Vesper

still raging we dropped £75m on this already (at the time of purchase) perma wrecked player fucking IDIOTS

As a child psychiatrist, I see what smartphones are doing to kids’ mental health – and it’s terrifying The online world is forcing children to grow up before they are ready, and parents need government’s help to combat its harms https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/03/psychiatrist-children-smartphones-mental-health-harm ‘The average UK 12-year-old now spends 29 hours a week – equivalent to a part-time job – on their smartphone.’ Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Smartphone use among children has reached a critical moment. Many of us in the UK are increasingly aware of the dangers associated with them – and as a child and adolescent psychiatrist, I am more worried than most. I am witnessing at first hand the sheer devastation that smartphone use is wreaking on our young people’s mental health. The majority of children over 10 I see at my NHS clinic now have a smartphone. An increasingly large proportion of patients have difficulties that are related to, or exacerbated by, their use of technology. We are seeing profound mental illness stemming from excessive social media use, online bullying, screen addiction, or falling prey to online child sexual exploitation. We are seeing children who are disappearing into online worlds, who are unable to sleep, who are increasingly inattentive and impulsive, emotionally dysregulated and aggressive. Children crippled by anxiety or a fear of missing out. Who spend hours alone, cut off from those who love them, who spend hour upon hour speaking to strangers. Children and adolescents are increasingly seeking comfort and validation from peer groups online. Unfortunately, some of these encourage self-harm, eating disorder behaviours and even suicide. I looked after a young person last year who struggled significantly with their mental health and prolific self-harm. I was later informed that they were uploading their experience and behaviours on TikTok and had livestreamed content from within A&E departments and an inpatient psychiatric ward to thousands of followers and well-wishers. Children’s self-esteem and self-image is also at an all-time low, and levels of depression and suicidal thoughts have never been higher. It is no secret among mental health professionals that there is a direct link between smartphone use and real-world harms. The average UK 12-year-old now spends 29 hours a week – equivalent to a part-time job – on their smartphone. To have access to the amount of information they do at such a young age is having a profound impact on their neurological development. Where in the past we might have received a handful of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) referrals each week, we are now inundated. Parents can’t get their children to sleep or sit still. They struggle to concentrate in school and education has taken an all-time hit. As adults, we see how our attention span has been affected in the years since our lives have gone online. I can’t remember the last time I saw someone watch a film without scrolling through their phone or checking their messages. Our brains are changing – and children are not immune to this. At the same time, our young people are increasingly isolated and insular. The average time that teens spend with friends each day has plummeted by 65% since 2010. For hundreds of years, adolescence has triggered a period of social “pack mentality”. Historically, that might have meant pressure to join a football team or go out with friends. But now, this socialising is happening more and more on WhatsApp groups and social media – with terrifying consequences. If you’ve got children, you need to watch Swiped – and see how sick their phones are making them Simon Jenkins In these closed spaces, free from adult oversight, children can fall down disturbing rabbit holes. In clinic, we hear about viral suicide pacts and self-harm challenges being shared by children as young as 10. For very vulnerable children, who may not have many friends in the classroom, the lure of being accepted online can feel intoxicating, even if it means participating in something hugely dangerous. In recent years, there have been numerous high-profile cases of child suicides linked to social media. Most striking is that often their parents have no insight into what is happening before tragedy occurs. This needs to be a watershed moment. As an advocate for children’s mental health, it is clear to me that we are forcing children to grow up long before they are ready. My heart sinks whenever I encounter yet another young person in clinic feeling hopeless about their future, who is deeply embedded in an alternate reality created by their phone. In my own family, I hope I’ll be able to keep my children away from smartphones and social media until they are at least 16. Our brains continue to develop up until the age of about 25, and prior to that our ability to think rationally, make decisions based on fact rather than emotion, plan, problem-solve and exhibit self-control is limited. Countless adults struggle to mediate their phone use and maintain productivity, make impulsive purchases online and fall for the many scams out there – why are we expecting our children to cope? But I’m aware how difficult this will be if all their friends have access to one. That’s why it’s not enough for parents to have to make individual choices. As a society, we urgently need to reckon with this problem. Campaigns such as Smartphone Free Childhood are gaining momentum in encouraging parents to take decisions en masse for their children’s wellbeing. But the state must now also intervene. I hope the government wakes up to what is happening to our young people and takes these tough decisions out of our hands.

Thomas Massie is an ultra right winger whom I disagree with on so so many things, but this tweet from a little over a year ago is golden

a must win

fuck Musk

perfect metaphor heading into 2025

Suella Braverman at it again. All aboard the numpty cunt train.

Manure perhaps if not there Pool or Arse TBH, he screams classic Bayern CF, but they have Kane Barca would love him (as Lewa cannot go on forever) but I doubt they can afford him, barring some massive sales

would take him on a 6 month loan for sure we could dump Disasi

The worst New Year's Eve party in the world

under 26

worse is FODEN also being valued higher one league goal, one league assist in almsot 1000 league minutes this season at least Saka has great stats this season (but now is is injured, out until March)

Mohamed Salah Liverpool contract ‘far away from done’ ‘I don’t want to put something in the media and people start saying stuff,’ the forward said after a superb performance against West Ham https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/12/29/mohamed-salah-contract-far-away-from-done-liverpool/ Mohamed Salah revealed he remained “far away” from signing a new Liverpool contract before the January transfer window, when he would be free to negotiate a move away from Anfield. Salah delivered yet another superb performance in Liverpool’s 5-0 victory over West Ham, continuing his glorious recent form in London by scoring once and creating two goals, as Arne Slot’s team extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to eight points. But despite Liverpool holding top spot in the Premier League heading into the new year, the Egyptian will be free to negotiate with overseas clubs from Wednesday, with persistent rumoured interest from Saudi Arabia. “We are far away from that,” Salah said to Sky Sports. “I don’t want to put something in the media and people start saying stuff, but nothing really has moved on.” After Sunday’s victory in east London, Slot would not be drawn on whether talks about a new deal on Merseyside have progressed. Asked if he feared a loss of control over Salah’s situation, with his contract expiring at the end of this season, Slot seemed unflustered. Liverpool are also facing the potential exits of Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold on free transfers next summer, but Slot is keen to focus on the influence he can have over his players as their coach. “I think I have a lot of control over what they do if they are on the training pitch or if they are in a meeting with me,” he said. “But talking about their private lives, I don’t have any control over them. But that’s the situation half a year ago. I have control to show them what I expect from them on the pitch, but I’m really pleased to see what Virgil brings, what Trent brings and what Mo brings.” While Slot has said he is relaxed over the futures of three linchpins in his team, speculation will inevitably increase when the January transfer window opens. Slot said that this would only make a difference externally, when asked if the new year would alter the mood at the club. “Not on the inside but on the outside definitely it does because people talk even more about it, not only about these three but about other players because it’s always a month where players can make a transfer as well,” he told Sky Sports. “So it’s not only this upcoming month about the free [transfers], but it’s going to be about ones we bring in again or ones who could also leave. That is always the thing in summer, in August, and the thing in January.” Slot: Trent Real rumours not a negative Asked if the future of Alexander-Arnold, a reported target for Real Madrid, was of most concern, Slot said: “No I don’t think it’s negative at all. He’s playing really well, scored a great goal and the way he celebrated his goal probably tells you enough. I don’t think I have to say much more about it. “I’m really happy with Trent, just as I am with Mo and with Virgil. So for me there is no difference. For the outside world there’s a bit more things happening around Trent in the media than with the other two, but I’m happy with all three of them at the moment.” Uncertainty surrounding Salah’s future has not appeared to affect his form this season one bit, with the 32-year-old the league’s top goalscorer this season and leading the way across Europe for goals and assists. “The only thing in my mind is that I want Liverpool to win the league and I want to be part of it,” Salah added. “That is the only thing I have focused on. I will do my best to win the trophy. We are in the right direction but there are other teams trying to catch up with us. We just need to stay humble and go again. “I am just trying to enjoy the game. I was a bit disappointed with some of the shots I missed today, but I came here for the result. I am always hungry for more. Hopefully next time I will score more but the most important is that the team won.” The return to the London Stadium also brought memories of a past flashpoint between Salah and Slot’s predecessor, Jurgen Klopp, on their last visit to West Ham. The 2-2 draw last season was notbale for Salah and Klopp exchanging words when the former was brought on as a substitute, resulting in Salah refusing to speak to media as he explained “If I speak today there will be fire” – an incident that brought a great deal of humour to Slot’s squad upon their return. “In the dressing room, the players said, ‘Do you remember what happened here last year?’ They were laughing,” Salah revealed. “Virgil started it. We had a laugh about it. It was not a nice moment here last year, but this one was better.”

he stole the show dominant performance

the zios are wetting the bed over this Raffi Berg is threatening legal action so typical they love to bully but when exposed, they cry like likkle bishes as always, only a one-way street is acceptable for the tribe they minute they are called out and/or exposed, they scream ANTISEMITISM!!!!, JEW HATER!!!!!, TERRORIST LOVER!!!! etc etc always the victim, always and forever madness that so many in the western world buy into their shite this is from the horrid UK zionist site Jewish News: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/bbc-editor-weighs-legal-action-over-antisemitic-abuse-sparked-by-sinister-owen-jones-report/

he was never the same after that horrible injury at Leipzig another damaged goods buy

first time since 1979 Manure has lost 3 straight home league games first time since 1962 they have lost 4 home games in one month

8 points dropped in the last 3 games all them so winnable if we were in any sort of form (plus poor line-ups and subs killed us)

boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

he is far stronger though he is bull old school bludgeon style CF

their only two true quality players just battered us