Marka Ragnos

It feels like it's impossible to just buy one thing, watch one game, attend one event, get one service done nowadays without being pressured to sign up for something or shamed into thinking you're doing something wrong if you don't take the upsell or join a "plan." I know that this ship sailed long ago, but I find the retail approach of "upselling" has infiltrated every pore of our society. Where does it end? I went to get a simple bicycle service -- a brake adjustment. -- at my local bicycle shop last week. I can do this work myself, and I have, but I also sometimes appreciate having another set of eyes and experience level on an adjustment because I sometimes forget what "normal" is, if that makes sense? Well, the kid at the shop also talked me into getting some nice new bar tape. Fine. No problem. But then I get a phone call five days later from the chief mechanic claiming my bicycle is a danger and citing "liability issues" with his claim that I need more than £400 of additional parts and work on my perfectly operating bike if I don't want to kill myself and sue his shop, etc. I said no, and he seemed very angry. This shop has a rep for upselling, I like to support local business, but I can do virtually every one of the bike repairs etc. myself; but it's messy and takes time, obviously, so I appreciate getting a shop to do some things.

I'm seeing more and more students at US universities whose reading skills have deteriorated badly, particularly in the last five or six years. It's striking. I know this thread tends to be (wonderfully!) more about reading suggestions, but I thought I would mention that reading itself is threatened globally. It's especially clear, I think, if you're an educator, a parent, or someone trying to hire people -- people just aren't reading for pleasure anymore.

See what happens when I try to keep up with the razor-witted denizens of VT?

Oh my, I looked too quickly -- you're right! So inaccurate. Sorry. Bad chart. Yup. Sorry.

UPDATE: PLEASE DISREGARD -- FOR THE MOST PART -- THIS BAD DATA BELOW. MY APOLOGIES. I looked too quickly. I was wondering about the Joe Gauci one. It shocked me. But who do you mean? Lenglet? If you look at the low end of our salary table, you see lesser quality, apart from Konsa, who seems ridiculously underpaid. Lenglet seemed overpaid. On some days , Youri also. Diaby is hugely important, IMO. So I don't know where the fat is. Boubacar Kamara M 0 £7,800,000 £150,000 Clément Lenglet D 27 £7,800,000 £150,000 Youri Tielemans M 25 £7,800,000 £150,000 Moussa Diaby F 23 £6,760,000 £130,000 Ollie Watkins F 27 £6,760,000 £130,000 Lucas Digne D 29 £6,240,000 £120,000 Emiliano Martinez GK 30 £6,240,000 £120,000 John McGinn M 28 £6,240,000 £120,000 Leon Bailey F 25 £5,200,000 £100,000 Diego Carlos D 30 £5,200,000 £100,000 Joe Gauci GK 22 £5,200,000 £100,000 Tyrone Mings D 30 £5,200,000 £100,000 Pau Torres D 26 £5,200,000 £100,000 Matty Cash D 25 £4,160,000 £80,000 Emiliano Buendía F 26 £3,900,000 £75,000 Douglas Luiz M 24 £3,900,000 £75,000 Jacob Ramsey M 21 £3,640,000 £70,000 Nicolò Zaniolo M 23 £3,120,000 £60,000 Calum Chambers D 28 £2,600,000 £50,000 Robin Olsen GK 33 £2,600,000 £50,000 Álex Moreno D 29 £1,820,000 £35,000 Jhon Durán F 0 £1,560,000 £30,000 Ezri Konsa D 25 £1,560,000 £30,000 Morgan Rogers F 20 £1,040,000 £20,000 Kortney Hause D 27 £420,000 £8,077 Tim Iroegbunam M 19 £210,000 £4,038

I hear you. Unfortunately, it's for both threads. That's my chilling point. I wish it were only in the religion thread.

Mostly, yes, but it's a bit more complicated than that, too, Bickster. I think this goes beyond a mere Religion is Bad problem. Lots of Catholics don't agree with church doctrine and don't insert the latest Vatican bull into their brains like some new software operation system code. My larger point is that a prominent cleric in small American town is telling parishioners to see a highly disputed upcoming election through a prism that suggests the olitical opposition is "evil." This may not be hate speech, but it's kissing cousins to it. Priests here normally keep elections out of their mouths. But my views are quite distorted, too, I'm sure, so I don't know if I can be objective. I don't know. I think it's worrying.

I don't know. Any ideology where In-Groups and Out-Groups are set up can be used to foment political violence, theft, sexual assault, ad nauseam, can't it? I can tell you that this particular manifestation of it in my community in this context is aberrant. There are plenty of peace churches (esp. those from English dissenters) in these parts, too. You don't hear this shit in those spaces, or at least, I haven't heard of it.

Priest at my local RC church today said, from the pulpit, that this election year was "a battle of good against evil." He's Republican. No question what he meant. It's absolutely despicable behaviour from him. I know many of you aren't believers and may see this as just more amusing proof that America's crackpots are in charge, but this kind of rhetoric is downright dangerous and it will resonate in my community and cause anxiety among vulnerable people. It's also, for my area, new. It's just not something local mainline clerics say. It's not illegal, but it's unethical, for sure, and I plan to complain. I doubt it will make any difference. It's really **** up. You see what's on the news, etc., and that tends to be exaggerated, but here you go -- a depressing report from a small town in America that's normally very middle-of-the-road politically. The fascists are afoot.

PHEW!

We can win this one!

The ref is attempting to get things back under control. But it’s a reckless way to do it.

Louder!!!! So they can hear you.

Dude. Please.

Can’t watch the game today. How is Rogers doing on the left? Is Duran fast enough for what we need? Should we bring diaby on?

You got the funk going, @VILLAMARV. I bet this one is up your alley ...

They're awesome. I gotta tell some of my friends about them. Brings back happy memories of ... ... and of course ...

Yes, thanks for passing that on. Love that those phat moogy synths.

Sounds kind of like Sebadoh to me. Never heard before, but like.

Oh no, the vibe police are here. I surrender, officer. Do two positive energy posts count as a negative? Do a - and + cancel themselves?

I love markets! I love that feeling of getting lost in discoveries. The main fish market in Dar Es Salaam in Kivokoni blew me away when I visited 25 years ago. But there are so many great outdoor markets in the world. Which would you recommend?

And don't forget, they have Billy the Badger.

The problem with trying to be diplomatic in post-matches is that it sometimes comes across as a cheap shot, and yet, a well-disguised cheap shot can also seem like a sort of backhanded compliment. Damned if you do ... That's why I just prefer bluntness.