[Zipperfish]

Thanos Thanos:

Being sick of these kind of people winning ALL THE GODDAMN FUCKING TIME is enough reason to want to check out of this disgusting world permanently.

I should have been a hippie or some good-natured pothead living on a small acreage out in the sticks somewhere. Limited media access to keep the world at bay. Low-stress hippie-wife nearby. Handful of dogs and wee bairns running around keeping things cheerful. Fire up a pipe of mother nature at each sunrise and sunset and let the monster-filled parts of the world do their thing far, far away from me. If I had been like this then the bad things constantly occurring probably wouldn't bother me as much as it does.

Being good is its own reward. That's what my mom always told me and she was right.

The only thing that bothers me is that, as a moral individual, if that were me I'd fell shame. But I know these guys are all shameless to the point of psychopathy. They probably think they are hard done by.

[Thanos]

My parents told me the same thing too. I think they were wrong. Teaching your kids morals and ethics in an immoral and unethical world essentially disarms them right from the beginning and turns them into lifelong victims and chumps for those who are smart enough not to waste time playing fair. If being bad means you win all the time then go do it. If they have a small bit of a struggle with their conscience later on then it's a small bit of distress at best. At least they can say they never lost or got ground into nothing by the meatgrinder of this world. Better to be the hand turning the crank on the grinder than to be the meat that's being processed through it. It's all a zero-sum game. You either win or you lose and there ain't fuck all in-between.

[xerxes]

It's sad but in no way surprising. The voting process is rigged in Blatter's favour and FIFA has become a sugar daddy to so many countries their loyalty is guaranteed.

The only glimmer of light is the FBI and Swiss investigators digging deeper and making more arrests and hopefully forcing a revote for 2018 and 2022.

[Strutz]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Thanos Thanos:

Being sick of these kind of people winning ALL THE GODDAMN FUCKING TIME is enough reason to want to check out of this disgusting world permanently.

I should have been a hippie or some good-natured pothead living on a small acreage out in the sticks somewhere. Limited media access to keep the world at bay. Low-stress hippie-wife nearby. Handful of dogs and wee bairns running around keeping things cheerful. Fire up a pipe of mother nature at each sunrise and sunset and let the monster-filled parts of the world do their thing far, far away from me. If I had been like this then the bad things constantly occurring probably wouldn't bother me as much as it does.

Being good is its own reward. That's what my mom always told me and she was right.

The only thing that bothers me is that, as a moral individual, if that were me I'd fell shame. But I know these guys are all shameless to the point of psychopathy. They probably think they are hard done by.

People like that have no sense of humanity.

Without money (and the things money can buy) and power they are absolutely nothing. Empty shells.

They are not winners Thanos. Far from it.

[Thanos]

But with the way the world is, and with the basic nature of the human condition, they end up with the money and power anyway, pretty much by default. It's the same now as it was 10000 years ago and it'll be the same way 10000 years from now. That's the way it is because that's what humans are like and always will be.

[Strutz]

Thanos Thanos:

But with the way the world is, and with the basic nature of the human condition, they end up with the money and power anyway, pretty much by default. It's the same now as it was 10000 years ago and it'll be the same way 10000 years from now. That's the way it is because that's what humans are like and always will be.

Ah, let them have it then. It sure as hell doesn't make them superior.

[Zipperfish]

I sure would like kick him in the nuts with army boots though. Just once.

[2Cdo]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

I sure would like kick him in the nuts with army boots though. Just once.

Careful Zip, you're starting to sound a little right-wing there.

Contrary to what most lefties think, sometimes people just need a good kick in the ass or a shovel across the face.

[Freakinoldguy]

And yet there's likely even more to this little asshole being re elected than meets the eye and one of the major reasons is likely this.

$1:

Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly interrupted Blatter's speech with world football's governing body set to vote later on whether to expel Israel from the organisation.

The two female protesters stormed the opening address, waving red cards at FIFA representatives and chanting 'Israel out!' before being escorted out of the hall by security guards.

A group of around 150 pro-Palestinian protesters had gathered to chant outside Zurich's Hallenstadion before the congress started.

A bomb scare during lunch only added to the drama as the delegates from the 209 associations were told they were not permitted to remain in the Congress Hall.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sports ... andal.html

Interestingly enough FIFA's mission statement says:

$1:

OUR MISSION

Developing football everywhere and for all
FIFA’s primary objective is "to improve the game of football constantly and promote it globally in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values, particularly through youth and development programmes".

So, could someone explain to me how kicking Israel out of FIFA and how electing uber corrupt officials will enhance those values and help the game?

It sounds to me like FIFA became just another self entitled organization parading itself around the world as a just, fair and unimpeachable governing body for sport when the truth is something completely different.

[Regina]

I don't follow the sport in the least but know it's popular throughout the world. This kind of thing certainly confirms that it's a third world sport.

[Zipperfish]

Regina Regina:

I don't follow the sport in the least but know it's popular throughout the world. This kind of thing certainly confirms that it's a third world sport.

That's a big part of the problem. For so many countries, endemic corruption, "baksheesh", is simply the way they do business. The IOC has the same difficulty.

[xerxes]

The Guardian view on Sepp Blatter’s re-election: football’s missed chance

$1:

World football’s governing body had its big chancetoday. But it blew it. The ball was at Fifa’s feet. The global audience was gripped. The goal was gaping wide. At which point Fifa fell on its face. If an Arsenal or an Aston Villa player misses a chance in Saturday’s FA Cup final at Wembley, it will be described as a turning point. So it was with what happened in Zurich. The Cup final, though, is only a game. With apologies to Bill Shankly, Fifa’s failure is far more important.

Fifa could have responded to the arrests of many of its top executives by showing that it grasps what has finally happened to the credibility of world football. If Fifa had got it, rather than continuing in denial, today would have seen Sepp Blatter step down, the 2018 and 2022 World Cups put on hold and an independent inquiry into Fifa’s future set up. Instead, most of Fifa put its fingers firmly in its ears, with Mr Blatter eventually reselected for a fifth term, amid meaningless promises of internal reform and a determination to go ahead with the tournaments in Russia and Qatar. Judging by some remarks, including Mr Blatter’s own, the conclusion that many delegates preferred to draw from this week’s events is that they were a political conspiracy against Fifa.

The victory for the status quo nevertheless proves some political realities that cannot just be ignored. Mr Blatter survived because so many interests, not just his own, are bound into the system over which he presides. These interests go far beyond the kickbacks and corruption of individuals, important though that is. They include the national benefits to football in the developing nations, some of them large ones, that secure Mr Blatter’s regime. They also include the huge commercial benefits that Fifa can promise to multinational sponsors of its golden goose, the World Cup.

These things are not going to change without a fight. So, to mix sporting metaphors, the ball is now firmly in the challengers’ court. They must try to use this week’s events to encourage and coordinate Fifa’s multinational sponsors and television clients to turn the screw on the Blatter regime. But that will not be easily done.

In the end, it is hard to envisage a convincing transformation of Fifa without boycotts that are enforced and credible. Whether television companies, which provide more than half of Fifa’s annual income of £822m, can be persuaded to boycott Fifa games and tournaments, above all the World Cup, must be very doubtful. The global public appetite for football is immense – it is at the root of Fifa’s power. Commercial sponsors like Visa, Nike and Coca-Cola, which provide most of the rest of Fifa’s income, may be another matter, with more to lose reputationally than the media, not least from Fifa-related boycotts of their own products.

The real issue, however, is whether sufficient national football associations and their publics are truly up for the fight, if the fight involves boycotting the World Cup and the revenues it generates. If they are, all well and good. Football is a sport in which club loyalty often dwarfs national loyalty among fans, and the big western clubs would undoubtedly see advantages in having more of their European players available in the close-seasons when World Cups are contested. But how resilient would public opinion be? In England, fans and the media like to insult Mr Blatter, but they like being in the World Cup too. The Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish might also be nervous about their independent international football futures in the face of an anti-Fifa boycott.

Having it both ways may not be high-minded or noble. But human beings are conflicted and contradictory. In the ancient as in the modern world, gambling and graft have always been sporting competition’s bedfellows. And sport from Pericles to Putin has always been shot through with politics too. Fifa spent part of today arguing about the expulsion of Israel, an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with sport and absolutely everything to do with politics. Mr Blatter’s regime is rooted in political resentment of big countries as well as in the cash football generates. If we want international sport to represent our values, then we must be serious about what that would entail. Given football’s grip on our culture, that all seems a bit optimistic.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/29/guardian-view-sepp-blatter-re-election-football-missed-chance

[xerxes]

Also...

[BRAH]

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Adn that's Blatter's partner in the middle! I'm sure she's drawn by his exceedingly good looks.

Maybe he has other assets.

[martin14]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/32982449


Sepp Blatter to resign as Fifa president amid corruption scandal


Well, colour me shocked.