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Jason Carter warns that President Raisi is "nearing the end".

Brilliant letter in the Guardian here from Terry:

Frank Ifield dead at 86.

I can already hear the screams of anti-semitism from here. Obviously, I am all for due process. We know the names of every single Israeli hostage/citizen who has died. Not so for the thousands of dead Palestinians, sadly. I cannot understand Israeli right-wingers who want a beach front home in Gaza after the war. I cannot understand their desire to settle in Palestinian held areas. I cannot understand men, women and children who stand in the way of humanitarian aid. If there is a term "anti-Semitism", there is surely a term for those so rabidly right-wing pro-Jew - but I cannot seem to recall any such term. Folk like Rachel Riley, Maureen Lipman and Tracy-Ann Oberman whipping up fear and hate from the comfort of their comfortable lives thousands of miles from the conflict - sheesh. But then I cannot understand the devastation of October 7, or the inability of Israel to foresee that attack. (Shades of Pearl Harbor [sic]). Humanity loses again.

And his music surely counts for the crimes against humanity bonus points too.

Quite the deluge over the weekend. Now wait. I'm player of the month for April? A first for me. I'll take it. I'd like to thank everybody who made this possible.

You will note that two of my pools are long term pools which can last up to 2 years each and can often go for months without needing an update. This is the exception and I inherited this because I enjoyed playing it so much Thank you for your kind words

The main lesson for world leaders to take from 2024 is to never get on a Helicopter ever again.

I doubt it, the Tories don't have long in power and Labour, who are widely expected to gain power, won't want to withdraw without causing huge uproar amongst their own base among many others.

Will have to be retroactively applying them to Toby Keith then, too. Perhaps a good omen for the people who picked Bobby Vinton or Bruce Willis

Shouldn't bloody have to. Home Office should just acknowledge that there's been a fuck-up and do the necessary.

ICC seeks arrest warrants against him, defense minister Gallant and Sinwar for war crimes over October 7 attack and Gaza war. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/20/middleeast/icc-israel-hamas-arrest-warrant-war-crimes-intl/index.html

They'll be dancing on the streets of Tehran today to "Iranian men, HALLELUJAH! Iranian Men, Amen!"

Frank Ifield gets multiple QOs: Frank Ifield, legendary singer, dead aged 86 | Metro News Frank Ifield dead at 86: Music legend who helped give The Beatles their start passes away | The Sun Australian music legend Frank Ifield, a household name in Britain who was once supported by The Beatles, dies aged 86 | Daily Mail Online Date of death given as 18 May. That's another pick gone from the 1998 DDP, and on the day of the update.

It would be hard not to be!

Nothing Boeing about it. Its a Bell 212.

That's not just a "hard landing...."

20/5/24 51 Mott the Hoople - All The Young Dudes 49 David Bowie - Life on Mars 44 America - A Horse With No Name +4 37 Carly Simon - You’re So Vain 32 T. Rex - 20th Century Boy 28 The Shangri-Las - Leader of the Pack 27 Suzi Quatro - 48 Crash 20 Hawkwind - Silver Machine 18 David Bowie - Drive-In Saturday  00 The Drifters - At The Club/Saturday Night At The Movies -6

Officially confirmed dead (BBC reports state TV confirmed it 5.33am) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-69035051

Gilda Radner died on this day 35 years ago, aged 42. - Radner dropped out of university to follow her boyfriend to Toronto, where she would make her acting debut in the 1972 tour of Godspell (which also helped launch the careers of Martin Short and Eugene Levy). From there, she became a mainstay of National Lampoon's radio show. - Radner was one of the original SNL cast members when the show began in 1975. Her most notable characters included Weekend Update's Roseanne Roseannadanna, and the Barbara Walters expy Baba Wawa: Radner also portrayed celebrities such as Lucille Ball. - In film, Radner was known for portraying Gloria in First Family, voicing several characters in the 1980 animated TV film Animalympics (which included another Barbara Walters expy- this time a bird), and most notably Kate in Hanky Panky- on the set of which she met her soon-to-be husband, Gene Wilder: Radner and Wilder married in 1984, but Radner would be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1986. It went into remission, but returned in late 1988, and Radner died after a 3-year battle. After her death, Wilder would dedicate himself to research of the disease in hopes of a cure, and would co-found the support group Gilda's Club in 1991.

Ebrahim Raisi being reported as dead.

Gerry Collins, former player with and assistant manager then manager of the mighty Partick Thistle, reportedly dead: https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/12713116/tributes-partick-gerry-collins-hamilton-celtic-pal-tommy-burns/ Also played for Ayr and Hamilton, among others. RIP Gerry.

This Field Cannot Be Left Frank Frank Field, the Birkenhead Social Justice Party MP for Birkenhead from 2019 to 2019 – also previously known for his brief 40-year stint as a Labour MP – has died of prostate cancer at the age of 81. A small-c conservative who was repeatedly courted for a potential defection by the big-C Conservatives – a party he was a member of in his youth – Field was considered a "maverick" and "independent thinker" in the Labour Party. He advocated for the return of national service, proposed further restrictions on immigration and abortion, denounced Jeremy Corbyn as a "force for anti-Semitism in British politics", featured on the Telegraph's list of the UK's "100 most influential Right-wingers", and was personal friends with Enoch Powell and Margaret Thatcher – all the usual signifiers of a Labour MP – but also, uncharacteristically for his party, campaigned against child poverty. Thankfully, he left before Starmer had to suspend him for these extreme left-wing beliefs. Despite being the 13th least picked candidate in the Inverse Dead Pool 2024, things were on the uptick for him – he was the 11th least picked in 2023, and the least picked outright in 2022, the year after he first checked into hospice care. I look forward to writing Jimmy Carter's obit in 2026. Former Inverse champions @Bibliogryphon and @YorkshireBanker are among the few who fielded Field as a candidate, but they only risked a respective 2 and 3 points on it. Someone whose chances have been levelled by playing Field, with 15 points, is @GuyFromFuture. Frankly, I'm beginning to think you aren't really from the future at all. Much like Frank when he went for his prostate exam 10 years ago, we have movement at the bottom. With my mum's team mainly being whoever she doesn't want to die, I have an outsize influence on her picks in the short descriptions I give of people she isn't really familiar with – "Frank Field, Labour MP" got 14 points, but if I'd described him as "Frank Field, hardline Brexiteer", it'd probably be 0. So, arguably, I'm responsible for her taking back last place. You're welcome, @diego. GAINED TOTAL = 1. TQR 0 = 1. Grimgrass 0 = 1. Captain Hemlock 0 = 1. wannamaker 0 = 1. arghton 0 = 1. chilean way 0 = 1. Spade_Cooley 0 = 1. The Immortal 0 = 1. Toast 0 = 1. Great Uncle Bulgaria 0 = 1. The Old Crem 0 = 1. MariNisia 0 = 1. Pedro67 0 = 1. machotrouts 0 = 1. Clorox Bleachman 0 = 1. ladyfiona 0 = 17. deadsox 1 = 17. Summer in Transylvania 1 = 17. Hell 1 = 20. Nick 2 = 21. Death Impends 3 ▲ 22. An Fear Beag 5 ▲ 22. Perhaps 5 ▲ 22. theoldlady 5 ▼ 25. Bibliogryphon +2 6 ▲ 25. Lafaucheuse 6 = 27. CastAway 7 = 27. Funeralopolis 7 ▲ 29. YoungWillz 8 ▲ 29. Book 8 ▼ 31. Newjack +2 9 ▲ 31. Annami 9 = 33. tracy 10 = 34. Joltin Joe 11 = 35. JoeMoneypenny 12 = 36. CaptainChorizo 13 = 36. Famous6Eva 13 = 36. Torva Messor 13 = 39. Bentrovato 14 = 39. LizLemon 14 = 41. BuffaloPhil 18 ▲ 42. livingbygrace 19 ▲ 42. MalePoster 19 ▲ 44. The Unknown Man 21 ▼ 45. YorkshireBanker +3 22 ▲ 45. Sleepiestpeep 22 ▲ 47. maryportfuncity 23 ▲ 47. Thatcher 23 ▲ 47. gcreptile 23 ▲ 50. MortalCaso 25 ▲ 51. En Passant 28 ▲ 52. Sideik 29 ▲ 53. max_bossetti 30 ▼ 54. GuyFromFuture +15 33 ▼ 55. msc +8 36 ▲ 55. diego 36 ▼ 57. machotrouts' mum +14 48