pap

Watch the video, Bath - it's very good. The surviving crewmen seemed pretty convinced it was pre-meditated and intentional. It might even be an example of something that Israel "has" over the US, although it's something of a nuclear option. I'm sure intelligence and blackmail plays a part in many international relations, but I'll go with what I said before. There are strong lobbying interests in both the US and UK that prevent effective action on the Israel situation. For the record, I think the solution lies in actually implementing international law.

I'm not a fan of the word literally SiP's got the right of it on the deaths of US Servicemen though. Source: the surviving US servicemen. During that particular attack, Israel/US were looking to destroy a US vessel and blame it on Egypt.

The pro-Israel lobby is one of the biggest reasons that criticism is so muted, and it holds a disproportionate amount of power. I've always had a wider view of the situation, the grandad being where he's from and all. He remembers Israel's formation and the reaction around the Arab world; wasn't good. I think that at one time, the Israelis could justifiably say that they were surrounded by real threats on all sides, especially before the Sinai accords. This, along with lingering guilt over WW2, is probably why Israel enjoyed the popular support in the 60s and 70s that Galloway alludes to in his video. The situation is genuinely different now; both in terms of Israel's security and the way it is perceived in the West. I'm sure that Israel still retains the support of fundamentalist Christians and Islamophobic knuckle-draggers, but many sensible people (source; my assessment of own social media feeds) are now starting to see what a one-sided contest it all is. Debate has now advanced to the point where one can highlight the plight of the Palestinians without being labelled an anti-semite, or at least not for that charge to stick. I wouldn't underestimate the power of the pro-Israel lobby in this country either. Much of Zionism was developed and planned in London, the Friends of Israel groups still wield a lot of power and the media is only too happy to cultivate stories of anti-semitism to keep it on the agenda, as the furore over Anelka illustrated. If any other country apart from Israel were prosecuting these outrages, there would rightly be institutional uproar. The silence is deafening.

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/no-this-instagram-photo-does-not-prove-the-russian-army-is-in-ukraine--lkcluiK4Mg

Think we've done this before, but never hurts to do it again. Not necessarily the best. Just the most influential. These... Guns n Roses - Appetite for Destruction Pulp - Different Class Lamb of God - Sacrament Kanye West - Late Registration ...are great examples of their genres, and got me listening to more. This:- Rage Against The Machine - first album Is quite a listen at age 17

The consensus is international law. It isn't always applied, and often isn't in Israel's case.

The truth is that Israel only really gets to be what it is by the leave of the UK/US veto power in the UN Security Council. The rest of the world has drafted resolution upon resolution, all waiting to be acted on - but entirely toothless if the West's permanent members block the action. So why aren't civilised nations like the US and UK weighing in with something approaching condemnation? Lots of reasons. You're not allowed to mention it, but Israel has hugely powerful lobbying interests in the UK. According to its own website, 80% of the Conservative party MPs belong to Conservative Friends for Israel. A mate of mine was involved with Labour Friends for Palestine. He told me that Labour Friends of Israel ploughed £10million into getting preferred candidates selected; it has always been seen as a fast track for promotion - Blair was a member. Overseas, you have organisations like the Anti-Defamation League and AIPAC exerting a lot of influence. It certainly doesn't help that so many Americans are religious to the point of literalism; end timers in particular think Israel has to be kept about for prophesy to manifest itself. Closer to home, we saw the recent furore over Anelka and the quenelle, something nobody gave a crap about until a bunch of people told us it was important and told us to give a crap about it. Really though, it's collective guilt over past failure to act in the past that prevents us from being critical of Israel in the present. It's a ridiculous position to have in 2014; most of the perpetrators of the crimes against the European Jewish diaspora are either dead or in prison. Israel is a nuclear-armed state with a modern defence force, while the Palestinians are hemmed into increasingly shrinking and uninhabitable ghettos. Left to continue, it'll be an effective cleansing of the Palestinians from Israeli soil. They haven't had as much time to get their diaspora going, so within a few generations, they really could disappear as a race. Traces will remain, but all sense of nationhood will be gone, and we'd have let it happen, either because we felt guilty or didn't want the shít one can attract when speaking out. It's all very well arguing passionately on Internet forums, but really, we need more Jon Snows, and even that might not be enough. We need our Prime Ministers, current or prospective to take a stand - and certainly not appear in articles announcing that they are proud Zionists. It's a fcking weird world when you get the most sense from Russell Brand and George Galloway - both spot on in their videos.

Taking sides has been the problem throughout. We've taken one side since 1917. Do you think Israel would be as belligerent without the cast iron backing of the US and allies? What about just withdrawing that support?

There are a lot of people with very extreme opinions are in the Israeli government. Articles like this amount to thinly disguised apologism, in my view. Any attempt to balance the harm done immediately betrays the disproportionate amount of loss, death and suffering the Palestinians have had inflicted on them. A nuclear armed state versus what George Galloway describes as a modern day Warsaw ghetto. Like him or not, would you have much of a problem with his description?

Playing the beta of Elite: Dangerous, after buying in at the £50 beta stage. Looks gorgeous; docking is loads easier. You can also look around the interior of your ship. Really nice. Haven't got too far yet.

Reading between the lines, looks like the club quite fancied the cash for the transfers, but not the hassle. Besides, good ol' Les bunged in the use of the word "probably" when saying our players wouldn't leave so he's covered - sort of. It was clear in January that sustainability was a key phrase coming out of the clubs. With the elevation of three players to the national squad, all the bóllocks they must have heard about salaries there and the inevitable demands that would ensue, might have been a canny move. The jury was out on the new board before it came in. They couldn't have said "we'll let any player that wants to leave go", or we'd have had a fan revolt and an even larger committee of vultures circling about, aloft on the thermals the board's "it's all for sale" encouragement. The reality is that the board said one thing, and did another - probably because more than any of us, it knew the reality of the situation.

I was told that Lallana and Shaw were both going the morning of the Man Utd game. This was via a family member who was going out with someone who worked at the club, and was why I wasn't that arsed about seeing the players parade themselves about after the game.

Ah, c'mon. This is worth the entrance fee alone.

Repetitive. Already posted on Ramirez Off Topic

Very good article, that.

Please give Jack Cork a new contract. His old man might stop moaning on Twitter. Nah, seriously - he's ace. Big part of the 2012/13 resurgence and we'd be mad to let him go, especially with the uncertainty around Schneiderlin..

Villa didn't have a good season last year, as was twitchily evident whenever I asked my Villa supporting mates how their season was going. Cole has ruled the roost at Chelsea until last year. It could turn out as successful a move as Cork coming here. He's a Saints player for the next 12 months; let him kick a competitive ball for the club before writing him off.

The beta is now £50. £35RRP at retail. Sold.

This is a long, but well put together piece. http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/07/25/mh17-verdict-real-evidence-points-to-us-kiev-cover-up-of-failed-false-flag-attack/

I admire the use of simple algebra in your opening sentence, there Turkish. However, I can't help being reminded of this when considering the thread's intent

Nice one, Chris. This is a good format.

The Lukaku deal didn't come out of nothing. The player had a good idea of what he was getting into, and obviously enjoyed his time there last year. Everton pitch themselves as something different and make a bit of a cult of all of the players that went and stayed there, which happens quite a bit. They have quietly managed to amass some impressive players through this loan-em-first routine. Looks like we're having a go with Bertrand.

Actually agree, and should have perhaps stuck a couple of smilies on my post. Right now, Southampton FC have got one of the most public bank balances in the country. The loan of Bertrand might be underwhelming in the sense that we haven't permanently added to our numbers and he isn't an FM stat machine, but it does tell other clubs that we're not necessarily going to chuck mega-bucks at a problem, which will hopefully put us in stronger negotiating positions in deals to come.

I see you put as much research into your put-downs as you do your console purchases. Next time, consult the following. Plenty to go with here. I particularly like the ones centred around nipples. Whatever. Just stop taking the píss badly.

What is particularly annoying is the loan business. With all that cash in the bank, we really should have been queuing up to get our metaphorical pants pulled down. I'm gutted the club isn't down at least 7m. No ambition.