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Messages - DJC

2
The Sports Desk / Re: Vale Dennis Cometti
Very sad news.  Apparently Dennis had been battling an illness for a couple of years.

He was a very knowledgeable and entertaining commentator - one of the best!

My favourite of Dennis's many brilliant lines was when Heath Shaw smothered Nick Riewoldt's certain goal in the 2010 Grand Final: "He came up behind him like a librarian!"

RIP
3
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
From the Age:

Quote
Bettors placed $US425.4 million ($598 million) in wagers on geopolitics questions on Polymarket in the week ending March 1, up from $US163.9 million the week before, according to user-compiled data on Dune Analytics. Across the site, total wagering reached a record $US2.4 billion, up from $US1.8 billion a week earlier ...

Nine of the 10 most-traded geopolitics markets last week were tied to Iran, according to blockchain data. Contracts linked to the timing of US strikes on Iran dominated the list, with each drawing between $US8 million and $US53 million in volume.

The most active geopolitics market asked whether Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be out as Iran’s supreme leader by February 28. That contract drew $US84 million in volume on Polymarket during the week, out of $US104 million total.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/geopolitics-bets-hit-a-record-as-iran-war-escalates-20260303-p5o754.html

Someone is clearly revealing operational plans.  Iran's defence planners should be monitoring the geopolitics markets, if they're not already.

Not Iran but a "mystery trader" received a $610,000 windfall with a bet on Nicolás Maduro’s capture!
4
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 0 2026 Pre-game Prognostications Carlton vs Sydney in Sydney
Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on
I reckon Voss needs a positive win/loss ratio by mid season as that's when decisions will start to be made.
Cox will be in the firing line too if Charlie the  wonder dog isn't firing and the team are struggling..

Wright and Davies have both warned that it may take a while for the new players and coaches to gel but I think you’re right.  At the very least there’ll have to be an improvement on last season evident by mid season.

Cox reminds me of a rabbit giraffe in the headlights 🙄
5
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
It seems that gamblers with inside knowledge are making a killing betting on when and where missile strikes and other military actions will take place.

Apart from the immorality and corruption, this is a major security failing.
6
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
The US State Department has now advised Americans to leave the Middle East by commercial airlines.  Of course, there are no commercial flights.

Marco Rubio has confirmed that the US attacked Iran because Israel advised that it was going to attack Iran and that would lead to Iran retaliating and it was best to get in first 🙄

Why on earth wouldn’t the “Peace President” tell Bibi to back off?

The troubling thing is how fluid the justification for the attack is; preventing the development of nuclear weapons becomes facilitating regime change and that becomes getting in first before Iran strikes.  No mention of Iran’s oil reserves and control of Hormuz Strait.

Meanwhile, Melania chaired a meeting of the UN Security Council.  I understand that she kept her clothes on but WTF!
7
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 0 2026 Pre-game Prognostications Carlton vs Sydney in Sydney
Quote from: Gointocarlton – on
It will be very tough but I am expecting to go there and get a win and give The Peanut a very hard time on the way through.

Hayward spoke about playing against Carlton and being intimidated by the crowd.  You’re going to have to make a lot of noise G2C 🙂

I have every confidence that you can get the boys over the line 🤞
9
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 0 2026 Pre-game Prognostications Carlton vs Sydney in Sydney
Both Weiters and Charlie have talked about how much time they have spent competing against each other over the last ten years.  If anyone knows how to get the better of Charlie, it's Weiters and I don't buy the argument that Charlie is too fast for him.  Charlie is expecting Weiters to play on him and he probably will, at times.  I'm just not convinced that shutting Charlie down is make the best use of Weiters in terms of his intercept marking and setting up our transition from defence.

The only defender I wouldn't like to see spend a lot of time on Charlie is Lewis Young.  I think that his reaction time could give Charlie a metre or two, and that's all he needs.  Help defence from our other talls, and from wingers and small forwards should make it more difficult for Charlie to get that break.  Of course, cutting off the supply is the best way to stop Sydney's forwards and I think we've got the players to do that.

I'm quietly confident that we'll prevail.
10
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Trumpled (Alternative Leading)
A crew member aboard a USN nuclear sub involved in secret squirrel stuff off Greenland became so sick that the sub had to reveal itself and ask for Greenland's assistance which was freely given.

Nek minit, Taco is announcing that he's sending a hospital ship to Greenland to address the dire health issues confronting Greenlanders.  Of course, Greenland has universal healthcare and, while their health outcomes aren't up to par with Denmark, the USA generally ranks dead last for health metrics among peer nations.  Greenlanders, quite rightly, don't want their healthcare downgraded.

The real kicker is that the USN has two Mercy Class hospital ships and one of them is supposed to be on its way to Greenland.  Unfortunately, they're both out of action undergoing repairs in an Alabama shipyard.  Then there's the problem that both ships (converted supertankers) are non-ice class meaning that they can't operate safely in Arctic waters.
11
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
Quote from: Thryleon – on
I love this title.

Who was the bright spark who came up with it?  :D

On an ambivalence level what does a nato sanctioned war look like?

Nothing to do with NATO.  The Treaty only comes into force in a member state is attacked. The USA argued that 9/11 was an attack on it by Afghanistan, hence NATO involvement.  Most NATO countries have refused permission for US aircraft to use their bases.

Also, can I ask, how would we all like it if someone destroyed parliament and enforced their own take on our leadership?

I may be cynical but is this about concern for the Iranian people or access to oil?

We probably wouldnt necessarily hate our government being over thrown but they're going to need some staunch leadership to right that ship, and if history is a guide this is just history repeating since the Iraq involvement in the 80's.

Libya, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria?  Using military might to topple a government can work in the long run, but only with something like the Marshall Plan in Germany or SCAP in Japan.  That's not going to happen in Iran and it's going to take a miracle to see Iran functioning as it should.
12
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
I believe that under International Energy Agency rules, we should hold 90 days worth but we're usually around the 50 day mark.

It would seem to be a no brainer to have our strategic reserves stored here rather than in the USA.  There's really no guarantee that the USA will hand our reserves over or have the means to get it to us.
13
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
Plan EB, what plan?

There's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi waiting in the wings and cheering the US on, but I'm not sure that the Iranians will want to change an authoritarian theocratic regime for an authoritarian monarchical regime.

I suspect that the USA thinks that chopping the head off the snake will encourage the populace to rise up and establish a western style constitutional democracy. 
14
Blah-Blah Bar / Re: Iran, I ran so far away - flock of seagulls
Well, it's on again and more serious this time.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader for the last 36 years, has been killed by air strikes, along with other leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Of course, that's a misnomer as the regime is not republican or Iranian but is a Shia cartel that has brutally suppressed all other Iranian political and religious groups since they seized power in 1979.  I don't think too many folk will be mourning Khamenei and his thugs.

The other side of the coin is that the USA and Israel started a war without UN approval and, in the case of the USA, without the constitutionally required Congressional approval.  On top of that, only about 25% of Americans support the war and that number will probably drop as the war drags on, casualties increase and the price of oil climbs.

Other issues are the expansion of the conflict to other Middle Eastern nations, the closure of the Straits of Hormuz, the fact that regime change has never been achieved through air strikes and always requires boots on the ground, and the potential for Iran to become a failed state like the other Middle Eastern nations that have had forced regime change.

Ukraine is happy because the supply of Iranian Shahed drones to Russia will dry up.

Meanwhile, there's panic buying at service stations and I expect that there'll be a run on dunny rolls  ::)
15
Robert Heatley Stand / Re: AFL Rd 0 2026 Pre-game Prognostications Carlton vs Sydney in Sydney
Quote from: kruddler – on
I'm the opposite.

We are a big unknown right now.
We don't know how we will line up and how we will play.....how the hell do the opposition scout that?

We have the ability to come out of the blocks early and get the jump on them before they get a chance to react.
On the other hand, we have 2 ex-sydney players who would be well aware of their gameplan. The only difference with them is who they kick to in the 50 now.

Later in the year when we've shown our hand it will be harder to get wins IMO.
Early on, anything is possible.

Similarly, we could get done by 100 points if we haven't got our $h!t together.....but more chance of a win than that happened IMO.

I'm thinking along the same lines.  We could have seven or eight debutants on Thursday and that's going to be a headache for Sydney's opposition analysts.  We've also gone from a conventional two KPF forward line to a more dynamic, multi-faceted offence and, potentially, different and more efficient ball movement.

Sydney were rubbish last season, with no real excuses apart from a coach on his Ls.  They won more games than us but with almost the same percentage despite our glaring inability to score. 

Quote from: ElwoodBlues1 – on
Cant lose to a midpack team like the Swans and need to bank wins early and get the pressure off Voss. I dont see much fallout from the top 8 from last season apart from Collingwood who I think will struggle and we cant be losing to teams around us or below imho.

Yes, if we're going to have any joy at all this season, we can't afford to drop games against mediocre teams, even if they have brought in a messiah ... with dodgy knees, questionable attitude and poor second efforts.