Rod Cat

This is your legacy on the occupied Palestinian territory, Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer. History will remember your complicity. Despite a partial arms suspension in 2024, Keir Starmer's government has continued to enable Israel's atrocities against Palestinians, their families and children through the supply of F-35 fighter jet parts. Nothing can change the horrors Palestinians have faced. But the next Prime Minister has an opportunity to put an end to the UK Government's role as an ally to atrocities. The UK Government must: 🔴 Suspend all arms sales to Israel 🔴 Suspend the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement 🔴 Ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements To the next Prime Minister: what will your plaque say?

@clueless1deux @NYCMayor You’re the mug - loser

@NYCMayor Zohran Mamdani, can you guarantee me that I won't get mugged in Central Park by one of the criminal illegal immigrants you protect in your sanctuary city, if I go to a watch party there ?

World Cup matches are taking a breather, but tomorrow we’re back in action. The semifinals are underway, and with just 6 days left in the tournament, now’s the time to plan where you’ll watch, eat, celebrate, and soak up the rest of the beautiful game. Find watch parties, fan experiences, attractions, and more with the NYNJ Concierge Map available here: nynj.neurun.com And no matter your plans, be sure to enter the lottery for tickets to the World Cup Final Watch Party in Central Park at on.nyc.gov/finalswatchpar….

@BowesChay Good to see since Justin Welby stepped down the church is no longer ruled by paedophiles/apologists for them, in the interests of Zionism and mass murder. And as for Mirvis, don’t tell me he doesn’t come across like a wrong un on all levels.

Church of England votes overwhelmingly to engage with Palestinian Christian document accusing Israel of genocide. Decision came despite warnings from Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis that it risks "undermining decades of careful relationship‑building" between Christians and Jews.

@MikeJanela Jokes like this go very badly wrong on X LOL

Hear me out: FIFA should let every team on Earth into the World Cup -Start with geographically based groups -Spread the matches out over 2.5-3 years -Have the top 32 or 48 teams from those groups meet in a single country for one last tournament to determine the winner Thoughts?

@SaulStaniforth They’re redefining common ownership to be a system of public private partnership that rinses us even further. For example the track was already state owned so when they “nationalised” the railways they still managed to leave the rolling stock to private ownership (the trains).

Labour MP Jeevun Sandher: [Andy Burnham's] set out what he's going to do.. policy principles.. common ownership to overcome the privatisation premium" Common ownership (as opposed to public ownership). Where have I heard that before?

Hi Lexi, hope you're well! I come on the spirit of our sport. 4 years ago we chatted in California and you're one of the most engaging people I've interviewed, so my respect is genuine. Let's park capitalism, profit and loss for a minute and strip things back to the basics. You and I both played football and were lucky enough to make it our living. I could play competitive, organised junior football for almost no cost ( I didn't even realise there was a cost to junior football elsewhere becaise I presumed it was free everywhere!) because my Football Association ploughs big sponsorship money directly into grassroots football. So every boy and girl can access our sport. A good thing, right? If we're serious about spreading the gospel of a sport which joins millions across the world, creates friendships for life, teaches us discipline, fitness, winning and losing amongst many things. So I'd hope that you, as a big voice in your country would advocate for every child having access to our sport? But how can they when we insert ultra capitalist business practice to something that is way more important than simply making money (the things I set out above)? I'm a capitalist, not ultra, but I live and breathe in that system without (except when others are harmed, which is unfortunately growing globally) push back, but capitalism at the level you acknowledge isn't just hampering poor kids from enjoying the life lessons football teaches, but to effectively punish children and low income parents from participating in organised sport is morally wrong? I'm not here to lecture, I'm an imperfect human living on an imperfect planet. But at times we have opportunities do do something that includes, not excludes. In England, that comes in the form of almost free access to organised football, for all, from 6 to 66. There is no downside to this. The 66 year olds often have, for free, started teams giving their time for free to all kids. Trevor Cooper, a man from my home town, in his 30's started a team, Longford Boys( 11 to 15 age group teams, all coached by volunteer parents). Without him I wouldn't have been exposed to the sport, friends who are my besties to this day, a pro career or following my country, in yours, at a World Cup. One man gifted me that, for free. Sometimes in life, romantic that it seems on a planet taught "me me me, money money money ", the most joyous experiences and lessons come without cost. Football is proven to be one. Let's fleece sponsors and corporations to pay big bucks to sponsor our pro teams, stadiums, national teams. I'm all in on that. With that money, like in England, it gets put into grassroots football to allow anyone and everyone the gift of football. Charging $4000 or $15000 a season for a child to play organised football is morally wrong, Alexi. It just is. Campaign for grassroots football in the USA to be properly funded by the US FA. You'll have more support than you could imagine and people will follow you. Your gift to the country you love and game you love. Association Football, the world's greatest sport because it's affordable, inclusive, spellbinding, life affirming and joyous. I was the beneficiary aged 11 of Mr Cooper offering a free team to play for, coached for free, a league organised by the local and national association, lifelong friendshops, health and fitness discipline and a passion I'll take to the grave. Free can work in the USA. Fleece the sponsors, not the parents. They can pay for your free football. Yours in sport. Stan Collymore. 🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

@subh_bhat @RestIsFootball @alanshearer @MicahRichards “That’s the law” police officer level IQ brigade - not the brightest are you?

@RestIsFootball @alanshearer @MicahRichards That’s the law. It’s clear and an obvious foul as he stepped on the foot. And it does not matter how many yards someone has run. The opponents did not touch the ball.

🗣️ @AlanShearer: “It think it’s utter and complete bollocks.” 🗣️ @MicahRichards: “It was a foul though -“ Don’t mention ‘clear and obvious’ infront of Alan 🤬😅

@steveplotnicki @markvalorian The “foul” in the build up was a tug after the Argentinian player had already started his dive to fall over. This is the nature of “fouls” in this World Cup. Genuine fouls against Egypt as well their play acting were ignored, whereas everything was given to Argentina.

@markvalorian I disagree with this. I want the officiating to get it right. If the foul didn't lead up to the goal it wouldn't have mattered. But they wouldn't have scored the goal if they didn't commit the foul.

The VAR system is logically flawed; it dramatically overvalues outlandishly precise technical correctness and undervalues the overall scope of surrounding organic gameplay. Let’s take the Egypt goal today as an example: That goal was the result of a complex series of individual wins by Egypt; in order to *earn* it, they had to put a whole sequence of dribbles, runs, passes, and of course the eventual shot together in a way that got past Argentina to score the goal. It was not a free shot on an open goal; Argentina had ample opportunity to stop the attack throughout the buildup, but failed to do so. That whole sequence was an organic display of athletic superiority that resulted in a major game-defining outcome on the field of play. And VAR completely removed its impact from the game…all because of a tiny foul on the entirely opposite end of the field. The goal of any competitive sport should be to allow the players to decide outcomes on the field of play—to allow all the tiny moments of competition throughout the course of a game to aggregate together into a meritocratic outcome where the better team wins. To that end, the goal of officiating should be to maximize the impact of organic competition on the outcome of the game, not to catch every microscopic infraction at all costs. That is where VAR gets it completely wrong; it prioritizes pedantic technical correctness over organic competition. We saw this in both Egypt and Croatia; outcomes defined predominantly by organic competition are completely erased from history due to this narrow-minded obsession with technical minutiae. Wiping away a game-changing play defined by 99% organic competition simply because an infraction may have contributed 1% is a grave disservice to the game. FIFA would be well served to recognize this and recalibrate the way they implement VAR.

@markvalorian Totally agree. VAR also means the offside rule has become a farce and isn’t officiated rationally. Look back at iconic goals and you’ll notice many would’ve been chalked off by VAR, often for offside in the build up or minor infringements that weren’t rationally unfair.

Why the USA will never be a football superpower. Pay to play. In England, from 10 to 16 I payed junior football. The teams were mostly started by a parent who wanted, for free, to give kids a team to play in. Those teams then joined FA sanctioned leagues ( Lichfield league, Walsall league in my case). Subs were about 50p a game ( subs are a fee for admin, pitch hire, referee). The model in England hasn't changed much, save for the fact there's fewer teams and fewer leagues. But the cheap to play model, meaning the poor and rich can play equally, holds. I'm staying with one of my best mates in Miami. Had a late night conversation 2 nights ago. 2 kids that play football. $4000 per season, per child to play for a team. Why? US junior leagues are private enterprises (shock). The US equivalent of the Football Association offers no grassroots football, no level 1 to 3 cheap badges for Moms or Dads to take so they can coach the basics, no structure locally or nationally of organised leagues, just profiteers who start up a league, charge a fortune, and if you're a poor Messi-esque talent from the wrong part of Miami, sure you can buy a ball and play on a patch of grass, but forget organised football, you can't afford it. So imagine, in a nation of 350 million, how many kids they're missing out on and will continue to after this successful World Cup for them. Money, greed, pay to play. 99.9% of greats to play the game wouldn't have made it in America. Because they couldn't afford $4000 ( plus) to play. In subs my Mom probably paid £200 total over 6 or 7 years of junior football. America, it's not all about money you know, it's about opportunity for all too. And you're pricing generation after generation out of the chance to be a part of this incredible sport you've seen first hand. To the US Federation. Do fucking better. Organise local and national junior leagues, van profiteering, offer cheap coaching badges for parents who want to give their time for free to America's kids. Football. Accessible to all.

@JonathanOC @atrupar You’re a caricature of Rutte if you believe he’s “wielding” soft power.

@atrupar 1) Rutte primarily wields soft power, he doesn't have a lot to gain from publically confronting one of the founding members of the alliance who also contributes the most $ in absolute terms. 2) It wouldn't change Trump's stance. 3) This is like blaming the battered wife.

WOW -- Danish reporter *goes there* with Mark Rutte "You sit next to Donald Trump at moments when he talks about conquering Greenland, talks about lashing out at allies like Spain -- things it doesn't seem like the old Mark Rutte would approve of. Does this have any affect on your self-respect when you sit there and say nothing?"

In January, our administration inherited a $12 billion budget deficit — a fiscal crisis greater than the Great Recession. 
 Today I am proud to announce that our balanced budget has cleared the final step and passed the New York City Council.  We balanced the budget by taxing the rich and making government more efficient. We did not balance this budget on the backs of working people, and we never will.  Every year that follows will build on these principles: Honest budgeting. Fiscal discipline. Transparent government. And an unwavering belief that working people deserve a government that delivers for them every day.

@comrade_kumar_ Thankfully Zack understands that mincing his words is wrong morally but also politically damaging. If he’s watching Mamdani then he’ll know it’s about time he called the Zionist lobby in this country what they are. Monsters.

This is contemptible. Shame on her.

@OborneTweets @campbellclaret @MishalHusain Cough dodgy dossier cough cough

@nohardproblem @SaulStaniforth True and of course he knows this, but would you rather he waters down his critical message to something totally pointless and self defeating by saying instead, that this is just a continuation of what the UK has always stood for?

@SaulStaniforth The UK hasn't traditionally stood for justice at all! The UK has been a colonial power that has murdered, enslaved and robbed many people and it's doing it to this very day but with better PR. Fuck the UK, it's as bad as it's ever been

"Is it difficult coming back?" Surgeon professor Nizam Mamode, who was working in Gaza a few weeks ago: "Yes" "How do you feel when you return?" "I feel quite angry that this country.. is letting this genocide go by and doing nothing about it"

The World Cup begins tomorrow, and many will watch the matches. Soccer reminds us of something we must not forget: life is not a race to show off on our own, but a path we learn to walk together. Anyone who does not know how to pass the ball, even if they have talent, has not yet understood the game. Anyone who does not know how to live with and for others has not yet understood life. #ApostolicJourney

Will the BBC do a long monologue about the United States' human rights record, its treatment of migrants, and the killing of its own citizens? And will they refuse to broadcast the World Cup opening ceremony, as they did with Qatar? Let's keep the same standards and the same energy.

@I_amMukhtar Scary that this works on quite a large number people. The new strategy is to focus on those people and to give up on talking to the rest of us, which is why legacy media increasingly looks more unhinged.

This is what I mean.

@chalavyishmael @NYCMayor Elon isn’t interested in savings if it’s money that’s wasted to enrich people like him.

@NYCMayor Wait I thought Elon was evil because he tried to save everyone money and cut government inefficiency? Or is that only when Elon does it?

This morning we are introducing COGE — the Commission on Government Efficiency.

This Commission will find ways for our city to work smarter, faster, and more effectively for working people. 

New Yorkers deserve a city government as careful with their money as they are.

@ZackPolanski The Epstein Files show that it’s probably the case Blair has been involved in a money laundering scheme that was designed to pay and compromise him. He’s compromised.

Tony Blair. What the billionaire class have paid for.