egg

Semantics. This war will end with both sides talking, and as a result each will stop throwing bombs, and Russia will either keep some land or Ukraine will accept that it ain't coming back. Whatever you want to call it, that's the inevitable outcome, and always was.

If this ends as a stalemate, it'll be negotiated, and involve either an agreement to cede land or at least an acknowledgement that land ain't coming back.

Taylor seems to have been frozen out which seems odd. I agree though, he's a better option. Bree at RCB is less scary than Wood, and that says a lot.

Wire

It doesn't matter where they source things/people from, the facts is they're sourcing them. Re the bold but, there'll be a settlement. It was obvious from day 1, and is inevitable after the Trump election win. The terms will get ironed out.

Who else in a back 3 with Bednarek out? Taylor can play there, but he can't even get in the team in his preferred position.

I ask as I have a feeling that he wasn't, so probably isn't up to speed with our stellar tactics, and a million miles from match fitness. We'll doubtless have Wood starting against Liverpool, and ABK sat at home in front of the fire.

I couldn't bring myself to. Haaland for me.

Is he training with the first team?

He's been one of the sensible ones - we've had predictions of Russia running out of soldiers, munitions, no negotiations, no ceding of land, etc. All ridiculously hopeful/fanciful.

Hardly Blitzkrieg I agree, but the point is that Russia are not being pushed back even with US support. Putin will achieve those aims imo, although EU membership I wouldn't rule out. The land has gone and won't come back though, and there's not a snowballs chance that the US will agree to Ukrainian NATO membership.

Russian gains accelerate. Troop losses estimate is interesting when compared to some of the numbers on here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c20726y20kvt?post=asset%3Ab4159790-b901-4f6d-9db5-f835d865071c#post

Hole

Sure, no tax rises are popular, and will hit some more than others. The NI in employers will be damaging, and CGT will have an impact. The farm issue is a different issue for me as it impacts the passing of generational businesses, and will lead to a reduced number of operational farms which has all manner of impacts.

Daft point. Brexit has happened and has screwed farmers so it's obvious that the government has the responsibility not to screw them more. And using Farage as a source, blimey.

Yep, two sticks as well. Great things. Back to penguins. Rubbish imo, but the Aussie version ( Tim Tam's) are a thing if beauty, especially the caramel ones. Top 3 chocolate bars: Yorkie Twirl Double Decker

I think most farmers are "well off" in terms of their level of non disposable land and assets, but I've not met many that are well off in terms of disposable income or capital. They're definitely not well off from a work/life balance either.

Thanks for the input. I have a friend who's business is basically a broker between farmers and major developers. He persuades farmers not to farm land that doesn't make them money anyway in return for a huge lump of cash. The land no longer being farmed creates a carbon offset to allow housing development elsewhere, and one can understand that the farmers will be encouraged to provide that development land. I'm not surprised to hear that it's happening now. I'm not a farmer, but looking from the outside I don't like that this way if life is going to end for many, and I also don't like that as a country were becoming less self sufficient.

Yep. This is a bloody serious issue. Family business, homes and way of life will have to fall by the wayside to pay tax. Add to the mix that our inability to be food self sufficient becomes more of a problem. And we get SoG banging on about the farmers coats. The cynic in me wonders if part of the motivation is to create land for housing, with a carbon offset being created to allow building by the land no longer being farmed. Regardless, some comments are ridiculous and show no empathy or understanding of the issue and the impact.

Donald Trump Jr has a strong view on it. https://x.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1858242971373637784 I'm not sure what escalation people think we'll see as a result of this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0mzgv4x901o Ukraine still losing ground, and that's with US support. Zelensky warming up his people up his people for the inevitable diplomatic solution, and concessions. Sad situation.

Rolled

Saintsforever is the one I meant. The tubgirl, amygate, etc one.

Can anyone remember when Saintslist began? Forum life was definitely better then - some absolute nutcases on that site.

Good post, and I'm with you on expectations. Awful things. If we expect too much of ourselves and don't meet them it doesn't feel great, and if we have expectations of others that are not fulfilled we can cop resentments. That's all over above your point that people have expectations of the world generally that just aren't realistic, and are completely out of their control anyway. Keep expectation of others realistic (or better still expect nothing of others), do what you can reasonably do and as well as you can, accept people and the world as being what it is, and life is infinitely easier. On your other point. There's a difference between the split topic and the subject being discussed pre split. Hypo's point was that the world is the best it's ever been, whereas the split topic could mean is life (for us) better now. On the first point, I remain of the opinion that the world isn't the best it's ever been. On the second point, I've had periods of my life which have been much better than the present, but on the whole my life is much better now for all manner of reasons, least because I keep expectations low and therefore am rarely disappointed.