nutbean

What really has me scratching my head is the intellectual rigor that goes into what Trump says and what Trump tweets. I read with interest what the likes of Biffen, Prodee and yourself write and as you are aware I don't lean the same way. But I have to take what is said and go and do homework and try and understand where assertions are coming from and how positions have been arrived at. At times it not all that easy and clearly there is no black and white - just lots of shades of gray. Two sides to every argument. With Trump he just says stuff that you know is just plain wrong, he has made up on the spot and plainly contradicts what he said in the past. Prime example - "I have no relationship with Putin" - I guess that I get that all Politicians lie - I just want it to take a little more work to catch them out than it does with Trump.

is there such thing as doing a good hammy ?

Some of the difficulties we have now is due to the media and the standards of journalism. My view is with the advent of social media/internet and instant gratification we have gone from reporting that had some substance behind it ( albeit some reporting/news outlets have always had some political bias or colour) to flat out - "lets get this story out there before someone else does as quickly as we can - facts or verification be damned"

Dont disagree with any of the above - it does make for interesting times. All I can say is..don't blame me - I voted for Frank Underwood..

There will be no Watts. He will be too busy giving testimony before the Royal Commission.

because there hasn't been enough written about Watts to date.....

I am totally perplexed. I read the article from top to bottom yet I could not find Susan Sarrandon's cleavage anywhere.

The irony has actually escaped you. If there is a legal wiretap authorised (and from my reading the Trump camp are not suggesting otherwise) it must be approved by a judge and there must be primie facie evidence of criminal/illegal activity. This quote from Lindsay Graham ( R - SC) I don’t know if it’s true or not, but if it is true, illegally, it would be the biggest political scandal since Watergate,” Graham said, referring to a scenario in which the Obama administration tapped Trump’s phones without a warrant. But then Graham, suggested that it would equally shocking if the eavesdropping had been done legally. “The other side of the story ― just be quiet for a second ― if the former president of the United States was able to obtain a warrant lawfully to monitor Trump’s campaign for violating a law, that would be the biggest scandal since Watergate,” he said. Graham made clear that the latter form of wiretapping would be aimed at investigating “Trump campaign activity with foreign governments.

Doesn't make it any less real because it's Breitbart ? yes... yes it does....

Because those 10 ex players are exactly that ? ex players ?

Not upset we took him. I'm upset that apart from last year he has underperformed.

I think you are being harsh on Ziebell - however - how other footballers from other clubs are judged/perceived is a matter for them. We are only talking about the player is who on our list.

And Lewis, Vince and Jones if they can break into the senior squad...

What are you talking about ? I have dreams of Jonesy and Viney holding aloft the JLT cup....

I enjoyed what Watts brought to the table for most of last year. The best you can ask for of any player is they make the most of the abilities they have been given and on their weekly performances, you want the smallest of gaps between a players best and worst. Nathan Jones will never be elite in my opinion but over the past 5 years he almost always plays to his ceiling and the gap between his best and worst has been narrow hence he receives all the accolades he deserves. Prior to last year Watts teased us with delicious moments but that's about it. I am not sure there is objectivity on here regarding Watts resume to date. Pretty simple for me - He had his best year last albeit with a drop off over the last weeks ( he wasn't Robinson Crusoe) before then his good and bad were acres apart. (with not enough good)

The only thing that I really don't get is trying to blame anyone else but Watts himself. If you have a poor attitude, come back in bad shape or haven't met training standards who's fault is it ?

I think the club have handled the matter completely appropriately. To my mind there is no way known that Jack has been kept in the dark to where he sits and the only reason it is a story is because he was left out of two JLT games. Unless people expected the club to come out 4 weeks ago and say "Jack Watts is not up to scratch at the moment" - to what end ? There is no subterfuge here. If it was any other player at the club I would suggest people would be ripping into the player.

don't poke the bear.....

I'm not sure I get the rationale. Oliver rarely gets caught WITHOUT getting his hands free so he can dispose of the pill by handball. His handball is an absolute weapon. It just always gets to someone in a better position. Harking back to Williams - no one told him to handball less. It doesn't matter if he is predictable as long as he keeps getting those handballs away to advantage. Hunt predictably gets the ball and runs, Dustin Martin predictably fends players off with the don't argue and Josh Kennedy of the WCE is predictably one of the best hit up forwards in the game. It is one thing to be predictable, it is an entirely different story of trying to stop the predictability being successful. I expect that if the opposition cover all his handball exits then he will kick - pretty simple.

I am always one that believes actions do speak louder than words but this is the first time in my memory that we have the 3 pillars for success. Sound administration, excellent coaching panel and oodles of talent. I will suggest that a lot of the real talent is still young and there are still a few gaps on the list but the KPI on Roos was to leave the club in much better state than when he arrived and he did that in spades. Whilst I am not big on the club issuing "words" we are now in position to deliver.

All players should be in the same boat - play so well that you can't leave be left out. Dunn had ok form when he played last year but wasn't outstanding and was therefore behind Omac. Lets rewind to Nev Jetta. He was almost done and dusted. His form warranted that he could not be left out of the team. It is harder and harder now that we have raised the bar with more talent. The simple fact is that Garland is now behind others and he will have to play out of his skin or he won't be picked. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the same goes from Jack Trengove.

Ticketek don't have a resell arm only Ticketmaster. It is a disgrace. I can't see what the commission is but wait for it - if you sell a ticket you don't get your money until 7 days after the event ! So if you buy tickets at inflated prices off resale, not only do they get a commission but they keep your money until 10 days after the event. So they have the money for the first time they were sold and the second time !! You will wait until November to get your money for midnight oil tickets you sold. Ticketmaster resale is owned by Ticketmaster who I believe is owned by Live Nation. Edit - FYI - I do not condone the scalping of tickets period. Ticketmaster are not scalpers - they are facilitators. Rjay - you got me so worked up that I lodged an official complaint with the ACCC

In the current environment I struggle to even distinguish which party is the least offensive.

I guess we are flogging a dead horse here but I don't see any difference between Labor and the Libs on policy development - they both have formalised structures for policy - policy groups, state conferences, national conferences etc. Both parties absolutely expect party unity and discipline within the parliament ( or being sheep as you call it) and when Abbott stands up from the backbench and goes against Lib policy he was called out for destabilising and sniping exactly as anyone doing it from the other side of the benches would be called out. Both parties demand that after policy has been settled, that members tow the line and be sheep. We all prefer good policy and I support what I consider good policy over belief in a party or individual. And if Abbott expounds policy completely different from current policy I don't have a problem with it. But I also fully understand why he was publicly whacked by all within his party. There can be some dissent from stated policy or actions taken but a five point plan of the magnitude he spoke about is not something you release from the backbenches. I support good policy over belief in a party or individual hence the reason I struggle to put pen to paper on the ballot form.

A few years back I missed out on a Neil Finn show under the same scenario. After 10 minutes tickets were on sale on ticketmaster resell at 5 times face value. I sent a blister of an email to them - it is scalping - nothing more, nothing less. If they provided a service of reselling tickets people couldn't use at face value plus take a service fee I wouldn't have a problem but they are aiding and abetting scalping. I got no response. I called the ACCC and they sympathised but said that scalping legislation is limited to sport events like the Grand Final. It did have a happy ending. I was so angry I contacted Neil Finns management. They were unaware at that stage of ticketmaster resell. They were disgusted but said both agencies - ticketek and ticketmaster were hopeless. They found tickets to the show for me !!