Josef Stalin was adored by his people. He was also a charismatic man with a plan. He had the vision to take the Soviet Union forward to prosperity. But there were famines and genocide. The starving were not exiled to Botany Bay for stealing a handful of corn, hundreds of thousands of them were shot, all while Stalin occupied the Kremlin.
The means of production were breaking down all around. Newly manufactured tractors idled in fields, because simple replacement parts were never produced, causing production targets to be missed, with a whole host of consequential ramifications.
Yet the people remained in awe of their genocidal oppressor. “If only Stalin knew”, they would say, “he would end the suffering and fix all these problems”. It was Beria, or some other apparatchik, who must be responsible.
“If only Stalin knew” has become a phrase to describe a characteristic of human nature. We grow to worship those who inspire us to revolution and reject all evidence when they drive us into the sea. Faults and failings are blamed on others. If only the man (less commonly, woman) at the top was in complete control, this mess would have been avoided.
You will note this morning that “King took a backseat during the recruitment process as Graeme Park, with Stewart Robertson and Andrew Dickson alongside, drove through Caixinha’s move… to Ibrox”.
The sentiment is clear: what is needed is not less influence from King, but more involvement. The plan is great, it just needs to be executed the way King wants it to be.
It’s not like we haven’t warn them.
BRENDAN RODGERS – THE ROAD TO PARADISE is now on sale at www.cqnbookstore.com
On sale now at CQN bookstore.com
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WBC Hope you watched ‘The Vietnam war’ series on bbc4. Absolutely superb. Hh
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS your a littlebit older than me so i go with your recollections. just thought LBJ was a bit sleazy. but we are both tims hail hail.
Thelurkintim…yes, forced…too many Southern Ole Boys in Congress…
DD…wide eyed or wild eyed?
Gordon64…I am aware of it and will watch it when I finish Snowfall…thanks…
BIG PACKY-ha ha,to be fair it was a good bus,but I was only 17/18yrs old so canny really remember much about it:-))
THELURKINTIM @ 3:46 PM
“I’ve sed it before and I’ll say it again regarding the TV deal…..
Celtic have a massive opportunity to clear out the dross at FTSFA & FTSPFL when it comes to renewing the contract…..thoughts?
Well I have numerous thoughts on this one…
Firstly we need to see about the transparency in this process. Scottish Football has over Ten Percent of the UK Market, so it stands to reason they should have at least Ten Percent of the TV revenue.
We get no where near this. So we need to work out why.
I’m not in any way shape or form ascribing any blatant wrongdoing on the part of any organisation or individual – let’s make that clear but why is it going so wrong.
Now, I have been involved in tender processes of various size and quality. From a quote on note paper to the process and procedures engaged in top London Banks.
Now if Scottish Football is getting 1% of the deal England get, that has to be seen as 10% of the deals potential.
Why?
Now if any professional organisation was getting 10% of the revenue they should be expecting in a tender process, alarm bells would be ringing. In fact none of their executives would sign-off this contract. No way.
They would order a review of the process.
Once again I’m not accusing anyone of wrongdoing but in these circumstances the organisation would have to investigate jobbery.
They would also be investigating conflicts of interest.
They would look at the personnel involved to ensure their team were qualified, competent and professional enough to deliver the expected outcomes.
They would be reviewing their internal processes to ensure their negotiators were fully resourced and highly motivated to obtain the best deal.
Of course they would have to look at their expectations in terms of specifics of the deal.
How are they “selling the product”; do they have figures on the Scottish subscribers, advertising etc to argue about the revenue.
Are they using PR to promote the product with Scottish Consumers to ensure their Clubs are supported (TV wise) in the best possible way and their “customers” know how to achieve this?
Do they present their case professionally and highlight the benefits of the Coverage of the Game to the Broadcasters.
For instance the argument made by the Broadcasters for the 100-1 ratio between the English and Scottish deal is that Many in Scotland subscribe to watch English Football – how true is this?
What about the 5 million people in England with an allegiance to Scotland, in NI, is the Ratio really 100 – 1, doubt it? So What is the true value of Scottish Football?
Is the structure of the deal fundamentally flawed…
Should we be looking at providers that could ask for a separate subscription for Scottish Football? Why can’t we sell on that basis? Didn’t we do that with Sentanta and pro-rata got a much better deal.
We should look to understand, who would buy an England only Package who Would buy just a Scotland only Package? I’m sure the Scottish Package would make a darn site more that 1% of the sales of the English in the UK market.
It would also pay to get real…
The world view (according to the English Broadcasters) is that English Football is a World Class Product. Scottish Football is a backwater.
So can the Scottish Government, Sports Institutions etc help? This nonsensical imbalance needs to be addressed. We are now in the Situation where the Scotland National Team are playing one of their most important games for a decade and on terrestrial TV in Scotland you can only get the England game.
Seriously S TV are showing the England game in Scotland. This is what happened, the National Sport was not available to the Majority of the Country, so they showed their biggest sporting rivals. Crazy! It wouldn’t be accepted by any other Government.
Also, let’s look at not signing the deal, how much is it actually worth?
How much does it actually cost? Both in terms of overheads, lower attendance and restrictions…
Restrictions that prevent an Internet based alternatives, *restrictions in 3:00 o’clock kick-offs. Changes to schedules.
The TV deal prevents us looking forward… for instance Celtic TV could make more money for the Club without being encumbered by the Scottish Football TV deal. Scotland could explore innovative interactive Football, with state of the art service providers.
*Why do we have to follow “British” rules regarding not Televising 3:00 kick-off. Scottish Football gets very little benefit from being British in a Footballing sense. If we could show some games on TV at 3:00 Homes, Pubs and Clubs could show Scottish Football at that time.
So what price a Boycott – Why cant we just say No and send them homeward to think again.
Hail Hail
Dallas
I shared the same carriage to Paradise from Clydebank with the whole McGinn family for years by train. Paul, Stephen and John are at every Celtic game they can make. It’s in the blood.
Big Packy…I was caught up in the ‘first Catholic President’ and all that palaver. I later went on to believe that someone saw a possible Kennedy dynasty that could last more than two decades-John, then Bobby followed by Teddy- and did not like the idea of the family having so much power over such a long time…but who knows? It is still a mystery as to who and why…Soviets-Cubans-Mafia…(or even a lone rangers supporter) :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iRRvjjHDkw
HH
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS. agree 100 percent ktf.
Philbhoy…there are still some good guys out there…but The Donald sure ain’t one of them…
WBC
Wide and wild eyed. :)
Level5 say it was a Chelsea supporter that shot JFK and not a hun.
Re LBJ…….
If you are interested in this sort of thing start on Robert Caro’s biography of the President.
It’s a huge work, 4 volumes if I remember, but the early years volume is fascinating.
Indirectly it highlights how the “progressive” JFK came from a hugely privileged background compared to the very humble beginnings of LBJ
He eventually turned into the greatest political fixer in the history of the US as well as indulging in some shady business dealings entirely for his or his family’s benefit.
I recommend it!
HH
BIG PACKY on 27TH OCTOBER 2017 9:57 PM
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS your a littlebit older than me so i go with your recollections. just thought LBJ was a bit sleazy. but we are both tims hail hail.
LBJ although raised in the Disciples of Christ would often go to the Episcopalian church with his wife as she was a member.
His youngest daughter converted to the one true holy and apostolic faith at the age of 18 and raised her weans Catholic.
During the Vietnam conflict with its sharp divisions in the country, LBJ regularly went privately to St. Dominic’s Church in Washington to pray.
After his term ended in 1969 he and his wife returned to Texas. There he became a close friend of the local Catholic pastor, the former president attended Mass regularly, and the priest was a frequent guest in the Johnson home. Johnson was a guest for meals in the rectory.
After he died Ladybird allowed a Catholic graveside ceremony for his burial.
Just because we’ve been talking about it…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oyr7P8VCPDg
Country Joe and the Fish…
McLeish struggling with the meaning of the word unique…
In a Rangers* have my number pitch, for the Sevco managerial vacancy, he says, “But they’re back in the Premiership which first and foremost they have to start winning….
…They are a unique team along with Celtic.”
Muppet. I really hope he gets it.
Just watched the Leeds / Sheffield Utd match.
My goodness, if that’s what passes as the best in the Championship they’re in a bad way.
Maybe I’m just spoiled now but I think we could beat them both with our second string.
CHAIRBHOY on 27TH OCTOBER 2017 10:02 PM
‘Scottish Football has over Ten Percent of the UK Market, so it stands to reason they should have at least Ten Percent of the TV revenue.’
####
Virtually no one in England (or abroad) wants to watch Scottish football.
A lot of people in Scotland (and abroad) want to watch English football.
The size of the respective populations is irrelevant.
What is this tonight …what enabler was more catholic …or religious?
Like most presidents the truth is just fecking sad …
No smiley thing ….but keep on talking the walk. …
Sad
Hunderbirds
I think McLeish looks and sounds unwell. Hope he is seeing a GP.
HUNDERBIRDS ARE GONE-between him and super salary,please:-))
Delaney’s , if we ever sign John. I hope he would develope even more by playing with better players plus be ingrained with our will to win.
Oh the strip of bile is always there…
Fecking sad
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS on 27TH OCTOBER 2017 10:19 PM
Give me an F.
Appropriately enough, given the heading of this thread, Country Joe was named after Joseph Stalin.
TONTINE TIM. blimey had no idea about that thanks for the info. hail hail.
Chairbhooy….you reflect my thoughts….thank you….although jobbery……has me going ;-))
H.H.
Thirds63…LBJ’s beginnings were certainly humble compared to those of Kennedy but he was anything but poor. His father was a farmer come businessman and also a state legislator…
Gutenburg
My cousin in Leeds who is a Celtic supporter was at the game.
He said Celtic first XI would beat Leeds and Sheff Utd combined 22 players easy. :)
Can anyone tell me how to refresh a page without going back to last page then coming back
I heard some of McLeish’s spell on radio 5 earlier. What a fud he is. Self serving, egotistical , nothing’s his fault, whinging about being a good manager but getting no offers . Basically acting and being a hun.
I’m wary of criticising Alex McLeish, i know this sounds a terrible thing to say but listening to him recently i get the feeling he’s headed too many balls.
Ernie / Chairbhoy
Both your points are relevant.
Where I would side with Chairbhoy is that we should have achieved somewhere in between the 1% and 10%.
Looks like our negotiating team crumbled and accepted a poor deal due to previous bad experiences.
THETIMREAPER on 27TH OCTOBER 2017 10:29 PM
He doesn’t look, or sound, like a well man.
Dallas
Would prefer John’s schoolmate Christopher McLaughlin to sign for Celtic. ;))
FAIRHILL BHOY
Lookat the bar at the top of the page and click the circular arrow it looks like a letter C with a >on the end of it.
KEEP THE FAITH
DD
Your cousin is right.
Was at Elland Rd last December watching Leeds / Aston Villa. My mate who is a season ticket holder (at Leeds) asked me what I thought.
I said the same thing as your cousin…
Ernie…didn’t know that re Joe…
DD…you say McLeish looks unwell…wouldn’t you if the tax man was after you :-) …
The Timreaper, valid points about McLeish but my dislike of him started after his first few months at Ibrox then he surassed himsrlf with the 132 years of unsurpassed dignity mince.
Two Motherwell fans I know dslike him more than I do.
Delaney’s at 10.32 , I wonder why. Lol