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Thread | New blood and old blood
at 15:35 1 Sep 2025
Start with the starting line up last weekend.
Bazunu
Stephens
Harwood-Bellis
Wood
Roerslev
Fraser
Charles
Manning
Azaz
Robinson
Archer
You can bring in one player from last season (mandatory) and then three older players from any era, still playing or not. What does your team look like? |
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Thread | Why crusaders?
at 11:59 1 Sep 2025
I've been bombarded this morning with pictures of masked idiots climbing lamp posts to hang flags or paint something, many of them trying to mimic what Hollywood portrays as a "uniform" word by crusaders.
The crusades were the product of religious intolerance in Europe being opposed by an expansionist culture and religion in the middle east.
(They also allowed the English to ship out a lot of second/third sons who would never inherit, to make their own fortune or not return. Sound economic reasoning).
The stated aim of the crusades was to "free Jerusalem". One campaign did that, held the city for a good while and then lost it to more local interests.
Most of the other crusades failed.
The crusaders came from all over Europe. The English component was relatively small. Mostly what is now French, German and Italian families supplied the cannon fodder. (not that the earlier campaigns had cannons of course).
So why are these deluded morons wearing a costume made up by film makers who think it represents Medieval garb?
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Thread | Does reform = anarchy?
at 10:35 27 Aug 2025
I'm willing to take the risk of being accused of posting "divisive" messages unless or until a forum moderator says otherwise.
We all know that Reform did well in the last local elections and some polls have them likely to be the majority party should a general election be held now.
In numbers they won 667 local seats. Of those, it seems that between 11 and 16 individuals have either since resigned their seat; left Reform; been expelled from Reform; been expelled from the Council for non attendance.
In some instances, the Councillor has been forced to resign because of their clear and unequivocal racist views. (See the case of Robert Bloom - until recently a councillor in Nottinghamshire).
Taking a mid number of 13 losses/defections, that's around 2% of those elected who are no longer serving. (The by elections will cost around £350k).
If this was repeated in a general election Reform would need 326 seats plus this attrition rate, which if consistent over a five year Parliament, means they would need close on 400 seats.
Do we really want - in power - a party whose members are incapable of holding a local Councillor post, preferring instead to abuse those who perhaps voted for them?
Do we not think the anarchy this would create would be worse for us than the present situation (even if you hold strong anti left/right views)? |
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Thread | Fernwood Financial
at 09:22 27 Aug 2025
The above was a short term/payday lender operating mainly in the north of England.
It's reported that they have ceased making new loans and have also ceased all collection activities.
This has led some media outlets to suggest that any existing loans have been "written off" or otherwise become uncollectible.
This is almost certainly a far too simplistic analysis of a fluid situation and is perhaps unlikely to be correct.
There are also reports of scammers pretending to be Fernwood, reaching out for debt repayments.
In the event that you used this outfit and you receive ANYTHING purporting to be from or about them, please go and get some advice. Most solicitors or accountants will give you a few minutes for free. If they want to charge go to Citizens Advice or use Google to search for free advice lines.
DO NOT hand over any money to Fernwood or anybody claiming to represent them. |
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Thread | Lucy Connolly - where are you?
at 11:38 26 Aug 2025
You may recall the case of the above "lady".
She is the wife of a Tory councillor who tweeted that hotels containing immigrants should be burned to the ground. A tweet that was apparently seen several hundred thousand times before it was taken down (I think by her rather than a Twitter moderator).
As a result she was arrested and jailed. This was at a time when the Gov't warned everybody that a fast track would be used to dispense justice following the riots over the Southport murders - wrongly attributed to an asylum seeker.
She was offered a full trial and the risk of a long sentence or a short trial in exchange for a guilty plea to lesser charges. She choose the latter on the advice of her solicitor. She has served the required time and is now out on licence.
Her case has been taken up by the right wing - the Daily Fail in particular - who are now making all sorts of accusations of a stitch up, collusion, conspiracy by Starmer and "cronies". She is apparently willing to risk an appeal which could - if it fails - see her back in prison. The above right wing sources are strangely silent about who is funding the appeal. There is however talk of a book and perhaps a documentary.
Whilst she was in prison, many comparisons were made about her sentence compared to say a sex offender. Especially is said offender had brown skin and arrived here on a boat or lorry without papers. I'm not sufficiently across sentencing guidelines to make any informed opinion about the value of such comparisons.
My view is that she was at least reckless in her initial post, in that she had not checked the facts and was willing to post what is by any stretch "advice" or "opinion" which fuelled and already febrile situation (especially as it would be picked up on by the weak minded).
Your view? |
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Thread | Dark enlightenment
at 08:50 21 Aug 2025
I came across a post on Linkedin recently which mentions the above.
It claims that a Silicon Valley entrepreneur called Curtis Yarvin has a wish/desire - and perhaps the resources - to change the USA from a democracy to a corporate dictatorship led by a CEO/dictator. (Presumably him)
This piece claims that he is part of the "PayPal mafia" which selected JD Vance as their vector to power and that once the orange buffoon is removed, their path to establishing the dictatorship is set.
Now, whilst I think the USA needs somebody other than the orange toddler in charge, I'm not convinced a corporate dictatorship is a better alternative.
I am however intrigued by the idea because I might use it in my story writing.
If anybody has any thoughts or information or has heard rumours etc, I'd be interested in hearing them. |
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Thread | Can we play a CB who is not guaranteed a mistake a game?
at 12:43 18 Aug 2025
We seem to have been "blessed" with CB's who are good for one major error per match.
I recall Yoshida being like this, Bednarek the same.
As for the German fella, he seems to be too busy sulking or injured to actually play but he may be the same.
Captain Jack has had a decent couple of games but is prone to odd errors.
THB yesterday was the same and was Quarshie.
I'd settle for a bang average CB who makes say three small errors game, rather than one decent CB who massively messes up once a game. |
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Thread | Freedom vs "security"
at 09:20 13 Aug 2025
The police have just been given more powers to use facial recognition technology to trace and presumably arrest suspects and those who have breached their release conditions.
According to the BBC, this technology resulted in 580 suspects being detained in London in the last period reported on. This included 50+ sex offenders who had breached their release rules.
There is one argument that says the use of such technology without the permission of those being filmed, is an unwarranted intrusion on our freedoms and allows the "state" to use that information for purposes unknown. As such, it is an unwanted and unwelcome intrusion.
On the other side is an argument that if you have done nothing wring, then you have no concerns and that any technology that takes criminals and potential criminals off the streets has to be welcomed as it makes the rest of us safer.
I have to say I'm not convinced that identifying those who may be guilty (or suspected of being guilty) of minor crimes which would bring perhaps a caution, several hours of wasted time all round and then back on the street, is sensible. It may even be that this "reason" is in fact hiding a darker truth? |
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Thread | Grealish to Everton means Dibling stays?
at 10:26 11 Aug 2025
The BBC reports that Grealish is going to Everton on loan.
Physical similarities aside, Grealish and Dibling are similar players with perhaps Dibling being a bit quicker and more inclined to actually beat a defender just the once.
Does that mean Everton's interest in signing Dibling this season at least has cooled a bit? |
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Thread | Survey results as reported in the Times
at 13:28 6 Aug 2025
Apparently some 4% of immigrants are here "illegally" or have arrived by informal means (a boat across the channel).
Apparently some 47% of voters think that illegal immigrants outnumber those encouraged to come here to contribute to our society and coffers.
Apparently this rises to over 70% amongst those voters who would support Reform or have sympathies with organisations designated as being on the far right.
A worrying demonstration of the power of those with a voice to distort and corrupt.
The selective messages being delivered by all politicians in which facts are ignored or abused or quoted out of context is leading to a situation in which it's becoming not a question of what to believe but rather a choice to disbelieve everything we are told.
If we then have a situation in which there are no hard facts to rely upon, the ground is ripe for any old nonsense to be planted and grow into today's chosen conspiracy.
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Thread | Do you need an education to govern the country?
at 10:25 4 Aug 2025
I read an interesting article over the weekend.
This article claimed that over 70% of those supporting Reform have been educated to GCSE level or below. (I'm assuming "below" means having failed GCSE's or perhaps left school before taking exams).
The article suggested that those with a lower educational attainment were more likely to believe the unsupported word of Farage and his clowns and more likely to be stirred to action by his (often) false claims.*
In your experience is there a link between low educational attainment and taking what might be called an extreme position on political issues?
*As an example, this weekend Farage claimed that 1 in 3 Londoners have been a victim of phone theft. It would seem to a fact that with around 80,000 thefts in London per year, the real rate is about 1 in 112. |
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Thread | Should the UK adopt the Greek policy on immigrants?
at 16:31 31 Jul 2025
Greece has recently appointed a new immigration minister. He admits he is conservative in outlook and in any balance to be struck between looking after the interests of the Greek population and immigrants, he will favour the former.
This week Greece has unilaterally suspended their obligations under EU and global Human Rights legislation and has announced that for the next three months at least, no immigrant landing on their shores will be permitted to apply for asylum.
Whether that will slow or stop the flow of people to them from African and other places, remains to be seen.
One reason given for this new policy is a need to protect the Greek economy during the summer tourist season. Given that most illegal immigrants to Greece are automatically sent to holding "camps" (prisons), I'm not sure that this is a valid reason.
He also suggests that he will deport - without appeal - immigrants arriving by illegal means back to their country of nationality (risking their being killed or imprisoned) or failing that the country they sailed to Greece from (risking their being killed or imprisoned).
is this a model for the UK?
Or do our humanitarian principles require us to at least follow the lawful processes we have? |
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Thread | Another con man selling a "debt free" life
at 10:51 31 Jul 2025
A new person has entered the market place selling a means to exist debt free in the UK, even if you signed a legally binding document.
His identity is protected but he runs a website called Debt-Free.
The underlying entity seems to be a LLC (Limited Liability Company) based in Wyoming USA.
The underlying position he uses to claim you can legally challenge any debt is that the entire world's banking system is just an illegal Ponzi scheme with no legal or constitutional basis and can therefore be ignored with impunity.
This is straight out of the sovereign citizen playbook. There are literally hundreds of cases heard by the US Courts which say that the ideas and "magic words" used by those running with this theory have no legal validity or credence.
It would appear that they are trying to sell the same nonsense in the UK. And I mean "sell". The costs can be a decent percentage of the debt - which will remain in place even if you use the magic words you have paid for.
I appreciate that being in debt is very stressful (been there - done that) and that in desperation you may be willing to try anything. But please don't get sucked into wasting money with this outfit.
If you are in debt and struggle, first speak to the lender/company you owe. You will find that they are often sympathetic and the better ones will have plans available. If that is exhausted go to Citizen Advice or Step Change - they are very helpful. If this is exhausted, speak with an insolvency specialist. There are many stages between being solvent and bankrupt and sese, like a debt relief order can be useful.
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Thread | RM at it again
at 09:33 31 Jul 2025
Well, what a surprise!
The reports of the Rangers games against the Greek side (I'll not embarrass myself trying to spell it) say "good win, but rangers were lucky as they gave the ball away too cheaply".
RM saying, "the more time I have on the training ground, the better we will be".
I seem to recall something very similar when he used us to experiment. I wonder how that went?
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Thread | Good man - poor leader vs bad man - allegedly good leader
at 10:15 30 Jul 2025
There is a thread on Linkedin which compares Starmer and Trump.
The gist is that Trump is leading the USA into a golden era of prosperity and freedom and is therefore a good leader whereas Starmer is overseeing a declining economy, riots on the streets and has no grip on immigration (which actually is a minor issue but one that is weaponised by people on the far right).
The conclusion is that Trump is a "better" leader and that the UK would be lucky to have somebody of equal standing.
The thread ignores the numerous convictions (34) Trump has, his bankruptcies, his use of his office to enrich himself and various other offences of greater or lesser weight. In short all those elements that make Trump a reprehensible human being are ignored because he is apparently ushering in this period of prosperity in the USA.
(It ignores the fact that the last bill he signed will increase the US national debt by trillions of dollars and give tax breaks to the rich whilst withdrawing basic medical care for the poor.)
Starmer may be boring. He may even by politically inept, weakened by divisions in his own party and too heavily reliant on people he has appointed and who frankly need to be moved on soon (Reeves). I think however nobody is accusing him of blatant corruption or sexual offences or stealing money.
So, would you rather have a leader who is effective (at least for the moment - in the long term I think not) but is very visibly flawed as a human or one who is less obviously flawed but perhaps because of that is not prepared to ignore the law or basic human rights? |
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Thread | Religion and the far right
at 14:47 28 Jul 2025
Our news threads are filled with the usual summer madness in the UK of young, lagered up men being told a lie, choosing to believe it and subsequently throwing insults and eventually bricks and worse at anybody who doesn't look like them.
The far right is becoming more mainstream and we se them weaponising fear and making claims that our country (of 70 million) is being "invaded" by a few thousand people arriving here illegally. (If a poor person arrives this way, he/she is illegal. If a rich person arrives and takes years to "clarify" their status, he/she is an "investor". )
More recently I've seen more posts linking being a "christian" to being a "patriot" and that "christians" have a duty - almost a religious duty - to be passing the bricks to those stupid enough to believe the sort of racist and xenophobic nonsense being spouted.
I am not a religious person. I have no issues with those who chose to believe, but I don't. I do however see this linking of the christian culture with what might loosely be called a doctrine in which Caucasian people are seen as in some manner superior to other races or entitled to something just because of accident of birth, as troubling.
I get that this is straight out of the right wing playbook, i.e. create a sense of jeopardy in certain groups to bring them alongside, but from what I understand of christian philosophy, its about tolerance, love they neighbour, turn the other cheek, be a good Samaritan. It's not about hate other people who have less than we do or choose a different set of rules to live by.
(For what it's worth my understanding of other religions is that they have similar ideas but we know that some will chose to interpret the rules in very different ways). |
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Thread | Trump accuses former presidents of being "traitors"
at 10:49 24 Jul 2025
The orange man baby is under some serious pressure in the US. Aside from the failure of his tariff plan to bring in "billions of dollars a month; his obvious cognitive decline (he recently praised a visit to the WH by the Pihillipine president Marcos - who has been dead for a few decades; his bombing of Iran and ignoring of Israeli treatment of Gaza, he has a number of personal issues.
The Epstien connection refuses to go away. he has already back tracked and U turned more on this than anything else but now claims that mention of his name in various documents and his existence in various photos with the child rapist, are all part of a conspiracy by Barack Obama. He is calling for the arrest of the former POTUS.
Sadly his cultists in power such a Pam Bondi as so brainwashed that they might do this.
This is a dangerous path.
Trump is well on his way to being a despot. |
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Thread | Beware of this scammer and criminal - Iain Clifford Stamp, aka Iain Clifford
at 10:11 21 Jul 2025
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-07-16-STAMP-Iain-Cliffo
Iain Stamp tuns a "business" which apparently nets him £500k a month largely from those driven to desperation over debt and other liabilities.
The "solution" offered by Stamp and his cronies is that all law, UK law in particular, is invalid and does not apply to those who decide that that the name on their birth certificate actually relates to somebody else because of the way it is presented.
The theory goes much deeper and is not far from the sovereign citizen type arguments.
The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) has been investigating Stamp. They now have a restraining order as well as asset seizure orders against him. They believe that Stamp is in Bali and having missed two Court appearance may have selected that place to live int he absence of an extradition treaty.
The judgement is clear that the arguments used by Stamp and sold to his victims is entirely spurious and unlawful.
(Unless of course you believe that you are not subject to or protected by the UK legal system).
This man trades on desperation and misery and hopefully he will serve some prison time in due course but for now, please be warned. |
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