maxjam

Gutted to see Federer retire. For me he's the best of all time in terms of technique, vision, and style of play. His only real weakness was his mentality at certain critical moments such as set and match points. If he'd had a stronger mentality at a few key moments you're probably looking at 23-25 grand slams that he'd win not just the 20 that he did. 

Nice to see #potterout trending after his first game - 5yr contract ? 
 
 

This is mighty Chelsea though don't forget, they hound Title winning/Champions League winning managers out of their job the next season if they have a minor blip.  Not sure wining anything in Sweden counts for anything ? 
I like Potter, I hope they give him time and he does well.  Equally, if he does struggle I hope that Chelsea stick with him for a couple of seasons and their fans get taken down a peg or two.

Interesting article in the Financial Times about free speech.
 
 

I'm sorry sir, but you're social credit score isn't high enough to attend Preston North End football matches. Watching 0-0 draws is a privilege, not a right.

This is mighty Chelsea though don't forget, they hound Title winning/Champions League winning managers out of their job the next season if they have a minor blip.  Not sure wining anything in Sweden counts for anything ? 
I like Potter, I hope they give him time and he does well.  Equally, if he does struggle I hope that Chelsea stick with him for a couple of seasons and their fans get taken down a peg or two.

*cough cough*
Hmm, its a bit dusty in here, better give it a bit of a clean before the season starts to go pear shaped and they all start traipsing back in...  Oooh whats that?
*picks up half bottle of vodka*
I'll have that!
*takes slug*
Eurgh, that wasn't vodka
*spits* 
And whats that...?
*picks up crumpled paper*
WTF, who photoshopped a picture of a topless Wayne Rooney riding a horse?  And who wrote 'I ? WR' on the back?  Thats just not right.  Maybe I should wipe the sofas down as well.
Anyway, how d'ya switch this damn thing on...

Has it got to the point that we can only discuss our views  person to person and not via social media. I can walk into work tomorrow and have discussions with colleagues about royal nonces, merits of the monarchy etc, have someone tell me I'm talking out me arse and I can tell them the same, no harm done.
I'm more likely to get stick for us losing at Lincoln than my political views when talking to colleagues, mates etc. Social media is looking more and more like a way of controlling people. George Orwell's thought police.......
 

Freedom of speech, very much including the freedom to disagree, is an important cornerstone of a healthy society.
At the same time, @David is totally right to say Twitter is a private company and make whatever rules it likes, and if you want too use Twitter, you have to stick to its rules.
The problem is that Twitter, in many areas, has become the de facto public square, but some views aren't allowed to be expressed. This is why Elon Musk considered buying it, as a healthy future of humanity will depend on the ability to openly discuss rules. But that's not the answer. The problem is that Twitter is part of a centralized Web (sitting on top of a beautiful decentralized Internet) making everything less efficient and designed around adding shareholder value by consumer engagement, especially more clicks, and these are driven by fostering argument and division.
I think nowadays Twitter founder Jack Dorsey regrets that decision. He started opening up about it in a series of Tweets in 2019.:

*cough cough*
Hmm, its a bit dusty in here, better give it a bit of a clean before the season starts to go pear shaped and they all start traipsing back in...  Oooh whats that?
*picks up half bottle of vodka*
I'll have that!
*takes slug*
Eurgh, that wasn't vodka
*spits* 
And whats that...?
*picks up crumpled paper*
WTF, who photoshopped a picture of a topless Wayne Rooney riding a horse?  And who wrote 'I ? WR' on the back?  Thats just not right.  Maybe I should wipe the sofas down as well.
Anyway, how d'ya switch this damn thing on...

*cough cough*
Hmm, its a bit dusty in here, better give it a bit of a clean before the season starts to go pear shaped and they all start traipsing back in...  Oooh whats that?
*picks up half bottle of vodka*
I'll have that!
*takes slug*
Eurgh, that wasn't vodka
*spits* 
And whats that...?
*picks up crumpled paper*
WTF, who photoshopped a picture of a topless Wayne Rooney riding a horse?  And who wrote 'I ? WR' on the back?  Thats just not right.  Maybe I should wipe the sofas down as well.
Anyway, how d'ya switch this damn thing on...

I truly hope that the entitled bunch on here, at some point, understand that transitioning from a club staring in to the abyss to one competing at the top of a division may, you know, take a bit of time?

Did you force ads on the site now?  I get a popup that remains unless I disable my adblocker.  I'm pathologically averse to sites with adverts blinking at me!
Any chance we can have a subscription ad free experience?

What a tweet to bump this topic with!
https://twitter.com/rareltd/status/1569693409467662337?s=46&t=Ygb1fn9XNFSp2nmn01OAWw
 

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Watched on Amazon)
You've probably seen the controversy online and maybe formed your own opinion already, fwiw heres mine after watching the first 3 episodes.
Personally, I think its okay.  The scenery (CGI or otherwise) is excellent, as is the soundtrack at times.  The acting and dialogue, not so great.  The story isn't really compelling yet, but its watchable enough for me at least to carry on.  I'd give it about a 6/10.
If you're not interested in the controversies, thats all you need to know ?
I'm not coming at this as a Tolkien fan.  I've seen the Peter Jackson movies and tbh enjoyed them a lot, but I've never read the books nor invested myself in the lore beyond what I can vaguely remember from watching them.  A lot of criticism I've read centres around it being Amazons vision for Middle Earth and not Tolkiens.  I can imagine as a Tolkien fan you'd be pretty disappointed, as purely a.n.other fantasy epic its not reaching any new heights - its one I'll watch then probably forget.
The diverse cast also apparently triggered a lot of people, although tbh the reviews I've read barely mention this.  Maybe a convenient distraction from the reported $1bn investment into a pretty average show?  Dunno.  Whilst some members of the cast have been pretty outspoken about the diversity of the show in the promotional tours etc, nothing in the actual show stood out as forced or cringeworthy.  If it wasn't for hearing about the controversy beforehand, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.
The Galadriel character I guess is the other sticking point.  Again, not being a Tolkien fan her combat prowess didn't really bother me (She is known as more of an angelic priestess type figure in the later movies).  She is completely overpowered compared to everyone else however which tbh was a little distracting and her characters dialogue and motivations have been written by the office junior.   
I still remember quotes from PJs LotR, this however is instantly forgettable.  Not the actor, or any of the other actors fault - if you're spending $1bn on something you hire the best writers and directors, this was however created by 2 showrunners with barely any Hollywood credits between them.  It would be okay for a run of the mill fantasy show but Tolkien as with my guilty nerdy pleasure, Star Wars, are held to different standards by their fans. 

'but many of the signings are likely to be on big wages, and short-team deals of no more than a season or two'
- We we're limited by both how much we could offer and for how long.
'The issue with this is that they have very few players who are their own permanent players with genuine re-sale value on the right side of 30'
- so its a good thing the over 30s are on short contracts then?
'Short-termist signings are not the answer for The Rams. They need to build on their academy’s core foundation' 
- again, max contract allowed was 2 years. Our academy was gutted and we almost went out of business.  What do they expect, magic?
 
Bit of a flawed article imo, no real understanding of the desperate situation we were in and the restrictions we remain under.

Funny that, Ive been banned twice for the same thing, and for a such less serious thing than calling someone a paedophile...

Hope so ?
I like LR, he talks a good game, is enthusiastic and has stuck with us through thin and thinner.  If you hire a young, inexperienced manager you have to give him time to grow and make mistakes. 
I was always happy for this season to be a stabilizing season ready for a future promotion push, the initial rush of signings raised my hopes a bit, but I'm back to thinking top six would be a very good season. 
Assuming his job is made permanent, I hope the fans give LR the time to grow into the role, I personally think the potential for him to do well is there.

The biggest problem I have with climate change is the media who in turn fuel the extremism.  
Most ordinary people know that we are changing our planet at a rapid rate and we could do things to slow or reverse the change.  We might disagree on severity, timescales and the practicality of imposing changes faster than we're ready for them (current fuel crisis!) but as has been mentioned already big business has already jumped onto the bandwagon which creates scepticism.
Sane, rational and investigative journalism died a long time ago and the partisan media is one of the biggest factors in shaping peoples opinions and beliefs leading to the fracturing of society.  Nuanced conversations are slowly dying out, you're either completely for something or you're a fascist, racist, banned from social media etc. 
Conversations around climate change will follow the same trajectory as politics and covid whereby only one narrative is approved and all other conversation is silenced and other respectable dissenting voices reduced to 'crackpots' in their field. 
Whilst CNN is now under new ownership and getting rid of the more partisan hosts the recent Project Veritas sting showed how they profited from covid and how they expect to do the same from climate change.  Bad news sells after all. 
 

Imagine being the one of the Americans ?
(watch from 50s onwards)
 
 

Hope so ?
I like LR, he talks a good game, is enthusiastic and has stuck with us through thin and thinner.  If you hire a young, inexperienced manager you have to give him time to grow and make mistakes. 
I was always happy for this season to be a stabilizing season ready for a future promotion push, the initial rush of signings raised my hopes a bit, but I'm back to thinking top six would be a very good season. 
Assuming his job is made permanent, I hope the fans give LR the time to grow into the role, I personally think the potential for him to do well is there.

Hope so ?
I like LR, he talks a good game, is enthusiastic and has stuck with us through thin and thinner.  If you hire a young, inexperienced manager you have to give him time to grow and make mistakes. 
I was always happy for this season to be a stabilizing season ready for a future promotion push, the initial rush of signings raised my hopes a bit, but I'm back to thinking top six would be a very good season. 
Assuming his job is made permanent, I hope the fans give LR the time to grow into the role, I personally think the potential for him to do well is there.

The club are pressing on with contract talks with LR behind the scenes apparently, with a quick solution needed as he’s got admirers looking at him.
 

'but many of the signings are likely to be on big wages, and short-team deals of no more than a season or two'
- We we're limited by both how much we could offer and for how long.
'The issue with this is that they have very few players who are their own permanent players with genuine re-sale value on the right side of 30'
- so its a good thing the over 30s are on short contracts then?
'Short-termist signings are not the answer for The Rams. They need to build on their academy’s core foundation' 
- again, max contract allowed was 2 years. Our academy was gutted and we almost went out of business.  What do they expect, magic?
 
Bit of a flawed article imo, no real understanding of the desperate situation we were in and the restrictions we remain under.

You tried to make a mountain out of a molehill in an attempt at shutting the conversation down.  I don't believe the post was contentious and it would have been removed if it was.  I was very careful with what I said and it helped make my point.
I have never said that I am being cancelled, this thread is about freedom of speech on social media in general.  It is my opinion, one that I have tried to argue, that clear bias exists.
What consensus doesn't agree with me?  The half a dozen or so people that have contributed to this thread?  I'm not out to win hearts and minds, and I'll stand by opinions regardless of whether I stand alone.  If people want to agree with me, great - doesn't make for a very good discussion though and if they don't, so long as everyone is polite and courteous I'm not sure what the issue is?
Apologies if this comes across as another lengthy 'rant', I'll stick to more simple points for you in future ?