1What retiring early is like

It's fucking great.
I wake up happy, I do pretty much whatever I want during the day, I go to sleep happy.
I indulge my limited passions and hobbies, I plunge down fascinating rabbit holes of knowledge, I bugger off to places for months at a time (harder with Brexit, you xenophobic malcontents), I spend time with people I want to. I feel smug.
I don't have an alarm waking me up, I don't need to take any shit off anyone, I don't burn 90 mins a day on a loud bus screeching stop announcements at 90db in my ear.
In the summer I sometimes pop over to the local greenery, have a pint and meal, read a book, soak up the sun. Great stuff.
My phone is always on silent. It can wait.
People occasionally ask me “what I do all day”. If your imagination is so limited, living in such an incredible time, with so much at your fingertips, that the question even crosses your mind, then carry on working and bitching about it, you don't know how to be happy.
“Scipio used to say that he was never less idle than when he had nothing to do “ - Cicero, On Duties.

2How to get there

2.1Difficulty modes

2.1.1Easy mode: Get free university education, get a good job, buy a cheap house

Not too difficult if you were born in 1972. Easy mode is now disabled in the UK. Maybe available in foreign versions of the game, such as in Greece or Denmark.

2.1.2Medium mode: Don't have kids

I swear to god, I have been pretty lucky not to accidentally father a crotch goblin, and believe me, little Goocho often vetoed my brain. Use contraceptives. Notice how all the shit hole countries don't give women control over their reproduction.
If I had foolishly crapped out a kid, I would have had to work another 10 years at least I reckon. Ugh.
Borrow kids to play with them, and return when they start crying.

2.1.3Hard mode: Have kids

Look, if you are spending 100k or whatever to raise a kid I don't know what to tell you, at least you got laid eh?
I hope you enjoy working like I didn't. Seriously, if you have a job you like, great stuff, things will be much easier for you. The impetus to leave it won't be so great. The point of all this is to be happy after all!

2.2Control your costs

Filling your house full of nonsense is consumerism at it's worst.
I practice a kind of minimalism. So I don't own a freezer, a cooker or a dish washing machine. Guess what? They will never need repairing or replacing! But I do own an amazing OLED tv, a solid speaker system, loads of films and books. Minimalism is a whole other subject, and attracts the mentally ill who take it to extremes. Spend money on a decent mattress you fools.
Subscriptions are death by a thousand cuts, and will weigh you down. However Netflix and Amazon Prime are great. Shades of grey.
Screw charities, charity workers get paid salaries and you are supposed to give for free? Nope. Begging scum. “it is only the price of a coffee”, bitch please, I pay 10p a cup for my lovely coffee.
Pay your taxes. Don't be a leech on society.
Live in a small house.
Aldi is great.
If you don't get married, you can't get ruinously divorced, .
Insurance is generally a scam, if you are drunkenly fucking up so regularly than you need your phone insured, sort your life out.
You really need that car? Hmmm. If you are driving to the supermarket and paying for the gym, you are an idiot. Those two cancel each other out.
Only unhappy people play the lottery.
Buy a decent phone for £200, pay £5 a month for service. You think iFruit users will look down upon you? Comparison is the thief of joy.
DIY accomplishments are mentally rewarding, great exercise and cheap – or you can throw money at a problem to make it go away, this is the point of money after all, we sell and buy time with it. Before I buy anything big, I ask myself, is this worth x days sitting in an office for​?
Spend your money how you like, I am not your mum.
Enjoy what you have.

2.3Plan a little

Write down (don't guess) how much you spend a month over a couple of years.
For investments, assume inflation cancels out general increase in non distributing equity value. This is all a rough guessing game anyway, don't pretend it isn't.
I think there are two ways to look at when you can stop working:

2.3.1Cash drawdown per month until death

If you assume you are going to die around 85 (actuarial tables available online), divide your cash + private pension wealth + state pension amount will pay you until age 85 by the number of months left to live, this tells you how much you can spend a month before you die. Sounds like enough? Investment appreciation means you might have more than that.

2.3.2Cash dividends per month

You have a lumpsum of wealth. Flexible uk pension rules means you no longer need to take the annuity gamble. 4% returns a year seems conservatively doable. Can you live on that? Means you die with a load of cash. Stash it in your silk lined coffin.

2.4Play it safe, but not too safe

Assume laws and taxes will change. Don't count too much on that state pension.
If the NHS falls ill itself, you might need some cash to go private. Good luck getting that hip surgery in the next 12 months post covid!
If the stock market takes a 10% dump, you must still sleep soundly. Don't live too close to the edge.
Assume and hope your parents will spend all their wealth on themselves, having a happy end of life in an old folks home. Points off as a human being for relying on your parent snuffing it for free money.
What if your body conks out and you start shitting yourself and have to pay 4k a month to be served Dickensian gruel in a nursing home? Trust in the societal safety net? Work another 5 years just in case? Keep a cyanide pill by the bed? Sell your house I guess? I'm rolling the dice on this one. Maybe dancing in VR and these 50 degree Victorian terrace stairs will keep me fit (or kill me).

2.5Personal Story

Went to Uni, got a Computering degree, got a job I liked, autistic-ally worked at it, got paid lots of money, bought a house at 26 for 48k, parents threw in 10k to get rid of me, paid off the mortgage in 30 months.
After 8 years in said job, started to dislike it, took 6 months off work. Worked another 2 years before I got made redundant, 15k for doing nothing? Yes please!
Worked about half the time from age 32 to 46 as Contractor scum, in jobs I generally disliked or eventually hated. Had 2-3 years between jobs. Snatching retirement chunks from the future. I figured, why leave retirement until I am too old to enjoy it? Took around 3 months to get a new job each time, I didn't care, I loved not working!
Played casino blackjack for a couple of years for ~8 hours a week, made £12k. Shuffling machines have stopped all that now, was bored of it anyway.
Decided at 40 I had better get a pension, threw money at it when working.
So at 46, when I walked out on the pathetic management at my last gig (FIS Birmingham, you see when you are retired, you really don't have to give a shit!), I had worked for a total of ~15 years, thoroughly enjoyed not working and was sick of working.
At 47 I realised maybe I don't actually need another job? Started paying real attention to my finances.
At 48, I have 110k cash & 140k pension = 250k. 4% a year dividends = 10k a year. I can live happily on that.
£800 a month is enough. I spent £350 a month in December and January, had a great time. Will get a PS5 when available, boiler is bound to break eventually. It all evens out.
My state pension fortells a sickly £117 per week. Meh. Forgive me for not factoring that in too much. Who knows where I will be in 20 years? Hopefully sleeping in late without an alarm clock.

The ban abuse happens every now and again where someone will report my post because it's negative to Republicans or Democrats. Recently I was banned for posting proof the Republican party has been enabling and promoting racism for over half a century. My comments were unique and I included citations to backup my points. Last fall /politics mods outright deleted a comment of mine which showed that Joe Biden has too cozy of a relationship with Republicans, campaigned for them during Trump's term, and whitewashed how horrible they are. The mods also let people harass me as much as they want and will only ban people after I've been banned and pointed out their double standard.
That said since my sources piss them off so much and they've had a long history of abusing their power, I've included my list of go-to useful info for y'all to use when necessary. There's a bit of something for everyone.
Republicans Stealing Elections
Ohio's Odd Numbers (Via Vanity Fair, 2005)
How a Supreme Court Decision Curtailed the Right to Vote in Wisconsin (Via NYT, 2020)
Clapper: Intelligence community ‘cast doubt on the legitimacy' of Trump's victory (Via The Hill, 2017)
Georgia election server showed signs of tampering, expert says (Via NBC News, 2020)
New court filing: Documents were deleted from (WI) GOP redistricting computers (Via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 2013)

But after the ruling, the plaintiffs identified documents - 55 so far - that should have been turned over to them but never were. Last month the court ordered the state to turn over the computers so the plaintiffs could forensically examine them because the judges found "some form of 'fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct' likely occurred."

NRA Was 'Foreign Asset' To Russia Ahead of 2016, New Senate Report Reveals (Via NPR, 2019)
Gloves come off after Obama rips Supreme Court ruling (Via CNN, 2010)

"With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests -- including foreign corporations -- to spend without limit in our elections," Obama told a packed House of Representatives chamber Wednesday night.
"I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people. And I'd urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to correct some of these problems."

Recent ban for these citations
Report: Aide says Nixon's war on drugs targeted blacks, hippies (Via CNN, 2016)
Reagan Called Africans ‘Monkeys’ in Call With Nixon, Tape Reveals (Via NYT, 2019)

You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.” --Lee Atwater, former RNC Chairman, adviser to Reagan and HW Bush Administrations, close acquaintance to Karl Rove

“I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it (racist vote manipulation),” he said. “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” --Lyndon B. Johnson (Via Snopes)

Facebook teams with rightwing Daily Caller in factchecking program (Via The Guardian, 2019)

"With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests -- including foreign corporations -- to spend without limit in our elections," Obama told a packed House of Representatives chamber Wednesday night.
"I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people. And I'd urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to correct some of these problems."
Alito, part of the court's conservative majority, could be seen apparently frowning and quietly mouthing the words "not true." Via CNN, 2010

In the case of a trucker’s life vs. his cargo, Judge Neil Gorsuch ruled for the cargo (Via Denver Post, 2017)
This is the Biden info which was outright deleted from a post on /politics last fall during the 2020 election.
Former Vice President Joe Biden said he’s concerned about what would happen if Republicans get "clobbered" in next year’s election, suggesting such an outcome would be harmful to bipartisanship. (Via The Hill, 2019)
Joe Biden Says 'I Actually Like Dick Cheney' in 2015 Video, Prompting Widespread Liberal Backlash (Via NewsWeek, 2019)
Former vice president Dick Cheney to appear at fundraiser for Trump and RNC (Via WaPo, 2019)
Biden responds to criticism over calling Pence 'a decent guy' (Via The Hill, 2019)
Joe Biden's Paid Speech Buoyed the G.O.P. in Midwest Battleground (Via NYT, 2019)
Biden World shell-shocked amid Hyde furor (Via The Hill, 2019)
Biden Reverses Position, Rejects Hyde Amendment, Cites Attacks On Abortion Access (Via NPR, 2019)

Just earlier in the week, Biden's campaign affirmed the candidate's support for the ban, setting off criticism from abortion rights supporters, who called on Biden to reverse his long-held position.

Biden says marijuana may be a ‘gateway drug.' Like most of his generation, he’s not ready to legalize it. (Via WaPo, 2019)
Pelosi: Bush Impeachment `Off the Table’ (Via NYT, 2006)
George W. Bush has been advocating for Kavanaugh with wavering senators (Via PBS, 2018)
Barrett declines to say whether a president can unilaterally delay election
Amy Coney Barrett ruled using the n-word does not make a work environment hostile
Amy Coney Barrett served as a ‘handmaid’ in Christian group People of Praise
Amy Coney Barrett fails to fully disclose some past anti-abortion activism
Barrett declines to say whether a president can unilaterally delay election

Atwood says that the groups like this served as primary inspiration for The Handmaid's Tale — and it's not hard to see why. In numerous interviews, Atwood alluded to the group but did not call them out by name. In an interview for the New York Times Book Review in 1986, she said, “There is a sect now, a Catholic charismatic spinoff sect, which calls the women handmaids.” Members of People of Praise are assigned accountability advisers. For men, they are called a “head;” for women, a “handmaid.” That is until the popularity of the book and subsequent television series grew and the group changed the title to “woman leader.”

Book reveals Trump effort to persuade Justice Kennedy to step aside for Kavanaugh (Via The Guardian, 2020)

Long before Trump ran for the White House, Justice Kennedy’s son, Justin, worked as an investment banker at Deutsche. Enrich describes how he developed a relationship with Trump, his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, helping to finance real-estate deals no other bank would touch because of Trump’s record of failing to pay his debts to lenders, contractors and business partners.
...
Justin Kennedy was part of the US branch of Deutsche Bank from 1998 to 2009. Drawn to Trump’s risk-taking and glamour, he became a Trump confidant, sitting with the real estate impresario at the US Open tennis or in Manhattan nightclubs, and chaperoning huge loans to finance Trump’s real estate spending sprees.
Kennedy, who ran the bank’s commercial real-estate team, continued to lend to Trump even though Deutsche clients had suffered severe losses when Trump’s casino business collapsed and he declared bankruptcy.

Wall Street Democratic donors warn the party: We’ll sit out, or back Trump, if you nominate Elizabeth Warren (Via CNBC, 2019)
Jeff Zucker’s singular role in promoting Donald Trump’s rise (Via WaPo, 2016)

“It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS,” Leslie Moonves, chairman of CBS, said of the Trump phenomenon in March, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail, MLK Jr."

Paul Ryan Keeps It All in the Family (Via New Yorker, 2017)

In the transcript published by the Post, (Kevin) McCarthy speculates that the Russians hacked the Democratic National Committee’s computers and, in the process, discovered whatever opposition-research materials the Democrats had gathered on Trump.
“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” (Kevin) McCarthy said, according to Entous, a superb reporter who heard a tape recording of the colloquy. “Swear to God.”
In the Post piece, McCarthy’s remark is met with laughter, and Ryan cautions his colleagues, “This is an off the record . . . No leaks! . . . All right?”

A Russian bank gave Marine Le Pen’s party a loan. Then weird things began happening. (Via WaPo, 2018)
Russia's propaganda machine discovers 2020 Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard (Via NBC News, 2019)
Tulsi Gabbard Drops a Big Hint About Running a Spoiler Campaign for Trump (Via New Yorker, 2019)
Russian web trolls boo Biden, often boost Gabbard, report finds (Via NBC News, 2019)
Opinion: Tulsi Gabbard may not be a Russian asset. But she sure talks like one (Via LA Times, 2019)
Tulsi Gabbard Is Being Used by the Russians, and to a Former US Double Agent, the Evidence Is Clear (Via Newsweek, 2019)
Here’s Exactly How Much Russian Media Loves Tulsi Gabbard — and Hates Biden (Via Vice News, 2019)

Hello all,
I’ll be going on a cross country road trip next week, and I’d like to stop at one or two casinos on the way home. I’m happy to add a few hours to my trip home if there are nice card rooms.
My trip home will take me through Albuquerque NM, Amarillo TX, Oklahoma City, Little Rock AR, Memphis TN, Nashville TN, and Knoxville TN.
I could take a bit longer of a trip and go through Albuquerque NM, Dallas TX, Shreveport LA, Monroe LA, Jackson MI, Birmingham AL, and Atlanta GA.
I’d greatly appreciate advice on preferred card rooms in these areas

Hello, I am Owner and Founder of Primetime Action Wrestling, Primetime Action Wrestling (AKA PAW) is a Text Based Fictional Wrestling Promotion based in the heart of Reddit (and Discord), here’s all the info you’ll need too know before we head into the show head first on Tuesday, February 9th.
“What is your upcoming product going too be like??” Well my biggest influences for PAW is the storytelling aspect of Lucha Underground, and the Hardcore fighting style of ECW.
“How long is the show??” The show is in 1hr Intervals each week, this is called “Action Hour.” It will take place every Tuesday Night (CST) So be ready for a fistful of action coming your way.
“What are the Championship Belts called??” Well here is what he have
PAW World Heavyweight Championship
PrimeTime Watch (The Primetime watch is an actual watch, whilst if you get 10 defenses of the watch, you get a World Title shot opportunity.)
PAW World Tag Team Championship
PAW World Women’s Championship All the titles will be vacant going into the show.
“Well, where can I get this at???” We have so, oh so many places to get your PAW fix. Fanastybooking Fanastybookers PAWFanastywrestling
PWD Discord Server IWD Discord Server Our own discord server: https://discord.gg/7wmzdT2U
There should be no excuse why you can miss a show!
“How are the PPV’s and shows set up??” Well, let me tell you, here is the PPV Names, Dates, Cities, and Venues that the PPV’s take place, the weekly shows take place in the same place that, that “segments” PPV takes place.
April 2nd-Ignition House Of Blues, Orlando,FL
June 4th-Casino Of Consequence Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas,NV
July 30th-Rodeo Round-up Bomb Factory, Dallas,TX
October 31st-Fright Night Northerly Island Park, Chicago, IL
December 25th-Christmas Carnage PNE Forum, Vancouver, BC
February 5th-6th 2022:Global Domination Day 1:New York, NY Williamsburg Park
Day 2:Birmingham, England Skydome Arena
Before I go, I wanna just thank all the hardworking staff we’ve got on our team, can’t do any of this without them.
u/Jintzyy u/MammothCaptain9 u/KirkHammettJigsaw u/BingoBD u/TNUC-JOSH u/YK_dfe u/TheRomanPredator
If you have any questions, DM me or any of them 😊.

Hello, I am Owner and Founder of Primetime Action Wrestling, Primetime Action Wrestling (AKA PAW) is a Text Based Fictional Wrestling Promotion based in the heart of Reddit (and Discord), here’s all the info you’ll need too know before we head into the show head first on Tuesday, February 9th.
“What is your upcoming product going too be like??” Well my biggest influences for PAW is the storytelling aspect of Lucha Underground, and the Hardcore fighting style of ECW.
“How long is the show??” The show is in 1hr Intervals each week, this is called “Action Hour.” It will take place every Tuesday Night (CST) So be ready for a fistful of action coming your way.
“What are the Championship Belts called??” Well here is what he have
PAW World Heavyweight Championship
PrimeTime Watch (The Primetime watch is an actual watch, whilst if you get 10 defenses of the watch, you get a World Title shot opportunity.)
PAW World Tag Team Championship
PAW World Women’s Championship All the titles will be vacant going into the show.
“Well, where can I get this at???” We have so, oh so many places to get your PAW fix. Fanastybooking Fanastybookers PAWFanastywrestling
PWD Discord Server IWD Discord Server Our own discord server: https://discord.gg/7wmzdT2U
There should be no excuse why you can miss a show!
“How are the PPV’s and shows set up??” Well, let me tell you, here is the PPV Names, Dates, Cities, and Venues that the PPV’s take place, the weekly shows take place in the same place that, that “segments” PPV takes place.
April 2nd-Ignition House Of Blues, Orlando,FL
June 4th-Casino Of Consequence Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas,NV
July 30th-Rodeo Round-up Bomb Factory, Dallas,TX
October 31st-Fright Night Northerly Island Park, Chicago, IL
December 25th-Christmas Carnage PNE Forum, Vancouver, BC
February 5th-6th 2022:Global Domination Day 1:New York, NY Williamsburg Park
Day 2:Birmingham, England Skydome Arena
Before I go, I wanna just thank all the hardworking staff we’ve got on our team, can’t do any of this without them.
u/Jintzyy u/MammothCaptain9 u/KirkHammettJigsaw u/BingoBD u/TNUC-JOSH u/YK_dfe u/TheRomanPredator
If you have any questions, DM me or any of them 😊.

 Prediksi Bola English League Championship Terjitu 2021 

THE FUTURE BITES TOUR 2021 Tickets on sale 11th December. Sign up for pre-sale access to the UK dates at https://store.thefuturebites.com
September 2021 Wed 8th Cardiff, St Davids Hall Thu 9th Sheffield, City Hall Sat 11th Manchester, 02 Apollo Sun 12th Glasgow, Concert Hall Mon 13th Birmingham, Symphony Hall Wed 15th Portsmouth, Guildhall Thu 16th London, Hammersmith, Eventim Apollo Fri 17th Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall Mon 20th Germany, Hamburg, Sporthalle Tue 21st Netherlands, Amsterdam, Afas Thu 23rd Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Rockhal Main Room Fri 24th Germany, Frankfurt, Jahrunderthalle Sat 25th France, Strasbourg, Palais de la Musique et des Congrès Mon 27th France, Toulouse, Theatre Du Casino Barriere Tue 28th France, Bordeaux, Theatre Fémina Thu 30th France, Paris, Zenith
October 2021 Fri 1st France, Nantes , Cote Des Congress Sat 2nd France, Lyon, Ampi Theatre Mon 4th Italy, Milan, Teatro Degli Arcimboldi Tue 5th Italy, Florence, Tuscany Hall Wed 6th Italy, Rome, Auditorium Conciliazione Fri 8th France, Aix en Provence, Le 6Mic Sun 10th Spain, Madrid, La Riviera Mon 11th Spain, Barcelona, Razzmatazz 1 Thu 14th Germany, Berlin, Tempodrome Sat 16th Belgium, Brussels, AB Mon 18th Germany, Bochum, Congresshalle Tue 19th Switzerland, Zurich, Volkshaus Wed 20th Germany, Munich, Zenith Thu 21st Germany, Ludwigsburg, MHP Arena

My list (only based on cities I've actually been to!)
1) London
2) Liverpool
3) Sheffield
4) Nottingham
5) Birmingham or Milton Keynes
So every January and June - me and two mates go to a city in the UK that atleast two of us haven't been too before - however becuase we've been stuck inside for so long due to COVID we're gonna go out more next year.
We're quite young so we like the tall building, busy city London type of vibe - good food, open spaces, nightlife etc and was wondering your recommendations.
London - nothings going to beat it, feels like literally the whole world in one place - dwarfs everything else by comparison, after not going there for around 5 years or more I went back last year for winter wonderland and fell in love with the place again - haven't been clubbing there though, feels too crazy a place to do it.
Liverpool - Amazing city, was there for 2 days and it exceeded expectations - the accent isn't great but the place is quite gorgeous - part of me loved the centres open designs and part of me found it underwhelming - the shopping is meh but everything else is great, it feels massive and busy and the street food is exceptional - will definitely be returning if just for that - also the clubbings underrated, never hear Liverpool brought up but it was great - apart from when we had to walk all the way back to the apartment then to the club again becuase apparently the shoes I had on are worn by druggies in the area.
Sheffield - Sheffield surprised me alot - went to see a hockey game (or a footy game I can hardly remember) what I do remember is how surprisingly modern it feels - meadowhall is huge which is nice, the shoppings just ok though - could've put a Selfridges or something there - I much prefer bullring and MK's centre.
Nottingham - I moved from London to Nottingham around 2 years ago and I really like it, sitting in market Square and just chatting with mates while the tram goes past is great, it has that city feel and is one of the more varied cities in terms of food, shops etc just a shame that the better shops aren't inside the shopping centre which severely lacks imo - it's an old place that feels young. Known for its clubbing it dosent disappoint - I don't think I've ever seen so much clubs in one place.
Birmingham - the first time I came to Birmingham was a college trip about 3 years ago and I was in awe of the place, I thought it was gorgeous and huge. My gf is in Birmingham so I've been there alot since and that effect has almost completely worn off.
Bullring/grand Central is still great - shops are great, layouts great - no issues there, plenty of big shiny buildings and the food is exquisite - the restaurants, the fast food, shisha lounges - all of that is great and there's some really nice areas..but man, is the city dirty and kind of ugly sometimes to - jewellery quatre is a nice area but that's the only one I can think of, not to mention the amount of rats there is staggering. Really 60/40 with Brum - the nightlife was good though, really fun vibe.
Milton Keynes - never been clubbing here or really seen the living areas but the shopping centre is still my favourite, it feels modern, Xscape used to be more fun when I was a kid before the bowling alley and arcade became a casino but there's still the snowdome and other things - I'm a bit bias becuase I used to come here with my mum alot as a kid and the place was always just magical to me whereas London was too big for me to understand what was going on - we never turn down a chance to go.
Possible visits :
I've heard Manchester's the second best to London - heard nothing but good things all of a sudden by people so thats next on the list for sure.
Heard Leeds is great - really fun atmosphere and great food.
Newcastles always referred to as the undisputed king of UK nightlife - I'm not really into drinking anymore but I love the electric you dunno what's gonna happen feel in the air on a night out so that's on the plans to.
Edinburgh - at some point next year we're planning a road trip to either Edinburgh or either lake or peak district - lake District has the best pub food btw, went when I was like 12 and never forgot the place.

Another user that has since deleted their account submitted this as a comment reply. I think it is worth revisiting.
There is an entire Wikipedia article called "The Racial* Views of Donald Trump"
Some examples are:
"In 1973 the U.S. Department of Justice sued Trump Management, Donald Trump and his father Fred, for discrimination against African Americans in their renting practices."
MORE
Taking out a full page ad calling for the death penalty of 4 falsely accused black teenagers who allegedly committed a violent rape. The evidence that they were innocent was and still is overwhelming. When they were exonerated, Trump didn't back down. In October 2016, when Trump campaigned to be president, he said that Central Park Five were guilty and that their convictions should never have been vacated, attracting criticism from the Central Park Five themselves and others."
MORE
"In a 1989 interview with Bryant Gumbel, Trump stated: "A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market."
MORE
In his 1991 book Trumped! John O'Donnell quoted Trump as allegedly saying:
I've got black accountants at Trump Castle and at Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. [...] And it's probably not his fault because laziness is a trait in blacks."
MORE
"During the early 1990s, competition from an expanding Native American casino industry threatened his Atlantic City investments. During this period Trump stated that "nobody likes Indians as much as Donald Trump" but then claimed without evidence that the mob had infiltrated Native American casinos, that there was no way "Indians" or an "Indian chief" could stand up to the mob, implied that the casinos were not in fact owned by Native Americans based on the owners' appearance, and depicted Native Americans as greedy."
MORE
"In April 2005, Trump appeared on Howard Stern's radio show, where Trump proposed that the fourth season of the television show The Apprentice would feature an exclusively white team of blondes competing against a team of only African-Americans."
MORE
"In 2011, Trump revived the already discredited Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories that had been circulating since Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, and, for the following five years, he played a leading role in the so-called "birther movement""
MORE
Here are a FEW examples of his racism during and after his campaign and presidency.
"At a rally in Birmingham, Alabama on November 21, 2015, Trump falsely claimed that he had seen television reports about "thousands and thousands" of Arabs in New Jersey celebrating as the World Trade Center collapsed during the 9/11 attacks."
MORE
"In August 2016 Trump campaigned in Maine, which has a large immigrant Somali population. At a rally he said, "We've just seen many, many crimes getting worse all the time, and as Maine knows — a major destination for Somali refugees — right, am I right?" Trump also alluded to risks of terrorism, referring to an incident in June 2016 when three young Somali men were found guilty of planning to join the Islamic State in Syria."
MORE
"Prior to and during the 2016 campaign, Trump used his political platform to spread disparaging messages against various racial groups. Trump claimed, "the overwhelming amount of violent crime in our cities is committed by blacks and Hispanics," that "there's killings on an hourly basis virtually in places like Baltimore and Chicago and many other places," that "There are places in America that are among the most dangerous in the world. You go to places like Oakland. Or Ferguson. The crime numbers are worse. Seriously," and retweeted a false claim that 81% of white murder victims were killed by black people."
MORE
"During the campaign Trump was found to have retweeted the main influencers of the #WhiteGenocide movement over 75 times, including twice that he retweeted a user with the handle u/WhiteGenocideTM."
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"Trump also falsely claimed that, "African American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in before. Ever.""
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"Trump also suggested that evangelicals should not trust Ted Cruz because Cruz is Cuban and that Jeb Bush "has to like the Mexican illegals because of his wife," who is Mexican American."
"Speaking in Virginia in August 2016, Trump said, "You're living in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed – what the hell do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump?""
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"On January 27, 2017, via executive order, which he titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, President Trump ordered the U.S border indefinitely closed to Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war. He also abruptly temporarily halted (for 90 days) immigration from six other Muslim-majority nations: Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen."
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"In June 2017, Trump called together a staff meeting to complain about the number of immigrants who had entered the country since his inauguration. The New York Times reported that two officials at the meeting state that when Trump read off a sheet stating that 15,000 persons had visited from Haiti, he commented, "They all have AIDS," and when reading that 40,000 persons had visited from Nigeria, he said that after seeing America the Nigerians would never “go back to their huts.""
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"The U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio oversaw the worst pattern of racial profiling in U.S. history. The illegal tactics that he was using included "extreme racial profiling and sadistic punishments that involved the torture, humiliation, and degradation of Latino inmates". The DoJ filed suit against him for unlawful discriminatory police conduct. He ignored their orders and was subsequently convicted of contempt of court for continuing to racially profile Hispanics. Calling him "a great American patriot", President Trump pardoned him soon afterwards, even before sentencing took place."
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"In his initial statement on the rally, Trump did not denounce white nationalists but instead condemned "hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides". His statement and his subsequent defenses of it, in which he also referred to "very fine people on both sides", suggested a moral equivalence between the white supremacist marchers and those who protested against them, leading some observers to state that he was sympathetic to white supremacy."
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"On January 11, 2018, during an Oval Office meeting about immigration reform, commenting on immigration figures from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and African countries, Trump reportedly said: "Those shitholes send us the people that they don't want", and suggested that the US should instead increase immigration from "places like Norway" and Asian countries."
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"In August 2018, Trump sent a tweet stating that he had ordered Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to look into land seizures and the mass killing of white farmers in South Africa, acting on a racist conspiracy theory."
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"In May 2019, the Trump administration announced that there was no plan to replace the portrait of Andrew Jackson on the twenty-dollar bill with that of Harriet Tubman, as had been planned by the Obama administration."
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"On July 14, 2019, Trump tweeted about four Democratic congresswomen of color, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. This group, known collectively as the Squad, had verbally sparred with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a week earlier:
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I HAVE NOW EXCEEDED THE REDDIT COMMENT WORD COUNT.

Sorry for 2 questions but couldn't be bothered to make 2 posts.
Just wondering if anyone plays at Broadway regularly. I Used to and fancy going back.
Also I fancy remenicising about Uni poker in general.

Verification: https://imgur.com/a/h5HJwUD
I have some inks I won't be using that I want to sell. I will only be selling these together.

Diamine Claret - 80% full, filled pens a couple of times.
Diamine Winter Miracle - 98% full. Filled a pen once
Robert Oster Crystal Marine 98% full. Filled a pen once
Birmingham Pens Schenley Casino Cornflower - 98% full. Filled a pen once
Van Dieman's Ink Deciduous Beech - 98% full. Filled a pen once
Van Dieman's Ink Pixie Parasols - I believe 100% full, but if not I have filled a pen once with this.
Van Dieman's Ink Pink Fairy Orchid - 98% full. Filled a pen once
The price is $75 shipped to the US.

The second bundle is two Twsbi Ecos. One Mint blue Eco-T with a broad nib, and one Pastel Pink with a fine nib. The Mint Blue is in [B] condition. Writes well, has some minor micro-scratches. The Pastel Pink is also in [B] condition but closer to [A2] I believe. Has been inked once, and not used again due to the fact that the nib came to me barely writing. Honestly, this nib will need to be worked on or replaced, but I don't care enough to invest more money into the pen. Other than that, the pen is great. Both pens come in their boxes with wrenches and silicon grease.
Asking for $40 shipped to the US.

If you could bring a new entertainment venue to Bham what would it be and where should it be located?

The Iron Clays are a luxury "game counter" (poker chip) first released by Roxley Games as part of their 2017 Brass Birmingham campaign. Due to demand from fans they went on to create a follow up Kickstarter in June of 2019 for just the Iron Clays. The campaign was delayed for a few months by COVID-19 but I received my shipment of Iron Clays just yesterday and wanted to let you all see them for yourself.
My pledge was for the standard distribution of 400 chips in a printed box; the kickstarter price was listed as 182 CAD and, including shipping, I paid a total of 168 USD at the time.
It was a bit of a rough start with a large hole and some dents in the shipping container. Fortunately the contents themselves were entirely undamaged.
The chips are contained in a nice box with foil lettering and magnets that keep the lid closed. Within the box are four plastic containers that hold the chips securely. The chips are beautifully produced and come in 8 denominations currently (1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 2000). I was opposed to the inclusion of 10s and 50s during the campaign, I still am, but in the end I think the 50 may be my favorite looking chip. They weigh an average of 9.4g (compared to 9.2g for a stack of 20 casino chips I own and 8.1g for the chips in Splendor); individual variation in weight from chip to chip is low with all measuring between 9-10g (using a low precision kitchen scale).
The chips themselves appear to be of excellent quality; out of 400 chips I have found only one misprint. It should be noted that all of the chips have small lightly colored spots on the edges where they were presumably attached to the mold and so I don't consider this to be a misprint. This doesn't particularly bother me and the edges are otherwise very smooth with a barely palpable seam. I have dropped a number of chips, as well as their plastic containers, from table height during my testing over the past day and have not managed to break or damage anything.
Having shown you the chips I did want to discuss some of the concerns raised by various backers and poker chip aficionados since the campaign was announced. A major concern voiced by poker chip collectors has been the chips "slipperiness". The concern being that the chips actual usability is impaired by this because of poor stackability. I have compared the Iron Clays to some chips I grabbed from casinos in Las Vegas (I believe these are so-called Paulson chips which are generally accepted as top of the line and go for >$1 a chip) and find that they are indeed slipperier. This is demonstrated by a tilt test where stacks of Iron Clays consistently fall at a lower angle than the Vegas chips. When they fall they also tend to slide further on my table; on average sliding 55.5 cm compared to 35 cm for the Paulsons and 48 cm for the Splendor chips. I also compared manipulation of both the Iron Clays and the Paulsons and noticed some of the differences in the way these chips handle. The Paulsons are slightly easier to pickup by tilting the stack but in truth 20 chips is too many for me to comfortably handle with either of the chip types. All this said; I'm not convinced that this will impact usability and if that changes in the future there is apparently significant improvement with lightly sanding the chip faces.
There has also been some criticism of the color choice and edge spot design. These concerns are valid because it is important to be able to quickly count stacks of chips to and this is aided by having distinct colors and edge spots. I have an album showing all combinations of chips under the same lighting so you can decide for yourself if distinguishing chips of different denominations is difficult in mixed stacks. While the 50s, 20s and 5s are somewhat similar I don't find that I have difficulty distinguishing them.
I feel that the various other criticisms raised (color of specific denominations, labeled vs unlabeled, denominated vs undenominated) are entirely matters of opinion and am unconvinced that these design choices impact usability in any meaningful way. I backed the Iron Clays because I wanted to avoid the garish colors and immersion breaking casino theme of other poker chip lines so I think of these aspects of the chips as features rather than flaws.
In conclusion I am very satisfied by the Iron Clays. They are sharp looking and do not sacrifice functionality; when considering their price keep in mind that they come with a transportation/storage solution included. I don't want to reduce my impression to an x/10 rating but I do feel that these are a top notch product that fit the theme of a wide variety of board games.
Final Update: Out of curiosity I sanded a stack of chips too see if the slipperiness could be reduced. The white stack is sanded, blue is unsanded and the mixed stack is the Paulson's from prior. The chips were very lightly sanded and there is no perceptible difference in appearance but they now apear to be LESS slippery than the Paulson's! https://imgur.com/a/KsF9uBz

TL;DR: Man with too much time on his hands goes deep down the rabbit hole on a concept this sub already didn’t seem that enthusiastic about. If you really want to skip ahead, CTRL+F “verdict” and it’ll get you there.
Two days ago, u/MrPhillyj2wns made a post asking whether USL should launch a D1 league in order to compete in Concacaf. From the top voted replies, it appears this made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
But I’ve been at home for eight weeks and I am terribly, terribly bored.
So, I present to you this overview of what the USL pyramid might look like if Jake Edwards got a head of steam and attempted to establish a USSF-sanctioned first division. This is by no means an endorsement of such a proposal or even a suggestion that USL SHOULD do such a thing. It is merely an examination of whether they COULD.
Welcome to the Thunderdome USL Premiership
First, there are some base-level assumptions we must make in this exercise, because it makes me feel more scientific and not like a guy who wrote this on Sunday while watching the Belarusian Premier League (Go BATE Borisov!).

1. All D1 teams must comply with known USSF requirements for D1 leagues (more on that later).
   
2. MLS, not liking this move, will immediately remove all directly-owned affiliate clubs from the USL structure (this does not include hybrid ownerships, like San Antonio FC – NYCFC). This removes all MLS2 teams but will not affect Colorado Springs, Reno, RGVFC and San Antonio.
   
3. The USL will attempt to maintain both the USL Championship and USL League One, with an eventual mind toward creating the pro/rel paradise that is promised in Relegations 3:16.
   
4. All of my research regarding facility size and ownership net worth is correct – this is probably the biggest leap of faith we have to make, since googling “NAME net worth” and “CITY richest people” doesn’t seem guaranteed to return accurate results.
   
5. The most a club can increase its available seating capacity to meet D1 requirements in a current stadium is no more than 1,500 seats (10% of the required 15,000). If they need to add more, they’ll need a new facility.
   
6. Let’s pretend that people are VERY willing to sell. It’s commonly acknowledged that the USL is a more financially feasible route to owning a soccer club than in MLS (c.f. MLS-Charlotte’s reported $325 million expansion fee) and the USSF has some very strict requirements for D1 sanctioning. It becomes pretty apparent when googling a lot of team’s owners that this requirement isn’t met, so let’s assume everyone that can’t sells to people who meet the requirements.
   

(Known) USSF D1 league requirements:
- League must have 12 teams to apply and 14 teams by year three
- Majority owner must have a net worth of $40 million, and the ownership group must have a total net worth of $70 million. The value of an owned stadium is not considered when calculating this value.
- Must have teams located in the Eastern, Central and Pacific time zones
- 75% of league’s teams must be based in markets with at a metro population of at least 1 million people.
- All league stadiums must have a capacity of at least 15,000
The ideal club candidate for the USL Premiership will meet the population and capacity requirements in its current ground, which will have a grass playing surface. Of the USL Championship’s 27 independent/hybrid affiliate clubs, I did not find one club that meets all these criteria as they currently stand.
Regarding turf fields, the USSF does not have a formal policy regarding the ideal playing surface but it is generally acknowledged that grass is superior to turf. 6 of 26 MLS stadiums utilize turf, or roughly 23% of stadiums. We’ll hold a similar restriction for our top flight, so 2-3 of our top flight clubs can have turf fields. Seem fair?
Capacity is going to be the biggest issue, since the disparity between current requirements for the second-tier (5,000) and the first tier (15,000) is a pretty massive gap. Nice club you have there, triple your capacity and you’re onto something. As a result, I have taken the liberty of relocating certain (read: nearly all) clubs to new grounds, trying my utmost to keep those clubs in their current markets and –importantly--, ensure they play on grass surfaces.
So, let’s do a case-by-case evaluation and see if we can put together 12-14 teams that meet the potential requirements, because what else do you have to do?
For each club’s breakdown, anything that represents a chance from what is currently true will be underlined.
Candidate: Birmingham Legion FC
Location (Metro population): Birmingham, Ala. (1,151,801)
Time zone: Central
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Legion Field (FieldTurf, 71,594)
Potential owner: Stephens Family (reported net worth $4 billion)
Notes: Birmingham has a pretty strong candidacy. Having ditched the 5,000-seater BBVA Field for Legion Field, which sits 2.4 miles away, they’ve tapped into the city’s soccer history. Legion Field hosted portions of both the men’s and women’s tournaments at the 1996 Olympics, including a 3-1 U.S. loss to Argentina that saw 83,183 pack the house. The Harbert family seemed like strong ownership contenders, but since the death of matriarch Marguerite Harbert in 2015, it’s unclear where the wealth in the family is concentrated, so the Stephens seem like a better candidate. The only real knock that I can think of is that we really want to avoid having clubs play on turf, so I’d say they’re on the bubble of our platonic ideal USL Prem.
Candidate: Charleston Battery
Location (Metro population): Charleston, S.C. (713,000)
Time zone: Eastern
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Johnson Hagood Stadium (Grass, ~14,700)
Potential owner: Anita Zucker (reported net worth $3 billion)
Notes: Charleston’s candidacy isn’t looking great. Already disadvantaged due to its undersized metro population, a move across the Cooper River to Johnson Hagood Stadium is cutting it close in terms of capacity. The stadium, home to The Citadel’s football team, used to seat 21,000, before 9,300 seats on the eastern grandstand were torn down in 2017 to deal with lead paint that had been used in their construction. Renovation plans include adding 3,000 seats back in, which could hit 15,000 if they bumped it to 3,300, but throw in a required sale by HCFC, LLC (led by content-creation platform founder Rob Salvatore) to chemical magnate Anita Zucker, and you’ll see there’s a lot of ifs and ands in this proposal.
Candidate: Charlotte Independence
Location (Metro population): Charlotte, N.C. (2,569, 213)
Time zone: Eastern
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Jerry Richardson Stadium (Turf, 15,314)
Potential owner: James Goodnight (reported net worth $9.1 billion)
Notes: Charlotte ticks a lot of the boxes. A move from the Sportsplex at Matthews to UNC-Charlotte’s Jerry Richardson stadium meets capacity requirements, but puts them on to the dreaded turf. Regrettably, nearby American Legion Memorial Stadium only seats 10,500, despite a grass playing surface. With a sizeable metro population (sixth-largest in the USL Championship) and a possible owner in software billionaire James Goodnight, you’ve got some options here. The biggest problem likely lies in direct competition for market share against a much better-funded MLS Charlotte side due to join the league in 2021.
Candidate: Hartford Athletic
Location (Metro population): Hartford, Conn. (1,214,295)
Time zone: Eastern
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Pratt & Whitney Stadium (Grass, 38,066)
Potential owner: Ray Dalio (reported net worth $18.4 billion)
Notes: Okay, I cheated a bit here, having to relocate Hartford to Pratt & Whitney Stadium, which is technically in East Hartford, Conn. I don’t know enough about the area to know if there’s some kind of massive beef between the two cities, but the club has history there, having played seven games in 2019 while Dillon Stadium underwent renovations. If the group of local businessmen that currently own the club manage to attract Dalio to the table, we’re on to something.
Candidate: Indy Eleven
Location (Metro population): Indianapolis, Ind. (2,048,703)
Time zone: Eastern
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Lucas Oil Stadium (Turf, 62,421)
Potential owner: Jim Irsay (reported net worth of $3 billion)
Notes: Indy Eleven are a club that are SO CLOSE to being an ideal candidate – if it weren’t for Lucas Oil Stadium’s turf playing surface. Still, there’s a lot to like in this bid. I’m not going to lie, I have no idea what current owner and founder Ersal Ozdemir is worth, but it seems like there might be cause for concern. A sale to Irsay, who also owns the NFL Indianapolis (nee Baltimore) Colts, seems likely to keep the franchise there, rather than make a half-mile move to 14,230 capacity Victory Field where the AAA Indianapolis Indians play and expand from there.
Candidate: Louisville City FC
Location (Metro population): Louisville, Ky. (1,297,310)
Time zone: Eastern
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Lynn Family Stadium (Grass, 14,000, possibly expandable to 20,000)
Potential owner: Wayne Hughes (reported net worth $2.8 billion)
Notes: I’m stretching things a bit here. Lynn Family stadium is currently listed as having 11,700 capacity that’s expandable to 14,000, but they’ve said that the ground could hold as many as 20,000 with additional construction, which might be enough to grant them a temporary waiver from USSF. If the stadium is a no-go, then there’s always Cardinal Stadium, home to the University of Louisville’s football team, which seats 65,000 but is turf. Either way, it seems like a sale to someone like Public Storage founder Wayne Hughes will be necessary to ensure the club has enough capital.
Candidate: Memphis 901 FC
Location (Metro population): Memphis, Tenn. (1,348,260)
Time zone: Central
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Liberty Bowl Stadium (Turf, 58,325)
Potential owner: Fred Smith (reported net worth $3 billion)
Notes: Unfortunately for Memphis, AutoZone Park’s 10,000 seats won’t cut it at the D1 level. With its urban location, it would likely prove tough to renovate, as well. Liberty Bowl Stadium more than meets the need, but will involve the use of the dreaded turf. As far as an owner goes, FedEx founder Fred Smith seems like a good local option.
Candidate: Miami FC, “The”
Location (Metro population): Miami, Fla. (6,158,824)
Time zone: Eastern
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Riccardo Silva Stadium (FieldTurf, 20,000)
Potential owner: Riccardo Silva (reported net worth $1 billion)
Notes: Well, well, well, Silva might get his wish for top-flight soccer, after all. He’s got the money, he’s got the metro, and his ground has the capacity. There is the nagging issue of the turf, though. Hard Rock Stadium might present a solution, including a capacity of 64,767 and a grass playing surface. It is worth noting, however, that this is the first profile where I didn’t have to find a new potential owner for a club.
Candidate: North Carolina FC
Location (Metro population): Durham, N.C. (1,214,516 in The Triangle)
Time zone: Eastern
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Carter-Finley Stadium (Grass/Turf, 57,583)
Potential owner: Steve Malik (precise net worth unknown) / Dennis Gillings (reported net worth of $1.7 billion)
Notes: We have our first “relocation” in North Carolina FC, who were forced to trade Cary’s 10,000-seat WakeMed Soccer Park for Carter-Finley Stadium in Durham, home of the NC State Wolfpack and 57,583 of their closest friends. The move is a whopping 3.1 miles, thanks to the close-knit hub that exists between Cary, Durham and Raleigh. Carter-Finley might be my favorite of the stadium moves in this exercise. The field is grass, but the sidelines are artificial turf. Weird, right? Either way, it was good enough for Juventus to play a friendly against Chivas de Guadalajara there in 2011. Maybe the move would be pushed for by new owner and medical magnate Dennis Gillings, whose British roots might inspire him to get involved in the Beautiful Game. Straight up, though, I couldn’t find a net worth for current owner Steve Malik, though he did sell his company MedFusion for $91 million in 2010, then bought it back for an undisclosed amount and sold it again for $43 million last November. I don’t know if Malik has the juice to meet D1 requirements, but I suspect he’s close.
Candidate: Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Location (Metro population): Pittsburgh, Penn. (2,362,453)
Time zone: Eastern
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Heinz Field (Grass, 64,450)
Potential owner: Henry Hillman (reported net worth $2.5 billion)
Notes: I don’t know a ton about the Riverhounds, but this move in particular feels like depriving a pretty blue-collar club from its roots. Highmark Stadium is a no-go from a seating perspective, but the Steelers’ home stadium at Heinz Field would more than meet the requirements and have a grass surface that was large enough to be sanctioned for a FIFA friendly between the U.S. WNT and Costa Rica in 2015. As for an owner, Tuffy Shallenberger (first ballot owner name HOF) doesn’t seem to fit the USSF bill, but legendary Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Hillman might. I’m sure you’re asking, why not the Rooney Family, if they’ll play at Heinz Field? I’ll tell you: I honestly can’t seem to pin down a value for the family. The Steelers are valued at a little over a billion and rumors persist that Dan Rooney is worth $500 million, but I’m not sure. I guess the Rooneys would work too, but it’s a definite departure from an owner in Shallenberger who was described by one journalist as a guy who “wears boots, jeans, a sweater and a trucker hat.”
Candidate: Saint Louis FC
Location (Metro population): St. Louis, Mo. (2,807,338)
Time zone: Central
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Busch Stadium (Grass, 45,494)
Potential owner: William DeWitt Jr. (reported net worth $4 billion)
Notes: Saint Louis has some weirdness in making the jump to D1. Current CEO Jim Kavanaugh is an owner of the MLS side that will begin play in 2022. The club’s current ground at West Community Stadium isn’t big enough, but perhaps a timely sale to Cardinals owner William DeWitt Jr. could see the club playing games at Busch Stadium, which has a well established history of hosting other sports like hockey, college football and soccer (most recently a U.S. WNT friendly against New Zealand in 2019). The competition with another MLS franchise wouldn’t be ideal, like Charlotte, but with a big enough population and cross marketing from the Cardinals, maybe there’s a winner here. Wacko idea: If Busch doesn’t pan out, send them to The Dome. Sure, it’s a 60k turf closed-in stadium, but we can go for that retro NASL feel and pay homage to our nation’s soccer history.
Candidate: Tampa Bay Rowdies
Location (Metro population): Tampa, Fla. (3,068,511)
Time zone: Eastern
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Raymond James Stadium (Grass, 65,518)
Potential owner: Edward DeBartolo Jr. (reported net worth $3 billion)
Notes: This one makes me sad. Despite having never been there, I see Al Lang Stadium as an iconic part of the Rowdies experience. Current owner Bill Edwards proposed an expansion to 18,000 seats in 2016, but the move seems to have stalled out. Frustrated with the city’s lack of action, Edwards sells to one-time San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., who uses his old NFL connections to secure a cushy lease at the home of the Buccaneers in Ray Jay, the site of a 3-1 thrashing of Antigua and Barbuda during the United States’ 2014 World Cup Qualifying campaign.
Breather. Hey, we finished the Eastern Conference teams. Why are you still reading this? Why am I still writing it? Time is a meaningless construct in 2020 my friends, we are adrift in the void, fueled only by brief flashes of what once was and what may yet still be.
Candidate: Austin Bold FC
Location (Metro population): Austin, Texas (2,168,316)
Time zone: Central
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Darrel K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium (FieldTurf, 95,594)
Potential owner: Michael Dell (reported net worth of $32.3 billion)
Notes: Anthony Precourt’s Austin FC has some unexpected competition and it comes in the form of tech magnate Michael Dell. Dell, were he to buy the club, would be one of the richest owners on our list and could flash his cash in the new first division. Would he have enough to convince Darrel K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium (I’m not kidding, that’s its actual name) to go back to a grass surface, like it did from ’96-’08? That’s between Dell and nearly 100,000 UT football fans, but everything can be had for the right price.
Candidate: Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Location (Metro population): Colorado Springs, Colo. (738,939)
Time zone: Mountain
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Falcon Stadium (FieldTurf, 46,692)
Potential owner: Charles Ergen (reported net worth $10.8 billion)
Notes: Welcome to Colorado Springs. We have hurdles. For the first time in 12 candidates, we’re back below the desired 1 million metro population mark. Colorado Springs actually plans to build a $35 million, 8,000 seat venue downtown that will be perfect for soccer, but in our timeline that’s 7,000 seats short. Enter Falcon Stadium, home of the Air Force Academy Falcons football team. Seems perfect except for the turf, right? Well, the tricky thing is that Falcon Stadium is technically on an active military base and is (I believe) government property. Challenges to getting in and out of the ground aside, the military tends to have a pretty grim view of government property being used by for-profit enterprises. Maybe Charles Ergen, founder and chairman of Dish Network, would be able to grease the right wheels, but you can go ahead and throw this into the “doubtful” category. It’s a shame, too. 6,035 feet of elevation is one hell of a home-field advantage.
Candidate: El Paso Locomotive FC
Location: El Paso, Texas
Time zone: Mountain
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Sun Bowl (FieldTurf, 51,500)
Potential owner: Paul Foster (reported net worth $1.7 billion)
Notes: God bless Texas. When compiling this list, I found so many of the theoretical stadium replacements were nearly serviceable by high school football fields. That’s insane, right? Anyway, Locomotive don’t have to settle for one of those, they’ve got the Sun Bowl, which had its capacity reduced in 2001 to a paltry 51,500 (from 52,000) specifically to accommodate soccer. Sure, it’s a turf surface, but what does new owner Paul Foster (who is only the 1,477th wealthiest man in the world, per Forbes) care, he’s got a team in a top league. Side note: Did you know that the Sun Bowl college football game is officially, through sponsorship, the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl? Why is it not the Frosted Flakes Sun Bowl? Why is the cereal mascot the promotional name of the football game? What are you doing, Kellogg’s?
Candidate: Las Vegas Lights FC
Location: Las Vegas, Nev. (2,227,053)
Time zone: Pacific
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Allegiant Stadium (Grass, 61,000)
Potential owner: Sheldon Adelson (reported net worth $37.7 billion)
Notes: Sin City. You had to know that the club that once signed Freddy Adu because “why not” was going to go all out in our flashy hypothetical proposal. Thanks to my narrative control of this whole thing, they have. Adelson is the second-richest owner in the league and has decided to do everything first class. That includes using the new Raiders stadium in nearby unincorporated Paradise, Nevada, and spending boatloads on high profile transfers. Zlatan is coming back to the U.S., confirmed.
Candidate: New Mexico United
Location: Albuquerque, N.M.
Time zone: Mountain
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Isotopes Park – officially Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park (Grass, 13,500 – 15,000 with expansion)
Potential owner: Maloof Family (reported net worth $1 billion)
Notes: New Mexico from its inception went deep on the community vibe, and I’ve tried to replicate that in this bid. The home field of Rio Grande Cr---I’m not typing out the whole thing—Isotopes Park falls just within the expansion rules we set to make it to 15,000 (weird, right?) and they’ve found a great local ownership group in the Lebanese-American Maloof (formerly Maalouf) family from Las Vegas. The only thing to worry about would be the metro population, but overall, this could be one of the gems of USL Prem.
Candidate: Oklahoma City Energy FC
Location: Oklahoma City, Okla. (1,396,445)
Time zone: Central
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (Grass, 13,066)
Potential owner: Harold Hamm (reported net worth $14.2 billion)
Notes: There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow and it says it’s time to change stadiums and owners to make it to D1. A sale to oil magnate Harold Hamm would give the club the finances it needs, but Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (home of the OKC Dodgers) actually falls outside of the boundary of what would meet capacity if 1,500 seats were added. Could the club pull off a move to Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma – home of the Oklahoma Sooners? Maybe, but at 20 miles, this would be a reach.
Candidate: Orange County SC
Location: Irvine, Calif. (3,176, 000 in Orange County)
Time zone: Pacific
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Angels Stadium of Anaheim (Grass, 43,250)
Potential owner: Arte Moreno (reported net worth $3.3 billion)
Notes: You’ll never convince me that Rangers didn’t choose to partner with Orange County based primarily on its name. Either way, a sale to MLB Angels owner Arte Moreno produces a fruitful partnership, with the owner choosing to play his newest club out of the existing Angels stadium in OC. Another baseball conversion, sure, but with a metro population of over 3 million and the closest thing this hypothetical league has to an LA market, who’s complaining?
Candidate: Phoenix Rising FC
Location: Phoenix, Ariz. (4,857,962)
Time zone: Arizona
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): State Farm Stadium (Grass, 63,400)
Potential owner: Ernest Garcia II (reported net worth $5.7 billion)
Notes: We’re keeping it local with new owner and used car guru Ernest Garcia II. His dad owned a liquor store and he dropped out of college, which is making me feel amazing about my life choices right now. Casino Arizona Field is great, but State Farm Stadium is a grass surface that hosted the 2019 Gold Cup semifinal, so it’s a clear winner. Throw in Phoenix’s massive metro population and this one looks like a lock.
Candidate: Reno 1868 FC
Location: Reno, Nev. (425,417)
Time zone: Pacific
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Mackay Stadium (FieldTurf, 30,000)
Potential owner: Nancy Walton Laurie (reported net worth $7.1 billion)
Notes: The Biggest Little City on Earth has some serious barriers to overcome, thanks to its low metro population. A sale to Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and 1.6 mile-move to Mackay Stadium to split space with the University of Nevada, Reno makes this bid competitive, but the turf surface is another knock against it.
Candidate: Rio Grande Valley FC
Location: Edinburg, Texas (900,304)
Time zone: Central
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): McAllen Memorial Stadium (FieldTurf, 13,500 – 15,000 with expansion)
Potential owner: Alice Louise Walton (reported net worth $45 billion)
Notes: Yes, I have a second straight Walmart heiress on the list. She was the first thing that popped up when I googled “McAllen Texas richest people.” The family rivalry has spurred Walton to buy a club as well, moving them 10 miles to McAllen Memorial Stadium which, as I alluded to earlier, is a straight up high school football stadium with a full color scoreboard. Toss in an additional 1,500 seats and you’ve met the minimum, despite the turf playing surface.
Candidate: San Antonio FC
Location: San Antonio, Texas (2,550,960)
Time zone: Central
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Alamodome (FieldTurf, 64,000)
Potential owner: Red McCombs (reported net worth $1.6 billion)
Notes: I wanted to keep SAFC in the Spurs family, since the franchise is valued at $1.8 billion. That said, I didn’t let the Rooneys own the Riverhounds based on the Steelers’ value and it felt wrong to change the rules, so bring on Clear Channel co-founder Red McCombs. Toyota Field isn’t viable in the first division, but for the Alamodome, which was built in 1993 in hopes of attracting an NFL franchise (and never did), San Antonio can finally claim having *a* national football league team in its town (contingent on your definition of football). Now if only we could do something about that turf…
Candidate: San Diego Loyal SC
Location: San Diego, Calif. (3,317,749)
Time zone: Pacific
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): SDCCU Stadium (formerly Qualcomm) (Grass, 70,561)
Potential owner: Phil Mickelson (reported net worth $91 million)
Notes: Yes, golf’s Phil Mickelson. The existing ownership group didn’t seem to have the wherewithal to meet requirements, and Phil seemed to slot right in. As an athlete himself, he might be interesting in the new challenges of a top flight soccer team. Toss in a move to the former home of the chargers and you might have a basis for tremendous community support.
Candidate: FC Tulsa
Location: Tulsa, Okla. (991,561)
Time zone: Central
Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium (FieldTurf, 30,000)
Potential owner: George Kaiser ($10 billion)
Notes: I’m a fan of FC Tulsa’s rebrand, but if they want to make the first division, more changes are necessary. A sale to Tulsa native and one of the 100 richest men in the world George Kaiser means that funding is guaranteed. A move to Chapman Stadium would provide the necessary seats, despite the turf field. While the undersize population might be an issue at first glance, it’s hard to imagine U.S. Soccer not granting a waiver over a less than a 10k miss from the mark.
And that’s it! You made it. Those are all of the independent/hybrid affiliates in the USL Championship, which means that it’s time for our…
VERDICT: As an expert who has studied this issue for almost an entire day now, I am prepared to pronounce which USL Championships could be most ‘ready” for a jump to the USL Prem. A reminder that of the 27 clubs surveyed, 0 of them met our ideal criteria (proper ownership $, metro population, 15,000+ stadium with grass field).
Two of them, however, met almost all of those criteria: Indy Eleven and Miami FC. Those two clubs may use up two of our three available turf fields right from the outset, but the other factors they hit (particularly Silva’s ownership of Miami) makes them difficult, if not impossible to ignore for the top flight.
But who fill in the rest of the slots? Meet the entire 14-team USL Premier League:
Hartford Athletic
Indy Eleven
Louisville City FC
Miami FC
North Carolina FC
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
Tampa Bay Rowdies
Saint Louis FC
San Antonio FC
New Mexico United
Phoenix Rising FC
Las Vegas Lights FC
Orange County SC
San Diego Loyal SC
Now, I shall provide my expert rationale for each club’s inclusion/exclusion, which can be roughly broken down into four categories.
Firm “yes”
Hartford Athletic: It’s a good market size with a solid stadium. With a decent investor and good community support, you’ve got potential here.
Indy Eleven: The turf at Lucas Oil Stadium is no reason to turn down a 62,421 venue and a metro population of over 2 million.
Louisville City FC: Why doesn’t the 2017 & 2018 USL Cup champion deserve a crack at the top flight? They have the market size, and with a bit of expansion have the stadium at their own SSS. LCFC, you’re in.
Miami FC, “The”: Our other blue-chip recruit on the basis of ownership value, market size and stadium capacity. Yes, that field is turf, but how could you snub Silva’s chance to claim victory as the first division 1 club soccer team to play in Miami?
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC: Pittsburgh sacrificed a lot to be here (according to my arbitrary calculations). Their market size and the potential boon of soccer at Heinz Field is an important inclusion to the league.
Saint Louis FC: Willie hears your “Busch League” jokes, Willie don’t care. A huge market size, combined with the absence of an NFL franchise creates opportunity. Competition with the MLS side, sure, but St. Louis has serious soccer history and we’re willing to bet it can support two clubs.
Tampa Bay Rowdies: With a huge population and a massive stadium waiting nearby, Tampa Bay seems like too good of an opportunity to pass up for the USL Prem.
Las Vegas Lights FC: Ostentatious, massive and well-financed, Las Vegas Lights FC is everything that the USL Premier League would need to assert that it didn’t intend to play second fiddle to MLS. Players will need to be kept on a short leash, but this is a hard market to pass up on.
Phoenix Rising FC: Huge population, big grass field available nearby and a solid history of success in recent years. No brainer.
San Diego Loyal SC: New club? Yes, massive population in a market that recently lost an absolutely huge sports presence? Also yes. This could be the USL Prem’s Seattle.
Cautious “yes”
New Mexico United: You have to take a chance on New Mexico United. The club set the league on fire with its social media presence and its weight in the community when it entered the league last season. The market may be slightly under USSF’s desired 1 million, but fervent support (and the ability to continue to use Isotopes Park) shouldn’t be discounted.
North Carolina FC: Carter-Finley’s mixed grass/turf surface is a barrier, to be sure, but the 57,000+ seats it offers (and being enough to offset other fully-turf offerings) is enough to put it in the black.
Orange County SC: It’s a top-tier club playing in a MLB stadium. I know it seems unlikely that USSF would approve something like that, but believe me when I say “it could happen.” Orange County is a massive market and California likely needs two clubs in the top flight.
San Antonio FC: Our third and only voluntary inclusion to the turf fields in the first division, we’re counting on San Antonio’s size and massive potential stadium to see it through.
Cautious “no”
Birmingham Legion FC: The town has solid soccer history and a huge potential venue, but the turf playing surface puts it on the outside looking in.
Memphis 901 FC: Like Birmingham, not much to dislike here outside of the turf playing surface at the larger playing venue.
Austin Bold FC: See the other two above.
FC Tulsa: Everything’s just a little bit off with this one. Market’s slightly too small, stadium has turf. Just not enough to put it over the top.
Firm “no”
Charleston Battery: Small metro and a small potential new stadium? It’s tough to say yes to the risk.
Charlotte Independence: A small new stadium and the possibility of having to compete with an organization that just paid over $300 million to join MLS means it’s best for this club to remain in the USL Championship.
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC: When a club’s best chance to meet a capacity requirement is to host games at a venue controlled by the military, that doesn’t speak well to a club’s chances.
El Paso Locomotive FC: An undersized market and a turf field that meets capacity requirements is the death knell for this one.
Oklahoma City Energy FC: Having to expand a baseball field to meet requirements is a bad start. Having to potentially play 20 miles away from your main market is even worse.
Reno 1868 FC: Population nearly a half-million short of the federation’s requirements AND a turf field at the hypothetical new stadium makes impossible to say yes to this bid.
Rio Grande Valley FC: All the seat expansions in the world can’t hide the fact that McAllen Memorial Stadium is a high school stadium through and through.
Here’s who’s left in the 11-team Championship:
Birmingham Legion FC
Charleston Battery
Charlotte Independence
Memphis 901 FC
Austin Bold FC
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
El Paso Locomotive FC
Oklahoma City Energy FC
Reno 1868 FC
Rio Grande Valley FC
FC Tulsa
With MLS folding the six affiliates it has in USL League One, the league is a little bit thin (especially considering USSF’s requirements for 8 teams for lower level leagues), but seems definitely able to expand up to the necessary numbers with Edwards’ allusions to five new additions this year:
Chattanooga Red Wolves SC
Forward Madison FC
Greenville Triumph SC
Union Omaha
Richmond Kickers
South Georgia Tormenta
FC Tucson
Format of Assorted Leagues – This (like everything in this post) is pure conjecture on my part, but here are my thoughts on how these leagues might function in a first year while waiting for additional expansion.
USL Premier – We’ll steal from the 12-team Scottish Premiership. Each club plays the other 11 clubs 3 times, with either one or two home matches against each side. When each club has played 33 matches, the top six and bottom six separate, with every club playing an additional five matches (against each other team in its group). The top club wins the league. The bottom club is automatically relegated. The second-bottom club will enter a two-legged playoff against someone (see below) from the championship playoffs.
USL Championship -- 11 clubs is a challenge to schedule for. How about every club plays everyone else three times (either one or two home matches against each side)? Top four clubs make the playoffs, which are decided by two-legged playoffs. The winner automatically goes up. I need feedback on the second part – is it better to have the runner-up from the playoffs face the second-bottom club from the Premiership, or should the winner of the third-place match-up get the chance to face them to keep drama going in both playoff series? As for relegation, we can clearly only send down the last place club while the third division is so small.
USL League One – While the league is so small, it doesn’t seem reasonable to have the clubs play as many matches as the higher divisions. Each club could play the other six clubs four times – twice at home and twice away – for a very equitable 24-match regular season, which would help restrict costs and still provide a chance to determine a clear winner. Whoever finishes top of the table goes up.
And there you have it, a hypothetical look at how the USL could build a D1 league right now. All it would take is a new stadium for almost the entire league and new owners for all but one of the 27 clubs, who wouldn’t feel that their property would be massively devalued if they got relegated.
Well that’s our show. I’m curious to see what you think of all of this, especially anything that you think I may have overlooked (I’m sure there’s plenty). Anyway, I hope you’re all staying safe and well.

So might be a stupid decision, but I’m going to a concert in Brum that finishes around 11, my coach home isn’t until 8am. Don’t want to miss the gig, maybe there’s somewhere safe I can wait in?

Kind of a longer story...but it's crazy for sure...forgive my grammar
It's been 2 years since I worked maintenance in two really shady apartments in Birmingham Alabama. I had made so poor choices and my life was rock bottom, 200 bucks a week and a shitty apartment, not bad for a struggling drug addict. I had been working with the Nashama apartments for about 3 months when I met "Tony". He was an average height late thirties early forties Native American man. He kinda came outta nowhere but that's not uncommon in that kind of living situation, he dressed nicer than most in our situation but other than that he seemed normal.
Now these apartments are "under code" at best. Their whole purpose is to get the homeless of the street so I was grateful for what little I had, but these units where in such terrible shape that Tony and I's job of "maintenance" is almost comical. Tony was very skilled in flooring and plumbing, and he was a pretty funny guy, real quite but he'd make quips every now and then with a northern accent. Over the next 2 months Tony and I became "friends" well if you can call it that, we worked together, lived next door to each other, and...used together. You see Tony was very reserved until he did a line of coke, then he'd start opening up, he'd start talking about an "Indian mafia" up north and north mid west, he talked about how he was born into it, and I've got to be honest I was high and so was he, so I started laughing because it sounded ridiculous and I was pretty sure it was a joke. However, I'll never forget the look on his face and in his eyes...it was this dead stare with a slight smirk, like he was somewhere else reliving something...and it was terrifying.
I said " hey man if you ever need to talk...."
He said "nah man....it's fine...another life....let's go get some soft (coke)"
So we call up dude and went to meet him up the hill like usual. The guy cousin called back and said our dude got hymed up and hung up.
Tony said "shit well, I know this other guy" and he proceeded to call him up, and as the guy rolls up I kinda' had this feeling in my stomach, something wasn't right.
(Now forgive my language by this how it went down)
Tony had our money and was leaning in the car....and that's when I heard Tony yell " nah fuck that" and the guy tried to peel off...
Tony had a death grip on this man dragging him through the driver window.
Tony screamed " you trying to stiff me bitch" "huh!!!?"
He hit this man so hard I swear he was trying to punch through his face! He wouldn't stop Blood and flesh mixing with gravel on the ground. I screamed "Tony stop! Fuck this man let's go"
"Fuck you man, check his pockets" Tony yelled
I said "I've got the shit, man let's go, please"
His face...his eyes...he just looked possessed... with one more kick to this broken man's head we fled we fled into the dark....
"What the fuck have you done Tony!? What did you do!? I'm a fucking white guy bro, you're a Native American! We stick out you idiot!They're going to fucking kill us, you've killed us!!!" I shouted with tears in my eyes
"They won't do shit, I punked him out. Beside that bitch didn't see ya'. If he comes around again flashes 9mm I'll dome him." Tony said in a cold 'matter of fact' tone of voice
His tone of voice sent chills down my spine. I've never met someone as terrifying Tony in my life.
The next morning he told me a bit more, still coked out mind you...look with out saying too too much, Tony told me he "worked" in a series Native American Casinos, as some who dealt with..... loans and collections, if you couldn't pay up...Tony and another like Tony would show up and "handle it". He said "things are different on the Reservations, that what people don't get" as he took a sip of his beer.
I'm not gonna lie I was pretty fascinated with his stories and I mean come on they were just stories....right?
Over the next few months my worry that someone would come for us settled down some, and we moved on with life fixing up apartments, doing drugs, rinse and repeat. Until one day we were working on a sink kind of tweaking a little, and up until this point I would listen to his "mafioso stories" with a child like wonder, but on this day he told a story...that kind of made me feel sick.
He told me about this social security scheme that basically consisted of him and his "bosses" cashing social security checks of people that had "cashed in their souls".
He said "we had 6 going until it started falling apart...some one tipped off... "
"Y'all finished yet!?" The drunk tennant said
"Yep" Tony smiled and said cleaning up his tools
He smiled and walked out, right by me, I was still stunned from what I just heard.
If he was telling the truth...then he's a coldhearted monster that's also on the run...and if he's lying then he's incredibly fucked up in the head.
At 3am that night...I found out.
I was woken up by the loudest 'bang' I've ever heard! After the bang a flood of blinding light filled the entire apartment complex! A lot of shouting from outside
" what the hell is happening!?" I yelled to my elderly roommate
I ran to the front door and opened it to an armed and armored US marshal and a sea of blue lights. "Get back inside! Right now" the marshal said sternly with a rifle pointed down wards but definitely in my direction. So that's what I did. Seeing cops rush our apartment complex is nothing new, but this is the most intense I've seen!
The next morning when I came outside, i noticed Tony's door had been smashed in.... "holy shit" I thought while I was walking to the apartment manager's office,
I asked "what the hell happened last night?"
She proceeded to tell me that "Tony" had been on the run for a while, and had some how fooled his way into a government funded HUD apartment complex and job with said Gov't funded apartments....with an assumed identity. She then turned to me and said with a shocked look "Tony....hurt a lot of people "
Every hair on my body stood on end, and all I could get out was "oh..."
I'm not much for "conspiracies" but there was nothing on the news about this arrest, I can't find anything on google about it! Then again it's pretty embarrassing that a state funded homeless program let in an on the run fugitive and then paid him to work maintenance lol
I only mention this because we had a murder on the apartment grounds (btw this guy was also on maintenance), and what little news there was so incredibly vague, that you'd never really know where they were and were really careful to not mention they were HUD houses.
I guess you never really know what's going on in the head of the man next to you
TL:DR - I got a maintenance job with a guy that appeared out of no where but I thought was cool, turns out he's a serial murderer being hunted by the Marshalls