Jack

lover of sport and especially Liverpool FC!

[Jack @nlada1]

@DanTakesOnFooty Moment!

[Jack @nlada1]

@DanTakesOnFooty I’m a B’Wood fan … we are in a great place. Probably only injuries will scupper us but still an awfully long way to go in the season … just trying to enjoy the money!

[Hillel Neuer @HillelNeuer]

They gave Navi Pillay a Nobel Prize for her report saying that on October 7th, it was Israel that attacked Hamas. 👇

[The Football Lowdown @FBLowdown]

Forest Green Rovers owner Dale Vince on Peterborough's approach for Robbie Savage:

"Robbie came to see me very upset and said he had intense personal issues that required him to go looking for another job at Peterborough.

"He’s a friend and it was very hard to say no, so I said fine, go and talk to them.

"Peterborough themselves have covered themselves in no glory here. They came to us and said we would like to speak to your manager. We said no and so they spoke to him and then he came to us and said I hear Peterborough want to speak to me. So, that’s an illegal approach.

"In the negotiations, Peterborough paid no respect to Robbie’s position. He was stuck in the middle. He went there on the Monday, they offered him the job verbally and then they denied offering him the job. Then they said they were going to move onto their second choice, leaving him in a real pickle and we had no choice, but to say look just take him. That’s the best thing for him.

"I read that the guy from Peterborough has said that it took a long time and I made it take a long time but, one minute we are playing Sutton and the next minute he’s gone. He spoke to them on the Monday and the deal was done on the Thursday. I’m not sure it gets much quicker than that.

"It was right to get some compensation. It was a matter of respect, they came in and said we want your manager we’ll pay nothing so we told them to do one. Instead, they got in touch with Robbie and said we want to talk to you. It was a wrong, improper approach.

"We were caught in the middle because Robbie is a friend and told us he had an intense personal need to leave. It was impossible to have a proper negotiation. In the end, we said look just take him on your terms. We cared more about Robbie than the outcome.

"Football is not a bad place ,but there's people in it that give it a bad name. Enough said."

#pufc #WeAreFGR

[Jerry Coyne @Evolutionistrue]

The op-ed from the Wall Street Journal about the latest award of the Nobel Peace Prize.

[Hen Mazzig @HenMazzig]

White Lotus and Harry Potter star Jason Issacs always wears his yellow pin to honor and remind the world of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. 🎗️

Zainab Jiwa, a Sky News influencer, erased it from a picture of his interview posted on her social media.

You cannot erase our hostages nor take away his freedom of expression. How is this ok with @skytv?

[Konstantin Kisin @KonstantinKisin]

In case you're wondering WTF is going on, in his 1997 book, the Foundations of Geopolitics, Alexander Dugin wrote:

"Russia should 'introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social, and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics'."

[Richard Woodruff 🇺🇦 @frontlinekit]

French senator perfectly describes the Trump situation.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

My monologue on @TimesRadio 1pm today:

The man who promised to stop the Ukraine-Russian war on Day One of taking power has instead on Day 42 decided to stop all further US military aid to Ukraine. The war, of course, continues to drag on. 

President Trump says his arms embargo will only be lifted when he’s ascertained that President Zelensky is ‘serious’ about peace. 

Exactly what he has to do to convince Trump is not clear. But I think we can be sure Trump will want it to involve a lot of grovelling and kissing of the ring. 

Either that — implies the White House — or Zelensky should make way for a Ukrainian leader who IS prepared to bend the knee. 

What happens next is anybody’s guess — it always is in Trump World. But amid the chaos and confusion it’s important not to lose sight of some pretty fundamental facts. 

First, this is the worst crisis in the long and successful history of NATO and the Atlantic Alliance. It might not survive. 

A pact which has kept us safe and secure for as long as most of us can remember is crumbling, for no good reason other than the capricious whims of a man in the Oval Office. 

Second, it is being demolished on a litany of falsehoods. Trump says America has given Ukraine $350 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid — with nothing to show for it. 

Wrong. America has spent $120 billion. And the dividend has been to thwart Russia from taking all of Ukraine then going on to threaten the rest of Eastern Europe, consisting of America’s NATO allies. 

Trump says America has given Ukraine a lot more than Europe. Wrong. European aid combined totals $138 billion, almost $20 billion more than the US. 

Trump claims European aid is mainly in loans and it will be repaid one day whereas American aid is in grants. Wrong. The bulk of European aid, like American aid, is in grants. 

Thus is NATO in danger of being dismantled on a tissue of lies. 

But it gets worse. It’s increasingly hard to avoid the conclusion that Trump is a better friend of Russia than he is of NATO or Ukraine. That when it comes to a choice — Russia or NATO — Trump chooses Russia. 

It is hard to credit that it can be so. Yet Trump is cutting off arms to Ukraine while Russia’s war machine continues unhindered and Iran, North Korea and China ramp up their support.

The Trump administration is even preparing plans to drop sanctions on Russia before a peace deal is struck, adding to the concessions Trump has already indicated he’ll make to the Kremlin in advance of any talks. So much for his ‘Art of the Deal.’

As Trump tries to discombobulate us with all manner of stuff and nonsense it’s worth holding on to some other fundamentals. 

There is an invader — Russia —  and a victim — Ukraine.

There is a democracy — Ukraine — and a dictatorship — Russia. 

There is a country who wants to be a European democracy and a Western market economy — Ukraine — and another that hates democracy, freedom and everything else the West stands for — Russia. 

That we have a US president who sides with the invader and penalises the victim is proof that our world has turned upside down. 

The US arms embargo will not undermine Ukraine’s war effort immediately. But it will take its toll as we head into summer. 

Europe must do all it can to fill the gaps, as it’s already starting to do. But it cannot replace everything America is now denying. 
Of course Trump may yet pull back from the brink. He wants that mineral rights deal with Ukraine. Zelensky may be prepared to abase himself. Things would be back on track. Sort of. 

But not really. For what lunacy might Trump get up to next in pursuit of his own self-interest and ego? What hope of the Atlantic Alliance when its head is a better friend of Russia than Europe? 

Whatever happens Europe must prepare for a future without America. It was already starting to realise that before Trump pulled the rug from under Ukraine. It can now be in no doubt — and must rearm accordingly.

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Even for people who appreciate the value of free markets, Bezos's new editorial policy for WaPo is idiotic. 100% of affluent capitalist democracies have regulation & social spending, and for good reasons: They save lives in the workplace & highways, clean up air & waterways, educate kids, and prevent kids & seniors from becoming homeless (see graphs below, from Enlightenment Now). Yes, regulation can be excessive & redistribution can create perverse incentives, but that only means the optimal policies must be evaluated & debated--um, perhaps, on an editorial page?--not that they be zeroed out, which is impossible in any case. A taboo on discussing optimal regulation & redistribution makes an editorial page stupider.

[Amjad Taha أمجد طه @amjadt25]

Islamic Relief has been banned in the UAE for funding terrorist groups in the Middle East. Meanwhile, in London, as #Ramadan begins, Islamic Relief is openly collecting British donations to send to Al-Qaeda in Syria and Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood terrorists in Gaza. Yes, it is banned in the UAE but considered a charity in the UK—how does that add up?

[Euan Philipps @EuanPhilipps]

This is the result of amazing work by the tireless David Collier. Fantastic example of investigative journalism having a big impact. Bravo.

[Campaign Against Antisemitism @antisemitism]

We have written to @LSEnews to demand the cancellation of the upcoming book launch event titled ‘Understanding Hamas and Why That Matters’.

This book’s synopsis describes Hamas as ‘a widely misunderstood movement’ and says that ‘the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has been subjected to intense vilification.’

This appears to be an outrageous attempt to whitewash Hamas’ barbaric acts of horror. For all their virtuous anti-racism rhetoric, our universities have become epicentres of Jew-hatred and this event is yet another example of how bad the problem is.

It’s no wonder that reports are highlighting growing concerns of students being radicalised in the UK. It’s time for action, LSE.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Drax — the energy company that cuts down trees in North America, ships the wood as pellets for its power station in the UK and calls that Green!! — banked more than £800 million of subsidies from UK energy billpayers last year, helping to propel the power company that is Britain’s biggest emitter of C02 to record profits of almost £1.1 billion.
A massive scam in plain sight.
E Miliband, of course, recently agreed a deal with Drax that will see energy consumers pay an estimated £500 million a year to keep the plant operating for another four years.
UK energy policy in action: Robbing the poor to pay the rich.

[Tracy-Ann Oberman MBE @TracyAnnO]

Share this widely please. We cant rely on @BBCNews @Channel4News @SkyNews etc to cover it.

[Uri Kurlianchik @VerminusM]

Real Arabs are starting to speak up. Never thought I'd see the day!

[Piers Morgan @piersmorgan]

I admire a lot of what you do, @elonmusk .. but your vicious attack on President Zelensky last night was incredibly disappointing. Anything negative to say about Vladimir Putin - or is it just the guy whose country he illegally invaded who is the problem?

[Campaign Against Antisemitism @antisemitism]

Just when you think the @BBC could not sink any lower.

Days after allegations of our national broadcaster publishing Hamas propaganda emerge, it finally offers a flimsy apology in which it states it will air it again but will “add some more detail to the film”.

Then today, it provides a stage for stomach-churning claims from the very same antisemitic genocidal group.

How about pointing out that the hostages — including a baby and a four-year-old they kidnapped — would still be alive had they not been taken from their home by Hamas terrorists in the first place?

Why does the BBC insist on treating Hamas as though it were some neutral party?

It is a proscribed terrorist organisation that has explicitly stated its goal is the annihilation of Jews and Israelis wherever they may be around the world.

How can the BBC claim that this article is provided “For context” without providing that context?

How can they tell their worldwide audience and the British public who pay their salaries that Hamas says “it would have preferred to have returned them alive” when Hamas’ goal is the murder of every Jew?

The BBC is an abject disgrace.