rocket_scientist

I know you're all watching the Libertines at Reading on BBC4 just now. Can I recommend the programme that preceded this? You can go to hell, I'm going to Texas by Rich Hall. I know that it wouldn't appeal to 95% of the population. But I'm a perennial optimist. It was uplifting for the precision of its social observation. And Rich Hall is sheer class. It will be iplayerable.

Well if that shite club want rid, why are we getting excited?r

Good omen. For the second time this season, for the second consecutive week, he's picked our best team: - 19 Ward 02 Logan 05 Taylor 04 Considine 03 Shinnie 22 Jack 10 McGinn 07 McLean 11 Hayes 09 Rooney 17 Goodwillie That alone deserves a victory. Hopefully a comfortable one. COYR.

Wonder how much Ward influenced him? Good work guys.

Interestingly and sadly, I think this may well be correct. A solid and capable footballer but I wonder if he no longer wants to be here? There may well be domestic issues influencing him here, as mentioned but after a game last season where they force some players to go into corporate after the game, he was reticent or reluctant to take the plaudits he was being given, perhaps understandably from pissed up Dons fans but I wondered if there was something else going on? This season I've been surprised at how quick he is to berate his team mates. His attitude these days may well be that of a man on his way out of here. Pity really because he's definitely one of our best 11.

I can't remember any furore about the RDS, nor am I qualified to comment. By the time we left for Melbourne in 91 it didn't exist and when we came back in 94 it was up. Couldn't imagine there would have been. It's a great facility. The most stunning thing about all this history was that our brand new chairman agitated for a new stadium at all, within months rather than years, in the same decade as we had just spent the money to start redeveloping and modernising our spiritual home, and in fucking Kingswells of all places. The rest, as proved by the balance sheet every subsequent year thereafter, is history, and a matter of fact.

Very on topic, this thread has been running for over SIX YEARS. Go back almost 20 years and our chairman was angling for a new stadium for Kingswells, on land that he coincidentally owned, whilst the paint was barely dry on the RD stand, which he built, and which was the deal-breaker that got the little shit into our club. It's still not happening. Meanwhile, the evidence of incompetent financial mismanagement has not been dissipated. That £600k of our money he spent on a feasibility study was a good spend but insignificant compared to the rest. And our footballers still don't have a training ground. He lied at the Capitol during the first shareholders meeting that the "product would always be the priority". 19 years later, we're still being run like shit.

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/08/26/neo-need-paul-craig-roberts/ Where is Neo When We Need Him Paul Craig Roberts In The Matrix in which Americans live, nothing is ever their fault. For example, the current decline in the US stock market is not because years of excessive liquidity supplied by the Federal Reserve have created a bubble so overblown that a mere six stocks, some of which have no earnings commiserate with their price, accounted for more than all of the gain in market capitalization in the S&P 500 prior to the current disruption. In our Matrix existence, the stock market decline is not due to corporations using their profits, and even taking out loans, to repurchase their shares, thus creating an artificial demand for their equity shares. The decline is not due to the latest monthly reporting of durable goods orders falling on a year-to-year basis for the sixth consecutive month. The stock market decline is not due to a week economy in which after a decade of alleged economy recovery, new and existing home sales are still down by 63% and 23% from the peak in July 2005. The stock market decline is not due to the collapse in real median family income and, thereby, consumer demand, resulting from two decades of offshoring middle class jobs and partially replacing them with minimum wage part-time Walmart jobs without benefits that do not provide sufficient income to form a household. No, none of these facts can be blamed. The decline in the US stock market is the fault of China. What did China do? China is accused of devaluing by a small amount its currency. Why would a slight adjustment in the yuan’s exchange value to the dollar cause the US and European stock markets to decline? It wouldn’t. But facts don’t matter to the presstitute media. They lie for a living. Moreover, it was not a devaluation. When China began the transition from communism to capitalism, China pegged its currency to the US dollar in order to demonstrate that its currency was as good as the world’s reserve currency. Over time China has allowed its currency to appreciate relative to the dollar. For example, in 2006 one US dollar was worth 8.1 Chinese yuan. Recently, prior to the alleged “devaluation” one US dollar was worth 6.1 or 6.2 yuan. After China’s adjustment to its floating peg, one US dollar is worth 6.4 yuan. Clearly, a change in the value of the yuan from 6.1 or 6.2 to the dollar to 6.4 to the dollar did not collapse the US and European stock markets. Furthermore, the change in the range of the floating peg to the US dollar did not devalue China’s currency with regard to its non-US trading partners. What had happened, and what China corrected, is that as a result of the QE money printing policies currently underway by the Japanese and European central banks, the dollar appreciated against other currencies. As China’s yuan is pegged to the dollar, China’s currency appreciated with regard to its Asian and European trading partners. The appreciation of China’s currency (due to its peg to the US dollar) is not a good thing for Chinese exports during a time of struggling economies. China merely altered its peg to the dollar in order to eliminate the appreciation of its currency against its other trading partners. Why did not the financial press tell us this? Is the Western financial press so incompetent that they do not know this? Yes. Or is it simply that America itself cannot possibly be responsible for anything that goes wrong. That’s it. Who, us?! We are innocent! It was those damn Chinese! Look, for example, at the hordes of refugees from America’s invasions and bombings of seven countries who are currently overrunning Europe. The huge inflows of peoples from America’s massive slaughter of populations in seven countries, enabled by the Europeans themselves, is causing political consternation in Europe and the revival of far-right political parties. Today, for example, neo-nazis shouted down German Chancellor Merkel, who tried to make a speech asking for compassion for refugees. But, of course, Merkel herself is responsible for the refugee problem that is destabilizing Europe. Without Germany as Washington’s two-bit punk puppet state, a non-entity devoid of sovereignty, a non-country, a mere vassal, an outpost of the Empire, ruled from Washington, America could not be conducting the illegal wars that are producing the hordes of refugees that are over-taxing Europe’s ability to accept refugees and encouraging neo-nazi parties. The corrupt European and American press present the refugee problem as if it has nothing whatsoever to do with America’s war crimes against seven countries. I mean, really, why should peoples flee countries when America is bringing them “freedom and democracy?” Nowhere in the Western media other than a few alternative media websites is there an ounce of integrity. The Western media is a Ministry of Truth that operates full-time in support of the artificial existence that Westerners live inside The Matrix where Westerners exist without thought. Considering their inaptitude and inaction, Western peoples might as well not exist. More is going to collapse on the brainwashed Western fools than mere stock values.

Potential problem. Always wise to look at all scenarios, including beyond the boundaries, not just best and worse case. You said "old owners" at Hearts. We still have Milne. The "same mistakes" won't be repeated once those mistakes are known and understood. No problem can ever be solved without first being identified and acknowledged to be a problem. In our case, nobody has ever questioned Milne's motives. Given his position and track record at AFC, this should be scrutinised in detail.

http://youtu.be/Z3QtbD5jHK0

What did I miss? Under Vlad, they were £17m in debt when we were 10m. Who bailed them out that they're affording to spend money on redevelopment? How was it done? I can't even remember how Vlad got binned. Who owns the shares these days?

Jeez. Never expected that. Where do I start? At the beginning maybe? What do you mean I'm a cunt? That's an easy one for you surely? I offer perspective from a highly regarded man, who served in the Reagan administration in a very senior role, a fascinating and intelligent man in his 70's (I think, at least, maybe near or in his 80's), a highly informed commentator who is hugely active and you turn on me for offering you an alternative view of the world? That's a bit fucked up is it no? What didn't you understand? Maybe his rhetoric re being older to be wiser applies in your case? Are you an infant? Perhaps a sheep? Are you one of the gullible arseholes who reads tabloids and accepts the press and politician's views of things? Would you at least attempt to resemble a human being capable of critical thought by taking only ONE point to disagree with? Is that too much to ask? Can you at least try to show that "democratic" debate is not beyond you? Is it not within "our values" that Obama and Cameron go on about that freedom of speech is a given? EDIT: That's maybe too much for you to concentrate on. I'll try again... You've read the OP. Take just ONE POINT from it and offer comment. Intelligent comment this time. You don't want people to get the wrong impression.

Well well, this article, literally published in the last few minutes shows how perceptive the best commentator on the planet remains: - Western Democracy Is An Endangered Species On Its Way To Extinction Paul Craig Roberts The British Labour Party no longer represents the working class. Under UK prime minister Tony Blair, the Labour Party became a vassal of the One Percent. The result has been a rebellion in the ranks and the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, a principled Labourite intent on representing the people, a no-no in Western “democracies.” Corbyn is too real for the Labour Party Blairites, who hope to be rewarded with similar nest eggs as Blair for representing the capitalist One Percent. So what is the corrupted Labour Party doing to prevent Corbyn’s election? The answer is that it is denying the vote to Corbyn supporters. You can read the story here: http://www.globalresearch.ca/britains-labour-party-purge-is-underway-preventing-supporters-from-voting-for-jeremy-corbyn/5471194 The illegal Egyptian military dictatorship that overthrew on Washington’s orders the first democratically elected government in Egyptian history has issued an edict prohibiting journalists from contradicting the military dictatorship. In brief, the dictatorship installed by Washington has outlawed facts. Washington rejected the government that the Egyptian people elected, because it appeared that the democratically elected government would have a foreign policy that was at least partially independent of Washington’s. Remember, according to the neocons who, together with Israel, control US foreign policy, countries with independent foreign policies, such as Iran, Russia, and China, are America’s “greatest threats.” The Egyptian military thugs, following Washington’s orders, have more or less eliminated all of the leadership of the political party that was democratically elected. The party was called the Muslim Brotherhood. In the presstitute Western media, the political party was described more or less as al Qaeda, and how are the ignorant, brainwashed, and propagandized Americans to know any difference? Certainly neither “their” government nor the presstitute media will ever tell them. With the military dictatorship’s edict, independent news reporting no longer exists in Egypt. Washington is pleased and rewards the dictatorship with bags full of money paid by the hapless and helpless American taxpayers. Americans should keep in mind that most of the dollars that they pay in income tax are spent either spying upon themselves and the world or killing people in many countries. Without resources taken from American taxpayers millions of women, children, and village elders would still be alive in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Ukraine, South Ossetia, and other countries. America is the greatest exporter of violence the world has ever known. So wear your patriotism on your sleeve and be proud. You are a depraved citizen of the world’s worst killer nation. Compared to the USA, Rome was a piker. France herself seems to be collapsing as a democracy and no longer respects her own laws. According to this report from Kumaran Ira on World Socialist Website https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/08/19/fkil-a19.html , “In the name of the “war on terror,” the French state is dramatically accelerating its use of clandestine operations to extra-judicially murder targeted individuals. French President François Hollande reportedly possesses a “kill list” of potential targets and constantly reviews the assassination program with high-ranking military and intelligence officers. “This program of state murder, violating basic constitutional rights in a country where the death penalty is illegal, underscores the profound decay of French bourgeois democracy. Amid escalating imperialist wars in France’s former colonial empire and deepening political crisis at home, the state is moving towards levels of criminality associated with the war against Algerian independence and the Vichy regime of Occupied France.” Where do you suppose the socialist president of France got his idea of an illegal and unconstitutional “kill list”? If you answer from “America’s First Black President,” you are correct. The French people should be outraged that “their” president is nothing more than a murderer and an agent of Washington. But they aren’t. False flag operations have made them fearful. The French like other Western peoples, have ceased to think. Every western democracy is gone with the wind. Washed up, Finished. Every value that defined Western civilization and made it great has been flushed by power and greed and arrogance. Proconsuls have replaced democracy. I certainly do not believe that Western civilization was ever pure as snow and devoid of sins and crimes against humanity. But it is a fact that in Western civilization, despite the numerous injustices, reforms were possible that improved life for the lower classes. Reforms were possible that restricted the rapaciousness of the rich and powerful. In the US reforms made the impossible come true: ladders of upward mobility made it possible for members of the lowest economic class to become multimillionaires. And this actually happened. The governments in Washington committed many crimes, but on occasion Washington prevented crimes. Remember President Eisenhower’s ultimatum to Washington’s British, French, and Israeli allies to remove themselves from the Suez Canal in Egypt or else. Today Washington pushes its allies to commit crimes against humanity. That is what NATO and the National Endowment for Democracy are for. In my lifetime Americans have always had a good opinion of themselves. But in the 21st century this good opinion has hyper-jumped into hubris and arrogance. If you haven’t been around very long in terms of a human life, you don’t see this. But older people do. Just as the Roman Empire ended in the destruction of the Roman people, the American Empire will end in the destruction of the American people. Judging from histories, Roman citizens were superior to American citizens; yet, Rome failed. Americans shouldn’t expect any other outcome. The price to be paid for insouciance, self-satisfaction, and complicity is high. http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/08/25/western-democracy-endangered-species-way-extinction-paul-craig-roberts/

This was written five days ago by one of my favourite human beings. If you're not interested in truth and justice, if you believe what the BBC, the press and the politicians tell us, then look away now. The U.S. Imperial project is dying. Our only hope was true independence of the madness perpetrated by Cameron, Blair et al. True independence from Europe and the complicit NATO was required. The land of the free is killing humanity itself and we, Scots, as part of the UK, as part of Europe are vicariously guilty by association. I hope some of you are motivated to read this commentator. This is one of hundreds of excellent perspectives he offers: - http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/08/17/gullible-americans-forever-paul-craig-roberts Gullible Americans Forever Paul Craig Roberts “Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.” — Mark Twain Listening to NPR news today I was reminded how throughly this once independent voice has sold out. I was also reminded of the Mark Twain quote above. NPR reported that Syrians were lined up in Turkey waiting on passage on inflatable rafts to Greece. According to the NPR report, there are 2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey and 250,000 Syrians have been killed. NPR said nothing about the cause of this murder and displacement of vast numbers of people. It was if the plight of these people materialized out of thin air. The fact that Washington sicced ISIS, al Qaeda, Turkey, the US and NATO Air Forces, and Washington’s Middle Eastern vassals on Syria was not mentioned. The view on NPR is the same as Washington’s — that if only Assad would resign and hand Syria over to Washington, everything would be fine. Americans don’t go to bed every night unable to sleep from shame from the atrocities that the US government has inflicted on Syria. And on Iraq. And Libya. And Afghanistan. And Pakistan. And Yemen. And Somalia. And Ukraine. And Serbia. According to the prostitute media, all of these human catastrophes are the work of dark forces that America must combat. It is all a clever orchestration of public emotion in favor of the military/security complex’s bank balance. The corruption of public discourse in America, indeed throughout the West, is total. There are no reliable reports, not from public or private institutions. The economic reports are propaganda to keep alive the image of a successful America. The reports about Russia, Ukraine, and Muslims are propaganda designed to inculcate fear in the gullible, fear that ensures more power and profit for Washington and the military/security complex. Americans have proven themselves to be the easiest sheep ever to be shorn. The gullibility of Americans threatens the world with armageddon.

Aye, a fair price FOR THE BOOKIE! 33/1 might tempt me. 22's as you can get at Coral, doesn't.

No excuse for a tolerating a bitching whinger or a whinging bitch. You picked her so it's your responsibility to train her. Actually, it's the picking that's the first function. Mine had been to Anfield to watch the Dons and was at the Bayern game 3 years before we met. That's a good background to start with. She bought me the first pint on our first date. Another excellent omen, I thought. But coming from a family where her father and brother golfed all the time, that was key. She just assumed that men disappeared for hours on end, days even. Over 29 years later and still in love. Treat them well, give them lots of sex and babies and they'll never want for anything else. And after about seven years (in our case), they'll have been trained not to moan, bitch or whinge at anything, unless they want a right good slap or a big kick in the cunt. Lifestyle and marital advice, provided by rocket, free of charge. Don't say I'm not good to you

Anyone thinking we can win the league can grab 22/1 right now. That equates to the bookies thinking there's a less than 5% chance that we will. 22's is not good enough to attract my money but by the sounds of it, more than generous for some. I think the prospect of Stevie May's potential contribution is being over-rated too. I just can't believe that McInnes and this squad are good enough to win the league. Yes it's miles better than the previous two decades but it's still not title-winning potential in my book. Not a chance. Nor will it become one this season as the board won't speculate to accumulate.

So do you think this "reasonable squad" and "very good" first 11 is good enough to win the league come May? With or without May?

I am amazed how close some of you think we are to being competitive enough to win the league. Our best 11 are certainly capable of winning every game in Scotland, including against Celtic. But behind our best 11, we're nowhere near strong enough to win the league. Squads win leagues, not 11, 12 or even 13 good players. I reckon we have too big a gulf in class behind our best 11. I'm also not convinced that McInnes will ever prove good enough to win a title.

We would disagree on many things I suspect. That's cool.

That bench included McGinn, Jack and Goodwillie who all came on and who are 3 of our best 11! Until the subs, we weren't doing much in that game and it had draw written all over it. Pawlett was on that bench too and is a frustrating player, one that I don't think will be good enough to get a regular start. My point/opinion is that we don't have enough strength in depth beyond our best 11, one of whom is injured right now. Consi and Pawlett can do a job. Too early for me to say re Quinn but not hugely excited by him so far. We can't win the league without spending money. It's really that simple for me. Depends how much ambition we have. Given our chairman and his track record, I'm not expecting much. We just had our debt wiped out by the Donalds. Another 1,000 on the gate x 10 games = 1/4 a million. We've got loads of missing fans that will come back if there's a chance to hunt glory. Celtic aren't that good but we've got to show ambition to compete with them and NOW is the time to do it in my opinion.

In terms of the squad, we HAVE to strengthen if we have any ambitions to win the league. We've only got 11 strong enough footballers, with Considine as good enough quality back-up. When fit, these are indisputably our best 11, although Saturday was the first time McInnes picked the best available 10 to start: - Ward Logan - Taylor - Reynolds - Shinnie Jack - MacLean McGinn - Hayes Rooney - Goodwillie An injury to any one of these leaves us exposed, although as stated, Considine is a good enough footballer. We HAVE to buy now. We don't have enough cover in this squad. I look forward to the day Flood and Robson don't even make our bench, particularly the latter. Flood has steel, heart and balls but isn't getting any younger and is well past his best.

90 89 88 87 86 85 84 83 82 - Dandy 81 80 - Nellie The Don 79 - Jute 78 - Edinburghdon 77 - rocket_scientist 76 75 74 73 72 71 70 - Manc 69 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 58 57 56 55 54 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 -------- Previous Champions: 2009-10: Dave_min (41 points) 2010-11: BigAl (38 points) 2011-12: Snapper (41 points) 2012-13: Tyrant (48 points) 2013-14: 2014-15: Dandy (75 points)

I've always liked Goodwillie as a footballer. I was delighted that he came to Aberdeen. Since he's been here, I see that he still has the potential to be an excellent footballer. He's just never delivered excellence for us. One of the main reasons for me is how he's being managed. I have no idea what role he has in our team and what specific functions he's meant to be carrying out. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that he knows either. The tactical vacuum that I suspect is contributing to his under-performance is either managerial inexperience or managerial incompetence. The other glaring mistakes that McInnes has made were sticking with Langfield and Leighton for two years and the signing of Zola, who was quite obviously unfit for purpose, the suggestion of this arising within 3 minutes of his debut, painfully confirmed as the opening game of that season unfolded. That he kept on giving Zola chances was stubbornness in the extreme, unless he actually thought the donkey had merits that none of us could see. Another suspicion of weak man-management is McGinn. Niall's purple patch when he scored 9 games in a row or 9 in 10 or whatever it was, the same period when he scored for his country v. Portugal, was pre-Derek. The fact that he shows flashes of brilliance but has never delivered consistency suggests motivational issues for me. I hope that the fact that our manager doesn't get enough from our two most gifted footballers - McGinn and Goodwill - isn't an indication of a ceiling that he's hit already in his managerial abilities, one that may limit him ever getting further in his career or ever enjoying major success.

It is very common for weak managers and bosses to undermine and humiliate subordinates. This happens in every field. It's human nature. Big companies and organisations are full of managers who add nothing to the whole. The mission statement is of secondary, if not insignificant importance compared to their primary personal driver. But I've never heard piss weak managers openly say it. It's only because these privileged "toffs" had been given such jobs by their birthrights/schools/nepotism that one of them had the arrogance and contempt to declare his man-management modus operandi. The m.o. wasn't shocking. It was the open declaration that was. That he was well-oiled helped his truth come out of course but the fact that this pink striped shirt nothing felt comfortable enough to say it in present company was a reflection of the entitlement culture that they all "enjoyed". The constant giggling from two of the four was pretty alarming, reminiscent of schoolgirls, otherworldly (to any NE Scot) and again, a manifestation of who they were. Just as lunching with alcohol doesn't happen very often (for me), in another country less so, and in restaurants we had never been to before, I've never heard anyone openly fill the air with such ugliness. It may happen a lot in some circles and it's not by reason of having a sheltered life but trust me, privileged pissed-up public schoolboy potential faggots being themselves in public (rather than the sanctuaries of their private clubs where I could imagine such ugliness occurring) is not a usual occurrence for me.