Dr. Gonzo

Yeah, comes off as pretty bad tbh. Yes, I know "innocent before guilty" but... look at what Everton did with the alleged nonce - and I'm not even sure the alleged nonce has even been charged. At very least, they should have suspended him I assume it's because they've got more money than sense and are typically surrounded by an entourage of "yes men" that basically tell them they can do whatever they want to do... as well as thousands of fans pouring adulation upon them - it's got to get into their heads a bit and they probably think they can basically get away with anything. Judging by a lot of the replies that woman's been getting on her twitter too... I think there's a ton of young men out there who think that if a woman has consented to sex once with a man, that consent is permanent and that woman is now fair game for sex whenever the bloke wants any. Disturbing view, but it seems like that's a more commonly held belief than I ever would have thought.

Which fans fall into that group of the socios who get to elect the board? What's their relationship with the people that actually end up on the board? It's worth asking because between the last board and this board... I think I'd be pretty fucking annoyed with the people electing these people. Because frankly, the last Barca board just seemed as inept as you can be. They had Messi and they spent money on Coutinho and Griezman... an absurd amount of money on them... both players who are best in the space that Messi typically occupies. Absolute waste of money. Then all the other transfers @Spike and @ScoRossjust detailed... it's just bad business where signings are made for the sake of making signings rather than having an actual plan for how to use those players to be brought in. And then we've got Laporte back in control of the club... and I think he's done enough for where we can all say "I think he's more competent than Barto" - and yet he's making these risky decisions about the future of Barcelona that I think can come back to bite a club in the arse. Giving up a percentage of TV rights for 25 years locks in a price for whoever buys it... for 25 years where the TV money in La Liga is surely bound to go up. It's almost inevitably going to be a source of financial strain for Barca in the coming 25 years... ... and it only really pans out for as long as Barca can challenge for La Liga and the CL immediately - and I don't think that's necessarily a given for Barca. It could work out... but it could also be another financial issue that another Barca board have to deal with. I don't necessarily think that's the best way to run a football club, kicking a serious problem down the road for someone else to deal with in the future... when it will no longer be your mess to clean up. And at this point... can we say that the socios won't just elect another board that'll do the same thing and kick the can down the road while mortgaging the club's future for the sake of it's present? Seems like a vicious cycle where Barca can easily end up fucking themselves over for decades.

Do you think you'll get Bastoni? His recent quotes in the Italian press seem to indicate his number one priority is staying at Inter & that Milan is his favourite place in the world. I know Inter are sort of in a position where they need sell players for their financial situation... but I'm not sure it'd be easy for them to move on a player that seems so determined to stay. I think Spurs would have to offer him a ridiculous salary in order to get him.

Imagine being so intolerable that even a journalist from the scum is so shocked that they faint while trying to ask you questions.

That's creepy

I think that's sort of his point - regardless of the "class" that these Jewish-Americans fit in, they're pretty unified in terms of what their big lobbying group (AIPAC, which tbh I think is a bit weird not all Jews are Israeli...) pushes and promotes. The only diaspora that I think shows anywhere near as much unity in the US is the Armenian diaspora... and even then, I think there's still some noticable divisions. But I also don't think it's coincidental two groups of people that faced attempts at other people trying to wipe them off the face of the planet can come together in unity more than other diasporas out there. They experienced an existential crisis for their people - that leads to a lot of common ground, regardless of whether someone is working class or upper class. Compare that with Latino diasporas, which include several different types of nationalities and cultures, or Middle Eastern diasporas - which are often tinged with political divisions from those countries and/or ethnic and racial divides... and I think it's easier to see how class divisions (and other divisions, certainly) play a part in other diaspora groups compared to Jewish Americans and Armenian Americans. And I think it sort of circles back to the very good point you made about a wealthy immigrant from India, or any country really, being lumped in with the greater group of immigrant communities in the UK or US. You and I probably know this better than anyone, we're both immigrants in a country... and we've probably got vastly different life experiences to many other immigrants to that same country we live in. Using someone's ethnicity to lump them in with a group of wider immigrant communities they may not have all that much in common with is something I definitely think is a bit of a trick to get people to say "he's one of us!" And I think if I were a part of the UK's Indian diaspora, I'd be a bit sick at Sunak using his ethnicity to lump himself in with me. How many other UK citizens of Indian descent got to cheat taxes the way his wife did? Not many, he's not one of them he hasn't really had to experience the same kinds of hardships most of them will have faced... even if I'm sure he has faced discrimination in his life in the UK purely because of his skin colour. Honestly, I don't think there are many UK politicians that I think are that relatable to most people in the UK... and I think that's a part of the problem with our political leadership.

I've tried this with my cats and they literally don't give a shit Thought I'd get some funny videos

The vocals definitely.

I don't think he's a bad player, but he doesn't strike me as a player that would look as good as he has at Sevilla if he were at Chelsea. Idk if that's rational at all or not, but that's just how I feel about him.

Cats hiss when they're trying to tell someone to fuck off because they think it sounds like a snake, which they instinctually know is dangerous. So if they hear something else hiss, especially a lizard... it's no surprise they didn't want to fuck with it. They probably thought it was some dangerous snake with legs

I think the corporate lobbying is the biggest issue with American politics. People really aren’t being represented for the most part, the interests of big business is always what governs policy. I think it’s crazy there’s such a partisan divide when largely the centrist position is so similar and in the interests of the same people.

Anyone played any good FPS single player games lately?

Do I have to?

Getting older is shit, it's not that long ago I used to have so much more free time. I imagine it'd be even fucking worse with a kid.

My friend says Carvalho plays like a mix of Coutinho & Gini... only a friendly and all that... but that sounds pretty brilliant for our midfield 3 if he can look like that in actual matches that mean anything.

It's only a friendly so it doesn't really mean much, but Darwin Nunez looking a lot better today with his hattrick.

I think he's rubbish. A lot of my bluenose friends think he's generally bad, but when he's got the right CB partner he looks a lot better. Idk if @RandoEFC agrees with that or not.

I haven't even seen any of the reliable Merseyside football journos link you with anyone other than Tarkowski (who you've already signed) - seems a bit strange because obviously replacing the Richarlison is probably the most important thing for Everton this summer & yeah that midfield could do with a bit of reinforcement as well. Moshiri's statement just invites more pressure on him, tbh. First floating the idea of being willing to sell the club, when in reality... I don't think he really was looking to sell, just looking to get a bit of pressure off his back before saying "nah, I'm keeping the club" - then not really being all that active after selling one of the few players who actually look like they gave a fuck about playing for Everton. Like you said, it's not just one bad summer for him - it's been years of mismanagement all under his watch. He's going to be under pressure, rightly, until he can show anyone that he's capable of getting things right.

Yeah they really need to change the rules about legislators in the US allowed to make investments. It’s basically legalised insider trading for the people who make all the decisions.

Rhys Williams has joined Blackpool on loan. Hope he develops well, he looked raw as fuck that season he had to be thrown in the deep end because we had no defenders left - ended up looking better than the Turkish lad we loaned in from Schalke in the end... but I'm not sure he was ever convincingly premiership quality.

Two murderous psychopaths met today

I think a big issue in the US right now is police officers - it seems like in the wake of the George Floyd protests and after being called a bunch of bastards, many police officers have decided they aren't going to react properly in times of emergencies. Look at how the police reacted in that Ulvade shooting - hiding in a hallway like a bunch of cowards as that incel with his AR15 is literally shooting kids down the hallway. Thank fuck they removed the screaming children sound from the video... but I'll tell you what, seeing "the sounds of children screaming have been editted out of a video" is a pretty horrifying thing to see on a video. Then there's this that's happened in San Diego: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/nbc-7-investigates-san-diego-police-face-scrutiny-over-womans-murder/ar-AAZyqCv Long story short, a woman's stalker got into her house. Police were on the scene for about 12 hours as her neighbors pleaded with them to do something. Eventually the stalker emerged from her house and notified the police that he'd killed her. Apparently the US Supreme Court has held that police don't have a duty to protect Americans (Warren v. DC, DeShaney v. Winnebego County, Castle Rock v. Gonzalez)... and it really does beg the question, what the fuck are US police actually for? Traffic enforcement? Harassing minority communities? Is every American expected to be armed to the teeth to protect themselves since the cowardly police have no actual duty to do anything?

Hasn't Martial generally been better for you in matches where you've played some sort of possession football, but also generally looked shite when you play counterattacking stuff? So I think the new manager will end up making him look a hell of a lot better than he has for the past few seasons. I guess the worry for Manchester United fans is how much of this is just enthusiasm for their players from not having Rangnick around and once they get a bit tired of him will the momentum fall like it did for Solksjaer and how much of it is actually because of the new manager with a new system?

Is it cruel if I post this? Maybe but fuck it