FedEx's prominence in both the United States and the world have made it a common topic in popular culture, with examples including the film Cast Away as well as some of its marketing slogans (most famously "when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight"). In addition, FedEx has purchased the naming rights to FedEx Field of the NFL's Washington Football Team and FedEx Forum of the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. FedEx's air shipping services have made its main hub at Memphis International Airport the busiest cargo airport in the United States, the Americas, and the Western Hemisphere, and second-busiest cargo airport in the world behind Hong Kong.[4]

Round 1, Pick 5 - Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame:
NFL: Head coach Jim Harbaugh is set on building an offensive bully and that starts with the offensive line. Alt comes in as a polished tackle who’ll step in and immediately boost the unit and protect Justin Herbert.
CBS Sports: B. He is the best in this class, but now he has to make the transition to right tackle for Jim Harbaugh. That can be tough to do. But taking a lineman makes sense, I just might have taken J.C. Latham as a better fit.
ESPN: Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz said they would stick to the process of picking the best player available, a strategy he learned from 26 years in the Baltimore Ravens personnel department that won him two Super Bowls. Selecting Alt on Thursday night supports this theory. The Chargers currently employ only four receivers -- none of whom has a season over 800 yards in the NFL -- and passed on taking the second-best receiver in the class. The Chargers are returning four of their five offensive line starters from last season and signed center Bradley Bozeman in free agency, but stuck to their strategy despite much bigger needs on the roster.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: His Skyrim character is Thad: The High King of Skyrim.
Round 2, Pick 34 - Ladd McConkey, WR, Georgia:
NFL: Our second pick, second receiver and first trade of the night. The Patriots slide back a few spots, and the Chargers get a receiver who should be thrust right into the mix. Although McConkey had injury issues at Georgia, if he's able to stay healthy, he could be Justin Herbert's favorite target in due time. With great route-running skills and impressive separation ability, McConkey could be an 80-catch player one day.
CBS Sports: A. Crafty, athletic, polished WR who can win on the boundary and in the slot. Releases are great. Route-running nuance also there. Deceptive speed and YAC skills.
ESPN: After trading Keenan Allen and releasing Mike Williams, the Chargers came into the draft with just four receivers on the roster. None among that receiving group of Joshua Palmer, Quentin Johnston, Derius Davis and Simi Fehoko had ever topped 800 yards in an NFL season. Since Herbert entered the league in 2020, he has always had a coterie of reliable pass-catchers, including players like running back Austin Ekeler and tight end Gerald Everett, who both left in free agency. McConkey, the Chargers hope, gives Herbert another player he can count on in the passing offense after many key departures.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Cannot stand The Office save for Scott’s Tots.
Round 3, Pick 69 - Junior Colson, LB, Michigan:
NFL: If there was one player I would have bet would follow Jim Harbaugh to the Chargers, it would have been Mike Sainristil or Colson. The latter was the emotional heartbeat of a championship Michigan defense, as Colson is a full-tilt competitor who brings his all to every game and every practice. He's a tackling machine whose coverage limitations were likely what caused him to fall out of the top 50 picks.
CBS Sports: B. Ties to Jim Harbaugh and addresses a need at off-ball LB. Best tackling linebacker in the class by a wide margin. Flashed some coverage chops in 2023 but not a speciality. I didn’t see premier range or speed to the football. Beats blocks with decent regularly and ball skills must show up more in NFL. Very young.
ESPN: This was a position of need for the Chargers and Colson, who was a second-team Big Ten selection and led the team with 95 tackles last season, will bring necessary competition to a mostly unproven group. Both of the Chargers' starting outside linebackers in 2023 won't be back next season, as Kenneth Murray Jr. signed with the Tennessee Titans in free agency and Eric Kendricks was released in March. Linebackers Daiyan Henley (51 defensive snaps in 2023) and Nick Niemann (238 defensive snaps in 2023) are the Chargers' lone returning linebackers from last season, but they also signed Denzel Perryman and Troy Dye.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: We all know what pick this is so make with the ‘nice’ jokes.
Round 4, Pick 105 - Justin Eboigbe, DT, Alabama:
NFL: Jim Harbaugh keeps beefing up both fronts. Eboigbe played well in Bama's Rose Bowl loss to Harbaugh's Wolverines, so this pick isn't a shock. The Chargers are adding toughness in Eboigbe, assuming his health improves. He had a breakout season in 2023.
CBS Sports: C+. Classic Nick Saban defensive lineman. Two-gapping extraordinaire with thick, powerful frame. Good first-step quickness but won’t be a calling card to win as a pass rusher consistently in the NFL. Not a pass-rush move type. Higher floor than upside. Limited role.
ESPN: The Chargers begin Day 3 by filling another of the team's most significant needs. L.A. is set at outside linebacker on their defensive line with Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa and Tuli Tuipulotu, but they are largely unproven in the interior. Some of the Chargers' best interior defenders from last season, defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day and defensive tackle Austin Johnson, won't be back in 2024. Eboigbe, 6-foot-4, 275 pounds, was a first-team All-SEC selection last season, finishing with a caterer-high seven sacks.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Has been known to run around banging coconuts together simulating a horse.
Round 5, Pick 137 - Tarheeb Still, CB, Maryland:
NFL: The first tape I watched of Still, coincidentally, was against Michigan -- and he looked good. Jim Harbaugh clearly agreed, although Still's lack of elite speed or size might make him more of a candidate to kick inside as a nickel.
CBS Sports: C+. Chippy, fluid CB who wants to come up and hit people. Super-smooth hips. Doesn’t have the length or pure speed to be lockdown type but gets the most out of his athletic skill set. Won’t follow routes perfectly at the next level. Can be too grabby in man. Infectious energy on the field. Just lacks premier traits.
ESPN: The Chargers' pass defense was abysmal last season, allowing 249.6 yards per game, which ranked 30th in the NFL. So they had to address their secondary in the draft. Still, who is 6-foot and 189 pounds, ran a 4.52 in the 40-yard dash at the combine and finished with five interceptions last season, which tied for sixth in the FBS. He has lined up primarily outside (77% of his snaps came from out wide), but he can also play in the slot.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: His favorite operating system is Windows XP.
Round 5, Pick 140 - Cam Hart, CB, Notre Dame:
NFL: The Chargers double up on long DBs to help combat the AFC West's playmakers. Hart has a strong athletic profile, and he has the perfect makeup to be a special teams coverage standout as well.
CBS Sports: B-. Old-school, long outside CB. Huge with extreme length. Moves well for his size but probably won’t be able to stay with quick separators in the NFL on a regular basis. Last-resort grabbing gets him into trouble during the route. Speed is average and didn’t make many plays on the ball but not tested often. Maybe move to safety?
ESPN: Cornerback is the first position where the Chargers have drafted multiple players so far, proving that the group was one Hortiz knew needed improvement and competition. Cornerback may also be Hortiz's favorite position. He told reporters that he "never feels full at corner. That is a position that you never stop chasing," he said. The Chargers now have six cornerbacks on the active roster, including the 6-3, 202-pound Hart.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Takes three to five business days to reply to an email.
Round 6, Pick 181 - Kimani Vidal, RB, Troy:
NFL: I'm a bit surprised the Chargers didn't take a back before this, but Vidal has a chance to join the RB rotation for Jim Harbaugh. Vidal's profile reads similarly to Blake Corum, so it's easy to see why Harbaugh might view him favorably.
CBS Sports: A. This is a future feature back. Stocky, well-built frame. Between the tackles experience and can blend slashing and multi-cut style together. Elusive, sets up blockers well and has effortless power through contact at times. Not a true burner.
ESPN: Since the Jim Harbaugh era began in February, the theme for the Chargers has been on running the football. Vidal gives them depth at a position that will be one of the most important on the team. Considering the talent in the Chargers' running back room, which includes J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, Vidal likely projects to be mainly a special teams contributor in his first year. Vidal set the Troy career (4,010), single-season (1,661), and single-game (248) rushing records, and his great-uncle is Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Spreads his love of Frito Pie eaten out of the little bag, like God intended.
Round 7, Pick 225 - Brenden Rice, WR, USC:
NFL: Jerry Rice's son and Caleb Williams' go-to guy figured to go a few rounds higher than this, but it's possible scouts felt there was more development needed in his game. With the Chargers, there are WR jobs open for Rice to make the roster early on.
CBS Sports: B+. Downfield specimen with quality size. Didn’t test amazingly but was a vertical weapon for Caleb Williams at USC. Stiff routes and only glimmers of YAC but has the power to run through some tackles. Fun fit with Justin Herbert. Son of NFL legend Jerry Rice.
ESPN: Only four receivers were on the Chargers roster before the draft, so drafting a second receiver seemed inevitable. Rice, 6-3, 208 pounds, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice. He played his final two seasons for the Trojans, where he was the primary deep target for No. 1 pick Caleb Williams. Rice led the team with a 14.6 air yards per target average in 2023, and 7 of his 12 TD receptions were on vertical routes -- tied for the sixth-most in the FBS.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: After adjusting the other picks & removing outliers he regresses to 1st overall.
Round 7, Pick 253 - Cornelius Johnson, WR, Michigan:
NFL: Another Michigan player for Jim Harbaugh. Johnson rarely was featured in Michigan's run-heavy system, but he made his mark as a blocker and occasional big-play receiver. His hands are inconsistent, but Johnson could find footing in L.A.
CBS Sports: C+. Sizable receiver who can deceive CBs with his long-striding speed when given a runaway. Inflexible movements will keep him from getting open on regular basis or winning against press. Ball skills are good in traffic.
ESPN: The more, the merrier in the Chargers receiving room. Johnson is their third pick at receiver, and for good reason. Johnson is also a familiar face, playing under Jim Harbaugh at the University of Michigan and the many other Michigan coaches on the Chargers staff. Johnson, 6-foot-3, 212 pounds, was a four-year starter at receiver and had 119 receptions since the start of 2021, the sixth most in the Big Ten. Johnson mainly played out wide in his career, with 84% of his snaps over the last three seasons coming lined up on the outside.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Upset with the rising price of cheese and cheese related goods.

Taking my fiance to NYC, be has never been. I've been before when I was younger, and had a blast being shown different landmarks (old yankee stadium, times square, m&m store, etc) but I'm sure like nothing is the same. I'd like to pick out some things to do for my fiance to see and get a taste of how different NYC is from other big cities. We're in our 30s.
For entertainment budget, I'd like to stay under $50pp for each thing we do.
J - He is into football, he loves history (wwI & wwII, black history, music history), art, and he's a DJ. He also likes museums, movies, and comedy shows.
Me: I love crafty stuff, science, culture/anthropology, music, food, art, dancing, and mostly food.
We both love anime and video games, we enjoy cigars & hookah. I don't mind museums when I'm with him, but I don't want to spend all day in one.
I kind of want to stay away from things that need a scheduled time/appointment, because it's a vacation for us. If it's a museum, something crazy like the sex museum would be awesome. Something like a speakeasy would be lots of fun.
For our food budget, I guess I'd like to stay at like $80 max for our dinners ($40/pp).
Some food joints I need suggestions for: - upscale-ish soul food spot (anything with collards is a bonus) - Sushi - Steak (nothing too fine dining) - Maybe a brunch spot with cocktails - A brewery or distillery. He loves vodka, I love beer (especially sours). We both enjoy ciders and mead. - And I know, I have to do the tourist thing and add it: Pizza...
I hope I provided enough detail here, we're not very picky but that's the problem; we want to do so much but sometimes we aren't very particular on what to request. If I missed anything I'll do my best to give more detail (:
EDIT: I think he would really like to see Empire State building & maybe twin towers memorial or something. Also something in Harlem for music. So things in those areas would be helpful.
Edit again: now on the list: - museum of the city of New York. - Harlem - Talea (Bryant Park) - Earl's Beer & Cheese - Red Hook Tavern - Carnegie Deli & Cafe - Peaches - Central Park (Darling) - R Lounge (Times Square)

Round 1, Pick 26 - Graham Barton, C, Duke:
NFL: The Buccaneers fortify the offensive line with an experienced player who offers position flexibility. His elite presence on the interior should help elevate the run game and keep Baker Mayfield upright.
CBS Sports: A. This is a great pick. They have major issues at center and a question at left guard and he can play both. I love this pick. Barton will move inside from tackle, but he can play there in a pinch too.
ESPN: The Bucs got their top pick of an interior offensive lineman in Barton, who can immediately step in to fill the void left by center Ryan Jensen's retirement. While all but four of Barton's offensive snaps over the last three seasons have come at left tackle -- where he allowed just one sack in 2023 and two in 2022 -- he played 446 snaps at center as a freshman, which is his most natural fit and what caught the Bucs' eye. He plays with a great base, a good anchor and a "nasty temperament" that the Bucs' front office covets.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Likes his coffee hot and water cold which is actually reasonable.
Round 2, Pick 57 - Chris Braswell, DE, Alabama:
NFL: It's not often that a player with two college starts lands inside the top 60 picks, but Braswell did emerge last season as a jack of all trades for the Crimson Tide. At the very least, he could be a terrific special-teamer, but the Bucs likely hope to develop Braswell's pass-rush arsenal and squeeze even more out of his terrific athletic profile.
CBS Sports: A+. Had early RD2 grade on this outside rusher. Length, methodical pass-rush moves, deceptive power. Very productive generating pressure at Alabama. Sets a sturdy edge. A need in the post Shaq Barrett era.
ESPN: While the Bucs did sign Randy Gregory in free agency, he'll likely wind up being more of a rotational player opposite second-year edge YaYa Diaby. What they've needed is a replacement for Shaquil Barrett, who departed for the Miami Dolphins in free agency. Braswell's three forced fumbles in 2023 were tied for the most in the SEC, while his 42 pressures were the third most in the SEC. His eight sacks were tied for the fifth most in the SEC after having 2.5 sacks from 2020 to 2022. He also had 53 coverage snaps in 2023, which Todd Bowles does ask of his edge rushers. Braswell played 41 games with Crimson Tide but only made two starts, both of which came last season.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: He only likes the yellow part of the gummy worm.
Round 3, Pick 89 - Tykee Smith, S, Georgia:
NFL: Smith has a Mike Edwards-like projection, so it's easy to see why the Bucs took Smith here, in the same range they drafted Edwards in 2019. Although Smith is undersized and not an elite athlete, he has the nose for the ball and enough special-teams value to be a contributor in Year 1.
CBS Sports: B-. Slot defender / safety hybrid closer to slot CB size but doesn’t have those quicks. Surprisingly powerful hitter at his size and plays with a lot of conviction when tracking the football. Super-smart in coverage. Reads QB’s in a flash which helps him play faster than his timed speed.
ESPN: The Bucs see Smith as a nickel, and he played 80% of snaps in the slot with Bowles keeping a close watch on the UGA program, where his son, Troy, plays. They started undrafted free agent rookie Christian Izien last year and signed Tavierre Thomas in free agency, but their secondary as a whole needs more takeaways, which is where Smith comes in. His four interceptions in 2023 were tied for the third most in the SEC. He was also one of three FBS players with four or more interceptions and two or more sacks in 2023 alongside Michigan's Mike Sainristil and UNLV's Cameron Oliver.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Ribs. This man loves ribs. Cannot get enough ribs!
Round 3, Pick 92 - Jalen McMillan, WR, Washington:
NFL: A smooth-moving slot or outside receiver, McMillan returned from injury to help the Huskies make it all the way to the national title game. He has big mitts, good hands and more juice than he's sometimes given credit for. This is a really nice weapon to add to the Bucs' WR room.
CBS Sports: B+. Crafty, complete wideout with a trademark trait. Runs quality routes. Adequate separation. Not a burner. Not slow. Tracks it with good concentrations. Not a huge YAC type nor someone who thrives when leaping for the football in traffic. Robert Woods type with a bit more juice.
ESPN: The Bucs declined No. 3 wide receiver Russell Gage's option this year, and he was released. Mike Evans will also be 31 and Chris Godwin enters the third and final year of his contract, worth $20 million per year. McMillan can line up inside or outside but 33 of his 45 receptions came out of the slot in 2023, and he caught six passes out of the backfield. He's also a master of the post route. His six touchdown catches on post routes since 2022 are tied for the most in the FBS, while his 253 receiving yards on post route concepts since 2022 are the 10th most in the FBS.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Still willing to try and get the band back together.
Round 4, Pick 125 - Bucky Irving, RB, Oregon:
NFL: Bucky to the Bucs keeps the run on Ducks going. He's not terribly fast but can get up to max speed quickly and might end up as a decent complement to Rachaad White, even if they do similar things well.
CBS Sports: A. Bad testing figures - - despite reasonable speed - - but one of the most elusive, hard-to-corral RBs over the last few drafts. Smaller stature. Decent contact balance too. Weapon in the receiving game, and of course, out in space. Fun addition.
ESPN: The Bucs have had the league's worst rushing attack over the last two seasons (82.9 yards per game) and wanted to bolster competition. Irving is 5-9 and 192 pounds and ran a 4.55 40-yard dash at the NFL combine -- 14th among 20 running backs. While his testing was not great, the tape shows production. He topped 1,000 rushing yards in each of his two seasons at Oregon, including 1,180 with 11 touchdowns in 2023. He broke or evaded an FBS-high 144 tackles since 2022, and he had 896 rushing yards between the tackles in 2023, averaging 7.1 yards per rush. His 56 receptions last season led all FBS running backs.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: He once ate an 8 layer peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Round 6, Pick 220 - Elijah Klein, OG, UTEP:
NFL: With 55 college starts and good length, Klein has a chance to make it in Tampa. He's stiff and might be an inside-only blocker, however.
CBS Sports: C. Smooth operator at guard. Quality run-blocking abilities. Opens the gate too soon in pass pro and not ultra experienced there. Not many true sets in college.
ESPN: The Bucs didn't re-sign Matt Feiler or Aaron Stinnie, who both started at left guard last season. Along with Cody Mauch, they finished with a combined 70.2% run blocking win rate among guards -- 16th in the league last year. None of them finished in the top 50 in pass block win rate either. The Bucs did sign free agent Sua Opeta from the Philadelphia Eagles, and Klein will compete with those two. Klein allowed 1.3% pressures at UTEP and in 45 games, he allowed four sacks with a 1.6% blown run block rate. In 2023, he allowed one sack all season.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Always wondered how Raymans hands worked if he doesn’t have arms.
Round 7, Pick 246 - Devin Culp, TE, Washington:
NFL: Culp shocked a few people when he ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash, but his 230-pound frame figures to limit his role quite a bit. Even so, Culp improved each college season and has some unrealized potential as an H-back.
CBS Sports: B+. Smaller, speedster H-back TE type. Was very underutilized at Washington but flashed when given the opportunity. Made some impressive snags in traffic. Not much YAC-wise but can run away from second-level defenders if given space.
ESPN: The Bucs' 502 combined yards from tight ends last year was third worst, and they needed to bolster competition at the position. At 6-3 and 231 pounds, Culp ran a 4.47s 40-yard dash at the scouting combine, which was the fastest among tight ends this year. But he'll need to improve as an in-line blocker, which is where his size is a concern. He's also had some drops with six (8.8% drop rate) in 28 games.
NFL Absolutely Not Fake News: Has soft hands… both ON and OFF the field.

FedEx's prominence in both the United States and the world have made it a common topic in popular culture, with examples including the film Cast Away as well as some of its marketing slogans (most famously "when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight"). In addition, FedEx has purchased the naming rights to FedEx Field of the NFL's Washington Football Team and FedEx Forum of the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. FedEx's air shipping services have made its main hub at Memphis International Airport the busiest cargo airport in the United States, the Americas, and the Western Hemisphere, and second-busiest cargo airport in the world behind Hong Kong.[4]

FedEx's prominence in both the United States and the world have made it a common topic in popular culture, with examples including the film Cast Away as well as some of its marketing slogans (most famously "when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight"). In addition, FedEx has purchased the naming rights to FedEx Field of the NFL's Washington Football Team and FedEx Forum of the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. FedEx's air shipping services have made its main hub at Memphis International Airport the busiest cargo airport in the United States, the Americas, and the Western Hemisphere, and second-busiest cargo airport in the world behind Hong Kong.[4]

I want to say first off I think the protests overall are a beautiful thing and has helped raise more solid awareness for Palestinian lives than ever before. I fully support the right to protest and I think protesting is a based and very effective form of political action. However, one thing that is incredibly unfortunate and extremely annoying to me is that there are some Tankies, Campists or Antisemite agitators get in and try to derail the whole image of the movement by shouting Hamas/Houthi slogans, saying horrifically antisemitic rhetoric, and calling for collective punishment of all Israelis.
People like Jackson Hinkle definitely fall right in line with the fascist camp and just treats geopolitical conflict where hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake like a fantasy football match.
Those people are awful and do not deserve to be in the movement at all. I want to clarify however that the behavior of a few jackasses doesn’t mean the whole movement is automatically invalidated. That’s ridiculous and a bad way of looking at it. You are going to get people saying stupid and crazy things at any protest for a positive progressive movement. While there isn’t that many bad actors really, they still have to get out. However, I think I may have some possible solutions to these problems.

1. Bring in Israeli Palestinian coexistence groups like Standing Together and B’Tsalem. They can give much more guidance to college aged protesters on what people from the Middle East want and give their perspectives on horrid terrorist groups like Hamas or Hezbollah in order to instill in them that a group is not automatically virtuous just because they hate the United States. Also shows that not every Israeli supports the atrocities being committed by Netanyahu’s government and that there are Israelis that want co existence with Palestinians.
   
2. Arab Spring activists can explain how they went against dictators in the Middle East like the Assad Regime. Activist from the Arab Spring can speak directly to an audience about dictatorships in the Middle East and how brutal their crack downs were along with some of their most blatant human rights abuses.
   
3. Having people who are knowledgeable on spotting political red flags in people like Tankies or Campists and being able to kick them out as soon as possible. As soon as they start doing Hamas, Hezbollah, Ayatollah, and Assad apologia, they need to be shown the exit door and just leave. Those people do not care about Palestinians or anyone in the Middle East. We don’t need those sorts of optical liabilities anymore, especially right now.
   

What are some other good methods that can be used to keep bad actors out of the Pro Palestine movemet? I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts because I think it is incredibly important for the movement to have the best image and optics possible in order to be truly effective.
EDIT: Also, counter protesters attacking Pro Palestinian students should be charged accordingly. I also highly condemn the actions of the IDF and their horrific assault on Gaza. Currently, 34,000 innocent Palestinian civilians have died and it is absolutely tragic. I despise the actions of the IDF and of Netanyahu’s far right government.

Pt. 1 Here
Frank Martin leaned back in his chair, boots up on the console before him, as he observed the image on the screen. It was night, so there wasn’t much happening on the planet below. Still, Frank was meticulous in keeping notes on his tablet.

The screen showed an image from the orbital camera affixed to the underside of the research station. On it, Frank looked at a grassy meadow surrounded by a forest that was nestled in a crook of a mountain valley. The meadow measured roughly two kilometers long and a half a kilometer wide and had a river flowing down the long way through the middle. It was shaped roughly like an American football. The proper kind of football, Frank thought.

Almost dead center of the meadow was a circle of brambles with a number of wide-top trees inside. Right now, the residents would be fast asleep underground, which gave Frank time to fill out his daily report.

A hiss sounded behind Frank, signaling the door leading out to the residential section had opened. A voice called out from behind in a friendly reprimand. “Frank, man, get your boots off that console. I’d ask if you grew up in a barn, but I already know your Hillbilly ass did.”

Frank craned his head backwards and peered behind the chair. There stood Darryl Thomas. He had his thick arms crossed and the kind of frown on his face that meant he wasn’t serious about what he had just said.

“Proper term’s Redneck. Hillbillies are from the Appalachians,” Frank replied. “I’d think a pompous college boy would know that. What with the book learnin’ and all.”

The two shared a laugh. Both Frank and Darryl were from the same town in Texas, a place called San Angelo. Both went to college out in Austin. Frank attained his doctorate in Anthropology while Darryl has his PhD in Astroengineering.

The two enjoyed sharing the barbs because the pair were a dying breed. They were what others called Prees. This was because they were both born before the Third World War. Also known as the Final War.

The Final War was a doozy. The human population at the time was somewhere north of 9 billion when it sparked off. Frank and Darryl didn’t like thinking about it much. It was sparked, like all wars, for some dumb reason and humans got to doing what they do best – killing.

Except this time, the killing was so brutal that the survivors, all 2 billion of them, swore off from it entirely. Frank and Darryl were lucky to get out of it alive. Frank spent much of it sitting in a hole near a city named Shanghai, firing at Chinese guys who, like Frank, would have rather been back home doing something other than shooting at another person.

Darryl was doing much of the same, though he was freezing his ass off up in Canada and doing it with Russians.

Back then, everyone was basically shooting at everyone else. Frank and Darryl, along with the remaining living survivors, all know who started it. Yet they all agreed to not talk about it. It didn’t really matter. All that mattered was it left a big scar on humanity that they didn’t want to open up again.

Hell, the survivors were so good at keeping the past in the past that just about everyone alive today only use the words “China” or “Texas” to make it easy to deliver mail to someone on Earth.

Interestingly, it was this scar that led to the great advancement of humanity into the cosmos. While humanity had figured out how to strap rockets on their asses and toss them off the planet, humans didn’t manage to make it much farther than sending a few buggies to Mars or tossing a radio transmitter or two out into deep space. There were too many competing and separate entities vying for resources that were essentially doing the same research. It also didn’t help that an immense amount of resources were mostly diverted off into finding new and creative ways to end a life.

Turns out, exploring space is a costly thing that a species can’t pull off if they’re divided and wasting resources on blowing things up. While Frank enjoyed a good explosion now and then, it was best when it was mixed with strontium or copper to make pretty red and blue flashes in the sky. Not when it was used to bust up a factory or bridge.

When humanity quit wasting resources trying to kill each other and unified with a single vision, research on space travel got a whole lot easier. In the decade after the war, humanity not only managed to clean up the mess, the first FTL drive was invented along with viable fusion power. It was also in this time that humanity figured out cellular regeneration.

Which puts both Frank and Darryl over 2,000 years old at this point. They lost count. Birthdays really start becoming more trouble than they’re worth when your cake candles need a fire extinguisher to blow out.

Which leads to what else makes Frank and Darryl so unusual. Frank is what was called in the distant past a White man and Darryl a Black man. Back then, people used to obsess over skin color. After the war, race, ethnicity and national origin stopped being important. There were bigger things to worry about.

What this led to was the great homogenization. When people stopped caring so much about what skin color you had, it led to a whole lot less variation in it. People found who they liked and had kids. After a few generations, the mixture was so common that everyone sort of just melded together. Ethnicity and language all folded into a singular unit.

When people stop caring and jaunting to one end of the galaxy to the other only takes a couple hours, it’s hard to have populations isolated long enough to ever develop differences. The people these days are all what Frank and Darryl refer to as a homogeneous brown. A new ethnicity just called human that would be entirely unrecognizable in the old days.

Frank and Darryl were a dying breed. Well, not literally. Most of the original 2 billion were still around somewhere. They just vanish into the crowd when the population is in the trillions. Not literally, they do get a lot of stares when they’re out in populated areas, but no one minds or cares much. Everyone’s aware of the originals. The skin color just makes it easy to identify them.

This allows them to rib each other around old ethnic stereotypes from the distant past. In private. And never the really bad ones. No point in people these days ever learning about those ones. Not that they’d understand it.

Darryl slapped Frank’s boots. “Come on, man, you really do need to keep your boots off that thing.”

“Hey, watch the boots. They’re real snakeskin I got out in Sweetwater,” Frank whined as he placed is boots on the floor. “Besides, it’s not like I’m going to track mud in here. Ain’t no mud to track.”

Darryl folded his arms and frowned. “It’s a bad habit. Besides, remember the last time you got dirt up there? I had to spend a few hours troubleshooting the unit and fixing a few blown transformers on the control board.”

“That was close to 300 years ago,” Frank retorted. The one time they had to go planetside and Frank managed to track dirt into the station. Darryl would never let him forget it.

“And I need to remind you in case it ever happens again,” Darryl said, gesturing at one of the bulkhead walls.

Frank looked up at the wall. On it was a stuffed head of an animal that looked like the cross between a jaguar and a squid. The head was mostly jaguar-like and had spots, but in place of a mouth was a sharp beak and the head had a pair of nasty tentacle things hanging from the cheeks.

Frank frowned. The thing was a bioweapon that a species two star systems over had developed. That species hadn’t developed FLT travel and discovered the planet they’re on harbored life. For some God forsaken reason, that species got it in their heads that they didn’t much like whoever was living on the planet and decided to engineer a predatory creature, load it up onto a generation ship and launch it at the planet.

In the interim, the species had a big dust-up much like humanity did, except they ended up regressing back into a stone age over it. About a thousand years pass and this forgotten interstellar bullet lands down below and the thing gets out.

Frank and Darryl had only been researching the life on the planet below for about a decade at that point. They’d found the place when they were exploring a dwarf galaxy hovering around the Milky Way and petitioned for some funding to build an observation station.

The pair was taken off-guard when the thing streaked into the system out of nowhere. It didn’t trigger the anti-asteroid defenses since they were programmed to ignore anything artificial.

Humans hadn’t ever come across another truly space faring species. The vast majority of intelligent life had been happily isolated in whatever region their species evolved in. Migration just wasn’t normal, so most species never got sophisticated enough to develop technology. No one ever had enough local resources to pull this off.

The few species that did never passed that big war filter. Humans were the first. Barely.

So Frank and Darryl just didn’t anticipate or have any plans to deal with a metal pod screaming out of deep space and crashing into the planet below.

Normal protocol for researchers is to remain hands-off. The species should never become aware of humanity’s presence. Interfering with the development of a species was not a good idea. Humanity never tried it for real, they just anticipated it being an unwise move from old pre-war television shows.

However, there was a singular exception to the protocol. It was to come to the defense of the local species from extraterrestrial interference. Of course, Frank would have gone down there even if there wasn’t the exception. Darryl would have complained, yet Frank knew full well he agreed.

Frank took a liking to the little guys down below. They were a subterranean species that reminded him of the meerkats back on Earth. They were in the stone age phase of their development and had access to limited farming, mainly mushroom cultivation below ground and a few medicinal herbs they’d planted near the river inside their little bramble fort.

The species had developed a sort of language and, like every other species ever discovered, called themselves “People” in their squeaking language. Frank decided to call them Meers, which Darryl thought was insulting, not that Darryl had any input because Frank was the Anthropologist here.

They didn’t have a form of writing and, from what they gathered from the listening devices disguised as local insects, they maintained an oral tradition through a special member of society called a Storyteller. This Storyteller operated as a central hub of Meer culture and maintained group cohesion through stories.

The most interesting thing about the Meers was that they upended everything scholars thought they knew about the development of advanced life. While intelligence is a given, scholars had long assumed longevity was also a requirement to developing a civilization. Octopi are quite smart, yet they barely live five years, so they can never learn enough to leverage the smarts.

Even before the cellular regeneration technology, humans had that optimal combination of smarts and lifespan. Big brains living 80 years or more left time to teach the next generation what the old one figured out so they didn’t have to keep reinventing the wheel.

The Meers, on the other hand, were lucky to die of old age at 15 standard Earth years. It was astounding they’d managed to develop language or tool use with such lifespans. Frank recognized it was because of the Storyteller function that helped preserve generational knowledge. The one down there now was particularly adept since he hadn’t seen their young focus so strongly on the lessons in some centuries.

Of course, none of this wouldn’t have happened had the exception to the protocol not been in place. When the creature crashed into the planet, Frank and Darryl sprung into action and took a shuttle down. They had managed to track the creature, which split itself in some sort of asexual process, and tracked it to the woods near the Meer’s burrows. That’s where they managed to kill one before meeting up with a Meer that had gotten lost in the forest.

The poor thing was terrified and, after dispatching the second creature, led it back to its hole. The Meer was a curious thing, asking the pair questions after it got over its initial shock of meeting aliens for the first time, especially ones that had spoken its language. With translation AI assistance.

The bigger problem was now that the protocol was violated, they had to follow the next steps. Removing a transponder beacon, they handed it to the Meer. Explaining that the Meers needed to be cautious around strangers, they explained how the transponder worked and only to use it if they were ever threatened by extinction.

Frank knew that this would only be something that would occur should an extraterrestrial threat arise again. From their observations up to this point, the brambles were effective at keeping local predators out. Frank hoped that they’d gotten all the things from the pod, especially since it had the apparent ability to split itself.

That was some 300 years past. To Frank and Darryl, that was a short time back. Subjective time perception continued to get more rapid when aging. At 2,000 years old, a century felt like nothing to the duo.

“Anything interesting today?” Darryl asked, changing the subject back to their research.

Frank shook his head, “Nah. The injured one, the new Storyteller, hobbled around the brambles maintaining it. Scouts went out and got berries. Then they went to bed. The listening devices picked up the Storyteller guy was not confident in his job. I find their interesting mixture of individualism and collectivist mindset. Guy really wants to be absorbed into the collective yet he doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of abandoning his individual identity.”

Darryl shook his head. “Yea, that’s a weird one. I can’t imagine giving up myself to become some title.”

“Different strokes, different folks. Anyway, I’m heading to bed. You got this covered?” Frank asked as he hefted his body off the chair. He’d hit the gym first, his midsection was getting a bit fluffy.

Darryl laughed. “Please, I’ve been doing this for a few centuries. I think I know how to watch a bramble bush at night when nothing happens like a pro.”

Frank hit the gym, showered and then went to bed. He had a long day of sitting on his ass staring at a screen, so the sleep was earned.

Which was interrupted after a few hours to the sound of pounding on the door to his quarters. “Frank! Get up. We got a problem.”

Groggy, Frank rolled his fee out of bed. He went to the door, which slid open with a hiss. Frank, in his tighty whiteys, stared at Darryl. He was about to get angry when he noticed Darryl’s panicked expression. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s planet side. It’s bad, man. Come look,” Darryl said as he rushed down the hall toward the observation room.

Frank didn’t bother dressing and padded after him. The two rushed into the room and Frank looked at the screen. Darryl pointed to a spot and zoomed the image in. “Here, check it out.”

There, in the early morning planet light at the edge of the forest, Frank saw movement. He was about to reprimand Darryl for waking him over a few local predators moving about when he looked more closely at the figures. The dead giveaway were the tentacles flapping to the side.

“Shit, again?” Frank cursed at the screen as he started to move to get his gear. He then stopped when he saw another. Then another. The damned things had multiplied significantly and a large swarm of them had appeared at the edge of the grassland.

The duo rushed to the armory and began loading up on weaponry. Frank and Darryl decided they’d wheel out the rotary along with a few of the automatics. Vintage Texas iron wouldn’t cut it this time. As they were mounting the rotary to the shuttle, an alarm blazed out from the observation room.

Frank recognized the sound. It was the emergency beacon they had given the Meers. Moving in, Frank saw the scene from above. The creatures, numbering nearly 50 now, were tearing at the bramble wall. They’d swing a paw in, bounce out and thrash in pain before recovering and taking out another chunk. The stinging thorns didn’t do much to dissuade the attack.

Inside the brambles, not a single Meer was seen. Normally at this time, they’d have their maintenance crews working the bramble wall and their foragers out and about looking for berries.

Hitting a button, Frank activated his translator and spoke. “Hold on, little buddies. We’re coming.”

“Thank you,” a timid voice on the other end squeaked.

Rushing back, Frank saw Darryl loading up some thin knives into the shuttle. “What are those for?”

“They look small enough for the Meers to use. Just in case,” Darryl replied before jumping into the shuttle and seating himself beside the rotary.

Frank loaded in behind him and prepped the shuttle. “You ready to use that thing?”
Voice grim, Darryl nodded. “Just like Edmonton.”

Frank knew Darryl was serious when he referred to the Second Battle of Edmonton. That wasn’t a good time and he only brought it up when things got real.

Screaming down to the surface, Frank looked out over the small clearing. In the time it took to load the shuttle and make it planet side, the creatures had already breached the bramble wall and were now furiously digging at the ground.

Opening the side, Frank tilted the shuttle to one side and Darryl spared no time. The unit hummed as the barrels spun at thousands of rotations a minute. The large block of biodegradable ceramic was shaved off ever so slightly with each barrel strike, which threw a small shard at supersonic speeds into the ground. The hard shards shredded the monsters digging at the Meer burrows as Darryl drew the barrel through the opening.

Two dozen creatures were torn apart in the initial salvo, leaving their bodies scattered from the nearest burrow entrance out through the bramble gap. Many of the remaining creatures retreated back into the forest.

Landing to block the entrance of the brambles with the shuttle, Frank then hopped out and sprinted into the enclosure. Had this been a more peaceful time, he would have loved to study the interior of the Meer’s community. Instead, he ran under the nearest tree and pulled the large cat-like monster out of the way.

It revealed a partially excavated hole and, within, the terrified eyes of a Meer staring back.

Frank noted how the Meers packed tightly into their burrows. He wanted to get a better understanding if this was a fear response or a normal behavior for them.

Making sure his translator was active, Frank spoke. “We’re here to rescue you. Can I talk to your Storyteller fella?”

A few moments passed when a Meer squeezed his way through the hole. He was holding onto the transponder, which was nearly half his size, in a death grip in his little paws. His eyes looked up in terror. “Thank you. The old stories were true. You came.”

“Of course, we promised we would,” Frank replied.

The Meer’s ears twitched. “You? You were the one who provided our ancestors the beacon?”

Other voices came from behind the Storyteller. “Those are the Skypeople? They’re real. They’re here to save us!”

“Yes, that was us. My friend is over in the shuttle keeping an eye on the forest,” Frank replied.

“But that was in the ancient past, countless generations ago,” the Storyteller said, surprise in his voice. “Are you Gods?”

Frank looked down on the tiny creature as it timidly stood before him. “Nah, we just live a long time compared to you folks. I need you to get your five most able bodied. I have something I gotta give you. Those things look like they want to come back.”

The Storyteller turned and spoke behind. Five more Meers came out, four with the same brown hair and one with streaks of silver.

“These are our three best Scouts, Chief Scout and Keeper of the Brambles. What do you need of them?” the Storyteller asked.

Frank gestured and the six Meers followed. Frank pointed out the shards from the bioceramic and told them to avoid stepping on them and they’d vanish in a few days on their own. Looking through the shuttle, Frank noted Darryl still had the rotary trained on the treeline in the distance. Since he didn’t hear the telltale firing, the creatures must not have made a reappearance.

Handing out the five knives he had in the shuttle, Frank said, “Be careful with these. They’re sharp. I’m gonna need them back later.”

“What do you wish us to do with them?” the one with the silver streaks asked.

“If any of those critters get past us, take the sharp end and stick it into the monster,” Frank replied. The expression on the Meer’s faces indicated they had no concept of combat.

Not waiting, he continued, “My buddy here is going to keep an eye on the opening. I’m going to go into the forest and flush them out. We gotta nip this in the bud now or those things are just gonna multiply again.”

Not waiting any longer, Frank picked up an armored chest harness and strapped it on. Then he picked up his automatic, which was patterned after an old M4 carbine variant from his youth. It was a modern weapon, he just liked the look and feel of a classic.

Crossing the grassland, Frank examined the treeline a half a kilometer in the distance. His eyesight made out the mass of predators slinking just inside beyond the trunks.

Circling around, Frank would hit them from the side to allow Darryl a clear line of sight should any pop back out again. He intended to angle them back toward the grassland.

Crouching, the creatures waited. They seemed to operate like ambush hunters and decided to wait Frank out. He would take advantage of this instinct to position himself better.

Cutting into the woods, he flicked the safety off his weapon and clicked the selector to fully automatic. Back in the war, this would have been foolish since he would have dumped his 20 rounds in an instant. With a bioceramic brick, he could hold the trigger down for a full hour before running out of flechettes.

Frank took aim at the tentacle cats crouching 100 meters out and let loose. Firing a modern weapon just didn’t have the same satisfaction of the old ones. The modern M4 rapidly hissed as the flechettes buzzed through the air toward their targets like angry hornets. There wasn’t the satisfying flash of light, pop and recoil that came with firing a .338.

The upside was the modern M4 was effective. Frank couldn’t deny how efficiently the spray of flechettes tore into the monsters at the edge of the forest. Nearly two-thirds of the creatures were dispatched before the rest figured out what was happening and, as planned, bolted out of the woods toward Darryl’s position.

The distant whine of the rotary’s electric engine powering up meant that the battle would soon end. Frank jogged from the side back out of the forest to keep an eye on the now panicking predators as they ran in the direction of Darryl’s attack. They were conflicted whether to flee from Frank or from the new threat, deciding that Frank was closer and ran away.

Darryl easily cut down the remainder. Except for one stubborn bugger that Darryl didn’t seem to be able to get a proper bead on. The predator zigzagged through the tall grasses, leaving Darryl little to go on beyond the wake it left as it was concealed beneath.

The wake continued to move closer and closer to the shuttle until the thing bounced out and, to Frank’s horror, landed on the roof and vanished through the opening. High pitched squeals followed and Frank sprinted in the direction of the Meer burrows.

Darryl had also rushed back and, just as soon as the sound started, it stopped.

Frank pressed through the grass and leapt through the shuttle opening into the interior of the bramble wall. There, he saw the silver-streaked Meer lying on his side and wheezing while the one with the lame leg held out a bloodied knife in a pair of its paws.

Darryl was leaning over the silver-streaked Meer and applying first aid, cleaning the wound to prepare to sew it shut. The lame leg one, the Storyteller Frank remembered, stared in shock at the still predator.

“What happened,” Frank asked as he skidded into the clearing.

“I missed one. Damned thing was crafty. It got in and slashed up this one bad. I have no idea about their anatomy, but I think he’ll make it. Then that one there grabbed the knife and just went Conan the Barbarian on that thing. It was a Hell of a sight,” Darryl said as he dabbed gauze in the silver-streaked one’s wounds.

Silver-streak coughed, “Storyteller, that was foolish. If we lost you, our history would have been lost with you.”

The Storyteller dropped the knife and turned away from the animal. “No more foolish than losing the Keeper of the Brambles. We are now exposed.”

“I see you didn’t correct me this time, Storyteller. Have you accepted your role?” the Keeper of the Brambles replied, changing the subject.

The Storyteller looked at the ground and shuffled his little paws. “Yes. After this, I realize I have a great and honorable role.”

Darryl backed away. “I think that should do it. We can stick around until you get this hole mended.”

“Thank you. It will be appreciated. The brambles should regrow quickly,” the Keeper said as the three Scouts helped him up. “I must return to the burrow.”

A few days passed while Darryl provided guard duty and Frank scoured the forest for any sign of the predators. He had found a den with a pair of them. The things knew well enough not to send their full numbers out. Thankfully, he saw no more sign of the creatures. Based on the numbers and time since the last encounter, he figured they didn’t reproduce all that fast. That or the local predators were enough to keep the population from getting out of hand.

In any case, Frank would set up a DNA warning system should the things ever reappear in the woods, something he kicked himself for not doing centuries ago. This could have been a disaster.

The two humans endeavored to keep themselves out of the brambles space. The interior was for the Meers and the duo had intruded on them enough as it is.

Days passed and the quick growing vines quickly enclosed the burrows area once more. This left the Storyteller outside, who had requested to speak with the humans alone.

“Skypeople, I must offer my thanks,” the Storyteller said.

“Think nothing of it. We’re here in case this happens again,” Frank replied.

The Storyteller shifted his paws in the dirt again, something he seemed to do when embarrassed. “I must apologize for not using your honored name among the People.”

Frank and Darryl looked at each other confused. Darryl then said, “Why? We didn’t give you our names.”

“I know you are called Human. It is something I wish to keep hidden from the People. And the most recent events. I wish for us to go back to thinking you are a distant force. I want us to forget you came down and rescued us from these terrors,” the Storyteller said, shame in his little squeaking voice.

“I mean, sure. Can I ask why?” Frank said, confused by the request.

“Because it will make us foolish. To know that you came to rescue us. More will take risks, thinking you will arrive and defend us. If the Storyteller doesn’t pass the story, the People will forget. We will respect the dark forest and not venture in. It is for our safety,” the Storyteller explained.

“Makes sense,” Frank replied. “We didn’t do this for recognition. We did it because it was right. I agree with you. It’s not good for us to interfere with others before they’re ready. We have no problem if you don’t talk about us.”

The Storyteller gave a small bow. “I thank you.”

Frank and Darryl bid the Storyteller farewell, jumped into the shuttle and flew off.

“You think that was the right move?” Darryl asked.

Frank smirked, “Sure. It’ll save us on a lot of paperwork for explaining why we violated the protocol. They don’t live long. They’ll have mostly forgotten about us in about a decade or so.”

Darryl gave Frank a friendly punch in the shoulder. “Jerk, thinking about paperwork.”

“In all seriousness,” Frank continued. “I’m in agreement. It would be best if they forgot everything. If they remember, then they’ll start getting bold. Then maybe they’ll start turning out like us.”

Darryl frowned. “I know we turned out alright now, but yea. I wouldn’t wish what we had to go through to get here on anyone else.”

As the planet pulled away below, Frank stared at the idyllic world. Greens and blues dotted the landscape, not a single hint of pollution to be seen. The night side was dark as it should be, not ruined by the cutting of artificial light.

In that moment, Frank wondered what humanity would have been like. Had they been like all the other species out in the galaxy. What they would look like had the dark forest not blinked when humanity stared back.

It wasn’t something worth dwelling on. Humanity took that step into the woods in the ancient past. That box couldn’t be closed. All they could do is ensure the things lurking in the forest knew who was boss and left everyone else alone.
That and Frank really should remember to clean his boots off before getting back. He couldn't have Darryl getting after him for tracking mud into the station again.
The Final Part Here

You all remember Mahsa Amini, the 22 year old girl who was arrested and beaten by the morality police for not wearing hijab correctly, later she succumbed to her death. This sparked nationwide protest across Iran in 2022, Iranian women started taking off and burning their hijabs. The government arrested thousands of protestors many of whom were killed, a lot were killed in the streets by the IRGC. There were news about the guards deploying non-Iranian Arabic speaking troops who were killing protestors, you can still find them in the newiran subreddit. And it was most likely the Houthi & Hezbollah militia men because they are are trained and backed by Iran, they speak Arabic and are Shia.
Iranian women aren’t only forced to wear the veil, but they have to face much more obstacles in the regime.

One of the first acts of the revolution’s leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, when he took power in 1979, was to reverse women’s rights in marriage, child custody and divorce. This included lowering the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 9, and girls this young can still be married in Iran today.
Iranian women have not only been forced to veil but have been forbidden from dancing or singing solo in public, riding a bicycle, attending matches in sports arenas, becoming judges or president. They must sit at the back of the bus and can travel abroad only with their husband’s permission. Their court testimony and inheritance are deemed worth half that of men. They are among the very few women in the world whose grandmothers had more rights.

https://time.com/6313431/iran-women-defiant-amini-anniversary/

• I remember this subreddit was very supportive of the protestors back in 2022 and very vocal against the brutal regime while other Muslim subreddits were either completely silent or tried to brush off the topic by claiming that Iran is shia so it doesn’t concern the Sunnis.

The problem that arises now is that this evil regime and its pets are the only ones who seem to give a shit about Palestinians while the Arab leaders have been silent. Houthis have attacked Israeli ships, Hezbollah was about to enter into a war with Israel. Iran and Israel have exchanged bullets many times in the past, most recently Iran launched missiles and attack drones at Israel as a retaliation.
And because of this perpetual Iran-Israel conflicts, a lot of anti-regime Iranians seem to have become pro-Israel which you can observe in the newiran subreddit. And I don’t blame them for this, because it's natural for them to adapt the “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” after being oppressed for so long by the government. The USA killed IRGC officer Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike and it made anti-regime Iranians happy naturally because IRGC protects the mullah government and are responsible for much brutality. There are videos of Iranian school kids refusing to chant death to Israel slogan (yes, chanting this political slogan is a practice in Iranian schools!!) & instead chanting death to Palestine, there were pro-Israeli rallies held in Iran, videos of Iranians refusing to walk over Israeli flag, Iranians calling to shove the Palestinian flag up inside their a$$ in football stadium, Iranian people setting fire to anti-Israel pro-Hamas billboards. I saw those clips in this video.
And remember, these videos are filmed inside Iran, all the people you see here are Iranians living in Iran and not Iranian diaspora living abroad.
After browsing the newiran subreddit, it seems to me that the anti-Palestinian mentality mainly stems from these three reasons→

1. Iranian government backs Hamas and other armed rebels in Gaza, therefore these groups and all Palestinians are my enemies and since they are the enemies of Israel, therefore Israel is my friend.
   
2. Iran & only Iran comes first, and the Palestinians have nothing to offer but Israel can help us dethrone the Iranian regime and instill a secular, non-theocratic government.
   
3. Because Iranian authorities commit the oppression in the name of Islam and Islam is an Arab religion, therefore the Arab culture is responsible for the state Iran is in today. In a simplified way, Iranian Regime = Islam = Arab culture = Arabs = Palestinians.
   

Many Palestinians are pro-Iran because only Iran seems to give a shit about them while Arab rulers are completely silent. But in 2022 when Palestinians were asked about the death of Mahsa Amini then everyone said they support the Iranian protestors. I mean it makes me really sad that Palestinian people were sympathetic to Iranian protestors but Iranian anti-Regime people hate Palestinians. I understand when you get oppressed for so long by your government it's natural that you adopt "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" stance cause only the enemy of your enemy is attacking that government and killing it's officers who oppressed and tortured you, but I wish they could understand that all Palestinians do not support the brutality of the Iranian government and all Palestinians are not Hamas or other Iran backed group members.
It's a sad scenario where you have no choice but to pick an evil. I support Palestinians as much as I support the anti-regime Iranians, I want to see an Independent Palestinian state as much as I want to see the Iranian regime fall during my lifetime. But both seem impossible at the same time because of all the geopolitics. If you want to support Palestine then you have to support the Evil Iranian regime and it's minions & throw the anti-regime Iranians under the bus. And if you want to support the anti-regime people of Iran then you’ll have to throw Palestinians under the bus and support Israel.
P.S.: The first YouTube video I linked are made by two exmuslims, Armin Navabi and Harris Sultan. While I have nothing personal against exmuslims, these two are quite pro-zionists but I couldn’t find anyone else explaining those anti-regime protest clips in English (Armin is Iranian so he understood what was being said in those clips) that's why I linked their video. There are pro-Palestinian exmuslims too like Apostate Aladdin and Secular Spirit. The Secular Spirit guy is in fact a Palestinian exmuslim who is very critical of Israel, anti zionist and his video on the recent Israel Hamas war is one of the best explanations on this topic so. They have criticised other pro-Israel exmuslims like Apostate Prophet and were harassed by his zionist followers. And there are also anti-regime Iranians who do not support Israel, I have seen comments from some of them on exmuslim subreddit and elsewhere. But a large number of them in the newiran subreddit and other online platforms seem to be very supportive of Israel, extremely hate Palestinians and turn a blind eye to every Israeli crime 😓.

“Let me begin with the foundational word on which all other accusations rest: “Palestine,” a subject I examined in depth a decade ago with the scholar Shany Mor for the journal Fathom. The land “from the river to the sea,” to use the now-ubiquitous slogan, has been known as Palestine only twice before. First, the Roman Emperor Hadrian used “Palestina” as a way of suppressing Jewish resistance to his imperial rule. Second, it was used under the British Mandate, which was entrusted to Britain with the purpose of “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” In both cases, it was understood that “Palestine” simply denoted the territory where there had been, or would be, a Jewish homeland. This is why the League of Nations, in establishing the Mandate, did so to “give recognition to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine,” thereby forming “the grounds for reconstituting the Jewish people’s national home in that country.” This is also why local organizations at the time freely used the word “Palestine” in connection to entirely Jewish entities: The Palestine Post, for instance, which later became The Jerusalem Post, or the Palestine Philharmonic, later the Israel Philharmonic. Football associations with players bearing names such as Kastenbaum, Friedmann, Nudelman, and Kraus, as well as coins, bore the name Palestine (but always with a mention of “Eretz Israel,” the Land of Israel).”
“Nor was that all. The Mandate gave Britain the option to separate the territory east of the River Jordan out of the area mandated for a Jewish home. What became Transjordan, and later Jordan, was forbidden to Jewish settlement. The remaining areas are, fantastically, now called “historic Palestine.” As Shany and I observed, “they are ‘historic’ only insofar as they lasted for barely three decades, were governed by a European superpower, and delimited as the future national home for the Jewish people.””
“With independence, the Jewish people then did what every self-respecting nation that achieved independence did in the world at the same time. They shed the colonial name given to their territory (Siam, Gold Coast, Ceylon, Rhodesia, and, yes, Palestine) and replaced it with one rooted in its own culture, geography, and history: Israel.”

So with Episode Nagi being a thing, what is the next spinoffs you would like to see? For me in numerical order of what i would like to see most
1) Episode Kaiser
Young Kaiser interacting with football for the first time, bad abusive past where he became a weak minded person > Being good and scouted to play for a local club > Scouted to BM tryouts where he met Ness> Playing on a club level and Appointed NG11 (here he will meet Sae and Lorenzo) > Crush numerous football stars and veterans > Being intimidated by Noa and his game that he feel he have totally no hope to win despite his slogan of making the impossible possible > Heard of Isagi and came over to NEL to crush Isagi.
2) Episode Noa
Noa in his youth being acquainted with Ego > Play with Ego in the same club , Ego quits and say this is too boring and tell Noa his goals > Succeeding as a rising star being BM ace player winning the world-cup and champion leagues, here we will see matches at the highest level against Snuffy, Luna and stuff, we also see some introduction of good players in Noa's team > First met Kaiser and his perspective on him, can be a potential protege or a cocky person to be put into place > Plans for BM > contacted by Ego's on his crazy idea on blue lock and decide to come to NEL to experience it first hand. 3) Episode Sae
Sae with Rin's childhood more detailed > Sae first saw Rin's potential ( A lil bit like Area no Kishi where he know Rin potential far surpass him as a striker ) > Scouted by RM and went overseas > Striker dream crushed by ??? and relegated to a MF > Played at a international club level and appointed NG11 here he will meet Kaiser , Lorenzo and the rest > Came back to renew his passport > Present storyline.
Sae's story seems pretty short and less interesting compared to the other 2 , but i love to see an episode on someone who is not from the BL facility being that It's more interesting to see things at the highest level instead of for e.g knowing how Karasu fare in his stratum . But if i would to pick a BL player that would be Kunigami and his hero ego and wildcard story. Share to me your thoughts and how your episode will unfold.

FedEx's prominence in both the United States and the world have made it a common topic in popular culture, with examples including the film Cast Away as well as some of its marketing slogans (most famously "when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight"). In addition, FedEx has purchased the naming rights to FedEx Field of the NFL's Washington Football Team and FedEx Forum of the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. FedEx's air shipping services have made its main hub at Memphis International Airport the busiest cargo airport in the United States, the Americas, and the Western Hemisphere, and second-busiest cargo airport in the world behind Hong Kong.[4]

The non-battle of Algiers
The semi final in the African Confederations Cup between USM Alger and RS Berkane was never played. As the home side and fans were waiting in the stadium, the away side chose to fly back to Morocco without ever entering the pitch.
By Pål Ødegård
Even though everyone else – match officials, 40,000 spectators, broadcasters, journalists and the home side – had shown up for the clash between USM Alger and RS Berkane at Stade 5 Juillet in Algiers, most weren’t too surprised that the visiting team decided to not enter the field. Simply because it had been all over the nation’s news and social media since two days before, as the visiting team had descended at Algiers international airport. There, local security authorities confiscated their jerseys, forcing the Moroccans to wait for hours at the airport, where they waited to be handed back the shirts they needed for the match. After killing time doing light exercise and performing their Friday prayers, the African football confederation (Caf) assured them that they would be handed back their luggage the next morning, that they could leave for their hotel and prepare for the match on Sunday night. Caf simultaneously instructed the Algerians that RS Berkane were permitted to wear the shirts.
The reason for the controversy was that the shirts displayed a map outlay of Morocco on its chest. Or, more specifically, it was because the map of Morocco included the territory of Western Sahara. The region is an issue of heated contention between Morocco and Algeria, and has been for decades. The Moroccans consider it an integral part of their country, but apart from discreet backing by foremostly France and the United States, not many agree. Especially not the Algerians, who support the Sahrawis, the people of the region. The latter clamour for independence as SADR (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic), and their movement Polisario Front is recognised by the United Nations as their representative, while also supporting their right to self-determination. In addition, both the African Union and the Arab League also recognise this, and call for the occupation by Morocco to cease. Still, ninety percent of the region is currently under Moroccan occupation.
The power player For Morocco, who will co-host the Fifa World Cup in 2030 along with Spain and Portugal, investing in sports has been a major part of their strategy to gain legitimacy in their quest to make Western Sahara part of their sovereignty. And none other than RS Berkane’s president until 2019 (and still regarded as the club’s patron), Fouzi Lekjaa, is the person to execute this. His influence and power can hardly be overstated. Not only was he RS Berkane’s president, he also holds the presidency of the Moroccan football federation and vice presidency at Caf. Within the ambit of football, perhaps his most important position is his seat on the Fifa council, the ‘minister cabinet’ of world football. But even that is second to his non-football position at home in Morocco, where he is minister delegate in charge of the budget, in effect Morocco’s treasurer and exchequer. He’s been given the position by king Mohammed VI, and was regarded as part of the country’s ‘makhzen’, or elite. Literally, the term means ‘warehouse’, which is where the king’s civil servants historically went to collect their wages. And by managing the king’s purse, Lekjaa is the ‘warehouse’.
RS Berkane play their league games without the map on their shirts. Vast sums have been invested in revamping the country’s sporting infrastructure with modern stadiums and training facilities. This has created a leverage with other African football associations, especially those south of Sahara, who through MoUs and similar agreements have been able to send their teams to train at facilities they don’t have at home, often at Morocco’s expense. Morocco’s influence in African football is further manifested by the frequency Caf competitions and other meetings are held there, as in Caf’s executive meeting last week. Subtly, incentives to protest Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara are eroded.
This influence might also affect the outcome of the match RS Berkane decided to abandon. The Algerians saw the map outlay of Morocco with Western Sahara included on the shirts as a deliberate insult, and refused to let RS Berkane wear it, but offered the Moroccans to play with shirts without the inflammatory symbol. Indeed, pictures of shirts, map-free, hanging ready in the visitors’ changing room were provided. But to no avail. A match that saw only one team enter the field, where they waited until the match official counted down the fifteen minutes until he could, according to the rules, call off the match. Normally, the rules, made by Fifa, also stipulate that if a team doesn’t show up, the other team is awarded a win with the score 3-0 by default. But Josimar’s sources confirm that not only Caf, but also Fifa itself had communicated with UCM Alger and urged them to accept RS Berkane’s shirts, controversial map badge included.
This might raise some eyebrows among those who remembered Fifa rejecting any rainbow flag symbols and manifestations in support of the LGBTQ community during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where they forced Belgium to scrap their alternative shirt as it had a rainbow-coloured trim. Although Fifa said it was because it was seen as having commercial links to the Belgian Tomorrowland festival, few believed them, especially after teams at the same tournament were not allowed to wear rainbow-coloured armbands. Although Fifa later allowed these armbands at the Women’s World Cup the last year, it was in a watered-down version.
USM Alger had had map-free shirts manufactured for the Moroccan visitors.
The rulebook Fifa’s rules are seemingly quite clear on this matter, however, as phrased in the Laws of the Game, Law 04, Section 5:
“Equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images.”
FIFA Equipment Regulations, Article 8, Section 3, explain that “Decorative elements may…not produce, or by any other means give, the (visual) impression of…a political or comparative symbol by displaying or stylising or by any other means giving the impression of registered trademarks or recognisable, but unregistered, designs.”
There are many precedents where Fifa, or organisations under their umbrella, have sanctioned infringements of this law. Among the more memorable were the poppy ban in 2016, and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola fashioning a yellow ribbon in support of Catalonia’s independence movement in 2018. In the qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup alone, a total of 16 national teams were fined for violations of the rules on displays of political character.
Another case not unsimilar to the case of RS Berkane happened in 2014 in the Chilean 1st division, where CD Palestino fielded shirts where the number ‘1’ on the players’ shirt numbers were replaced with a map of Palestine as when the region was under a British mandate before the state of Israel was set up in 1948. CD Palestino was fined, and the shirt banned.
CD Palestino with the number 1 replaced with a map of Palestine. And an example that lends reason to why the law is there was the Euro qualifying match between Serbia and Albania in 2015, which was abandoned after a stunt where a drone flew over the pitch carrying a flag with the outlay of a map depicting ‘greater’ Albania, which included Kosovo and parts of Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece and Serbia, a map that has never existed politically. The result was a brawl before the Serbs refused to play on. In this case, Uefa first awarded the match to Serbia, but after an appeal to CAS (the Court of Arbitration in Sports), Albania was handed a 3-0 victory along with the 3 points, as CAS concluded that Serbia forfeited the match by abandoning the field in Belgrade, and that the security lapse was the responsibility of the Serb organisers. Both countries were fined.
The drone with the “Greater Albania” flag at the Serbia v. Albania match. Headbutted the ref Considering all these precedents, RS Berkane’s ‘greater Morocco’ shirt and Caf’s blessing ahead of the encounter is all the more puzzling. Is it really possible that Fouzi Lekjaa wasn’t aware of the law? Nor Caf? And neither Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who while the Caf Confederations Cup semi final should have been played, sat alongside Lekjaa and Caf president Patrice Motsepe at the Caf Futsal final in Rabat, where Morocco won on home parquette as the Lekjaa’s team was already on their way home to Morocco? Caf subsequently issued a statement on its official web site:
“The semi-final first leg of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup, scheduled for this Sunday 21 April 2024 in Algiers, between USM Alger and RS Berkane, did not take place. The matter will be brought before the competent authorities. Caf apologises to sponsors, TV partners and supporters for the inconvenience caused.”
Perhaps the competent authorities will consider that RS Berkane has not used this version of their amber-coloured shirts in national competitions, but only at this year’s Confederations Cup? Or perhaps Lekjaa is betting on getting off without as much as a slap on the wrist, as when he head-butted the referee after full time in the match between RS Berkane met Zamalek from Egypt in the same competition’s final back in 2019 (and who might face each other again in this year’s final)? Back then, Caf’s disciplinary committee cleared the Moroccan on lack of conclusive evidence, even though the referee himself had sent Lekjaa a letter, ‘forgiving him’. He has also conveniently avoided being barred from becoming a Fifa council member, despite his high-ranking political position in the Moroccan government, and Fifa’s rule against admitting council member candidates who hold such positions. For Caf – and in extension, Fifa – must consider whether they will again accommodate the ‘makhzen’ of African football, or open Pandora’s box of use of political symbols in football.