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Thread | Lies, damned lies and President Felon.
at 11:10 20 Mar 2025
We are seeing in the USA a situation develop which mirrors, exaggerates and give credence to a growing problem in Europe (although I like to think that Europeans are a little less obvious about it).
President Felon believes that he has absolute authority to do as he wishes. He thinks that the US constitution - 250 years old next year - is something that he can ignore, overwrite or break without consequence.
When he does break the law and a Judge says "don't do that", they are labelled as "partisan activists" by him and his appointed morons.
This looks to be a set up to Felon either removing Judges who dare to disagree with him or flooding the Courts with Judges who actually are activist but for him and his party. (And it is "his" party, not that of Republican voters).
And this version of the thought police acting on his instructions continues to spread. A French professor was this week denied entry to the US, his phone and laptop taken and out on a plane back to France. His "crime"? He disagreed with the Felon's dismemberment of a US research facility and said so in a scientific paper.
And every day we see stories of ICE (aka the Trump shock troops) taking matters into their own hands and treating people with valid and legal visas, green cards and US citizenship, like criminals.
I really cannot believe that the Felon had sufficient mental bandwidth to take personal offence at the examples above not indeed any capacity to understand the damage he is causing the US reputation worldwide. This is clearly the work of those who surround him wishing to kiss is ar$e
For example, the US negotiator in Ukraine has said that the drone attacks from Russia YESTERDAY did not happen because Putin has said he would not do that. An absolute lie that he knows he will not receive criticism from the Felon for because that is what the Felon wants to hear.
The Felon, in his actions, is giving a green light to similar factions in Europe. Hungary, Romania, arguably Italy. We of course have our own versions but we've effectively made Truss a laughing stock to be disregarded and Farage is more interested in silencing his own party than helping his constituents.
I can only hope that the weight of the lies and falsehoods being used to support the Felon eventually bring him down before the various European copycats can gain control or credence because when Ukraine is raped and handed over to Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will be next unless Europe can carry enough threat.
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Thread | How do tariffs work in the USA?
at 11:52 13 Mar 2025
I'm not an economist but can do some basic sums.
Trump says that steel and other metal going into the USA will now have a 25% tariff applied. (He announced a 50% tariff as well but rowed back on that a few hours later).
So let's say a car manufacturer can sell a vehicle at $1,000, and his cost is $700 of which $100 is for steel.
He is now paying $125 for the steel. He can increase his price for the vehicle to retain his profit margin or he can absorb some/all of the increased cost or he can decide to either not buy steel from wherever (assuming he can break the contract without cost) or not build the vehicle.
If he cannot get steel from elsewhere (I suspect that this is not a product that can be quickly made available) and cannot sell his vehicle whilst maintaining his profit margin, then his profit falls and he may have to make cuts in his workforce or elsewhere.
He could ask the supplier to reduce his prices but why would he? As far as he is concerned, the tariff is the choice of the USA and he is under no obligation to reduce his prices when he has no power to impact the tariff.
The latest White House press conference with the increasingly dim Leavitt said that the tariff is a tax paid by a foreign country to the USA. Does she not realise that the foreign country collects that from a US purchaser before paying it to them?
What am I missing? |
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Thread | PSR could be history - where does that leave us?
at 16:42 17 Feb 2025
Despite I think 16 clubs voting to keep in place the Premier League PSR rules, as amended following the Man City legal case, it seems that a committee has decided that City were correct. The PSR rules since perhaps 2022 are unenforceable.
Aside from this meaning that most of the financial irregularity charges against City will now be dropped, where is that going to leave the PL?
Whilst there is already a de facto split of the PL into three parts - top 6, next 8/9, bottom 5/6 - mainly being a reflection of the financial power behind the clubs (few exceptions each season perhaps) if clubs are essentially unfettered in how much money their owners can "invest", we will see an acceleration of that split becoming recognised.
I can see top 4 to 6 being in a Euro Super League inside five seasons.
I can see the PL being 18 teams.
I can see the PL being limited in how many teams might get to European cups.
Personally I would welcome that. I think it would make the PL more of a competition and less of a parade. However the PL will hate it because it means less influence and less money. I suspect therefore that this will get very messy.
If however it opens the door to clubs like ours being better able to compete if we ever get promoted again, I'm all for it. |
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Thread | Money triumphs over sporting integrity
at 14:31 17 Feb 2025
I'm not a tennis fan by any stretch but the stench coming off the Sinner situation reeks,
He admits that he was negligent and took a banned substance. WADA conveniently accepts that he did so unintentionally. The result is a three month ban in a period when there are no big tournaments.
I confess that aside from a couple of high profile cases, I'm unsure just how widespread drug taking and bans are in football, but the situation with Sinner is like asking a player to take a ban between April and July.
Tennis though cannot have their number one player (who people pay to watch) missing from tournaments.
Corrupt. |
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Thread | Where are we today? And where will be be next year?
at 12:14 10 Feb 2025
I think we can all see that the 24/25 season will be one that is perhaps in the top (or should it be bottom?) three ever in the history of the club.
We have a squad that cannot compete at PL level.
That squad was forced to apply a style of football that actually made them look worse.
The new manager was acquired too late.
The new manager seems to be no better than the old manager.
We have failed to recruit well (or at all).
The ownership seems to want a theme park and not a football team.
Arguably we have become a feeder club for French and Turkish lower league sides.
We have now exited the Cup competition with a whimper.
My view is that even competing for mid table next year, we are - assuming nobody leaves - at least five players short.
We need - and have done for two seasons now - one or two strikers who can score a dozen goals each. We need a holding midfield player. We need at least one centre back, arguably two. A creative in midfield would be nice alongside a couple of water carriers.
Instead we show no signs of preparing for next season at all.
Couple of close prospects have probably already escaped us. Tyler Bindon formerly of Reading now signed to Forest (at Reading for the rest of the season) and Dean Huijsen of Bournemouth. Both young centre backs of recognised talent. Under our noses and now gone.
Instead we have Bednarek who is vocal about losing wages if relegated, THB who seems to have a crisis of confidence. Welington who I have not seen play and therefore have no view on. Captain Jack - nuff said.
The best holding mid we have has just been described as unprofessional. I suspect that has not done his playing form any favours.
Our striking options are woeful.
Where is the plan? |
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Thread | Will we beat Derby's lowest points record
at 12:11 31 Jan 2025
Article in the Times today but told mainly from the effect that the record low points tally had on the club and players.
Apparently only two of that Derby team ever played in the Premiership again.
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Thread | The Rupert Lowe thread
at 17:33 29 Jan 2025
Our old mucka Rupert is now of course a Reform MP.
He has come out with some bonkers stuff based on things he seems to have read on websites belong to anti immigration, anti woke, anti everything groups.
That is perhaps the job of politicians - to challenge the status quo.
More recently however he has proposed that the NHS is broken up and instead we are all to be forced to buy our own healthcare.
Apparently the "saving" to the country will be enormous - perhaps enough to build a wall in the English Channel. (I made the last bit up).
Well it's a challenge. |
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Thread | Sovereign citizen scam
at 12:08 29 Jan 2025
I've reported before about the activities of one Iain Clifford Stamp and his "Matrix Freedom" companies which promise - for a fee - to show you how to remove mortgage and credit card debt.
The scam basically works by your claiming that the UK is not a country (it's a company based in a backstreet in London) and therefore none of its rules are binding because it has no "citizens" and even if it did because your birth certificate has your name in capital letters, you are not a citizen.
The law quoted by Stamp/Matrix is a confused, illogical and wholly incorrect interpretation based on US state law which has been debunked in US Courts for at least 50 years.
It's a scam designed to rob you.
Don't get involved.
(We hope to have Stamp in a court room this year on a range of charges way curtail his activities, but he is persistent.) |
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Thread | One for those who know the LOTG
at 15:48 27 Jan 2025
The red card to the Arsenal full back last weekend.
The PL says that the tackle was late, high (above the ankle) and reckless and therefore amounted to violent conduct.
The pundits/managers say that it was nowhere near the Arsenal goal and therefore was not a denial of a goal scoring opportunity and was a yellow at best.
My view is that a red for violent conduct does not need the "denial of opportunity" as well. If it's violent conduct, it's a red anywhere on the pitch.
Was it violent conduct?
It was high. There did not seem to be much force, more of a trip. (PL players go down at the slightest hint of contact anyway so perhaps in their little pink fluffy precious world, it was "violent"). Was it reckless? Not for me. It was not a wild two footed lunge but a trip.
I think overall the lad was unlucky.
I do guarantee that if he had been a Saints player, it would have been red all day. |
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Thread | When does admitting guilt become not admitting guilt?
at 11:48 22 Jan 2025
I see that the case brought by Tom Watson and an individual who used to be a prince but is now not, has been settled with the Sun et al admitting unlawful practices but not conceding that senior execs knew about/condoned the use of illegal means to gather stories.
Given that the "crusade" by the ex prince and ex MP has always maintained that it's not about the money but accountability - and I see are now asking the Gov't to take action to apportion blame on a non UK citizen - does this settlement represent a win or a defeat for the crusade?
I'm very much not a fan of the monarchy or the present political system which seeks to elevate some to MPs and given them all sorts of protections. I am in the camp of saying that if you choose a certain lifestyle or job then it comes with obligation and public scrutiny sometimes and that is a price to be paid.
In the case of the ex prince, accepting that he did not choose his birth, the story is a little different but people such as him have been subject to intrusive headlines and stories for hundreds of years and have dealt with it. (Sometimes with fatal consequences for the story writers). He though seems to be a sensitive soul - or perhaps just needs the money.
Either way his glorious and shiny campaign has ended up grubbing for money.
Any views? |
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Thread | Lies, damned lies, statistics and now football data
at 14:57 16 Jan 2025
Shortly before I terminated my subscription the The Times (because I'm bored with every story they carry being twisted into an anti Labour rant) I was following a series of articles about football and in particular the PL.
These stories are fed by endless statistics about which teams play more long balls, more passes in the final third, use a low/mid block, choose to put cream on their scones before jam etc.
I have also been speaking with a coach of an under 15 side who I am considering helping out. He shocked me a little by having something similar on his team and said that it helps him and the boys understand whet they do well and not so well.
I understand that the fashion in the USA for a long time has been to reduce their sports to numbers but to be honest something like baseball is well suited to it. Games like football which are perhaps more dynamic and less predictable are not (in my view).
I fear that the focus on data and percentages is going to see 95% of professional players become all the same shade of grey and the teams all play the same way and frankly it'll become boring (like baseball).
Are we in danger of having the game reduced to data points - in which case why bother playing, just have the managers play Top Trumps |
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Thread | Personal freedom v obligation to your country
at 10:52 16 Jan 2025
I was discussing with a group of young (under 30) people yesterday, the situation in the US regarding Tik Tok.
In a nutshell, the US authorities were about to impose a ruling which would have prevented Tik Tok from updating its app and from selling the app to new users via the usual routes. The app would therefore degrade over time and become unusable. And why?
Theory 1 - the owners of Tik Tok are Chinese and may be forced to hand over data to the Chinese Gov't.
Theory 2 - the owners of Meta, Amazon etc want to crawl up the backside of the orange buffoon who will return the favour by stopping Tik Tok, to drive business to Meta/Amazon et al.
For this post I think it's not really critical which theory is more correct than the other.
The group I was speaking with - some used Tik Tok and some not - were in general outraged that a Gov't might do something to curtail their absolute right to do as they please. The concept that the action might be something that was "better" for the country was thought to be irrelevant if it impinged in their freedoms.
My own children (not Tik Tok users) do seem to have no regard for our history (in fact are often ashamed by it) and consequently linking what might be good for the country with a minor inconvenience for them is not a price they consider worth it.
I was if not shocked, at least quite disappointed at what I saw as a selfish attitude.
You? |
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Thread | Chelsea applying the magic dissolving powder
at 09:41 16 Jan 2025
I see that Chelsea have admitted that during the sale of the company out of the hands of the Putin loving Abramovich (2021 to 2022), the discovered a series of illegal payments in relation to the transfers of Willian and Eto'o.
Such breaches would have resulted in a points deduction if investigated and found to be real.
Now though, they claim that they can instead pay a fine of several million and have no points deduction. Is that fair and in the spirit of the rules? No.
Will it happen and no points be deducted? yes.
Football authorities and governance is in the gutter and I for one hope that the Gov't goes ahead with a Regulator and gives it some teeth, |
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 144 | | Comment Votes: | 51 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 195 |
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