Rayvin

...it's bothering me that after years of thinking he was one of the most annoying people on television, I'm starting to think Russell Brand is a pretty decent person. Also, I struggle to watch Fox News without becoming seriously enraged at the best of times, but that Hannity guy...

To be honest, I suspect that too. Especially since HMHM is the one who posted it. But I so want it to be true that I'm prepared to dismiss common sense.

I'm not sure this has been discussed on here yet, but I was just curious to see what people made of this so far. It seems to be getting worse through a combination of misinformation and superstitious belief... obviously it's not a truly terrifying prospect yet since it has to have physical contact to transmit, but these things can mutate. Of course, if it became airborne, that would represent a world wide problem. It also has a long incubation period with 21 days possible with no signs being shown, which is probably the biggest worry from my point of view - not that I'm well informed on this sort of thing. Obviously, it's not as big a killer as something like Malaria. It's not as contagious as influenza. But it is our current health scare issue. I think following SARS, Avian Flu and Swine Flu, the Western world has perhaps become a little dismissive of these sorts of things (they invariably end up under control), but even so, I do feel that we have to remain vigilant. Here's a link to the most recent information: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/01/ebola-outbreak-world-health-organisation-chief What do we think?

And that representation just so happens to very closely resemble Keown That's awesome. Kudos to the artist.

Has that been photoshopped to look like him, or is this just the truth of the matter It really does look like him!

Quite possibly. But at the end of the day, if he has another good season he'll be picked up by someone bigger. Still curious as to why the Liverpool thing didn't come off for him...

Holy hell... that's a staggering statement. If that's a window into the mind of your average Israeli though, then where does that leave us? Is this guy just a nutjob? I doubt he's alone.

Rough translation: We've asked him lots of times and he said no, so we're going to say no in an attempt to make it look like we're in control, unless he says yes, and then we'll sign him immediately.

Agreed, I'd probably make the same call. At the end of the day, you're in a better position than you were.

FFS I keep telling all of you: a loan deal seems perfect then - limits exposure like the De Jong one. Just hope that we have a buy clause in there in case he turns out to be a formidable player. This forum, man...

everyone's a wise ass...

Do you reckon that's tantamount to some wires being crossed, or just that Ferreyra is bigger news as a firm deal?

Where did you get the info from though, J69? I had a quick scout and couldn't see anything online about us agreeing a fee...

I thought the general consensus was that Williamson wasn't too bad last year? That said, we were comparing him to Taylor for the most part. I can sort of see why Pardew doesn't think it's a priority area though, given that we have two defenders in each position - our best bet is that one of the others moves on, but given Colo will likely be the first of the four to move on, that means we'll end up replacing his side of things, rather than the Taylor/Willo side.

From what I gather, MI6 spend a considerable amount of time on data analysis nowadays. Moreover, if you've tapped a spy, isn't it more beneficial to let them stay that way, feeding them false information and limiting the damage they can do? Otherwise the 'enemy' will just set up a new one that you have to catch. Also, they hire based on linguistic talents as well, not just ex-public school. They appeared at careers fairs when I was at uni for Chinese language speakers. They didn't appreciate my anti-establishment thinking though, and I was promptly told that Tories tend to be better for this sort of role...

Sorry... I just read Fish's post, I must have missed yours. Great minds and all that..

In further news, that ceasefire has broken down again, 2 hours in, because an Israeli soldier has been kidnapped. Back to senseless slaughter we go...

Really helpful post, thanks

Loan deal seems perfect then - limits exposure like the De Jong one. Just hope that we have a buy clause in there in case he turns out to be a formidable player.

That being the case, Israel is acting atrociously. Did they specify reasons for rejecting it? I suppose it's the border opening one.

Good phrasing

Agreed...doesn't seem like we're gonna get that CB though...

That's what I don't get. This isn't going to increase his value, it's going to end up in him leaving for free or going for pennies. I suppose we'll see when the season kicks off what happens. If he's brought back into the first team then we'll know that they just wanted to move him on. If he isn't, it must have been something else. Seems a crying shame though given how good our team could be, that we're not prepared to make this work. That said, I wonder if the key issue is the problems in the dressing room. It might make bringing him back into the fold at this point a challenge.

In the interests of advancing this discussion: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Evidence_for_the_Exodus First line states that mainstream archaeology and history claim it never happened and is entirely fictional. Steve, I would just concede the point mate. I know what you're driving at but I think your argument is being lost on this particular point.