sadoldgit

We are not talking about a full scale invasion of Russia here, but other practical help for the military. Assistance from the RAF would make a massive difference to their defence capabilities and remember this is defensive action, not offensive action. The SAS could cause havoc with the Russians trying to regroup. At the very least we, European nations, could provide a lot more in the way of hardware. We are told that they are running out of ammo. Why? What are we going to use ours on? refugees crossing the channel? If it is true that chemical weapons are being used, having said we would up the anti, it is time to do it don’t you think? Not that is should make any difference. It’s the butchery that is the issue here, not what methods they are using to kill people.

Why Biden? We signed up to protecting Ukraine when they gave up their nukes, perhaps we should do something about it with a few other invested European nations? This is on our doorstep. If NATO continue to ignore Putin’s aggression then perhaps we should look to operate outside of the NATO alliance? I’m sure we are all sick to death watching the nightly news reports of murders and rapes and Ukrainian people who were bank clerks a few weeks ago now fighting on the front line and running out of things to fight with. I get that politically we are shit scared of getting involved in WW3, but how can any civilised nations, especially those with the firepower we have in the west, sit back and allow this destruction of an independent nation in our own backyard?

Or if you think he is talking rubbish then say so. Freedom of speech and all that.

He is now trying to conflate Gary Lineker’s response to the Daily Mail getting the information wrong about his situation with his ex wife to his own position (as was) about the news from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He really seems to have lost the plot.

I can find another one. I couldn’t get a stream so didn’t get to see it!

To be fair, we were all thinking the same thing.

Like many people, I get my news input from many different sources. Still not able to tell me when you were supposed to have met me? Perhaps you were mistaken?

You think that existed on the Murdoch owned channels? Given you seem to get your information mainly from Twitter, people in glass houses… By the way if we are talking about fake news, have you managed to decide where you have met me yet?

Indeed, although plain abusive posts aren’t exclusive to football forums. I am on and have been on other chat forums, WhatsApp groups and FB groups where WUMs and trolls are just as prevalent and disruptive. I don’t think that they are remotely interested in the topics being discussed, I think they are just looking to wind people up. We all remember people like that from school but in those days everybody knew who they were. Now people hid behind their keyboards and bully anonymously because they know they can get away with it. Some also seem to think it is perfectly ok to have multiple log ins. Unless you had serious mental health issues, why on earth would you bother? We are all old enough and ugly enough to debate and disagree without descending into childish abuse and strange stalking behaviour surely?

I admire your patience. There is a good discussion to be had about the media, especially with the growth and impact of social media over recent times, but sadly this guy will always ruin it. As you have discovered, he has certain targets and will follow them around and jump all over their posts constantly. He used to do it on another forum until he was kicked off. It is basic narcissism. It had to be all about him. He is loving this, not because he cares particularly about the subject, but because it gives him another opportunity to troll and make himself look special. The only problem is that he makes himself look “special.” Anyway, having work in the media for 30 years (The Times pre Murdoch, The Guardian & Observer, The Daily & Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator under Johnson) I can say that our media isn’t that bad. We know where the owners of the various newspapers and radio stations are pitching their wares - mostly right wing - but I am sure that the majority of fairly intelligent people can understand that it probably isn’t wise to rely on just one source if you want to get beyond certain agendas. Sadly when it comes to issues like Brexit, it is clear that there was a large swathe of people who wanted to hear nothing but bad about the EU, so we had Johnson peddling rubbish about straight bananas etc which went down a storm, but with a big of digging was clearly just bollocks. I have finally given up listening to TalkSport after years of listening to utter drivel (apart from Hawksby & Jacobs) and am now listening to LBC. From what I have heard so far it is precisely the kind of channel that would have our mutual stalker reaching for his phone to text but you just know that if picked up the phone and spoke to any of these people, his arguments would melt faster than Matt’s last attempt to convince us that we can’t trust “the media.” We are swamped now with “opinions” dressed us as facts. You would think that a reasonably intelligent person would be able to tell the difference but reading forums such as these, that is usually not the case. John Crace makes a good job of dissecting government members in his Guardian columns but these are clearly just his opinions on the likes of Johnson, Patel, Sunak, Raab etc and if you go to the Mail or Expresz you will find other providing a more positive view. You pays yer money and you takes yer choice. After working for The Guardian for so many years it was a real culture shock to end up at The Spectator! If it did one thing though it was to reinforce my dislike of a certain type of right winger. It doesn’t hurt to venture off into scary territory (although perhaps not as far as The Sun) if for no other reason than to test out your own prejudices. Talking to someone last night he was saying that he didn’t want opinions, just facts, and he would then form his own opinions. Perhaps that is the way to go, but it is human nature to take “facts” run them through our own filters and then present to anyone willing to listen our own interpretation of those “facts” (hence sites like these, radio show phone ins etc) so I think that we are more interested in opinions after all. Nothing wrong with an expect of opinions. The trouble is more and more we have people who have to go further and turn it into a battle of the ego. You then end up with petty point scoring and abuse which totally detracts from the initial aim of just sharing a take on a given situation. I don’t agree with everything you say but at least you try and keep things civil, present your points well and argue your corner in a clear and reasonable manner. Sadly that seems to wind up a few of the keyboard warriors here and it doesn’t take long before it all turns to crap again, but stick with it. It makes a pleasant change to find a poster who wants to engaged in a reasonable debate instead of passing their time looking for people to wind up.

Sums it up pretty well for me https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/matt-le-tissier-southampton-bucha-tweet-b2052348.html?amp

It’s time all of the big powers put their big boy pants on and realised that, if the UN is ever going to be as influential as it should be, they are going to have to make some very grown up decisions. There have been countless wars and conflicts since the end of WW2. It is is everyone’s interest to live in peace and to get along with each other. This means dealing with issues through the UN and abiding by its decisions. The more the UN has the power to deal with international issues the less we need to rely on NATO and nukes. I realise it is a big ask, but if the UN had real power and the ability to bring some kind of United crippling sanctions to any country stepping out of line we would all be in a better place. Putin wouldn’t need his “buffer states” and would have no cause to worry about supposed aggression and expansion from NATO. We now have more countries wanted to sign up to NATO which will only cause more tension between the West, Russia and China. We need to find another, better way.

100% this. As long as aggressors can veto moves against their own aggressive actions the UN will always be hamstrung and unable to act to stop similar acts.

Like others I gave MLT a pass over Covid but he has really lost the plot big time and is making David Icke look rational. I supported him when some were calling for him to be kicked out of being an ambassador for the club, but he can seriously do one now. At what point are the West going to do something more substantial to stand up to this genocide? NATO or no NATO, at what point does intervention based on a humanitarian basis kick in? Give them tanks, planes, what ever they need FFS. As for you Turkish, I saw your post quoted on another post. You really are a deeply troubled individual aren’t you? Only you could post such a crass comment on a thread like this. Perhaps save your childish attempts at point scoring jibes for less serious threads?

Not that I am one for agreeing with Johnson but the one thing he said I do agree with, Putin must not be seen to win. He doesn’t have to be in The Hague himself. He can be judged as a war criminal in absentia.

Wasn’t Liz Truss saying that we would lift sanctions once Russia withdrew their troops from Ukraine. Why? They need to pay for what they have done. Rebuilding Ukraine would be a start but I don’t get that we need to back off once the fighting stops - if it ever does.

Hopefully now we will hear no more claims from Russian soldiers who claim that they thought they were carrying out exercises.

It gets stranger. Apparently the Academy asked Smith to leave but he refused. Why not then have security remove him? Why carry on and give him the award and a platform? There is also a clip doing the rounds from a different angle showing Jada laughing after the slap when Rock says that Smith had hit the shit out of him. No attempt by her to try and calm her husband down, even when he started hurling abuse at Rock.

Perhaps physical violence is one step too far? I don’t think there is any perhaps about it is there? If you hit anyone with a fist or a palm there is a very good chance that you will hurt them. In some case people have died. No one knows what his intention was when he launched his attack, but I don’t think that by throwing a punch/slap at someone it can be assumed that there is no intention to cause any harm to the recipient.

Without condoning Rock’s quip, I do wonder if we would be talking about it if Smith hadn’t reacted the way he did. Gervais ripped into the celebs far worse at the Golden Globes. It has been a thing for a while now to send up the Celebs, most of whom are self obsessed and could do with having their egos punctured a bit. Where do you draw the line? As Dame Edna once famously said to Jeffrey Archer, “If you can’t laugh at yourself you might be missing the joke of the century” As has been said, most people probably didn’t know (or care) that she had alopecia before. Now half the planet does. Nice work Will.

He laughed at the joke himself at first. They have also had jokes made of their “open marriage” a few times recently which they both laughed off. Unlike cancer, you don’t die from this condition and she still looks stunning. It wasn’t as if he was making fun of her looking ugly. I get that piss taking can wear a bit thin but it doesn’t give you the right to match onto the stage on a prime time TV awards show, assault the host and then continue to swear at him from your seat. He and his wife could have shown their displeasure by getting up and walking out. Thing is, he was too busy laughing. It didn’t help that he didn’t apologise to Rock in his speech later.

My thoughts initially. He laughed at first although she didn’t seem to be amused. The walk up to the stage and the slap looked very theatrical but when he sat back down and shouted abuse, that looked to be genuine. Seems odd he was allowed back up to receive an award after going “full Clarkson” on the host. Probably just as well Ricky Gervais wasn’t doing it.

Couldn’t agree more. He was only saying what most of us think, including many Russians. You can’t have a pariah on one hand and not call him out on the other. So what if it gets in the way of “diplomacy.” It really doesn’t matter if Putin uses it for propaganda, if he didn’t he would make up something else anyway. It is not our place to elect their leader, but we can have a view, and express that view, just as people did about Trump, Bush, Reagan. Fair play for Biden for calling Putin out. He has been criticised for being weaker than Trump, but at least he has the balls to say what we all are thinking unlike the idiot Donald. This is a man that, if there is any justice in the world, will be held accountable for war crimes. He is a butcher. He butchers his own people. Time to stop the BS and treat him as the person he is and stop hiding behind political niceties.

I don’t doubt that he values his own life. Our problem is that he doesn’t value other lives as highly, including those of his own country folk, which is why we should be concerned about the effectiveness of The MAD strategy. Pacifism? If it is being used as a pejorative term, honestly, what sane person would be happy for their children and grandchildren to grow up in a world where there is a threat of nuclear annihilation? You don’t have to be a “pacifist” to want to see the end of these threats every few years. There are better ways of finding national security in this day and age and it is time we let go of 20th century thinking and moved forward. Hopefully the Putin era is the wake up call we need. You are right Whelk, this is a good interview. What is particularly chilling is the point that Putin cannot win. What will be the cost for humankind in stopping him?

Not really. He isn’t going to be there forever and once he goes we have a golden opportunity to re look at the whole strategy. As before, it’s all very well for us under the NATO umbrella to sit back with the we’re all right Jack attitude, but it does nothing for the security of non NATO countries. As for MAD, it has been deemed a successful strategy so far because there has been no war between the major power blocks. What it it has nothing to do with MAD and all to do with the fact that there has been no reason for the major powers to go to war so far? If you haven’t, read the Guardian article. You probably won’t agree with it but it does make valid points.