.

I just think it's hilarious they've turned WInnie the Pooh into a horror story. I hope he says "oh bother" after slamming an axe into Christopher Robin's head