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2 premier league players (both 19) arrested over a rape. They've apparently been suspended so it won't be too difficult to work out who they are.

Twitter is an absolute cesspool. I have been a happier person since I left it behind.

I suppose one could say the same of those who are, say, supportive of the use of puberty blockers, or of the inclusion of trans women in women's sports, right? It's not just about medicine or science or sports; it's all a proxy for comfort with the existence of trans individuals. I just don't know where that view gets us.

When it comes to things like the war in Ukraine, Twitter is the main source of info. The classical media has no first-hand info, so all they do is interviews with "experts" or rehash stuff found on Twitter. That's not all bad as the Institute for the Study of War or the UK ministry of defence regularly post their latest intel there. I hadn't realised it before the war, but politicians and journalists depend heavily on Twitter, which is why there was such an outcry when Musk started to mess with it.

I see that they have successfully fixed Voyager 1. They worked out that a section of its memory had failed and reprogrammed its primitive computer to work round it. Voyager 1 was launched 47 years ago and is now nearly a light day away from Earth. As a retired software developer with some idea of what was involved, I am in awe of this achievement. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/recoding-voyager-1-nasas-interstellar-explorer-is-finally-making-sense-again/

That's not really what I'm saying: what I'm saying is that it's a best naive to pretend that our views on the former are not influenced by our views on the latter (which are in turn a product of wider issues we have as a society with gender, sex, sexual attraction, presentation, and so on). Any discussion of inclusion of trans athletes that doesn't reckon with those factors is incomplete.

I don't think Lothar is pure evil, he is just an intelligent and cunning guy with poor moral. If it benefits him he will do it. I genuinely like the idea of Lothar ending up Lord of the Crossing. This is based on the "Frey civil war" idea where Edwyn and Black Walder split the Frey family in two factions after the death of Lord Walder, each controlling one of the castles for a time and some Freys dying during the conflict and culminating with Lame Lothar on top at the end. The current Frey line of succession for the Twins is: Lord Walder > Stevron > Ryman > Edwyn > Walda1, 5 > Black Walder > Petyr Pimple > Perra1, 5 > Aegon Jinglebell > Maegelle1 > Walder Vance1, 5 > Patrek Vance1, 5 > Marianne Vance1, 5 > Walton > Steffon > Bryan5 > Fair Walda1 > Emmon4 > Cleos > Tywin4,5 > Willem4, 5 > Lyonel4 > Tion4, 5 > Red Walder4, 5 > Aenys > Aegon Bloodborn3 > Rhaegar > Robert5 > Jonos5 > White Walda1, 5 > Perianne1 > Harys Haigh1 > Walder Haigh1, 5 > Donnel Haigh1 > Alyn Haigh1, 5 > Jared > Tytos > Zachery2, 5 > Zia1, 5 > Kyra1 > Walder Goodbrook1, 5 > Jeyne Goodbrook1, 5 > Luceon2 > Hosteen > Arwood6 > Androw5, 6 > Alyn5, 6 > Ryella1, 5, 6 > Hostella1, 5, 6 > Symond > Alesander7 > Bradamar5, 8 > Alyx1 > Danwell6 > Merrett > Little Walder > Amerei1, 6 > Fat Walda1, 6 > Marissa1, 6 > Geremy > Sandor5 > Cynthea1, 5 > Raymund > Robert2 > Malwyn8 > Tywin5 > Jaime5 > Sarra1, 5 > Serra1, 5 > Cersei1, 5 > Lythene1 > Damon Vypren1 > Elyana Vypren1 > Rickard Vypren1, 5 > Lothar Legend Striketrough = Dead 1 = Female character or descendant of female character 2 = Took/Will take a vow barring them from succession (Septon, Septa, Maester, ..) 3 = Outlaw 4 = Members of House Frey of Riverrun, might be passed over now that they have their own castle 5 = Children, they would require a Regent to rule in their place 6 = Members of House Lannister of Darry or their household, might be passed over now that they have left the Twins 7 = Freys too close to the Starks and not trusted by the core family 8 = Away in Essos If we simplify the line of succession by deleting all the characters concerned by one of the points in the legend, it becomes: Lord Walder > Edwyn > Black Walder > Walton > Steffon > Hosteen > Raymund > Lothar. Edwyn and Black Walder are probably gonna end up killing each other. Hosteen is likely to die in the North in TWOW. I seriously don't think the BWB is done killing Freys and as the killer of Catelyn Stark, Raymund is probably the prime target they want to eliminate right now. That would only leave Walton and his son Steffon ahead of Lothar, the odds are not that bad for Lothar all things considered.

@karaddin My understanding is that the vast majority of transwomen do not have the surgery, and I'd guess this goes for transwomen athletes as well. But as I said, a one-size-fits-all policy doesn't seem right -- there's all kinds of transwomen, including those who do not take hormones, much less don't have gender-affirming surgeries. But the point of the research I linked is that even with well-controlled testosterone, there are physical advantages puberty gives that don't disappear at all. Skeletal structure isn't going to change, density of muscle nuclei is not changing or changing only very slowly, etc.

I've already spent far too much time on this so can't read through the studies being cited by that article to give it a fair read, but I can only assume the studies its referencing on testosterone levels post transition were looking at estrogen-only therapy in individuals that had not had reassignment surgery, because testosterone levels with androgen blockers and after surgery are absolutely within or lower than the range for cis women.

Do you agree we should stop basing moral decisions on a subjective wiki and instead use our own skill of reading the book to draw a conclusion for ourselves? It's not like this is even a particularly hard case.

Al Pacino, Dan Stevens to Play Troubled Priests in Exorcism Horror ‘The Ritual’ (EXCLUSIVE) https://variety.com/2024/film/global/al-pacino-dan-stevens-the-ritual-horror-david-midell-1235979115/ Based on a true story, “The Ritual” follows two priests — one questioning his faith (Stevens) and one reckoning with a troubled past (Pacino) — who must put aside their differences to save a possessed young woman through a difficult and dangerous series of exorcisms. The film is an authentic portrayal of Emma Schmidt, an American woman whose demonic possession culminated in harrowing exorcisms. Her case remains the most thoroughly documented exorcism in American history.

I like his consistency on the hand dryer at the Crown and Treaty

On Blackthorne:

Transwomen athletes retain sizable physical advantages over ciswomen (the Air Force data is particularly interesting), and their "advantage" comes from having been born in the 50% who are the opposite sex. This isn't like Michael Phelps, a freak of nature with half a dozen weird genetic traits that all combine to make him the best competitive swimmer ever -- the vast majority of his advantage versus female swimmers comes simply from having been born male and having undergone puberty, the rest is just the gravy that put him over the top of other elite male competitors. Hormonalization does not reduce transwomens' elite athletic performance sufficiently to put them on an even playing field with their ciswomen sisters in many sports according to the way sports work now. I agree, a one-size-fits-all ban is inappropriate. Different sports will see different variations in advantage, or even none at all -- I follow competitive horse jumping (Henrik von Eckermann won the world cup final again, second year in a row!) and no one would care about a transwoman competitor. Hell, they probably already exist. But then, there's no gender divisions because it doesn't actually matter to performance. But in the sports where it does matter, and there are many, well, it does matter to competitors in those sports, and they have a right to be treated fairly. In the US and UK, yes, but I have to say that the Nordics, Germany, etc. are much less affected by the politics of the Anglosphere. But who says we can't look at these aspects separately? Attributing opposition to unfair inclusion of some transgender athletes in some female sports to being a proxy for discomfort with the existence of trans individuals looks a lot like an ad hominem to me. I happily accept their existence, for reasons both obvious and probably unobvious. I expect you, too, do so. But with increased visibility and acceptance, it is incumbent on society to actually figure out where fairness lies for everybody. Fairness in sport, in medical care, under the law, etc.

Liverpool are not winning the PL, both the players and fans know this . The Crystal Palace loss at home confirmed this. But yes City are definitely under pressure.

I agree the author has put a lot of effort into nomenclature and seems to enjoy it. Putting seemingly 'out of place' first names around the place could just reflect an exercise in 'fraying the edges' of his patterns so that it doesn't appear brand new and unrealistic. Names do spread about over time. But I suppose I am prepared to believe he'd take the trouble to put a Lannister connection somewhere in the family tree if he gave the name Tytos to a character pretty remote both geographically and in alliances from the current house. I can't see the interest in it though, unless it had some effect on the plot, or on characterisation (eg a Blackwood that acted rather Lannister-like) or inheritance. or a hidden identity. There are other aspects to nomenclature, too, like simply the meaning of the name in the real world, its historical associations, or homages or references to literature and popular culture. I'd be more interested in those. Anyway good luck hunting down these connections.

Just don't be married to it and don't rely on it to do things you'd otherwise do with a laptop. It's pretty freeing. I miss flip phones. Part of me really wants to go back to one. And fuck do I miss burners...

Yep, when we went on holiday for my wife's 30th they lost her luggage, unless you are travelling in the middle of the amazon, there's nothing you can't buy that you need.

The sort that doesn't wear a swimsuit. I wouldn't choose to, but i can manage without it for a couple of weeks. Its a phone, not a pacemaker.

Well, yes. Women have far more limited financial opportunities in sports, as you so smartly point out. Which makes fairness all that much more important, for those who want to make careers or go to schools in athletic scholarships.

Whatever you basic bitch

Then how weren't there more than 18 votes against?

So, Robb breaks a promise, and offers to make amends. In response, Walder Frey and his spawn murder 3,500 unsuspecting people, commit treason (against both Robb and Edmure), and they do so in violation of the in-universe equivalent of diplomatic immunity. There is an utter lack of proportionality in such revenge. In-universe, it is seen as justification for the deaths of the entire family.

Lothar is - like Walder - wholly despicable. @The Gizzard of Oz- raping one’s own children and grandchildren, and sacrificing one’s sons - is as evil as it gets. In this world, as well as our own.