Rayvin

I can see that, but this place has a habit of pigeonholing me into categories I don't actually belong to a lot of the time I am, first and foremost, a believer in a wider ranging and internationalist vision of humanity represented by increasingly strong ties between cultures and peoples, and the eventual elimination of the nation state. A fantasy, frankly, but that's what I believe in. It's why our departure from the EU was such a deal breaker for me with Labour. I find the idea that we'd abandon a sovereign country that is geographically inside of Europe, to a country that has enacted genocide upon them in living memory, to be utterly abhorrent. Stuff like this shows me that the West just isn't interested in what it purports to stand for. We may have been once, but now we have our tails between our legs, licking our wounds from our own right wing insurgencies and attempts to upset the international norms. As I've said many times, this stance is only going to embolden others. So it's not "we are sacrificing Ukraine", it's "we are sacrificing Western values and international norms throughout the world". They secured the Security Council during the cold war in recognition of their strength as a super power, that's hardly even relevant to now. Putin has made overtures to both NATO and the EU and we have locked him out. That is as much because it has been convenient for us to 'have a threat' to justify US military spending, as it is because Russia doesn't tick all the required boxes IMO. Frankly though, I don't get paid to think up strategies to contain Russia - that's not my job. Whoever does have that job, has failed. That's my point. So we can frame my whole position as this, if it's more acceptable to you: Whether we could have done anything about this or not, what it reveals about the West is that we are weak, riven by fear and insecurity, and that we will not stand up in defence of countries which share our values and systems. It reveals that the US philosophy is ultimately empty, there's just nothing there. It's all words. Renton is saying that this is the best we can do - fine - but then words were all it ever was. And Putin is showing us that he now understands that.

Why does him being a psychopath mean he can't join the EU? Thatcher was a psychopath and we were in the EU. Besides, we'd be inviting Russia, not Putin. Russia will outlast Putin. I'm fine with my position on this. The fact that we've got to where we are shows a complete failure of Western strategy to contain Russia. You seem to talk as if there was nothing we could have done to stop this happening. That's ludicrous IMO. We have failed.

Who said using military force? It's an option but if we had any semblance of competence, if the West wasn't in compete turmoil, it wouldn't have come to this. We're just about to enter the power vacuum left behind by the much diminished US. We should have been sending out olive branches to Putin long before this - now, he's going to continue taking apart everything we believe in. He secured Trump, Brexit, Crimea, and now Ukraine. He's getting everything he wants and we're just standing there, bending over.

No it isn't. Standing by as he conquers neighbouring states is the definition of appeasement. Bringing him to the table so that we can interconnect, foster trust and lasting relationships, thus potentially encouraging and supporting change, is IMO at least, mature and rational. We will agree to disagree on this in the end I suspect, but I'm disgusted with the West on this. Disgusted with Putin too, he's a complete fucking psychopath, but we in the West clearly don't care about anything beyond our own borders anymore. Internationalism is doomed.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/04/ex-nato-head-says-putin-wanted-to-join-alliance-early-on-in-his-rule Yes the EU should have accepted him if it averted stuff like this and brought him to the table. We'll inevitably have to end up in bed with Russia long term anyway. Both of these are 'counteroffers' of good diplomacy - bringing people to the table rather than holding them up as the enemy. But it's more than that though - this shows that as far as Putin is concerned, he 'won' in Crimea. Whatever we did in response to that clearly failed. We therefore miscalculated that our response would be sufficient to deter further aggression. Putin could take the whole country if he wanted to and we'd do nothing beyond apparently ineffectual sanctions, that's what I now think. He's compromising international order, every unreacted to event like this, everything he 'gets away with' loosens the bonds that tie the world together.

Whether we have handled it in the right way comes down to whether the Ukraine ever gets its territories back. We look weak as fuck to me, Putin wouldn't have gone in if he didn't think he'd won. I'm not saying we should be throwing nukes around, I'm saying that if we were doing diplomacy right, this never would have happened. If we'd encouraged Putin to join the EU, or let him join NATO when he asked. Why is Russia still on the table as a "threat" at all? The answer is that democracy fails us in moments like this. We are inconsistent through government and policy change, Russia is not. We are slow to react and pivot to new ideas and developments because we rule by committee, Russia is not. Putin is currently shining a light on what the West is. What is revealed in that light will determine how Russia, China, Brazil and various other regional powers will engage with us in future. So far, it looks grim. Biden looks weak.

Feels like he's won to me. Appeasement from Biden and the EU, really underlining the decline of the west. Dismal to see.

If we play like we have been, this one is in the bag. And it should be the one the finally puts an end to any lingering fears.

The cynic in me suspects this might also be part of the reason Shelvey has improved... maybe they thought it was worth it to get performances out of him to keep us up.

Just...what? It's a fucking crisp. For fucks sake Sunderland...

Give it another season or two and by the sounds of it that crisp will be drawing bigger crowds than the club will.

Which other teams does he report on? Is he just very busy or is he as lazy as it looks?

I wish her the same good health and recovery speed that I would wish any other ordinary human being

I'm not saying half the league is going down man, I'm just saying that if Watford and Burnley keep a bit of pressure on, everyone up to and including Villa is in the mix.

Burnley have Spurs at home midweek which could go either way given Spurs atm. Watford have Palace which I also can't predict. But both of those results could go our way, followed by further losses at the weekend with Watford away to Man U, and Burnley away to Palace. If Palace fuck up both of those games, they're going to be up to their eyes in it IMO.

I agree, I think Watford and Burnley, and even Norwich tbh, aren't dead and buried just yet. The teams above us could quite quickly find themselves dragged into it with very little warning. We've closed the gap on the teams above us, just need to keep moving forward there really. Everton, Leeds, Brentford and IMO Palace should all be careful. It'll be really competitive this year.

Aye I've had people raise the 'Boris' thing before and in general I do make the effort on here to use 'Johnson' for the reasons you've given, but for me personally, last naming him feels like I'm giving him more respect than he deserves. He's a clown, not a serious statesman. Anyway I'll keep trying to remember to use his last name here.

On Fauci and beagles: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fauci-vaccine-experiment-beagles/ He did not sign off on the things people are saying he did, indeed the US didn't even fund that research - however he his department has signed off on related research which has some questionable ethical considerations IMO, but apparently all legal in the US. Thus any issue there is with US law rather than the man himself.

I think you'd be better off with this stuff in the President Biden thread which is more or less a "US politics" discussion. This thread is more for smaller news items and general everyday chat - not everyone wants to engage in a political discussion in here. I've just removed my own post on this because I didn't notice the thread we were in, so I'd encourage you to take it over there. You don't need to make this many consecutive posts either, it's fine to bundle your point into a single post

It doesn't, no. It does potentially mean she has more of an idea about what it's like to live in adverse conditions than someone like Boris does, but it doesn't mean she's any wiser on solutions. Not having formal qualifications isn't a plus in terms of competence, although it may be in terms of determination (considering where she is). I thought she put herself through study as a single mum though which IMO is best of both worlds? Maybe I've got that mixed up. She lost me somewhat on her crime and punishment stance which I just flat out disagree with. She's fine but not a heavyweight whatsoever IMO.

Will take criticism on those judgements only from people who made their own I'm really pleased with that result, happy to be wrong. A bit concerned Burnley suddenly look decent but it's just one game I suppose.

Well fucking played, looked the better team overall IMO. Solid point away from home against a side pushing for Europe with two our of best players out. Howe is doing really fucking well.

What serious business man launches a bid for a football club based on random bollocks coming out in the news ffs.

"Who? Joe... Linton? Never 'eard of him. I'm playing that lanky Brazilian twat, fucking useless he is. Hired his own team of coaches an' all! Says I'm not 'developing him enough'. Where's he got to develop to like? He's working under Steve Bruce, a titan of he modern game ffs! Ah've got 1000 games coming up as a manager y'kna." "...you gonna eat that?"

https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/keane-on-why-he-turned.1572728/ RTG reacts to Keane saying he wanted more money than they could afford to pay him. Outraged that he wasn't falling over himself to pay Sunderland for the opportunity to manage such an illustrious club, the consensus is that they've dodged a bullet, he's shit, can't motivate people cos he only cares about money, will never get a chance like this again, etc Full on scorned ex-girlfriend sentiments.