Most sports never make the news. Even in the US it’s pretty fringe except for the wrestlers who transition to Hollywood, like John Cena or Dave Bautista. Though it had a heyday from the Hulk Hogan era through Stone Cold and The Rock when people were much more aware, generally. I don’t know anyone who watches but I know a bunch of people who used to watch.

Sports theater as well.

https://youtu.be/IFe4hgS5cpA

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_in_the_United_Kingdom

Quick little history of the last century in the UK.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_professional_wrestling_promotions_in_Europe

Active circuits are pretty much everywhere.

I don’t think all sports need to be contests, that’s just the most common association people have. Surfing and rock-climbing are still sports even if you never enter a competition.

Wrestling has a significant presence in Central America, Japan, and Europe. Presumably other regions as well but I really don’t follow the sport so my experience is all second-hand.

Scotch is probably the wrong flavor profile for a sour, but I firnly believe that cocktails are always better with good liquor. Even a rum and coke, use the best rum you can afford.

I solve this by having larger portions less frequently.

Most of my boxes are cat scratchers. Some of them are to paint on. A couple are in a closet in case I have to return the expensive thing that it housed.

Are you a tetrachromat?

Never take any risks to improve the world, that’s how things are gonna get better!

“A language is a dialect with an army and navy.” -Max Weinreich

The difference between “dialect” and “mutually intelligible language” is usually defined by convenience and politics and the Scots classification is not a settled matter, nor is it an important distinction outside of identity/pride.

The obvious examples are people typing in Scots or AAVE but that’s more just phonetic transcription of existing language.

https://youtu.be/SDPasRas5u0

This video is ten years old so the examples are outdated but the idea is sound.

Also doesn’t work when one side is supported by evidence and the others are “opinions” but given equal consideration.

Sure, you’d end up with at least two countries because many states would just refuse to join the new republic.

Then maybe they should have their own shithole country and stop taking our tax dollars.

They can ignore election results though, or fraudulently certify them.

Pipe guns exist, you can build a device that fires a 12-gauge shell in a decent garage workshop. The fancy bits, like a break action that closes properly or a spring to eject spent shells/cartridges, are where the fiddly springs and such come into play. (Of course you know this, but for the sake of conversation.)

Those homemade submachine guns are properly crazy though.

Ignoring the past doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, or that it has no bearing on the present. “Somebody else did it so the generational inequity is fine actually” is a terrible argument.

I don’t mind the idea of mandatory service to one’s country, but “military” should be optional. I’m sure there’s loads of important infrastructure projects that need doing, environment cleanup, various jobs to instill a sense of ownership and belonging while doing measurable good.