T_S_A_R

the luftwaffe used a massive amount of resources attacking the ussr in 1941, the outcome of the battle for air supremacy could have been very different with those extra units. as i understand it hitler believed a deal could be done with great britain and for that reason he chose not to invade but to attack the ussr when they weren't expecting it. the events of 1941 worked out very favourably for GB with barbarossa and the attack on pearl harbour taking the nazi's attentions away from us and bringing the usa onboard, without these events and with increasing german industrial capacity and decreasing capacity in GB it's likely that we would have capitulated.

aye but do you think operation barbarossa was dreamed up over a few drinks in the spring of 1941. if the axis resources were completely directed at invading britain rather than gearing up for an eastern assualt on the ussr we wouldn't have had the capability to succesfully resist.

so you think that the uk could have repelled the 4.5 million axis troops deployed in barbarossa if they had been used to invade britain?

oh aye and anyone over the age of 16 who reads harry potter deserves a boot in the baws.

the liverpool fans pushing to get into hillsborough deserve a share of the blame for the disaster. anyone who believes in any god is a retard. complete freedom of speech should be allowed at all times (including singing songs at the fitba) by law. so the police can't stop the billy boys or boys of the old brigade but the owners of the grounds would be allowed to decide what was allowed on their property. i have no sympathy for anyone who joins the army and get's killed or injured. they made a concious choice on economic, political or moral grounds and should have to live with the consequences. the hero worship of churchill in this country is a joke. the war was won by the ussr in stalingrad and outside moscow in the winters of 1941 and 42, you quite often hear english people say that without us the french would be speaking german but you very rarely hear it acknowledged the eastern front was the only reason we weren't invaded and conquered after dunkirk. israel should only exist within it's 1947 borders. legalise drugs but crack down hard on drug related crime.

the fuss over this spot fixing thing has gone out of control. at the end of the day if the players have a chance to make some money bumping dodgy bookies then fair play to them. to see guys like nasser hussain and boycott getting up on the moral high horse about this is a joke, where's the morality that they are getting paid more for commentating on the match than the pakistan players get for actually playing in it. i like cricket but at the end of the day it has to be asked what the point of it is? there are zero consequences of winning or losing, there's always another series starting and the next money generating match is always round the corner. if they are serious about ending this kind of thing they should create a world test series and cut back on the amount of one day tournaments as the game is so devalued at the moment that you can't blame the players for trying to make an extra buck out of it. also there also seems to be a bit of pakistan basing here. matt le tissier admitted booting the ball out the park during southampton games for spread bets on shys which is exactly the same as what has went on here but i don't see anyone demading he be sacked from soccer saturday. and as often as you hear about botham's "miracle" innings in 1981 you almost never hear that the aussies had bet against themselves in that match and the achievement is never mentioned as being diminshed by it or the austrialians such as lilee are never demonised because of it.

i also feel a bit uneasy about the historical novel fad. it just seems like a really easy way to create a connection between the reader and a character. most readers who read that novel will go into it with some information and opinions on jung and it just seems a cheap ploy for the writer to be able to expand and exploit these ideas to create an illusion of characterisation. the danger is that the fictional account overtakes the factual in the public mind something i think is happening just now with brian clough due to the damn united book and films. obviously you can't say that writers should never use real people as characters but i think there has to be a bit of respect for the people who really lived through the incidents being fictionalised. the damned utd featured a lot of people who were still alive and some like giles and mackay were very upset by it, it must be distressing to see your own actions fictionalised and distorted for the purposes of entertainment and financial gain knowing the the fictional "you" is likely to live on longer in peoples memories than your true self. i'm currently reading jonothan littel, 'the kindly ones'. i'm not sure what i think about it so far, but i do have about another 700 pages to go. i've recently read: gabriel garcia marquez 'autumn of the patriarch' which was a bit strange and seemed to be more of a prose experiment than a proper novel. the overall effect of the novel is very disconcerting but it transmits the chaos of living under a mental south american dictator very well. robert stone 'dog soldiers': a fairly trashy novel about some beatniks trying to smuggle heroin back from vietnam. an easy read that was entertaining with some occasional depth. andrei makine ' la testament francaise': a story about a russian and his french grandmother which crisscrosses 80 years of russian history. it's an excellent novel but i thought he did it better with reqiuem for the east which is similar but not as sentimental. phillip roth 'the plot against america' a fake historical novel describing an alternate timeline where charles lindbergh becomes US president in the 1930s and persues a non interventionist policy towards the war in europe. the political side of the novel is secondary to the depiction of the child narrator's experiences growing up and the dynamics of the family which are superb as always with roth. a bit strange to recommening it after my rant about author's using real characters but it's pretty clear when you've finished the novel that it's a fantasy.

i read cunego was going to footon who have a bigger budget for next year. menchov to astana seems to pop up a lot as well.

contador, cancellara, porte, navarro, hernandez, c. sorensen, n. sorensen, larsson, de la feunte that's an absolute murderer's row of a tour de france team. the shlecks are going to have to get some serious help.

schleck raced from the front for most of the race and did everything he could to try and shake contador on the tourmalet. i said when franck crashed out it wouldn't make a big difference but i think i was wrong. a super mountain domestique could have made the difference for andy even if it was only to give him a bike when his chain came off.

sky said they wouldn't sign david millar due to his doping past so i doubt very much they'd sign vino (or that he would ever leave astana) the difference between the alps/pyrenees is that the alps tend to be longer and quite as steep. different climbers prefer different types of climbs and you tend get more selections in whatever range comes last. last year there was only one selection in the pyrenees. i think the number of climbs has more to do with creating selections than difficulty, ventoux is a great climb but with a flat run in last year mediocre climbers like armstrong and wiggins were able to cling on.

i think contador might have been looking for vino to bridge over, it's understandable what he did but pretty bad form in cycling to attack when your team mate is leading. i think contador was trying to give vino a chance for the win. i also don't think defending the jersey is that big a deal for saxo. cancellara, breschel and o'grady are so strong they can pretty much deal with it themselves.

hoy is dole scum, the same as all the rest of the of the taxpayer funded 'elite' athletes. the government spends millions so the country can get a wee hard on every four years when we win at some sports that the majority of the world doesn't care about or can't afford to do. team sky has shown british olympic excellence to be a load of shite, in the summer of 2008 you couldn't open a paper without reading about how much of a genius dave brailsford is and how great his techniques are, unsuprisingly when he's put in a even competition (protour events) it's all shown to be bullshit. if the market won't support an athlete to be professional then they should then it should be a past time/hobby. there are hundreds of pro cyclists out working hard 10 months a year yet guys like hoy are lauded for living it large on taxpayers money and competing once every four years. get a real job!

i don't know about that contador was very strong last year. andy challenged contador on ventoux in the final mountain stage and when he realised he wasn't going to beat him he went back to try and help frank podium which was the right decision imo. if you don't like saxo because of riis what team do you like? there aren't many teams out there with no connection to doping. perrerio didn't get picked for the astana tour squad. think he's retiring.

andy lost 1'35 on tt last year over 40km, this one is 50km and flatter though. on the otherhand andy is obviously in great shape and gaining confidence and mental attitude is one of the biggest factors in time trialing. i wouldn't rule andy out yet but the odds are against him, saxo are strong and are usually good tactically like getting voigt up ahead today but considering the strength of astana i don't think they'll crack easily. i read that evans started the stage with a fractured elbow. that explains why he looked so weak, great effort from him all things considered.

just watching this now. gutted i missed watching it live, i'm off tomorrow as well i should have tried to get a swap. a few thoughts. evans looked as if he's about to die there. bad day for him just when i was actually starting to like him. big jens voigt is a legend, he was ending himself to try and get over the top with andy. great ride from sam sanchez as well, i hope he makes the podium as he's always entertaining and it'd be good to see euskatel achieve something for the first time in a good while. wiggins:lol: will andy be able to put time into contador before the itt? right now my money would be on no. amazing ride from both of them today. also i disagree with the comment about riise above, he rode in an era where everyone took epo and any thing else going (he was up against pantani ffs) and he admitted it openly when he didn't have to. csc/saxo have been excellent over the past few years and i can't think of any riders they've had who have been busted.

looks like it's going to be a lively day today. the break's away with LL sancez, moreau, pineau and casar looking like they're going for the stage and the massive load of polka points on offer today plus some cannon fodder. jens voigt is also away which suggests saxo might be trying something later on and thor hushovd has escaped looking for sprint points. i'm torn between following the live text at work or watching the higlights in ignorance when i get back home tonight. think i'll probably choose to brighten up my work day.

just watched the highlights, shame about franck but a good result for saxo and to be honest i don't think franck can really do much more than fetch the bottles for andy in the mountains these days. saxo are strong and i'd expect the two sorensens and fugslang to step up and take their turn in the moutains. amazing ride from cancellara today, the man is a legend. although i'm definitely not a lance fan i'm a bit disapointed for him and radioshack today. lance had bad luck (but maybe shouldn't have been riding in the gutter) but what the france were levi, kloden and horner doing? the race would have been better if at least one of the shack riders were a bit more in touch. i'm not sure what they can do now to get back up with andy and contador. the biggest winner of the day is evans. he's the top placed gc man now and will be looking to wheel suck his way round the mountains and see what happens in the TT, menchov will be thinking the same. hopefully with a good few riders having time to make some time in the mountains we'll see some good attacks in the alps. and i don't think wiggins did catch contador. contador was in a group behind wiggins and LA and managed to bridge over on his own to them. contador got a puncture about 2km out and that's why he lost time on that group, it would have been interesting if he had gotten to ask vino to give him his bike.

smart riding from cancellera to go to slow to bring the schleck's back into the peloton. he'll probably get a lot of abuse and praise for it but he did what had to be done and i don't think many riders could complain. after the biggest crashes rabo (menchov), euskadi (sanchez) and bmc (evans) had the chance to push it but they choose not to and after they waited to let the main group with shack, liquigas, astana and sky back on no one could really complain about waiting for the schlecks. they maybe should have sprinted but at the same time half the peloton was banged up and it was probably best to go safety first. f**k knows what's going to happen tomorrow, if it rains the cobbles will be murderous. the fact that quickstep have the yellow and will be on the front means the pace will probably be quite fast as their riders are all used to riding on them. hopefully everyone (or at least all the contenders) make it through unscathed but i've a feeling we'll be seeing a few abandons and some whining about the peloton not waiting.

it's clear as day it's cavendish's fault on that video, he cuts right over towards haussler. he got a time penalty from the jury for it, the full peloton started late to complain about it and the director sportif's of caissie, francais du jour and cervelo complained about him in public. contador does look very hard to beat, his biggest challenge might be the cobbles in stage 4. what i think will keep the race competitive is that liquigas, saxo and radioshack have ridiculously strong teams so contador won't be able to dominate as much as he did last year when astana had most of the radioshack riders.

i don't think contador was too bothered about winning the dauphine. good to see bruynel getting pissed about not being invited to the vuelta. it serves them right for not taking part in the giro. i also think it might mean we see the armstrong/bruynell downfall before the end of this season. there's not a doubt in my mind radioshack are running a program this year, horner and brakjovic's wins in the basque country and the dauphine looked very suspicious. cavendish has been making more friends in his own way in switzerland this week. he cut in front of haussler in a sprint and caused a crash that sent several riders to hospital. the peloton staged a two minute protest against him at the start today, let's hope they make things as difficult for him as possible in the tdf.

prizes are tax free. up until about 15 years ago you had to pay tax on bets in the bookies, you either paid it with the stake or the payout ie. you can choose not to pay the tax on the stake but if you win they take far more out your winnings.

basso won the giro and this time he appears to have done it clean. a deserved victory imo for some impressive performances in the mountains and a great effort from the full liquigas team. valverde has banned for two years due to his involvement in operation puerto, i don't doubt for a second that he was doping but the way the italian authorities got stolen bloodbags to test seems very dodgy and not due process. i doubt he'd have won the tour but i think he'd have been a factor in the mountains this year, it's a shame for caisse d'espergane as they have a lot of great domestiques without anyone to ride for, luis leon sanchez will probably be their leader now. hopefully contador heads their next year and they can be a proper powerhouse team.

contador will just be in training then heading for the dauphin. the giro has been brilliant this year due to the a difficult route, shite weather and a lot of the stronger riders not being there (there's zero chance of radioshack or saxo letting a 56 man break go in the tour). i fancy basso to win it now, he looks the strongest in the big news in cycling is the landis allegations and the prospect of a federal investigation in us postal and lance. i think the livestrong brand is heading for a fall.

it took me over a month but i got through moby dick. some parts of it were brilliant, some parts were total tedium. probably more interesting as a document of the progression of the novel rather than for it's own merits but it was enjoyable none the less. mellive just seems quite happy to do whatever he wants, a wee bit of slap stick comedy here, a bit of shakespeare there, quite a bit of pschyological drama, a bit of history and hunners and hunners about whales. there were quite a few dodgy parts in the middle where i was wondering why i was reading thousands of words about whale bones but the story definitely picks up near the end and overall it was pretty enjoyable. some of the racism was hilarious as well. after that i read if on a winter's night a traveller by italo calvino. the premise is that a man starts reading a book but due to a printing fault he only has the first chapter, he tries to track down a complete copy but when he manages he finds it's a different story and the same thing happens again and again leading him to travel to various places around the world. the main story is entertaining but the 8 or 9 first chapters of ficitious novels are excellent. it's an extremely thought provoking novel about the relationship between writer, text and reader and the meaning of identity itself. due to a holiday in the most boring place in europe and with the help of the icelandic volacano i managed to get through 3 novels in the past ten days. blood meridian by cormack mccarthy was up to his usual superb standard. it's a brutal story of the bloody history of the border area between the usa and mexico in the 1840s and follows a group of mercenaries as they slaughter indians and pretty much everyone else they come in contact with. the violence is almost completely dehumanised and while it's quite disconcerting that some of the most horrible acts you'll ever hear of are passed over in a paragraph or a sentence it ends up leaving the impression that america as we know is at least as much based on slaughter and debasement as it is the the "good" american values we hear so much about. there's a lot of biblical themes within the novel and a character who may be the devil or a personification of evil, as usual with mccarthy it's pretty grim. luckily i had a fairly chilled out novel to follow that up with richard farina's been down so long it looks like up to me. it's a novel set on an american college campus in the 60s and is quite heavily influenced by kerouac and alan ginsberg. it's got all the usual beat generation/counter culture touchstones, some parts are superb some parts don't work at all. farinas died not long after the book's publication and there's enough there to suggest he could have went on and became a well known name. this morning i finished requiem for the east by andrei makine. it was recommended on here so thanks (i think) to pink freud. one of the best novels i've ever read, it manages to balance and unravel perfectly the different parts of the story. the middle section following a russian peasant through the civil war, the collectizations, purges and then his son's fortunes in WWII is incredible. a difficult book to surmise but definitely one i would recommend.