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We live in an increasingly mad World.

L am no particular fan of the Royal Family. I have never met Andrew. Various friends of mine have, and were generally pretty unimpressed.

But this pile-on is ridiculous. What exactly is he supposed to have done wrong? Entitled rich middle-aged man partakes of some beautiful 20-something women? Ooh, he must be really unique there. Not.

I can see various American Lawyers circling. Trying to get rich. Since when is a 26 year old woman choosing to fly halfway round the World to shag a man she has never previously met, in return for large amounts of cash, a "victim" ?

The World has gone mad. If a 26 year old woman gives it away, she is still in danger of being derided as a slag (for reasons that escape me, women are never "players"). If they charge £200 they are derided as a prostitute. Charge £20,000? A "victim".

The Man is a fool. A liar. And not someone who lives by values that I agree with.

All of this is just a smokescreen to divert attention away from the people who are still rich and powerful. Presidents. And ex-Presidents. Republicans. And Democrats.

Rant over

Nice writeage Mr Dazzler, thank you.

If anyone is looking for a fun bet, the League of Ireland football season is starting (runs from Feb-Oct) and odds are;
https://www.oddschecker.com/football/ireland/premier-division/irish-premier-division/winner

Shamrock Rovers 13/10
Derry 4/1
Shelbourne 6/1
St Patrick’s Athletic 6/1
Bohemians 11/1
66/1 bar.

Rovers have won 5 of the last 6 titles, are defending champions and are historically the most successful team in Ireland.
They have however just sold league team of the season left back Josh Holohan to Lincoln for €500k. Money is scarce in League of Ireland and the clubs can’t compete financially on wages with English League One clubs, so the best players get picked off regularly. It appeared they had agreed terms with Hoffenheim for €1.8m plus add ons for their very promising 17 year striker Michael Noonan (he’s the youngest ever Conference League goalscorer at 16yrs 197 days) but apparently he’s pulled the plug on that. He may be waiting until he’s 18 in the summer to join a British side. Brexit has been great for league of Ireland as previously young players were constantly moving to UK at 15/16 yrs but now they can’t until 18 yrs. If Noonan doesn’t go to EU in this window, he’ll be gone in the summer.

Last season Rovers started slowly and didn’t hit the top spot in the league until nearly halfway through but eventually won, beating Derry by 3pts. In 2024, they started slowly and couldn’t catch Shelbourne, finishing 2nd. In 2023 they didn’t win until their 7th match but ended up winning the title.
This slow start is becoming a pattern and may be related to success in Europe. In the season just gone, they qualified for Europa Conference league phase finishing their final game on 18th December, when their last domestic game was the cup final on 9th November.
The previous season they again qualified for Conference league phase. They’re missing over a month of their off season due to Europe. They’re also playing a lot of European games (12 and 14 games in the last 2 years) which they maybe don’t have the strength in depth of squad to be always competitive at home and in Europe.

Derry have finished 2nd to Rovers in 3 of the last 4 years. They just beat Rovers in the Presidents Cup (Community Shield) 1-0 yesterday in the season opener in a feisty affair. They are backed by a wealthy local billionaire benefactor. He’s not pouring money in, it’s slow and steady but they are making strides. It’s generally accepted they have recruited well this window and most fans believe it’s going to be a straight shoot out between the two of them.

I’ll be backing Derry, hoping Rovers have another slow start and maybe hedge on a bet on Rovers later if the prices start to reverse. If not, happy to let the bet on Derry run.

I’m feeling good today

i bet you are . must be nice to see football , and character like that . its been a while .. thats not a dig btw

no idea whats happened up the M62 but its safe to say that my may 2nd prediction has gone long ago .

champions league it is then  , when we won it in istanbul 2005 we had a terrible league season , finishing 5th (below everton ffs) , and 37 points off chelsea . 

and it looks very likely that prem will get 6 places next season

champions league my arse

To my mind it’s pretty simple, post-Amorim we are playing in a structure that the players understand and have them playing in positions for which they are well suited.

We’ve been here before when OGS took over, but I am cautiously optimistic.

What number are you?



The billionaire brothers behind gambling giant Betfred have topped a list of the UK's 100 biggest taxpayers, which also features Harry Styles, Anthony Joshua and JK Rowling.

Fred and Peter Done, who founded the Warrington-based business in 1967, entered the annual Sunday Times Tax List, external for the first time, having paid an estimated £400.1m tax bill over the past year.

Manchester City's Erling Haaland is the youngest person to appear on the list - at number 72 - with a projected £16.9m tax payment, while Liverpool's Mo Salah is believed to have a £14.5m bill.

The list shows a total of £5.758bn was paid by the top 100 taxpayers, up from £4.985bn the previous year.

Harry Potter author and tax list regular JK Rowling ranked 36 with a £47.5m bill, musician Ed Sheeran came in at 64 paying £19.9m, while boxer Joshua, who is 100th on the list, paid £11m.

Styles, the former One Direction member-turned-solo artist, made a £24.7m tax payment and was among the new entries on the list.

Wetherspoon's founder Sir Tim Martin appeared eighth on the list with a tax contribution of an estimated £199.7m.

Today, my smartphone photography, short golf game, listening pleasure, and self grooming skills are apparently going to the next level.

What level am I currently on?
I have no idea, but everything I look at promises to take me to the next level.

After many years of reading books on my phone via the Kindle app and slowly progressing to the audio books that I could find for free, get from my library, or otherwise appropriate, I finally signed up for a free trial on Audable. Full price, £8.99pm.

I love listening to books, especially whilst I'm doing something mundane like digging a hole or driving on the motorway.

I'll let you know if I decide to keep it at the end of Feb.

I know Feb is a short month.  Schoolboy error.

Also, 8 out of 10 videos these days are Tic Tok. I've been resting Tic Tok for what seems like years but I think I'm going to have to give in.

I watch a lot of YouTube instructional videos, everything from, "Mitering without a miter block" to "How to replace the drive belt on your Beko drier"

The vids are amazing useful, but I really struggle not to close them immediately when the instructor, often a pensioner in his garden shed, starts by flinging the backs of his hands towards the camera and shouting "WASSUP GUYS!"