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For another population analysis, there is this one by Werthead: https://atlasoficeandfireblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/the-population-of-the-seven-kingdoms

The prequels, when sketched out into just its broad themes and a bare outline, perfectly serviceable as a potential entertainment with a touch of tragedy. Like, you can easily describe each film in a way that makes it sound compelling. But once you actually see them... it's all the stuff that goes to turn a sketched out theme and a bare outline that was, well, almost uniformly terribly bad. It's just badly written and directed, mostly. It's not that there's now politics and trade federations and so on, it's that nearly everything in the execution is ham-fisted. A real shame.

The conservative movement is comprised of lonely, sexually frustrated old men.

Two different kind of goals from Dhuran there. One great strike, one extremely lucky. Both count, though. Have to admit I didn't think Villa had it in them to come back in this match.

Russia is getting destroyed one small step at a time. Ukraine will win in the end though it might take some time. Russia keeps losing ground in the Crimea and around Kherson. They are losing 8,000 men to Ukraine's 1. That isn't a sustainable ratio. Once allied troops get on the ground it will be all over.

I'm sort of on the side of Israel in the current conflict but what may American politicians, especially republicans/conservatives, are doing with their rhetoric is counterproductive to the well being and safety of Israel and Jewish people. Lindsey Graham has implied that Gaza should be nuked. https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-lindsey-graham-suggests-nuking-gaza-calls-hiroshima-the-right-decision Tom Cotton has said that student protestors should be physically harmed. https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/tom-cotton-s-send-troops-argument-wrong-it-dangerous-n1224706 Being this aggressive makes it seem like these politicians are on the payroll and under the influence of a foreign entity.

Video on the technical aspect of filming Dune 2

I cannot imagine writing on a touchscreen myself (I barely even tweet or whatsapp from my phone), but who cares if someone does?

You should seriously weigh up how psychologically damaging a divorce would be to your children

Well, Putin and his coalitions and supporters are essentially putting all of Russia on the basis of Return To the Empire Days -- from the university to pregnancy. They are in it for the long haul. As the Washington Post report in the International thread shows. With or without Putin, the rulers of Russia are in it, planning for the long haul. Here are the links again, though not gift / share links this time as I'm using up my monthly quota quickly. We reported for months on changes sweeping Russia. Here’s what we found. “Russia, Remastered” reveals how Vladimir Putin is harnessing the war in Ukraine to transform his own country and fulfill his vision of a restored superpower. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/06/we-reported-months-changes-sweeping-russia-heres-what-we-found/ RUSSIA, REMASTERED Under Putin, a militarized new Russia rises to challenge U.S. and the West https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2024/putin-values-russian-society-conservatism/ To please Putin, universities purge liberals and embrace patriots Russian university leaders are imbuing the country’s education system with patriotism to favor Putin, quashing Western influences and dissent. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/07/russia-universities-education-putin-overhaul/

I can't believe some people actually think the prequels are good these days. Listen, I'm one of the ten people on the planet who liked the 1993 Mario Brothers film, so I'm not one to judge, but dam were those prequels bad. The nicest thing I could say about them is they had a lot fewer memberberies, when compared to the Disney films. Don't get me wrong, they were still horrible films, they just had a lot fewer moments of "remember this". I honestly think it was thanks to George Lucas love of weirdness and aliens.

They probably saw Leon The Professional beforehand and figured that he wouldn't be her type. Now Yoda on the other hand...

These look fine to me overall, but I do think you have some regions way too high and others way too low. Keep in mind that geography and climate differ from kingdom to kingdom, so rather than taking "Western Europe" as a whole, you should take specific countries that served as inspiration for individual kingdoms of Westeros. I followed that approach, and got the following estimates: https://fantasyview.wordpress.com/2024/04/17/population-of-westeros/ North population by army size: 1 475 000 – 2 458 000 population by density: 7 500 000 – 12 500 000 military: 29 500 mobilization at density: 0,2 – 0,4% Riverlands: population by army size: 1 000 000 – 1 700 000 population by density: 12 700 000 – 14 400 000 military: 20 000 mobilization at density: 0,14 – 0,16% Westerlands population by army size: 1 750 000 – 5 625 000 population by density: 5 000 000 – 6 900 000 military: 67 500 mobilization at density: 0,98 – 1,35% Stormlands population by army size: 1 250 000 – 2 083 000 population by density: 3 817 000 – 5 722 000 military: 25 000 mobilization at density: 0,44 – 0,65% Reach population by army size: 3 250 000 – 8 396 000 population by density: 34 267 000 – 41 607 000 military: 100 750 mobilization at density: 0,24 – 0,29% Vale population by army size: 1 250 000 – 2 083 000 population by density: 7 180 000 – 8 376 000 military: 25 000 mobilization at density: 0,30 – 0,35% Dorne population by army size: 1 250 000 – 2 083 000 population by density: 5 010 000 – 6 008 000 military: 25 000 mobilization at density: 0,42 – 0,50% Iron Islands population by army size: 420 000 population by density: 10 000 – 20 000 military: 42 000 mobilization at density: 210 – 420% Crownlands population by army size: 550 000 – 4 437 000 population by density: 1 952 000 – 2 672 000 military: 53 250 mobilization at density: 1,99 – 2,73%

I pray that someone stupid at Barca comes with 50-60 million and takes Luiz 'dribble dribble dribble bad pass' Diaz off our hands.

I hope that you are right. But I think what is more likely is that whoever succeeds Putin will be similar to him. The only thing that keeps the russian economy going right now is massive spending on weapons production, once this war is over this will come to an end and the economy will implode. So the elites have another interest to keep the war going because presiding over an imploding economy might trigger another russian revolution. Maybe they will try to freeze the conflict, but still increase military production, and move more into a North Korea like state, where the elites reign as Zars and all the economy goes into the military...

So many factors in a choice like this, so it’s really about what you want to prioritize and your budget. I do a lot of research before every car purchase. We have four very different cars in our household. Honda and Toyota are very reliable econo-box cars. If you prioritize reliability and cost of ownership then these are the way to go. My wife used to have a Civic when we first dated, her mother has a Camry now — I’ve had direct experience but the data is far more robust than anyone’s anecdote. I’d buy a Honda or Toyota expecting to keep it for 10+ years, although if you do expect to change in just a few years then they don’t depreciate too heavily — but you’re missing out on the real value of those cars. If you prioritize driving experience, then I wouldn’t touch either brand. They bore me to death. (even the Supra with a BMW engine doesn’t seem worthwhile). I drive a 2015 Porsche 911 because I prioritize driving experience and chose a reasonable level of cost; btw cost of ownership on a 911 is pretty low because the depreciation is much lower than most performance/sports/luxury cars — but the upfront cost is high. FWIW Acura’s quality is poor, well behind older Lexus but still ahead of Infiniti (looking at the Japanese sport sedans and coupes) — I’d be pretty wary of them for used cars unless you get a CPO warranty for the entirety of your expected ownership. We bought a car for my son last fall when he got his license. I narrowed my criteria down to ICE (cannot rely on charging availability when he goes to college), AWD (NE winters), sedan body (his preference), reliable quality, and ~250HP so that is has enough acceleration to safely drive on NE interstates and especially the parkways with short on-ramps. We settled on a new Subaru Legacy Touring, although I don’t like a CVT transmission as a driver experience, engineering choice and potential point of failure; at least Subaru’s CVT is better than Nissan’s. We even tried the highest performance Camry with AWD and it felt severely underpowered. If you want an unassuming performance drive, then the Subaru WRX and Nissan 400Z are a good place to start (or the old joke is the MIATA - Miata Is Always The Answer for a cheap car that feels like driving a sports car). If you like the luxury badge for a performance drive then an older Lexus is a good balance of price for cost (albeit a bit boring to drive), or an Audi S5 sportback is my preference among the German options because the depreciated price after 3yrs is pretty good for the reliability. (We have an A7 for my wife and I love it, but it costs a lot more; the A6 is significantly inferior to the A7, so the S5 is a sweet spot before you take a big step up in price). A used Porsche Cayman is an outside possibility but their used prices have gone up a lot in recent years. Mercedes AMG are always good but always expensive, and I wouldn’t touch their non-AMG cars. BMWs are fine enough but their new generation of engines are extremely bland and the driver experience doesn’t feel differentiated unless you pay up for an M3 or M5. A used Genesis might offer a niche point of lower cost for a luxury sports sedan or GT that still has under-rated quality. If you need AWD for a daily driver in MN winters then it shrinks your options for performance. Audi S5 is generally where I start for an AWD performance experience (or 911 C4/C4S if you can stomach the cost, or Audi RS7 if you want more room for more $). Genesis has AWD too, and BMW has X-drive but with the limitations above.

I agree, there's also the fact that basically no one in the Soviet Union understood why they had to be in Afghanistan. That was a really hard sell. The idea that Russia has to fight in Ukraine is something that is way more popular and much more easy to sell in Russia, even amongst people that are no fans of Putin. Remember Navalny? he wasn't very keen on giving back Crimea to Ukraine, and he was no fan of Putin. The idea that Russia and Ukraine are basically the same and that russia has to fight for it, makes a lot of sense to your average russian. The idea that Afghanistan is a central part of the socialist world and that the Soviet Union has to fight so that their afghani comrades can achieve communism was very far fetched for the Soviet citizenry. And Putin is no Gorbachev, nor is he afaik as sick as Gorbachevs predecessors, who were basically incapable of governing due to health issues. And the importance of the US can't be overstated. A lot of the most valuable systems (HImars, Atacms, GLSDB, F-16, Patriot, Bradley) are american and the europeans might be able to surpass russian artillery production but in all these other fields such as air defense the Ukrainians need the US. And the simple fact that the republicans who only held the house were capable of withholding aid from october to april, means that if the dems don't win the trifecta in november there will be almost certainly further delays and if they lose the presidency there will be no help at all for 4 years.

Been doing a chronological Trek rewatch (finished a curated Enterprise rewatch), and now onto Discovery season 2. Was amused by the ep where a ‘virus’ fucks up thr universal translator and everyone starts speaking Spanish and other language. Also weird that Starfleet’s response to the arrival of a genocidal despot from another universe was to give her a job. After Disc season 2, I’ll move onto my first-time watch of Strange New Worlds. I’ve not watched seasons 3 and 4 of Discovery yet but I’ll save them until season 5 is on blu-ray

Yeah, pretty standard for right-wing hosts to hawk gold and supplements, heard it often on conservative talk radio shows. I thought it was pretty nuts though when when Republican candidates for President started to appear running the same scam, in fact it seemed the main purpose of them being on stage. Mike Hukabee and Ben Carlson for example.

Well, to be fair, you can't rely on the biggest keeper blunder this season every match.

If it's character driven, then isn't the setting not that important? Okay, let's try it another way. Which of these genres would you target to sell it to: Young Adult. Yes, YA is an option. There are YA novels set in grim, scary futuristic worlds. If your characters are in high school or younger. New Adult. Characters just started university, got their first job, or moved to a new state/country. Adult. Everything else, assuming your story isn't for children. Also, have you considered this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopepunk There is also a genre called climate fiction. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ministry_for_the_Future

Hmmmm. Is that ... tea party seasoning? One would have thought AP would be putting up the trailer for the big hoo haw events this week the streamers are doing for the advertisers -- ay-up just like the networks used to do!

This scoring first thing is fun. We probably should have thought of doing this earlier in the season.

I hope you're ok.

And of course there is always the slim hope that Putin dies / gets deposed / is mauled by a bear, and his successor, seeing the terrible economic and political reality into which Russia has plunged, withdraws. This possibility is much more likely if the West is obviously and substantially backing Ukraine, and Ukraine continues to show a strong willingness to defend against the invasion. And less likely if either Ukraine or the West show a lack of determination and commitment.