itdoesntmatterwhatthissay

It's not my best subject (or one I even claim to know about) but from my understanding the US hasn't exactly been a force for good. It would appear that very little progress has been made and while I always assumed Obama did a good job (politically) to try and bring peace, facts show otherwise. Having read the full transcript and watched the meeting too it's clear that Trump and Net are not yet on the same page. The way Trump turned to him and said "all human life" plus that Net was clearly trying to educate/propaganda Trump was really interesting. Trump said some controversial things but I'm not sure he really has a grasp on the issue. Also the body language between Trump/Net is v different than between Obama/Net; I wonder how/whether that will change.

Bob's Burgers is back

Great management? ha. it's v hard to argue with the bit in bold. There are some close to world class defensive midfielders on less. Then again, give me a Villa player who has been worth his wages? This broken culture of high wages can be plastered over if we went straight back up but I feel next season will be messy with some guys leaving and others feeling frustrated that they're on lower salaries...though you never know, it might spur them to play well to get a Prem Villa salary.....we need some motivation at the club because 3 points doesn't seem an incentive for some players.

For two years I was broken record about Albrighton but I don't think I was wrong. We needed his crossing and energy despite him being limited. And I don't want to be a broken record again (despite me being one on a defensive midfielders for 6 years too) but, these are our results with Jedinak in the team. Couldn't get them all one screen but add 5 draws and 2 losses to that table when he did play. We have to blood in a young defensive midfielder who plays defensive midfield rather than attack or we buy an understudy for an ageing and injury prone Jedinak. It's one thing struggling to score but it's quite another to be loose in the middle of the park.

I think C of E and Catholic schools do a great job in both educational attainment and administration. Not sure why you'd set any alight.

I think Nicky Morgan said they would encourage the voluntary route, but of course you'e right to say OFSTED is driving that agenda through failing local authorities. Faith schools will be targeted next, or those who run them anyway. There's still opportunity to change the conversation especially with May's stance on Grammar schools.

The first point you're probably right. It's an exceedingly complicated conversation. However Twigg has always been in favour of academies/free schools (under Labour), I doubt he'd have much motivation to see the policy change. But the second, I hope not. Primary schools have mostly resisted the change, unlike secondary schools so that's positive. I personally haven't heard it's being put back on the table. I'm assuming you have?

No, it's the opposite. Especially in the US when you control the Senate and your party will put 'next president' strategy over current policy. The vilification is the false shield and has been for decades. Did the media learn nothing from the Bush days? They aren't? Are you sure? Because I see light touch journalism wrapped up in partisan opinion. They are very critical of the individual and not necessarily the policy. eg - How long did it take for people to discuss the ethnic minority clause and tie it to a wider context of bad policy? Are they even doing it? Though thank god the media dealt with the Flynn story like a real story, but then he's not a personality so people were happy to be sold facts. The media pick out only the facts that people want to hear because anger sells. In the long term that does more damage than good, especially in nations with Presidents. Surely after fifteen years of misinformation by our own media which has led to some terrible joint policy decisions (Labour set the scene, Tories rubbed their hands with glee) we would have learnt about the dangers of single agenda campaigning? Eg - Bedroom tax, which was the tip of the benefits failure iceberg. Oh, and Brexit. I have attended two anti-travel ban rallies because I understand the importance of properly supporting refugees. Yet 15% of what was discussed was about the ban/refugee stories and 85% was about Trump as a personality and the need to deport May. When crowds of people cheer someone discussing 'Trump being taken out', or everyone chanting 'deport May' you quickly realise the value of education. You and I may feel informed but those who do not are the majority. Vilification is not reaching pro-Trump supporters and they are the group which will tip the balance, especially in the mid-term's which will see campaigning begin in less than 14 months.

And they shouldn't be afraid to give facts but heck, if you'd prefer them to embolden him some more then get tweeting!

Jesus Christ. Despicable. My family are Polish refugees who ended up in Stafford and Stoke. That sort of ignorance makes me so angry.

I should have clarified that with 'the media should not simply oppose him'. People opposing, absolutely, as that's the democratic voice that is needed. But while the media should help make that voice heard they should be more responsible in educating those who oppose him as well as those who do not. Too much opposition may tip the scales toward him, then you have to fight all over again. He could be given a free pass by virtue of headbutt politics. We need to make sure he has as little ammunition as possible so we can discourage any more stupid decisions. I don't get how ridiculing him is doing anyone any good. It seems to embolden him.

Exactly right. The 'Muslim ban' is being reported on terribly with so little consideration given to history and fact. Clinton was the guy who started all of this and by the end of his term he got refugee applications below Obama's 70k figure. Bush Snr had it well over 100k. Clinton also put in place many vetting procedures and both the House and the Senate swung both ways so much could have been done to be more accepting of the procedure. The vetting system is cumbersome and painful as it is, the Democrats haven't helped with that. Imo Trump could have waited until he had more in place but as it was he did exactly as he said, using a foundation left by Obama. Imo he should have taken Somalia off that list because all of the other nations refuse visa entry for Israelis and Israeli stamps. That would have given him a lot more leverage to remain part way diplomatic. At the end of the day he's playing politics and everyone knows it. Exposing the facts might shift the conversation and that's better than simply opposing him as everyone is currently doing.

No he does not. Hard to say whether it was all true but they definitely weren't embraced by Hawk at any point after which does point to some complicity. The saddest part was how little consideration or assistance they were given by the sport and state. A real tragedy.

@theboyangel A great documentary and the non-skateboarding bits are really poignant.

This is a great thread. Loads of info you don't usually see unless you seek it. I'm learning a lot.

Great link, thanks for posting. School funding is a farce but it has been for ages. The Tory stance on EFA funding a year ago was a disgrace as they agreed to roll back (in conversation) on some terrible decisions and then pretended they never even had the conversation in the first place. It has cost schools millions. However there is a problem with school funding that is down to the headteachers and local authorities and it's a biggie. Schools built through frameworks can cost millions (no exaggeration) more than off the framework and since we joined the EU and Labour got heavy with PFI it's been even worse. Heads also DO NOT care much for who builds/maintains their schools which is taking millions away from education across the county. Some Heads do and they are amazing but too few recognise their responsibility in this respect and it's costing their kids millions in funding. Then we have the stupid iPad programme which has cost millions, added very little and delivers nothing in terms of supportive industry that could feed in to education. A Head I know had to spend 56k in 2 hours last year (on IT), just so they could get the same funding next year.....the system is broken and those working in it are not doing enough to deliver one that works for all. I'm happy that May announced schools will not be forced into academies (good policy shift) but she needs to establish a way for them to revert back because the academy model does not suit every educational establishment. The extra weight given to apprenticeships is positive and it will help many failing academies, and there are lots, but in general no party understands education.

Unless you mean behind, 'as in playing behind', I think many would. We only have one defensive player and it's Jedinak. Hour makes a lot of tackles but we didn't buy him for his defensive work, we bought him for him attacking play and defensive contribution. We bought Lansbury because he's a class passer who also contributes defensively, though not as well as Hour. After 5 years of mismatching styles in midfield (and everywhere else on the pitch) we should have learnt that at times we need to play a less able ball player with better positional attributes. For me that means Jedinak has to be in contention for every game, even if there are two better 'footballers' in Hour and Lans. Bjarn might make it but for now he looks very off the pace and Grealish isn't a central midfielder. However if you are playing Grealish in a 3 you definitely need some proper defensive cover....which imo brings us back to Jedinak. Edit - Jedinak is out for 3 more games so we need a new solution anyway.

Jedinak is number 5, lol.

Bang on. Everyone wants their cut but how they get it has changed. Construction is more expensive than ever, especially in London, If we did HS2 properly and cut all the false costs we could probably save enough to finance the Irish Sea Tunnel

I agree with working smart and not hard but I honestly think it's not as simple as that if you're talking political parties.(not modern day ones anyway) I work across the political spectrum on housebuilding and am fortunate enough to speak to Ministers, local government, trade associations, housing associations etc on a regular basis. Imo Labour don't have a clue, sorry any Labour guys but you don't. They spend so much time fighting about the unimportant that the hard work is never actually done or even identified. Though I'm willing to concede that in terms of supply Labour may deliver more because they now have an agenda; social housing. Though, they still got it v wrong from 2003-2010 with the type of homes they built (flats) and they continue to focus on social housing and not the means to build social housing.. The Tories are doing the hard work but not the hardest work. They concentrated on delivering a product they thought will work and not the momentum to make it work. They are also treading very lightly to reduce the chance of negative equity. Which, if they were working smarter they could do AND increase supply. For housebuilding, both parties are failing to work smart but one is actually working hard in a field they think is smart. The other, well, I don't think they know. In my opinion there have been some very positive policy changes since the awful DC left and while it would be hard to defend his policies accelerating the race to the bottom (in a lot more than housebuilding), May has been different and accepted some truths. With devolution central govt doesn't always need to do more on social issues and planning (though they should), it's local government that is fing things up quite spectacularly. The money wasted is extreme, in fact I spoke to someone yesterday who said procurement on a 100k job is costing a particular public body 400k, before the main contractor adds their cut. It's not because of the Tories, it's a majority Labour council who are part funding and setting procurement procedure....inherited from central Labour strategy. Probably gone off topic now but I get annoyed when I see things like 'tories' and 'race to the bottom' because in my experience very few people have been allowed to start the race under Labour. (modern Labour anyway, I'm too young to really know how things were before Maggie).

I'll pass that on. Their new place is being sold in a few months time.

Maybe in South Birmingham but in North Birmingham they love their expensive captive market. My parents have sold 20+ houses with various estate agents in Sutton (grandparents a few too), my mum basically lived in estate agents. Paul Carr, Green, Connells, Hunters, Acres, Quantrills, Bairstow Eves and Bill Tandy are the ones I remember us using. For years they loved Paul Carr but then he, or someone left and the company went downhill. We bought some land via one of those guys above too, but only because we got in with the client as the agent was still pushing it around his friends. 90% of the homes we sold were family homes and once you sign they give it the push then drop it when someone easier comes along/or they ask you to drop your price. They don't even care when you get a few different estate agents in to do the job, oh sorry, they do, when they realise they probably won't get commission! As for giving valuable advice; sigh. Sometimes that's been our experience. We would fight with estate agents so we could do viewings because they were so bloody useless at their job. Better for us to give viewers advice as we actually knew the process. In my experience selling isn't too tough, getting a good solicitor is the valuable part; a good one (on both sides sadly) makes completion so much easier and they also whip slow estate agents. I now live in Brighton and the house has found renters for when we leave. 11 groups came round with the agent, nothing, 2 with me, both of mine said yes to the agent. Oh and the agent has been horrific throughout our process treating us as a cashcow the moment we stepped in. Award winning agents my arse.

Petrov could control the ball and find a pass. His defensive positioning was okay and his tackling poor, so he just worked his way to being fouled or staying close to the man without sticking a foot in....I've seen nothing from Gardner which suggests he has the brain to play a position alien to him. And he definitely doesn't have the skills for it which means when the pressure is on he can't find a way out. Having said that we're a Championship club and he most certainly is a Championship player....and he's still young enough to reassess his career.

Another example of where we used to be.. We used to be able to judge players like Savo and say, no, you're not for us....how the mighty have fallen.

Probably not. I'd imagine he reads his and the oppositions game like a mature player would?