villakram

err... sshhhh, you

Turks are gonna be sent to the naughty chair for this. In addition to the testimony of the surviving pilot, the statement the Turks sent to the security council would have had the Russian jet flying at stall speed... whoops. Anyway, a de-facto no fly zone for the Turks now and perhaps losing control over their border with Syria too.

You want to make a difference... Boycott Turkey. What if European tourism in Turkey dropped to approx. zero? Our politicians may be constrained but we are not. At the end of the day, it's the dollars that matter and if they flow to Greece/Portugal instead of Turkey for the next couple of yrs, watch the pivot that has to occur. The Turkish people just supported that idiot with Sultanic delusions in the recent elections. If his continuing policy hits them in the pocket, that will change. I would add to Boycott Saudi too, but who in their right mind wants to go there. Qatar and their shiney airline are also ripe for targeting. One would like to add in the US too, but that fish is much more complex to fry.

FFS... look at the zero achievement prima-donna we appointed captain. What would you expect. Senior leadership in the squad is provided by Gabby/Hutton/Idiot/Lescott? I can only imagine what the new signings are thinking. If the players won't stand up, then it's up to the manager to knock sense/shape into them. Sherwood was a clown, Remi has looked promising thus far. Not a shot at you woody... just more of a general venting.

He should resign on principal if the board pull this shit or just phone it in and wait to be pushed. Joke of a club if true.

Well, how about we compare him to the legend that could have been... our very own Micah Richards. This is what will happen to him if he stays on the current path. A perfectly ok career with excellent renumeration. Oh, what could have been... oh, who cares, bling bling.

^exactly. Organization makes a huge difference on the football field. We are in a huge hole, but now that we have a competent manager, I think we have a chance. Our squad is easily a match for some of the other dross in the lower half of the league.

The other way to look at it is that Russia now owns the biggest stack at the Syria negotiating table (or at least it has increased), and the Turks will necessarily lose out down the line when this mess is all sorted out. The diplomats will not appreciate having to scramble to clean up Erdogan's mess. Syria is done, the game now is to ensure you (i) have a seat and (ii) to improve your position if possible. Regardless of public statements of support, Turkey has screwed up here.

Where was the oil going? Who was getting paid and is no longer? Who caused the oil to no longer flow? (btw, oh so nice of the US to drop warning leaflets to the "ISIS" oil truck drivers, 'cause collateral damage is bad or something...) Oh look, the Turks have gone and made a complete idiots geopolitics 101 move, why ever would they do that. I imagine the Russians will be somewhat ok with all this, the concessions they get in return will be interesting.

Black Sea, strategic location par excellence since forever w.r.t. Russia.

Aussie 4 part series on the Chinese Silk road initiative. The scale of this project is truly mind boggling and a true game changer http://video.toggle.sg/en/series/the-new-silk-road/ep1/345400

Needs a good kicking in training and maybe some U21 football. Time for safety first crap is over Jack. What are you doing to affect the outcome of the game?

So this is an (I guess) attempt at humor. So stateside a couple of yrs ago there was someone, I think, from the financial sector who committed suicide with a nail gun, or at least that's how the story went. The reaction in certain places was along the lines of wtf... there's no way anyone would commit suicide that way ('cause logical thinking and suicide go hand in hand)... ergo CIA hit squad took him out as this guy knew something about the inner workings of the 1% or some such. Now if one peruses the comment sections of certain websites a standard statement when general DoD/Pentagon/FED related Fookery is in play, is that when someone analyses things pretty accurately, is to warn them to avoid nailguns... the implication being that the MAN is gonna get ya! Anyway, the long way of saying you're pretty spot on with your debt comment. But it's important we argue about abortion/gun right/etc. instead of the actual problem. edit: Quick google leads me to believe this be the src. ""Nail Gun Suicide" Banker's Firm Probed Over Missing Millions" http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-29/nail-gun-suicide-bankers-firm-probed-over-missing-millions Their emphasis... quality journalism "The Arapahoe County coroner's office said Talley shot himself in the chest seven times with 2½ -inch finish nails from a nail gun before firing a fatal nail into his head. Police found him dressed for work, sitting in his car in the garage and with the motor running."

If we stay up it's hard to see it happening any other way than going to go all the way to the 89th minute on the last day of the season.

Do you know where your nail gun is?

Nice Sanchez... feels good to have something positive to smile about

well at least half time appears to have done some good, so that's a nice change from Timmy!

Richardson off as a matter of principle, push Clark over and bring on Lescott, Sanchez on for westy

so weak from Richards, so weak

They've given up already... need someone to put in a fupping tackle

Reckless by Clark and wtf was Richards doing there... had to block that cross, sigh!

In comparison to whom? Our elected representatives have behaved in an absolutely shameful manner in the past 15yrs, and that's saying nothing about what happened before that. At our best, I fear we are no more than the "cleanest" dirty shirt :(

Actually now that you mention it. I was amazed in America that to a great extent they still have to sign the credit card receipt rather than enter a PIN. PIN is far from fully rolled out over there yet. "Oh yeah, it is coming" was the response when I asked with a level of total incredulity (thinking it amazing that the little old Irishman had, in this one small way, arrived from a more advanced part of the world). The US has always been behind the curve when it comes to banking. I remember being there in the early 90s, watching in amazement as my brother-in-law sat writing out loads of cheques (OK, checks) to pay his bills. When I asked why he didn't just set up a standing order or direct debit he explained that they didn't have such facilities. And you could only use ATMs from your own bank, no common clearing system. I assume those things have caught up by now? Simply mental stoneage backwardsness over here. The whole chip&pin thing, well, see in the of the land of the free we don't need no god damn pin, so it's just the chip, i.e., swipe and sign as before. Banks refused to implement the PIN aspect of it due to some bs reason or other, all boils down to cost on their end... mental. Transferring money online between banks is just about almost functioning now, sometimes... For paying bills, your best bet is via CC and then sort out the CC payment via the archaic ACH clearing system.

I learned a life long lesson as a child: bananas are very dangerous, thanks Mario!

I haven't actually advocated a position. Merely outlined possibilities, that I believe to be worth baring in mind. Some, for no other reason than to play out possible scenarios. @Chindie: You are analyzing this situation quite logically and clearly. Now, what relation such a viewpoint has to those who are in some control of the general (or even some) happenings vis-a-vis Syria and to a larger extent ISIS right now is debatable. This is the viewpoint I am trying to appreciate, hence my this and thats above. Oh, and thanks for biting on the NSA bit ... . I had written "NSA endorsed" (kudos to Snowden), but my inner devil told me to remove the endorsed. Tit for tat or just being an ass or some such. I appreciate your input/opinion and I am not actually trying or deliberately intending to troll here.