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Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion is 1.99$ on Kindle.

This x 1,000,000.

It’s realpolitik. And the US hypocrisy in lobbying for the creation of the ICC then refusing to ratify the treaty giving the ICC jurisdiction over US actions is obvious for all to see. If we want to make some actions “illegal” in war then we need to create consistent consequences for those actions when they are taken regardless of who is taking the action. If the US wans to move beyond 19th century Great Power politics we need to endorse international mechanisms to punish those who engage in 19th century “politics by other means” consistently and not offer cover to allies merely because they are allies. Long term change will come only when we get out of the way of long term change coming.

Here is the link to today's column: https://omaha.com/life-entertainment/local/cleveland-evans-tammys-popularity-peaked-in-1968-but-the-name-is-now-rare-for-newborns/article_89f1f3c0-0804-11ef-a179-b7d5b07e3d83.html I was surprised by the number of Tammys I found in both the United States and England during the early 19th century. In England the concentration of Tammys in Devon in the 1841 census was rather remarkable -- a couple of generations later British name experts were commenting on how Tamsin was now largely confined to Cornwall, which was already somewhat the case in 1841 -- and Tamsin seems to have mostly become Tammy in Devon then. In the USA, as the column states, Tammy seems to have been as often from Tamar as from Tamsin in the early 19th century, but here I was surprised by the number of women I found in Ancestry.com in the early 19th century who seemed to be just "Tammy" in all records. Tammy was never common back then, but did occur often enough not to be completely "eccentric." I didn't expect to see Tammy in use as a full form quite that early. As for the senatorial "firsts" in my subtitle: I believe Baldwin was the first openly lesbian Senator, and Duckworth the first senator of Thai descent and the first Senator to give birth while in office.

All true. And yet, the US is saying it will sanction the ICC and its/some of its prosecutors if they issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials b/c “the icc has no jurisdiction”. Why? Israel isn't a member. Know who else isn’t a member? I’ll give you a clue: the non member in question was committing war crimes left and right. Remember now, when the US threatened to sanction the icc b/c it had no jurisdiction over Russia? Exactly, the icc was lauded and celebrated then. There is no explanation that washes away the rank hypocrisy. And before anyone gets any ideas, I don’t think Putin belongs in jail, he belongs 6 feet under.

Fortunately I had the chance to have a look at your umm... content here on the board, couldn't tell when you were joking or serious. Either way I'll refrain

They're playing like they're trying to get him sacked. Shameful.

Lovely bracelets, you can put bracelets on both wrists too if you'd like. Beads are so versatile and beautiful. Enjoy!

She is one of the worst home secs we've ever had, and has the blood of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis on her hands. I reckon she should just stfu.

I went to see The Fall Guy as well and liked it. The story is dumb as hell, which is what keeps it from greatness, but the way the film sells the inanity of its plot is admirable. It all zips along quite nicely and never really lets up with the jokes and action. Gosling and Blunt are a golden combo and the supporting cast aces it as well (I really like what Ted Lasso has done for Hannah Waddingham's career). The banter is on point and the stunts are wonderful. It suffers a bit from the "Hollywood-is-so-amazing" kind of smugness I usually find a turn-off, but seeing how it's a love letter to stunts and stunt teams everywhere, I find that I can ignore it. Their creative contributions are indeed overlooked and it's high time for a dedicated Academy Award for stunt designers! I also watched a western written and directed by none other than Viggo Mortensen, who also plays the lead in The Dead Don't Hurt. It's a very poetic take on the genre, which takes a pretty standard plot and then elevates it by jumping back and forth through time. This creates dramatic space for an incredible cast to fill with some beautifully poignant performances. It's the type of film you see and that turns you quiet and contemplative. A real treat. I'd warmly recommend it just for the performances alone. Funnily enough, I just finished reading Elmore Leonard's Fire in the Hole, the original short story on which the show is based. If you haven't done so, I'd recommend it

It's a two hour movie and I'm a slow reader, so two hour movie beats reading a writer whose prose does absolutely nothing for me and goes on and on for hundreds of pages. I don't even know what that means. Presumably some character from one of the novels he just spawned in the last five minutes?

It means that Daenerys will have a massive PR issue on her hands. Not only she will not be able to "feed the people" as you have claimed, but she will even further destroy the already torn apart continent. Robb couldn't have them assemble at Winterfell and wait indefinitely because he had to go and try to rescue his father. When you think about it, feudal duties in Westeros have to be basically time-unlimited... or at least, option has to exist to extend them. Standard feudal "40 days per year" wouldn't suffice to get anything done. Either there is no limit, or they get paid past said 40 days. Which still means there is effectively no limit, so long as lord has a source of income. And it also means that they have to be professional soldiers. And what you are talking about the "feudal duties", that is not "what George himself writes" (though it technically is) but is rather, if it is what I am thinking of, Catelyn's internal thoughts. Which may or may not be correct. Or else George Martin himself has no clue about the logistics, timeframes or implications of the world he himself had built. There is always that option, I guess. Westeros should not be some bureaucratic state monster. But Martin apparently doesn't understand that, else we wouldn't have had armies reaching 100 000 men, or a state covering the entire continent. Literally everything about the Seven Kingdoms is impossible if we assume that their bureaucracy is truly medieval. But on the flip side, if they do have advanced bureaucracy, they shouldn't need feudalism. No matter how you turn it, making sense of Westeros is trying to square a round hole. But as is written, Westeros clearly does have a decent bureocracy... we just never see it. Eh, you don't need that many elephants against horses that are not used to them. It is the smell that basically drives horses mad. Horses scare easily... now, they can be trained not to be afraid - even of things such as long pikes and gunpowder weapons... and yes, elephants. But here is the thing: in order to train horses not to be afraid of something, you have to have said something. And Westeros has no elephants. So against cavalry, they could very well be sort of a deal breaker. If it is that easy, then there will be quite soon three pretenders in Westeros. We see than Daenerys has absolutely no control over her dragons, and even if Drogon starts listening to her, there are two other dragons to steal. Hardly an effective threat when 1) it is uncertain she can land her armies in Westeros and 2) Westerosi armies are far superior anyway. Long Night has never happened since Andals came to Westeros, so expecting it to happen is utter silliness. And yes, Daenerys' captains may well do the same. Sure, they have the duty to transport troops. But their primary duty is to preserve their own ships. If storms make landings difficult, they will dump troops they are carrying as quickly as possible and wherever possible. I daresay she is not. Or she would not be thinking about Quaithe's prophecies every time something comes up. King's Landing is well-fortified and more importantly, does not have a massive slave population just waiting to be liberated and a military that would lose a war against Neanderthals. Even King's Landing's Gold Cloaks are likely better than anything existing in Essos outside Yi Ti. And again, that is all fine and dandy during summer. Not necessarily during the Long Night. By the way you are talking, Daenerys doesn't need to bother showing up at all because everybody will be dead anyway... And you don't need peasants to have "fighting spirit". Their entire role is to provide food. And she is bringing a bunch of foreign barbarians and a psychotic, extremely agressive foreign religion with her. Yeah, no comparison with Ottomans at all. </sarcasm> Golden Company are Westerosi exiles. They are not foreigners. But Tiger Soldiers, Essosi slaves, Unsullied will be foreigners... and Dothraki are not just foreigners but also barbarians, no better than Huns or Mongols. Tyrells are already hedging their bets. They are as likely to join him as anything else. But sure, anything could happen there. Westerlands don't exactly have that much fighting power left - if my calculations are correct, they had lost half their fighting strength so far. But yeah, you are overall correct. Except, nobody is cleaning up the mess that Westeros is right now. No single person can do it, until Others invade and force the peace. There are many Rhollorites among the very Tiger Soldiers who likely will join Daenerys. But Tiger Soldiers aren't cutting through anything in Westeros. They may be top of the line for Essosi forces, but best of the best of Essos is still far inferior to average Westerosi armies that it isn't even close. "Standing army" is not an automatic win button, you know... I won't repeat myself, so: https://fantasyview.wordpress.com/2024/01/26/social-background-of-the-army-organization/ https://fantasyview.wordpress.com/2024/01/26/building-a-fantasy-army-part-5-recruitment/ https://fantasyview.wordpress.com/2024/01/14/26-modern-misconceptions-about-medieval-warfare/ https://fantasyview.wordpress.com/2023/11/09/proof-that-westerosi-armies-are-professionals/ https://fantasyview.wordpress.com/2023/11/09/military-of-westeros-1-organization-and-manpower/ https://fantasyview.wordpress.com/2023/11/09/military-of-westeros-2-tactics/ https://fantasyview.wordpress.com/2023/11/09/military-of-westeros-3-weapons-and-equipment/ https://fantasyview.wordpress.com/2023/11/09/military-of-westeros-4-conclusions-and-implications/ And if the Faith launches campaigns against Rhollor converts, well... that will probably be one of the best things they can do, considering the nature of Rhollorite religion! Fire is not good here... whether ice wins or fire wins, Westeros is doomed. Both of those need to go for Westeros to prosper. At any rate, you are quite overestimating numbers of Rhollorite converts.

I know Chelsea is supposed to be our second biggest enemy but I actually dislike West Ham more. I hope they get relegated after Moyes leaves.

I don't think it worked well for Dooku either, like his story should be compelling but it instead felt barebones and shallow. The first two eps felt too basic although I enjoyed his third episode a bit more. Maybe it was the dialogue or the voice acting delivery? The recent Star Wars cartoons sound way more stilted but The Clone Wars and Rebels didn't have this issue.

The Magister couldn’t have known the eggs would hatch. But somebody did.

Yes. The US should have backed and supported Ukraine to the hilt from the beginning. The dribs and drabs designed to keep the Russians from going nuclear have killed more people… both Ukrainian and Russian. I will say this about Gaza. The Israelis don’t need American arms to do what they are doing and I think the Israelis are going we too far in their attacks and the number of Palestinian deaths, the deliberate use of hunger and illness as a weapon are way beyond the pale. However, Hamas’ deliberate targeting of civilians in the initial attack (two hundred murdered at a concert) is absolutely unacceptable too. People claiming things like “there are no civilian Israelis” are absolutely wrong. Holding Israel to one standard while making excuses for Hamas murders, rapes, and kidnapping is unacceptable. If these tactics are unacceptable they are unacceptable for all belligerents.

What does this mean? Speak!

I think this probably has to be the end of the line for the prospect of 777 Partners taking over Everton. Beyond it becoming clear they likely don’t have the money to do so committing fraud is something that will rule you out as a fit and proper Premier League owner. Unlike, say, being a despotic regime and/or having people murdered.

But American policy to the war had a lot of questionable choices.

You are correct… because your orginal statement seemed to apply to Ukraine as well. Are you saying your original statement doesn’t apply to Ukraine and that the US bears no responsibility for Russian aggression? In my earnest opinion the Russian claims of provocation are absolute bunk. They always have been and are based in a Russian Revaunchist Imperialism that some… Irish MEPs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace for example… refuse to acknowledge and actively seek to offer apologia for.

Yeah. For some reason, the forward skipping format didn't work as well for Bariss (or Morgan for that matter) as it did for Ashoka or Dooku in the first series... And for the channels showing SW movies yesterday, for me, I found it telling that I had zero issues watching the OT movies but couldn't bring myself to stop and check in on any of the ST, instead moving to another channel or watching the Family Guy SW trilogy. All the while wondering why neither TBS or or the other channel wasn't showing the PT, and actually missing them...only to realize those were being saved for May 5th...

Another way to put it, when they get together their decisions as well as their actions create tragedy for them as well as the people of Westeros.

Yes, nothing is fool proof. I also try to stay away from long grass. Agree.

Long trousers are not complete protection, even if tucked into socks or gaiters. Ticks will climb up clothing and try to find a way under it. They often attach themselves around people's waists. A manual or visual check of your whole lower body once you are home is safest.