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This seems to be completely incorrect, BBC is forecasting Khan with 43% and Hall on 33%. The close race is the West Midlands and whether the independent has taken enough votes from Labour to allow Street to hold on.

Ha! The WaPo does a story on the WKCR, the Columbia radio station from which, for better or worse, I brought updates of the NYPD on campus, storming Hamilton Hall, earlier this week. Evidently one of the primary reason the WaPo (not the NYT!) seems to deem this worthy of its own coverage is its belief that the Columbia protests were a primary impetus for the spread of the protests to campuses all over the country. As police swarmed Columbia, its student radio station kept broadcasting More than 20,000 listeners across the world tuned in to the students’ report https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/04/columbia-radio-wkcr-protest-coverage/ At the time, as commented here, I found some irony in the fact that the Pulitizer had a place in the students' reporting, which was their and my coda to their coverage of the night: It was difficult and dangerous to the kids too, not to mention exhausting as they and WKCR had been on it since April 17th. Partner and I, safely here at home, listened to their coverage on an actual radio, though most, I think, did it via streaming, and then those -- like I did to here -- posted updates on various other online sites. Here's a photo of the kids who did it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?

Well obviously not at the current time, but there are plenty waiting for her in Volantis. A few nightfires are mentioned aside from the Brotherhood without Banners. That's not really that many, and also they are probably practicing the less violent stand learned from Beric, the mainstream one is very much into burning things they don't agree with. There's no proof R'hlorr or any other deity exists. Magic working is not evidence of that. The magic is fuelled by sacrifice. I'm sure they're good troops but if they were that good then why did Volantis lose its other territories in the first place?

I’m right there with ya, kid. Too much stress and a glass of wine at the end of a long day. It adds up.

Sometimes in the face of true evil, enemies must unite and become friends. ( wouldn’t go that far though)

Well, if this were an option then it is going to work logistically. It is a rather long journey from Vaes Dothrak and Slaver's Bay to Westeros, so if Dany were able to feed people on that journey she would also be able to do it once they are in Westeros. But I actually see no reason for the silly belief that she would drag refugees to the other end of the world? What would be the point of that? Especially in winter and when they are going there to face ice demons and zombies. Castrating soldiers for raping strikes me as a rather dangerous thing to do. Stannis is the pretender who is most likely to be slain by his own men, either burned as a sacrifice to R'hllor by the Queen's Men (whose true allegiance was always a dagger at his throat) or simply because the men are done taking shit from him. The Dothraki would do what Dany commands them in Westeros. They might also rape women, but who would care much about that? Dany might to a point, but if she unleashes them she would be fine with whatever they do or else she wouldn't unleash them. Also not sure what that issue has to do with a feeding problem. The Dothraki taking food from the peasants is good for the former. They have food, which means full bellies and strong arms, which any hypothetical rebellious peasants will lack. Nope, it straight out contradicts what George himself writes about the feudal duties the Northmen own the Starks. Robb can't have them assemble at Winterfell and wait indefinitely ... but somehow Doran Martell can? Even with no Martell prince there leading or overseeing them? That makes just no sense. That should still cause trouble in the Reach. This is not some bureaucratic state monster. Traders do trade in food, so if 'King Renly' takes food for his men without ample monetary compensation the people wouldn't be happy. It is not that they are that many elephants, anyway. Nope, she won the allegiance because she had a huge dragon and threatened to murder the little king and burn his entire castle, garrison, and mother. That is the implication. And with Addam and Jacaerys Velaryon we see what effects a dragonrider showing up (and making promises) can have on the willingness of various lords to marshal armies. The idea that Dany would not be doing that personally or through her other dragonriders is silly. In fact, if there is an invasion she will first fly across the sea to check things out and make deals. Well, for the threat it is enough for people to know she has armies across the Narrow Sea and the means to make a landing in their lands. Which will cause problems for the people living there if they are not going to be friendly. And because the captains just decided to dump the soldiers wherever they landed. You are not thick enough to believe that Dany's captains would do the same. Say, a storm scatters her fleet ... then they will do as even fucking Victarion did on his journey to Slaver's Bay: Regroup at a crucial landmark - say, Dragonstone - and proceed from there with sufficient strength to KL. The notion that 'storms' will suddenly disrupt the Narrow Sea trade when this has never before happened is utter silliness. LOL, that is just nonsense. George has already said Dany won't go to Asshai. If anything, she will go west to reach the eastern shore of KL, but that's it. And I also daresay that Dany is far too bright to draw her strategies from the cryptic comments of from a rather obscure masked sorceress. Sure enough - since it shouldn't be that hard to conquer one city. She did it before with Astapor and Meereen. Why should KL be different? And who said that the Iron Throne is the endgame here? When have you last consulted the actual books? Naval trade in the Narrow Sea goes both along the coastlines as well as back and forth between the cities on either coast. For example, Sam's journey from Eastwatch to Oldtown via Braavos. Or little Varys' mummer tour as a slave boy which included both Westerosi harbors as well as Free Cities. These people are proper seafarers who have no trouble moving away from the shorelines. LOL, who ever said that? She might bring in sufficient food from Essos to feed her soldiers, her people, and her allies? But all of Westeros? Hardly. Especially not the people who haven't bend the knee. Why should she even try to do that? The point is more that the way things stand right now there might be no maidens left to rape by the time Dany finally shows up. Nor any fighting spirit left in the starving, freezing and brutalized peasantry. So now we are comparing climate change effects to - what exactly? Years' long winters in a magical world where freak seasons have so far not fanned the flames of war and migration in the continent we talk about? Why would we do that. Sure enough - it is a huge question why the hell anyone is actually still living north of the Neck in this shithole world - but people are for 'reasons' ... so we have to accept that and move on. Who cares about that? Dany isn't some silly Ottoman invading a foreign country with a different culture and religion. She is the last scion of the rightful dynasty of the country she might be invading, a dynasty who created the unified kingdom these people live in. Her soldiers will be viewed the way the Golden Company is - or the way Dutch or French mercenaries fighting for this or that pretender in the Wars of the Roses were viewed, not as some kind of barbaric invasion. There might be some problems in the regions she invades ... but she won't march through the entire continent, so that will be a small issue. I didn't mean the time, but the practice. Riverlanders are pissed because they have been foraged and brutalized again and again by various factions, often enough by the same sellswords who switched sides. But be that as it may - similar things might happen in other regions, too, long before Dany arrives. Euron already has more means to harm the people than any other pretender. Sure enough, he should have little trouble seizing the throne ... but then people are likely to march or move against him. And being a young and somewhat foolish lad he might actually think it is his duty to pacify his new Realm personally by way of marching to the Riverlands, the Reach, or wherever else lawlessness and fighting continues. Euron might easily enough oust him or make things very hard for him, and chances that the Tyrells will just meekly accept being ousted from power is also not very likely. Even if a good portion of the Reach lords declare for Aegon, Highgarden is not likely to follow suit ... and they will continue to control the bulk of the Reach's forces because they are simply way too connected with the other great houses in the Reach to be pushed aside. Also, of course, if Aegon were to marry Arianne, or if the Prince's Pass's Dornish army were to invade the Reach and attack Highgarden on behalf of Aegon while Tommen or Myrcella yet rule in KL peace between Aegon's new regime and the Reach might not exactly be stable. And the West is never going to accept Aegon as king, either, especially not if Tommen and Myrcella are killed. This story will continue to be a multifaceted monster, a huge mess of ever shifting alliances and betrayals, not some simple Aegon vs. Dany thing. And as (most likely) the last outsider to enter the game Dany will have her pick of potential allies. She could make deals literally with anyone. Especially if the Others are out in the open already ... but even if not. Varys' plan was Aegon to be the endgame, the guy who cleans up the mess. But he couldn't wait, so now he entered the fray at the wrong time and without dragons. That won't work. That is rather silly as so far there are literal no followers of R'hllor among Dany's people while there is an ever growing number of R'hllorian converts in the Riverlands. If Dany ended up being joined by thousands of tiger soldiers following R'hllor you might have a point ... but then the game would be off, anyway, as the the tiger soldiers would likely cut through Westeros like a knife through cheese. They are the well-trained, standing army of the second most powerful Free City. In any case, though, Thoros' converts are likely preparing the ground for Dany's eventual power base in the Riverlands. Aegon will likely ally with the High Septon and the Faith Militant and they will add fuel to the fire by launching campaigns against the converts in the Riverlands. And perhaps also against followers of the old gods if they can. Also, of course, R'hllor and red priests will likely be very popular in Westeros soon because their magics and god will actually help to keep the cold and night at bay. There is a reason why the hell Melisandre's entire religion revolves around using fire and shadows to fight against the dark. Indeed. In context one would imagine that Dany will only take Dothraki she can trust. Men willing to cross the sea and thus abandon the old ways they believed in previously. We got the template for that back in AGoT with the people who witnessed the Mother of Dragons event. She will likely be technically be able to convince all of them to migrate to Westeros if they accept her as their Stallion person, but it isn't likely she will force them to do this. But she would always have the means to jump on Drogon and fly back to the Dothraki Sea to ensure more Dothraki come if they are needed.

And yet, I doubt City drops points. But we really did compete. 14-1-1 in 2024. Proud of the team.

Well that sucked; just saw all 6 episodes, mostly because I loved Barris in the Clone Wars.

Glad to see Ipswich go up. My relative Dr Steve Lazar was their team doctor for 20 years.

Arsenal really deserve to be champions this season, as much as it pains me to say it.

the English Civil War and the French Revolution were the result not the cause of progress and did in fact in both cases set it back centuries, the US Revolution was good for the local elites but bad for everyone else especially the local people while all three countries became or regained greatness afterwards they did not do so directly because of the revolutions.

Isn’t that one of the signs of the apocalypse?

Well, I interpret that to mean that Ned is the only one who has this dream making it a production of his own mind. If the sequence were literal than the dream wouldn’t be solely his. It also wouldn’t be a dream at all. It would be a memory.

Facts are facts. I've got spockydog and heartofice agreeing, i should be getting freedom of the board.

It's only right and proper for the tractor boys to be playing in the farmer's league.

Yup, the lost Rooney months. Saved my old Alma Mater, Plymouth Argyle, though.

And Birmingham City has paid the ultimate price for their moronic decision to sack Eustace.

That is one of those reinterpretations. Originally, the Valar were conceived as physical gods and that's why they eat and drink, live in houses, build cities, and have children. That is also the original reason why they are male and female and form couples. Once reconceived as angelic beings without bodies them taking on shapes similar to the Children to honor them makes sense - also the custom of ritual meals with the Eldar at special occasions - but less so the notion they should build cities and live in houses ages before the Children are even there. Spirits don't need places to live. If thought through this whole thing means that there are places in this world where all plant and animal life is immortal or at least as long-lived as the Elves. That makes little sense in a larger context as it means that Eru actually intended to put Men into a world where they decidedly did not belong as they could not possibly live the way they are in an all-out Blessed Realm. Of course, to a point this is connected to the original Fall of Man that happens unseen in the Silmarillion texts and can be hardly brought into accord with Melkor-Morgoth's own story regardless how you play. But even if we go with the Tale of Adanel's idea that Men were originally talking to Eru directly and as long-lived as the Elves, the problem remains that it is a core problem of Tolkien's concept of death that it is a gift to Men and they were always destined to leave Arda to be with Eru. That simply doesn't fit with the idea that Arda Unmarred/the Blessed Realm would be a monstrous place for Men to be. 3000 years mean much less if your average lifespan is a couple of centuries. And there are no cultural breaks, no civil wars, nor any attempts of revisionist history. The Númenóreans know that their ancestors fought against Morgoth in the War of Wrath and that they were rewarded for this heroic action. Their king's own sword is the sword of Elu Thingol himself. The Númenóreans just don't want to die prior to Sauron's arrival. They don't want to worship the devil, originally, nor do they want to be evil. They just don't want to die. And they should know that conquering the lands of the Valar would not make them immortal. That wasn't the point. The point is that the way a true Númenórean dies - by lying down, closing his eyes and just die - like Aragorn does in the end is not something a real man could possibly do. Dying is not a spiritual issue nor one of attitude or character. But it is painted as such in the story. Unlike lesser men the Númenóreans feel age coming in a different way then we do and they can then die of their own free will to pass on. And this didn't really change with their corruption - they always can die of their own free will, they just refuse to not do it then and then enter into dotage and senility. They know they are fundamentally apart in that way from other men as they are in their long life. And they also know that this has nothing to do with their own blessed land, Númenor, but with a gift granted to their ancestors because of their bravery. Sure, but those people live in a magical world where gods or divine beings actually walk around and talk to them. The founder of their ruling dynasty is literally a star in the sky. And they know their own way of dying sets them apart from other men. They know it is nothing to fear. Sure, you could still have some doubt about what happens after death but who would think it will be bad dying if all those good divine beings are actually real? The idea that nothing happens after death would be silly, as would be the idea that monster devour your soul in hell or other such nonsense. The Devil is a real person in this world, with a body which can be hurt and destroyed, and their ancestors just helped doing that. The sin of the Númenóreans isn't the fear of the unknown but clinging to worldly possessions, a wish to extend life on this plane. Which goes directly against their nature and inner longing to move on. Such fears usually don't lead us to worship the literal devil. And the appearance of his literal lieutenant on their island should actually cause them to reconsider the truth of their own knowledge. Sauron is the disciple of the very Enemy their ancestors helped to vanquish - moreover, he also happens to be one of the key adversaries of Beren on his quest. Beren from whom their kings also happen to be descended from. These people are just painted as naive morons. They know way too much to fall for such silly lies. Eru is the very own god of Númenor. The kings do worship him in annual rituals. They are not in need of evangelizing.

Now we need Wolves to steal points off City. They're more likely to do it than Spurs.

I mean .. if the PL doesn't automatically accept you, you're most likely dodgy as Trump.

Is there anything better than a game of keepy up on the beach with some pals. https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlysatisfying/s/D0fw1l0pZb

Lenders to 777 Partners Allege Fraud, Double-Pledging in Suit.

Right because… Doesn’t sound patronizing or dickish at all.

I think Arsenal are lucky here. Raya's doing a bad job in that situation and is getting bailed out by the "goalkeepers are sacred"-rule. ETA: that was about the disallowed goal. Game as a whole, Arsenal are clearly best. Superior in the first half, more even in the second.

Ipswich heading up unless something drastic happens. Back-to-back promotions. McKenna has done a fantastic job there.