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Recent growth rate of 6800 customers/day to reach the milestone customer base of 3M, suggests if SpaceX keeps signing new customers up at the same rate will take a little over 1000 days to reach the goal of 10M customers. Will depend on Starship to increase Starlink capacity, I assume. https://x.com/SawyerMerritt/status/1792679889272992010

"... some crazy cave"?? R.I.P. Dragonstone

Varys gets himself a competent, diligent, wise king. This is what he desires for the realm. And Illyrio gets himself an ally in Westeros (the strongest person in Westeros, actually) that can fill his coffers. I stated "He could still be Illyrio's son, and that still wouldn't require Serra to be a Blackfyre or a Brightflame." So maybe he is actually trying to put his son on the Iron Throne, with his best bud Varys training him to be a good king. I have a personal theory that GRRM himself has no idea what to make Young Griff. He probably did consider making him a Blackfyre at some point. As many here know, one of the earliest drafts of ADWD had Illyrio mentioning a "sword", which many thought to be Blackfyre. But he later removed that. Many Blackfyre theory supporters think that GRRM removed it because it made Aegon being a Blackfyre too obvious. I personally think even he doesn't know what to make YG. About your explanation for "A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd" This would indicate Aegon would find support in Westeros, but why state that "a cloth dragon"? The cloth there probably means a fake. Now, "mummer's dragon" itself is not a good argument. Because Aegon could still be a true Targaryen, and could still be mummer's (Varys's) dragon. But "cloth dragon" probably symbolizes a fake dragon. About Serra If Serra was a descendant of Saera Targaryen, she and Aegon (assuming he's true) would be like tenth cousins or something. I don't know who my tenth cousins are. Heck, I don't even know who my third cousins are. The random stranger walking down the street could be my tenth cousin. Even you could be my tenth cousin. I'm not denying the parallelisms between Saera's and Serra's stories, but if Illyrio does have a reason of affection to support Aegon, that would not be his wife and Aegon being tenth cousins. Blackfyre theory supporters may be right about Aegon being Illyrio and Serra's son, but they're probably not right about Serra being a Blackfyre. So, this is my theory; Serra said on her deathbed, "Promise me you'll put him on the Iron Throne". She might not have been that specific. She might've just said "Make him a mighty king." About dragons black and red I agree with everything you say about that. And those arguments are one of the principal reasons why I stopped believing in the Blackfyre theory. About his age I agree, and Tyrion is notorious for not being good with ages. He misjudged Jon's age too. About Varys and Kevan There is no reason to lie to a dying man, only if you're sure that nobody else is listening. Littlefinger is also a good whisperer, and one of his little birds might've been bribed or threatened by Littlefinger. Or Littlefinger may have had spies behind the walls. Some Truegon supporters say that "a little kid's words spoken under duress prove nothing". And they're right. There are no cameras or voice recorders in ASOIAF. Whoever is stronger, their word is the truth. And that is exactly why Varys should keep repeating the lie. Littlefinger controls two of the Seven Kingdoms. The Riverlands (his domain) and the Vale (through Lysa and later Robert). He also has good ties with the Westerlands. He licked Tywin's boots for a lifetime. If he could convince some powerful lords that Aegon is actually fake, his word will matter. Not because he is lying or telling the truth, but because he is strong and influential. I heard that double swap theory too. According to that, Varys actually smuggles the real Aegon out of KL, but Illyrio later swaps the true Aegon with his son. That sounds VERY tinfoil. You said "If YG is an impostor, Varys is unaware of it". I don't think so. Either YG is NOT an impostor, or YG is an impostor and Varys is aware of it. Illyrio swapping the true Aegon with his son would not serve the plot in any way whatsoever. Him being Illyrio's son or a random kid would serve the plot better. Why? Because that way, both Illyrio and Varys would get what they want. Illyrio gains nothing from deceiving Varys. About JonCon JonCon wasn't there when Varys smuggled Aegon out of KL, wasn't there when Illyrio and Varys raised him. YG is presented to him when he is a grown-enough kid. JonCon believes YG is truly Aegon, because that's what he wants to believe. He was in love with Rhaegar, and he felt guilty of not being there to protect him. The only way he can avenge him is to put his "son" on the throne. So, what JonCon thinks here is somewhat unreliable because his beliefs are clouded by his emotions. JonCon cannot have found out about YG being an impostor on his own. Not saying "Aegon" and only saying "Rhaegar's son" does imply something (like him LATER finding out about YG being an impostor and switching to Jon Snow's side), but it doesn't necessarily mean that he CURRENTLY knows YG is an impostor. If it is later revealed that YG was an impostor, and RLJ is true, he would betray YG for Jon Snow, and that's all that would happen. YG theories are always good brainstorms, but I still think GRRM himself has no idea what to make him.

Dallas is the top defence in the league since those trade deadline deals. So they’re not merely okay they’re actually very good. These two teams are the two best defences. And I’ve watched a bunch of breakdown highlights of the nuggets/wolves series. Denver’s supporting cast has plenty of open looks they just missed them. Similar to OKC in that regard. Dallas has some options Denver doesn’t have in terms of their offence. Basically two elite guards/wings who can drive into the defence in Luka and Irving. Murray just doesn’t have that skill set nor anyone else on that team. If the wolves collapse on to Luka he will go over the top and kick out to open shooters or if Gobert comes up to challenge Luka is the best lob facilitator in the game. KAT seems to me the person that Dallas doesn’t have the person to ideally defend. And no on in Minnesota can really defend Luka either. Their wings just aren’t strong enough. McDaniels will just get shouldered back into the paint if he tries to be physical with guarding Doncic. KAW has the same issue as well and I doubt they want to put ANT on him and get him in foul trouble. Not sure why you think these games won’t be close down to the wire. Not like the Wolves have a great offence. I don’t expect any of the games in this series to be blowouts. I expect there to be a lot of close games and well in those type of games I don’t see why you wouldn’t give the edge to the team with players who can create offence like Doncic and Irving. ANT is good but not near Lukas level as a playmaker or facilitator and everyone else on the wolves is inconsistent. KAT to me like I said before is the wild card.

I agree that it's hard to pin things down, but that shouldn't deter us from making the effort. I think the reason we see disparities between these two events is the whole point. Ned's dream, as GRRM says, was a fever dream and possibly not to be taken literally. The echoes of this dream that occur throughout the books may be designed to help us sift through the elements to learn more about what actually transpired. It's a layered approach where we learn by parallel, rather than by flashback. Almost impossible to decipher, yes, but worth analysing.

Shaw has barely played this season and I can't see him reaching any kind of match fitness in time. Time to move on from these players made of wet noodles. It was the right call to leave out Chilwell and Reece James. Shaw should be left out as well. Dan Burn and Lewis Hall should be in the squad. Pope unlucky to miss out - he's been significantly better than Trafford this season while Ramsdale has been riding the bench. Colwill really should be in this squad instead of Dunk who has been atrocious for Brighton this season.

Huh, yeah, actually that’s a bit of a concern. I’d seen Colwill was in but apparently not. With Shaw also a real doubt that’s a bit of a dearth of left footed options.

If that's one question, it has been.

I'm very worried about one recognised left back, who's injury prone. Trippier isn't the answer.

'Cause he's been playing fairly regularly for the third best defence in the Premier League? He's the only English player who's ended the season starting at centreback for one of the teams who got into the Champions League. Maybe he doesn't make the cut for the final 26 man squad but he absolutely should be in the mix. Surprisingly decent squad. I thought he was definitely going to pick Henderson.

Speaking of gelite fish, that's a dish I've never been willing to try. Looking at it always made me feel kind of queasy. But other Jewish dishes that I love: Cholent Matzah Ball Soup Kreplach Latkes Bourekas (spinach specifically) Potato Knish I can't remember if I tried Sabich while in Israel, but it looks really good so I might try and make it sometime. Now I'm hungry

I had a "work spouse" at a game company 12-15 years ago. He was a married father of two and quickly became one of my best friends. We were the leads of two teams that worked together. We had most lunches together, took smoke breaks together, bickered like an old married couple. Mrs Gabriel (at the time, my girlfriend) loved him -- she may have started referring to us as work spouses. It was all in fun. I wouldn't ever call someone of the opposite sex my work spouse, though -- that'd be too loaded.

Southern water want to increase their prices by 91%, lol. The minimum any water company is asking for is 24%. Sometimes you have to admire how brazen they are.

If true, the Frey's are the first family that needs to be concerned about becoming sacrifices. #Sacrifreyces

Is it animate, or has it ever been? The usual set up questions.

I think a lot of the poor shooting we saw from Denver was the result of pressure from Minnesota's defense. If you put on enough ball pressure, even the open looks get harder. Doncic is going to need to play at least as well against MIN as he did against OKC, and Minnesota has a better defense and lot more length to make things difficult for him. Minnesota's defense is very well suited to stopping what Dallas wants to do. Length across the board, great rim protection to stop drives, and multiple athletes to throw at Doncic/Irving to give them different looks. On the other end of the ball, Dallas does have some better defensive matchups than Denver did. But Irving and Doncic are both going to have to be working extremely hard on offense, and those guys aren't exactly standout defenders. Hard to imagine Dallas grinding out a defensive win in this series. Dallas's formula is: take care of the ball, rely on Doncic/Irving to make difficult shots, and hope the rest of the team continues their hot streak. If the game is close with 3 minutes left, their stars can out execute Minnesota in crunch time. The problem is I'm doubtful it's going to be close with 3 minutes left.

@mcbigski, what Fragile Bird said. They're also rather dense for bagels, and not really chewy. If you expect a NYC-style bagel, you'll be disappointed, but as it's own thing it's great.

Tibetans, Vietnamese, Filipinos, and Indians would probably disagree about China being essentially defensive. And China's actions in the South China Sea are hardly defensive and non-expansionary. China is presently dangerous to citizens of Taiwan, Vietnam and Philippines. And considering its recent increases in force projection capabilities, one can easily envision a future where say, they decide that Treaty of Aigun, as a 19th century "unequal treaty", is now void, and they would like to have Haishenwai (Vladivostok) back pretty please. Or that Japan owes it reparations for WWII damages, which they will take by any means necessary. Or that Australia's raw materials are crucial to Chinese economy and need to be directly controlled. All of these scenarios are more likely, based on Xi Jinping's current actual stances and foreign policy, than your fever dream of US deciding to invade China.

I have. Every single thing I have said is solidly based in the text. It is you that is making sweeping claims that you can't back up. You can't back up your notion that the Targs tried to contain their bloodlines. The overwhelming evidence, with bastards, mentions of their use of right of first night, etc. is that this was not their specific goal. You can't back up your claim that Orys Baratheon could not ride a dragon. DID not and COULD not are different and there is ZERO proof that he could not. You can not back up your contention that anyone else who did not ride a dragon COULD not either for that matter. AND you continue to ignore the evidence I present over and over again that the concern of the Targaryens was with the purity of THEIR OWN bloodlines. But it is right there in the trees: Valaena Velaryon was of Targaryen descent. Jocelyn Baratheon was of Targaryen descent. Aemma Arryn was of Targaryen descent. etc etc.

Many and more have sought to divine truth from dreams and visions and parallels between events. Most of them are false trails and red herrings, but digging for gold, the one you find keeps alive the idea that there must be more and more and more and more -- and that way madness lies.

Would Argentina be militarily capable of making such a move?

Sorry friend, but you just don't have it. If you're going to posit a hard truth you have to back it up with more than ifs and maybes and I think this and I suspect that. And after five novels and a history book and multiple novellas there is still nothing to support any of this, that should be a huge clue that it's time for a rethink. So maybe someday there will be more information to support this, but I doubt it.

I mean, if you've lived 10 years somewhere, you're a local and should have a vote in your local community. French citizenship can be obtained in just 5 years of living and working there.

After the 2nd round it looked like Fury found his groove and was gonna outbox Usyk, but Usyk never lets you breathe. He keeps stalking you until a left hand connects. We saw what happened when it did. Fury has crazy recovery power though as he showed once again.

Denver's rotation has better career averages than Washington and Jones generally speaking. Gafford and Lively are non-shooters and Kleber is injured. But as Miami proved last season, you just need to be able to outshoot your average while holding the other team below for four games. I don't know about Dallas defense either. They've been playing great, but I don't think Gafford and Washington have even a decent reputation prior to the trade. They can change their reputation like Wiggins did at GSW, but there are still two more series to prove themselves. Also, while Gobert may be an offensive zero away from the rim, I'm not sure if Gafford and Lively have both the size and strength to stop him if he gets the ball there. Offensively, its going to be hard for them (and any team outside of Denver who just lost) to go up against Minnesota's length. Not that its going to stop Doncic's stepback threes, but its going to be hard for Dallas to drive inside too.