Media Thread 2020/21

[burning blue soul]

I'd never seen this before. Good watch on the greatest sporting moment.

Goosebumps, everytime!!!

 

[SilvaisSkyBlue]

The problem with Cohen’s article is not that he raises issues relating to human rights abuses in Abu Dhabi but that he it’s in the context of Manchester City.

Investment from the UAE is prevalent in vast swathes of the western economy but, seemingly, it’s football where it goes beyond the pale. If City are supposedly contaminated by the policies of the Government of which are owner is part, then so is virtually every aspect of our society from the financial institutions on which we rely to infrastructure we use and the fuel we put in our cars. And then what’s the consequence? It’s implied in every article like this that City’s fans should rise up in an act of ethical resistance but seemingly the same isn’t expected amongst anyone else benefiting from UAE investment (or Chinese, Brazilian, Thai, etc) in the west.

Ultimately are we supposed to cut ourselves off from all nations that commit human rights abuses? Or are we supposed to hypocritically salve our consciousness by standing up to City whilst ignoring the egregious abuses that underpin the daily functioning of modern lives.

The second failure of Cohen’s article is the failure to understand that high profile investments from Abu Dhabi work in both directions. There’s a desire on their part to normalise Arab states as part of the furniture of the western world but it also exists to show conservatives that the UAE can invest and prosper in freer and more liberal cultures.

Nonetheless, the response on here to Cohen’s piece is typically depressing - he’s a **** etc. That’s playing the man and not the ball and we need more effective rebuttals. There may be blues who don’t care about torture and imprisonment without trial but I’m not one of them.

Agree with most of your post but not the last paragraph. I am pretty sure that Nick Cohen (a strong supporter of US policy in the Middle East) doesn't care a jot about torture and imprisonment without trial. What he cares about is getting a nice fat cheque from the Observer for producing some re-hashed garbage. There's a big band of freelances making a nice living out of the human rights industry. They are despicable.

Exactly as @bobbyowenquiff, there are quite a few human rights activists making a very nice living out of Manchester City who couldn’t give a flying fùck about actual real human rights abuses such as MacKenna and McGeehan, even Amnesty UK have used Man City as a way of gathering publicity to their associated causes.

I have yet to see them heavily reporting on the abuses by the various UK governments throughout the 20th century in Ireland, basically operating an internment and shoot to kill policy alongside various other questionable policies, many of which are only now gathering greater publicity.

Could also mention the US using the UK and other European nations as torture stopovers for ISIS and Al Qaeda suspects whilst operating Guantanamo Bay at full capacity, many of whom were later released with no charges or proof they were involved with either terrorist group.

Another favourite for these so called activists and journalists is the war in Yemen, a horrible conflict with civilians being targeted constantly, many point the finger at the Saudis and the UAE as the main protagonists in this war, whilst they are both involved of course heavily involved in the actual fighting, it is at the absolute behest of the US, UK and France governments who are openly operating a proxy war against Iran in many countries including the Yemen and Syria, whilst also making a nice tidy profit for each countries arms suppliers.

None of this information is hidden, it is in open view and easily accessible to all, but these forthright defenders of human rights such as the ones mentioned above and journalists such as Deloony and the many other journalists of the Guardian,Independent, Express and Mail etc use it to score points against City because we have the arrogance to win more football matches than their own shitty red tops who are equally associated with Middle Eastern sponsors as is our whole economy, fùcking lying duplicitous disingenuous cùnts!!!

 

[The perfect fumble]

When they mention ‘Slave Labour’, ‘Atrocious Conditions’ and ‘Illegal Detainment’ do they not also refer to our fellow Europeans who come to this country to pick the harvest, living in sheds and caravans and earning less than minimal wage? What about our consent to allow detainees to be transferred to Guantanamo or the legitimate refugees forced to live in disgraceful conditions, during a pandemic, conditions that our very own soldiers were forced to endure not too long ago.

Selective reporting confirms that it is ‘Organised and clear’.

There is much to commend this post but we shouldn't go there, this is the land of whataboutism and moral equivalence and if we play this game we accept Cohen's terms of reference.

Cohen's aim is not to win the argument on face value, that's why he does such a piss poor job in preparing his case, this is just a rambling polemic he reheated from a few years back designed with one purpose and one purpose only and that is to get people to accept its premise, because if they do he wins.

 

[The Future’s Blue!]

There is much to commend this post but we shouldn't go there, this is the land of whataboutism and moral equivalence and if we play this game we accept Cohen's terms of reference.

Cohen's aim is not to win the argument on face value, that's why he does such a piss poor job in preparing his case, this is just a rambling polemic he reheated from a few years back designed with one purpose and one purpose only and that is to get people to accept its premise, because if they do he wins.

His premise is seriosuly flawed, how can anybody take it seriously when he originally mentions that he is a United fan who loves City‘s football. No true fan would admit to that thus setting a false base. Following that I’d expect to read about other clubs owners/sponsors, not only about City. If you are going to omit Saudi Telecom on behalf of United, Rwanada on behalf of Arsenal and Standard Chartered on behalf of Liverpool, to name but a few, then the premise of bringing this up as a debate has not been made.

Mud slinging to make a few quid off those who have a clear agenda against our club.

 

[nijinsky]

A few? I've got 670m in my database - all Rags. And then there's the Dipper Diaspora upon which I would love to test a hickory baseball bat. Do they make baseball bats out of hickory? Sounds as though they should.

Aah, Wiki tells me it's ash, but some can be made from maple, hickory or bamboo. Is there anything that can't be made from bamboo. It's gonne be the saviour of the planet. Wonder if yer can make an electric battery from bamboo that has a range of 500 miles.

Funnily enough modern batteries fuelling everything from phones to laptops to electric cars rely largely on cobalt mined by children in Congo for their Chinese overlords.
Luckily these middle class media twats with selective ethics don’t have to worry about this as they can make their click bait, money from misery, directly from a cloud above pious mountain.
It’s just us mere mortals who encourage this child slavery due to our addiction to the latest iPhone, and our lack of morals of course. Shame on us who don’t boycott anything Chinese made.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

95% of Chinese citizens are very happy with their lives and the leadership. That's because their leadership has brought them prosperity and financial security, creating a well-off and entrepreneurial middle-class. In return, they ask that these people don't rock the boat, which they're happy to agree to.

Just replace "Chinese citizens" with "German club owners" and "leadership" with "Bayern Munich' and you have the Bundesliga.

 

[Groke]

Let's be clear, if Liverpool were owned by a UAE Sheik, there would be not one mention of human rights. This faux narrative is just one prong of a sustained commercial attack on city.

 

[Winchester]

According to the clown commentating
At Spurs
Serge Aurier played in the 1-0 Defeat to Manchester United at the Carabo Cup Final

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

It’s implied in every article like this that City’s fans should rise up in an act of ethical resistance but seemingly the same isn’t expected amongst anyone else benefiting from UAE investment (or Chinese, Brazilian, Thai, etc) in the west.

Exactly. This is the crux of it. And since we won't/don't, it's further implied that Manchester City fans are therefore morally flawed or at least conflicted, and "the rest of us" (non-City fans) aren't, which makes "the rest of us" morally superior and therefore better humans inherently. Which then renders City's football success doubly irrelevant.

 

[Legal Alien]

I wonder if the media condemned HRH SM when he saved Barclays Bank from financial collapse back in 2008?
Nah course they didn't the hypocritical wankers!

As someone said earlier...Fuck them all, we are CHAMPIONS.
They can continue they're spiteful, racist, rhetoric all they like, but they won't change that!

 

[asahartford1]

There are plenty of Jews who support Manchester City. I seriously doubt that any criticism of Manchester City is motivated by Arab / Israeli rivalry as the UAE are partners with Israel and have signed commercial and political agreements with them.

It is true that the media is completely ignorant. They would like the region to be run as a parliamentary democracy but this is a cockpit of war whose enmities are fed by history. In the Middle-east they will burn British and American flags because of this history and our journalists talk about individuals who are fit and proper to own English football clubs. The injustice in the Middle-east is very upsetting but the causes are artificial states and foreign interference and we're still interfering. "You can own a football club because your company is registered in the United States of America but if your company is registered in some tin-pot state in which there are no elections so no you are not welcome." No recognition at all of history and why the world is divided in the first place.

Can you point me to a Nick Cohen piece that has a slightly sympathetic view of Islam. A vehement supporter of the Iraq war, while many of us were demonstrating in London knowing it was purely a political move leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths. His writing today was gash and an attack on our club when he should be apologizing for supporting war crimes.

 

[nijinsky]

It’s very easy to point out what’s morally wrong with the world, starting at home in the UK.
It’s quite hard to care enough to provide solutions.
What is harder still is to imagine how morally bankrupt you have to be to make clickbait money out of other people’s misery.

Shameful media. Lower than a snakes belly.

 

[maccieblue]

According to the clown commentating
At Spurs
Serge Aurier played in the 1-0 Defeat to Manchester United at the Carabo Cup Final

I've lost count of the amount of times we have been accidentally called United , does make you wonder if its deliberate

 

[Winchester]

I've lost count of the amount of times we have been accidentally called United , does make you wonder if its deliberate

Oh yessss

 

[Aba452]

Had a family do last night and inspite of my good sense usually, I was drawn into a debate with som of my brother in laws on football.

Now I'd spoken to my dipper in law earlier and we had a decent discussion on the relative seasons City and Liverpool had. All enjoyed the FA Cup final.

Then as I say this ambush. One of the gooners started off its disgusting how Citeh can spend so much on a defender, Guardiola such a 'decent ' coach but I could win the league with his resources!!!!

Then he started bleating on about about sportswashing. Sigh.

The other one who's not a football fan but his son supports the dippers (from Brum!) pipes up. Spent a billion in 10years, that's obscene! The mineral wealth of the state should belong to the people not the despots who own that state.

I plunged in pointing out that Sheikh Mansour is not a state but bought City through his private investment company had invested in the city as well as the team.

In the end I just said we'll agree to differ as I think I would have sparked them out. What's doubly disappointing is that they like me are of Pakistani origin but are happy to glibly repeat the standard racist troupes.

As fans we're now accountable for how or owner made his money????

Wish I'd pointed out about the later success of the arsehole's was built on conflict diamonds, vulture capitalism fuelling the red cheeks etc.

The point is does negativity work? Suppose geological ages of the Earth could pass before these idiots stop releasing hot stale air! Fuck em if they want to judge me. My parting shot last night was green isn't a good look for you.

 

[Groke]

Had a family do last night and inspite of my good sense usually, I was drawn into a debate with som of my brother in laws on football.

Now I'd spoken to my dipper in law earlier and we had a decent discussion on the relative seasons City and Liverpool had. All enjoyed the FA Cup final.

Then as I say this ambush. One of the gooners started off its disgusting how Citeh can spend so much on a defender, Guardiola such a 'decent ' coach but I could win the league with his resources!!!!

Then he started bleating on about about sportswashing. Sigh.

The other one who's not a football fan but his son supports the dippers (from Brum!) pipes up. Spent a billion in 10years, that's obscene! The mineral wealth of the state should belong to the people not the despots who own that state.

I plunged in pointing out that Sheikh Mansour is not a state but bought City through his private investment company had invested in the city as well as the team.

In the end I just said we'll agree to differ as I think I would have sparked them out. What's doubly disappointing is that they like me are of Pakistani origin but are happy to glibly repeat the standard racist troupes.

As fans we're now accountable for how or owner made his money????

Wish I'd pointed out about the later success of the arsehole's was built on conflict diamonds, vulture capitalism fuelling the red cheeks etc.

The point is does negativity work? Suppose geological ages of the Earth could pass before these idiots stop releasing hot stale air! Fuck em if they want to judge me. My parting shot last night was green isn't a good look for you.

Hope you pointed out Liverpool spent more on a defender

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Had a family do last night and inspite of my good sense usually, I was drawn into a debate with som of my brother in laws on football.

Now I'd spoken to my dipper in law earlier and we had a decent discussion on the relative seasons City and Liverpool had. All enjoyed the FA Cup final.

Then as I say this ambush. One of the gooners started off its disgusting how Citeh can spend so much on a defender, Guardiola such a 'decent ' coach but I could win the league with his resources!!!!

Then he started bleating on about about sportswashing. Sigh.

The other one who's not a football fan but his son supports the dippers (from Brum!) pipes up. Spent a billion in 10years, that's obscene! The mineral wealth of the state should belong to the people not the despots who own that state.

I plunged in pointing out that Sheikh Mansour is not a state but bought City through his private investment company had invested in the city as well as the team.

In the end I just said we'll agree to differ as I think I would have sparked them out. What's doubly disappointing is that they like me are of Pakistani origin but are happy to glibly repeat the standard racist troupes.

As fans we're now accountable for how or owner made his money????

Wish I'd pointed out about the later success of the arsehole's was built on conflict diamonds, vulture capitalism fuelling the red cheeks etc.

The point is does negativity work? Suppose geological ages of the Earth could pass before these idiots stop releasing hot stale air! Fuck em if they want to judge me. My parting shot last night was green isn't a good look for you.

The gooner who spouted off about 'sportswashing', he does know whose name is on their stadium and shirt I assume?

 

[lust overlord]

Exactly. This is the crux of it. And since we won't/don't, it's further implied that Manchester City fans are therefore morally flawed or at least conflicted, and "the rest of us" (non-City fans) aren't, which makes "the rest of us" morally superior and therefore better humans inherently. Which then renders City's football success doubly irrelevant.

They are certainly doing a good job in ensuring our fans are becoming increasingly inured to the human rights abuse pieces as a means of criticism.

Most of us are aware that these pieces aren't written to inform our fanbase,they are written to pander to our detractors.

 

[BeerIsTheBest]

I wonder if the media condemned HRH SM when he saved Barclays Bank from financial collapse back in 2008?
Nah course they didn't the hypocritical wankers!

As someone said earlier...Fuck them all, we are CHAMPIONS.
They can continue they're spiteful, racist, rhetoric all they like, but they won't change that!

When I used to play cricket, as a bowler primarily, if I took a wicket with a bad ball or the batsman swung and got himself out the standard phrase when jibbed about it in the bar afterwards was ‘look in the book. It says bowled, it doesn’t say bowled... crap ball / shot.’

The same holds true for our achievements. However they are rubbished the facts are there for all the suffering idiots to see every time they look at the Lge table and honours boards.

Enjoy it all. These are great times to be a blue.

 

[LongsightM13]

This is not a thing, there are no entrance requirements to the grand bazaar of global capitalism beyond the means to trade, criminality (and issues of national security). Those who set their stalls up at the entrance do so under entirely false pretences.

We know the right wing want to impede the growing economic muscle of China, but the Left? In truth I've given up trying to work out what they want.

Both right and left are highly selective as to whom their bogus rules apply and even more so on how they should be applied, or even what they might be, or what they hope to achieve.

For the most part this bullshit is about shaping public opinion rather than a desire for practical solutions, because in reality the rules of the game have not been broken, there can be no practical solutions because there is no problem.

Yep, Cohen is very pro-American interventionism. That clearly extends to football clubs as well as geopolitics. It’s a bad faith diversionary tactic when the conduct of American owners is under more scrutiny than ever before