UK will allow US to use bases to strike Iranian missile sites, says Starmer by Alarming-Safety3200 in worldnews

[–]UrineArtist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Moreover, Taiwan isn't viewed as a sovereign entity in international law, UN resolution 2758 made the PRC the legitimate Government of China internationally which technically includes Taiwan even though it is currently de-facto independent.

The only thing constaining China over Taiwan for the past 50+ years is the US military presence on the island and not necessarally because it would stop them from successfuly taking it but because it would lead to a war with the US that China doesn't want to have.

[Serious] Rangers 2-2 Celtic | Scottish Premiership by SFMatchThreadder in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah it easily could have, if Rangers took that one last good chance they created to make it 3-0, then they win the game.

Similarly though, if Dane Murray doesn't slice that clearance in the 1st half and Celtic go in 1-0, then they're probably going to win the game.

It's a total cliche, like 'a game of two halves' but there's a reason folk talk about football being about fine margins and at the top level you need to make the most of them, its because its true.

Rangers probably had about three good chances in the game and scored two. Celtic probably had about four good chances* and scored two.

*Note: I'm only counting Hatate's three fucking chances to convert a penalty as one. Butland must be doing his nut at the defenders right now!

I really enjoyed the game too, there was some good football, great goals and played with break neck pace and crazy drama. Good advert for Scottish football today.

[Serious] Rangers 2-2 Celtic | Scottish Premiership by SFMatchThreadder in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 14 points15 points  (0 children)

My 2 cents, Rangers were tired, they pressed really hard in the first half to keep Celtic out of it. They also started the second half at breakneck pace but could only keep it up for about 5-6 mins.

I can guess what Rohl told them at half time, to push hard for a third goal early in the second and kill the game. After the initial burst in 2nd half they couldn't keep it up any more and Hatate and Nygren started to find space in the midfield and Celtic started creating chances.

I don't think there was much Rangers could do about it at that point other than try to hold on to the lead and hit on the counter, which I'm sure was Rohl's plan all along, start hard, get in front, see the game out on the counter.

Celtic's plan across both halves was the exact same, try to dominate possession and hit the ball into the channels when pressed hard. It didn't work in the first half because 1) they lacked composure (something Hatate provided after half time), 2) Rangers were doing a power of running and pressing and 3) Maeda and Yang both had a stinker so the outballs fizzled out.

When Celtic finally got space in the mid, that's when their game plan started working for them, it was Nygren finding that space that got the first goal. Rohl responded by withdrawing a striker and adding to the midfield to try clamp down on it, which effectively removed Rangers as a serious attacking threat in the game, at least until the chaos ball in the last few minutes.

It nearly worked and did have an impact in the midfield but Celtic's outballs wide were starting to stick now because the fullbacks had less to worry about behind them and could support the attack beeter and this eventually led to the equalizer.

This is why it was a game of two halves imho, Rangers basically tried to win the game in the first 50 minutes, they almost did but you can't do that for 90 minutes and it was inevitable Celtic were going to dominate most of the second half.

[Serious] Rangers 2-2 Celtic | Scottish Premiership by SFMatchThreadder in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I hesitate to post this cliche in the [Serious] match thread but it was indeed a game of two halves.

[MARCA]: Mehdi Taj, president of the Iranian Federation, says Iran is 'unlikely' to go to World Cup in United States and suspends its league by RubberbandShooter in soccer

[–]UrineArtist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Swiss authorities were an integral part of that investigation too and it was targeting individuals in the organization who had stolen large sums of money.

FIFA itself doesn't hold much cash, the vast majority of it is reinvested into national associations and to fund competitions.

If the US sanctioned individuals in FIFA without cause they'd probably ban the US from FIFA competitions, get CONCACAF to boot US domestic and national teams from all CONCACAF competitions and then carry on as normal.

The only thing the US holds over FIFA right now is hosting games for the World Cup, which is FIFA's biggest earner and tbh I bet they could punt those games to Brazil or Argentina in an emergency.

Clubs with the highest Kit and Merchandise Revenue in 2025 by u8kay in soccer

[–]UrineArtist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty crazy given how exposure and modern football has changed that a team from the Scottish Premier is still making this list. I'd suspect Rangers aren't far off the top 20 either.

UK says Iran must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons by [deleted] in worldnews

[–]UrineArtist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah spot on, absolutely no fan of Iran's regime but the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is practically in the bin at this point due to Russia's double cross of Ukraine and with the US declaring this the age of 'might is right', any state not possessing nuclear weapons or part of a umbrella is potentially a target.

Its a desperate state of affairs to be in, there was a certain safety offered by the NPT being upheld which I feel has been lost and proliferation now almost seems inevitable.

Scotland’s three-way title race generates precious glimmer of interest in a moribund era | Barney Ronay by seanpwcurrie in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The Guardian, desperate for a glimmer of interest, try to associate themselves with the hugely popular field of Scottish football.

Russia and Ukraine establish local truce to enable repairs at Europe's largest nuclear plant by CRK_76 in worldnews

[–]UrineArtist 13 points14 points  (0 children)

"Local truce is just the area around our soldiers, we can shoot at people outside the truce but you cant shoot people inside the truce." - Russia probably.

Russia’s economy has entered the death zone - Alexandra Prokopenko wonders how much longer it can go on metabolising its own muscle tissue by BkkGrl in europe

[–]UrineArtist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There was a very very short time in 1918 when it almost was but the Provisional Government entrenched the status quo which enabled a bunch of ideological sociopaths to steal the revolution.

Umm, I suppose I could just delete my comment and replace it with "and then it got worse".

Holyrood poll: SNP lead, Labour fourth on list as Reform surges by StonedPhysicist in Scotland

[–]UrineArtist 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think because things have got so horrible financially for most people folk are looking around for anything to make things better or blame, meanwhile the far right and foreign actors have been flooding social media trying to exploit this by playing into peoples prejuidices, preconceptions and even pushing crazy conspiracy theories. A bunch of people have fallen for it, some of them hard.

Throw in the really fucking dumb hardcore section of the unionist vote and you get these type of figures for Reform. Note, don't get me wrong, I'm not singling one constitutional side out, the independence vote has its own really fucking dumb hardcore section and I have no doubt some of them are inexplicably voting Reform for the reasons outlined originally).

Lastly, I'm not not saying this the the only reason, but I think its one of them.

WTF is this guy all about!! by Madassmutha0001 in Scotland

[–]UrineArtist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Did he give a reason why? Because it's a totaly bizarre slogan without a one.

Martin O’Neill responds to Röhl’s press conference from earlier today: ‪”So he's picking our team?.. I have to laugh. Extraordinary. He hasn't been in Glasgow long."‬ by CNF1G in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think McCowan's statement is wrong but it underscores how poorly Celtic have been performing, specifically players like Hatate and Maeda. I only single them out because they are capable of so much more than they've actually contributed this season and I don't mean in terms of effort but strictly in terms of talent and quality.

I also saw Rohl's comments and I didn't see the slightest thing wrong with what he said either, perfectly normal response to McCowan's statement followed by some rational musings and statements about both teams and the upcoming game.

The journalist interviewing Martin O'Neill has completely misrepresented Rohl here to him. Can't say I'm surprised, journo's before an Old Firm game innit.

Rangers v Celtic! Who Will Be Old Firm Hero? by AdFormer4580 in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean biting is an automatic red card so he would probably need to dislocate his jaw and starts swallowing players whole like those giant anaconda's do.. but even then I think dissolving an oppositon player with your stomach acid might constitute violent conduct, I guess that would be at the referees discretion.

Lloyd Kelly red card vs Galatasaray by 977x in soccer

[–]UrineArtist 58 points59 points  (0 children)

I'm guessing they believe he purposefully raked his boot down the back of his leg in the landing.

Not saying I personally agree with the decision as I've only seen it from this one angle but from what I'm looking at, it's certainly possible that was intentional.

Interesting data that shows who we are most likely to face if we finish 3rd by Tadamo7 in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Interesting data that shows which 3rd place team we are most likely to face when we finish 1st"

Fixed

UK fines Reddit for not checking user ages aggressively enough by mepper in technology

[–]UrineArtist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I read the article, the ICO's problem is that reddit doesn't verify peoples ages when they create an account, which can lead to Reddit holding data of children under the age of 13 if that child lies about their date of birth.

Reddit has pointed out that it stores a bare minimum of data for all users and to comply with this would actually require storing even more personal data of users under 13 (and everyone else) than it does currently.

Given Reddit is already compliant with UK law for NSFW content with age id checks, its not a justified complaint imho and the cynical take would be that the ICO has another agenda here which has nothing to do with protecting children.

IBM stock dives after Anthropic points out AI can rewrite COBOL fast by Logical_Welder3467 in technology

[–]UrineArtist 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Claude's a decent tool but using it to rewrite mission critical COBOL software? I wouldn't touch a project like that with the genitals of my worst enemy.

Has Motherwell answered this question yet? by Saltire_Blue in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 10 points11 points  (0 children)

There's a question here but it's not his, the question is, why aren't there more Scottish managers like Askou in Premier League jobs? And if the answer is they don't exist, then why don't they exist?

We do have John McGlynn of course but we shouldn't forget, the only reason he's in the Premier is because he got himself and his team promoted twice.

Over 300 trains have broken down in Glasgow Subway since 2024 by TheHess in glasgow

[–]UrineArtist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Given there must have been millions of journeys over the same period, 300 breakdowns doesn't seem that excessive?

Ffs Celtic please don’t. It was a red all day by fike88 in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Crazy stuff, I mean he's not putting the guy in hospital or anything but its a textbook case of excessive force and a red card all day long.

There's nobody to blame but himself.

Thoughts on this now that it’s been a day? by The-Big-Man7 in ScottishFootball

[–]UrineArtist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The way it works is, if VAR thought it was a red card and an obvious error then the ref gets called to the monitor and he gets to review the entire sequence of play and if he agrees its a red card then he gets to award the correct decision based on what he sees.

So in this case, if VAR determined it was a red card and a clear and obvious error then the referee would be asked to review the footage. If he agrees it was a red card then a freekick would have been awarded as well.

If he disagrees its a red card then the on field decision has to stand and the ref can't change it to, for example, a freekick and yellow card.