Dr. Gonzo

Yeah I'm not surprised even these knuckle dragging morons are even more reasonable than incel teens though, are you? Bringing firearms to a federal building is a good way to get shot on sight, which I think they were very clearly trying to avoid. Even so, they still managed to kill and injure people who were trying to protect the integrity of the election.

They tried to stop election results, threatened to hang Mike Pence. That there weren't more dead really just shows the restraint the police at the capital building really had. 6 capital police officers died though. I honestly think America's response to what happened is pretty pathetic. A bunch of idiots get charged but the people who organised it appear to get away scot free. But just because it was a pathetic coup attempt done by a bunch of morons, doesn't mean it wasn't a coup attempt. And there's no real need to speculate on who was pushing this and who wasn't with so much of that info now public.

I don't think the next Fallout is going to be in the UK. I don't think they'll do any that aren't in the US - they may do a bit with some China as a sidequest... but the whole theme of the series is focused around 50s Americana in an alternate universe where microtechnology never caught on before the "Great War" and how the relics of that alternate Americana have been interpreted by the survivors of the Wasteland. And that's been thematic of Fallouts since before Bethesda bought the IP. In any case, the next Fallout isn't coming out for a while. Todd Howard confirmed today it's the next game coming out for Bethesda... after Elders Scrolls 6 comes out. And that's next in the pipeline after Starfield. Considering Fallout 4 was basically just Skyrim with guns though... I don't have all that much hope for it being as good as Fallout 3 or New Vegas (although now that Bethesda and Obsidian are both owned by Microsoft, my hope for a New Vegas 2 is still strong)... Bethesda saw commercial success like they'd never achieved with Skyrim, so I think chances are more of their RPGs will be similarly watered down like Skyrim was Oblivion with better graphics but a more of a watered down RPG experience. I will say the Far Harbor DLC for Fallout 4 though definitely felt more like a traditional fallout... so perhaps they have learned from their mistakes a bit.

The Flight Attendant on HBO Max

I don't think it's that tough of a position for the DOJ. I think for far too long the DOJ has just acted as part of the executive and often makes decisions in line with "what gives the executive branch... the president... the most amount of power?" If there is a serious risk of civil war, that's why the US has it's national guard part of the military - isn't it? Part of the biggest issue with January 6th is while there was plenty of evidence of the risk of what happened, it seemed like there wasn't really adequate planning in the face of that known risk. At this point with January 6th they don't just have evidence against the political figures that played their part in coordinating what happened, they've got evidence against leaders of these militia groups - charge and arrest them in conjunction with any political figures implicated in January 6th & have the appropriate officials in every state ready to respond to potential threats of violence from these militias. These people are still a fringe minority and many people would be less likely to join people like this if they know there will be serious consequences to their actions. I think it's a much tougher decision for the DOJ to not prosecute. It shows that people connected with the rich and powerful can get away with anything, even attempts to overturn elections. I think for a lot of the country, it would just underscore the fact that the justice system in the country is a joke and that the ultra-wealthy and well-connected. And it should not be a partisan issue. The DOJ holding that a sitting president is within his rights to overturn the will of the voters is an awful precedent to set - regardless of whatever political affiliations anyone might have. It should scare republicans as much as it scares democrats that the department of justice could turn a blind eye to abuses of the president that degrade democracy - because the precedent set isn't one that would just apply to republicans. Republicans should be wanting the DOJ to do something because theoretically it gives Biden (and any other democrats) carte blanche to do the same thing Trump did. And with the midterm elections coming up, perhaps telling them the DOJ could give Biden the power to try to overturn the results in November might light a fire under their arses to actually look out for their country instead of being afraid of how their voters might feel for a few months.

I think this is one of the more interesting US political scandals that's sort of getting buried right now under the headlines of the government response to the tanking economy & the hearings over the January 6th coup attempt... But not even Fox News could ignore it, they've got the coverage up on their website: https://www.foxnews.com/us/idaho-police-identify-more-than-30-men-arrested-u-haul-patriot-front It's another of those far-right militia groups that's popped up all over the US over the last 5 years... and this time it's one I'd never heard of before called Patriot Front. But it fits the profile of many other of these far-right agitations, fortunately it was foiled before they could cause chaos at the gay pride event they were planning on fucking up. It's just further evidence though that the emergence of all of these white nationalist groups taking it upon themselves to physically fight the culture wars the media and politicians have fostered in the US over the past few years is really not under control at all. Sadly, Fox really is doing all it can to ignore the hearings over the Jan 6th coup attempt. Even though one of the leaders of the hearings is a hardcore republican (who they're now trying to call a left-leaning politician, which is quite frankly... hilarious) and the video evidence submitted of statements from members of Trump's inner circle have been particularly compelling and damning (especially Bill Barr's testimony). But it's not surprising as the news has come out that Trump's "Fraud Defense Fund" was simply bullshit to collect donations from people... and Fox was doing it's part to spread awareness and support for said fund. They were in on the grift and were okay if the end result would have been a democratic election being overturned. And I don't understand why some people think this should be unpunished even though the coup attempt was unsuccessful. They've got to go after the ringleaders to make an example of them otherwise people smarter and more competent than Trump will modify the playbook and eventually have a much more successful attempt at subverting the will of the voters. It seems strange that people so proud of their democracy can be so complacent to defend it.

I think it's always difficult to interpret political polls in authoritarian countries for exactly the reasons listed there. If you're living in a country where political dissidents are actively being rounded up and treated as political prisoners for having a certain political view and then some random person calls you up or sends you a link to an opinion poll... how inclined are you going to be to tell the truth?

Getting rid of Moshiri seems like a dream to most Evertonians. But how does Red Bull Everton sound?

Get well soon pal.

Yeah but tbf the guy who said that on here has an out of touch idea of US politics that’s probably based off what he learned on 4chan or 8chan

Yeah idk anything about Rudd’s history but I don’t have much respect for most sports journalists because they do things like that - have a pop at certain clubs for clicks. It’s actually ironic a bit if you think about it - having a go at an industry exploiting addictive behaviors for money… when the news has sort of done the same thing for the internet, figuring out certain stories and headlines create addictive and emotive reactions so they get the most clicks for the most ad revenue… I think if they’re gonna have gambling and/crypto sponsors, they might as well allow cigarette and vaping sponsors. And they obviously shouldn’t be doing that. I agree that it would be better seeing clubs support local charities - but they never will. When Barca did that with UNICEF it seemed cool at first, but really what they were doing was normalising a shirt sponsor while they sold that space like all the clubs before them.

Yeah I can’t believe I said that either - I’m pretty sure Rafa had more PPG than Fat Frank though… What’s particularly scummy about Stake is they don’t use normal currency… they make people gamble with crypos. Imo most cryptos are just a Ponzi scheme. When you buy a cryptocurrency you’re taking a massive risk with your money, when you gamble you’re making a massive risk with your money that’s addictive. I don’t blame Everton because it’s a lot of money and there’s already a shitload of terrible companies that are on shirts all around Europe (we’ve got a fucking bank ffs) - but it’s not a great look promoting gambling and crypos imo. But in fairness I don’t really know any Everton fans that “like” having these people as the new kit sponsors.

Stake’s particularly scummy, maybe you’re the one not really being impartial here Oh sorry I’m a Liverpool fan… I’ll try to get someone else to tell you that

I was home until Friday & that’s sort of the vibe I picked up

Think you’ve got to give him #9 tbh. Isn’t Jesus’s exit basically nailed on at this point?

Lmao they're not state owned, they're just corporate shills - just like Fox. They all have the same paymasters in the end, which is why they basically have all the same fucking ads on all 3 channels. MSNBC's defense of Chesa Boudin is sort of hilarious, especially if you know anyone that actually lives in San Francisco (and I do). The man came in and on day one said he wasn't going to do a fucking thing abuot property crimes - as a result, property crime skyrocketed. Then he said he wasn't going to use criminal prosecutions against "the mentally unwell" - and proceeded to call nearly every violent criminal in his first few months in charge "mentally unwell." And he lost in SF by about 70%. SF is about as progressive of a city in the US as you can come, so not even managing to get close to half the city shows he lost the support of some of the most left-leaning people in the country. He lost his job because he was bad at his job, the fact that republicans spent a lot to get rid of him is sort of incidental. Lots of republicans also spent lots of money to get rid of Trump because lots of republicans didn't like Trump either But I do think what Fox is doing, in refusing to cover probably the most significant attack on American democracy honestly with regard to what happened in DC on January 6, 2021 is basically criminal. It's probably the most significant political scandal in the history of the United States and it's receiving no coverage because they don't want their base to care about outright treason that benefits their political agenda. I suspect they want to get more of their fringe viewers back from OAN and Newsmax. But at the end of the day, CNN is just playing to the "moderate but mostly conservative" Americans, MSNBC is playing to "progressive" Americans, and Fox is playing to the "right wing as fuck" Americans - all three are advocating for pro-corporate policies more often than not (MSNBC can't help but slam Bernie and AOC, two of Americas actual left wing, any chance they get)... they're just targeting different groups of Americans.

There really should be more restrictions on money from lobbyists in the US, seems like the will of the people is always silenced by the large bags of cash they throw at politicians.

How can anyone say that without seeing what the group draw is first?

It's basically a proxy war at this point. Russia's lost a significant amount of it's standing army, but Ukraine's lost a lot of people as well and yesterday Zelensky said they're losing 60-100 troops a day. In a war of attrition where your proxy force is suffering large losses a day, the people helping the proxy will need to give the proxy better and better weapons. One big difference between Afghanistan for the US and Ukraine for Russia is the staggering amount of loss that Russia's felt in a few months. But it's also largely in part because Ukraine's military is significantly better equipped and organised than Afghanistan... and they've got overwhelming international support. But yeah, Putin's going to keep changing goal posts and claim victory - but clearly the West is unwilling to not help Ukraine fight so Russia doesn't go back to putting puppets in power in Ukraine/seize more land in Europe. The US is very much trying to maximise the hurt Russia feels before Putin decides he needs to take the next exit. And I don't think Russia's going to be able to get anything like serious sanctions relief until Putin is no longer in charge - so I suspect Russia will still feel some hurt from this war even after it is over.

Me too, I dunno what it is though that's making me feel that way... but it definitely is a feeling I'm having.

Anyone else getting a feeling that the next Merseyside derby might get violent? Kinda sad to see, but I’m definitely picking up that kind of vibe

I'm not sure that's true. Blanket bans lead to black markets - strong regulations typically create an actual legal market, which people are more inclined to use than do business with criminals. Any ban on weapons/magazines isn't going to effectively change gun violence in the US - there's already so many guns out on the streets and the logistics of gun buyback programs in the US are so complicated it's just as unlikely as anything you could possibly imagine. In America you don't even need a license to get a gun - so yeah, they should be looking to actually try to regulate gun ownership. But I'm not sure they can require a license for gun ownership under their constitution. Driving a car requires a license because you don't have the right to drive a car - it's a privilege. In the US, gun ownership is a right that is considered basically the second most important national value only to free speech.

The family who threatened to shoot the protestors who didn't even attempt to get on their land?

Yeah, sure - that's a hell of a lot more regulation though than the US currently has though. I still think nobody needs an AK47 or AR15 when they're not in the military. Perhaps for the firearms enthusiasts who want to try out these killing tools (but not on people), they should allow them to be owned by gun clubs that people could join to get access to their firing ranges/cooler guns - and allow members to use the club's facilities/weapons. But then I think any gun registered to those gun clubs that gets used in any crime would ultimately make the gun club and those at the top liable for the wrongful death of any victims of that gun.

100% - it's something that should be a bigger issue in US national politics, but I think is really something that's more of an issue in border states... but really mostly in border communities rather than the states at large. It's not surprising there have been many instances of Mexican cartel members coming into the US COMPLETELY LEGALLY, getting guns quite easily, and then getting caught in Mexico trying to illegally cross the border with those guns they obtained in Mexico. Mexico can be a dangerous place if you're not careful because Cartels have serious control there... but the US making it so easy to get guns is a big part of why Mexico is so bloody dangerous in the first place (especially coupled with the US's war on drugs - which drugs are winning). But weirdly when border security does reach the national focus of politics, it's usually done in a way that border cities and towns seem to disagree with. Probably because they don't actually solve any of the actual issues they have to deal with and are more just targeted at people who don't live in those areas that are just scared of Mexicans (for reasons known only by themselves).