I know a guy from college who works in reinsurance, which is exactly what you describe except at the corporate level. He too fears a future where there is insurance for insurance insurance…

**Jamie Lannister appears at Bronn & Lollys' castle**

I think the showrunners have simply been hesitant to stray too far from Martin's material in that regard. There have been a few feints and starts toward cultivating non-book lowborn characters (Ros the prostitute comes to mind), but they always seem to end up dead or otherwise sidelined.

What's nonsensical about it? If you're a complete sociopath like Littlefinger, it makes perfect sense.

Which nicely parallels Tyrion and Jamie's arcs this season.

…How great/terrible would be it be if Bronn just lost the hand that was cut? Then he and Jaime can be gold-hand buddies!

I guess "absolutely" is a little strong, but the Pats have destroyed the Colts so consistently that I find it unlikely that the AFC championship was affected by deflated balls enough to even marginally impact the outcome. Stuff like fumble rates is another story.

On his Pied Piper bio, they mention childhood trauma, a series of foster parents, and legal issues preventing disclosure. I think it might be even darker than snuff films somehow

More like angry… what's an ineffectual fish… cod? Cod. Yeah, they're cod that think they're sharks.

The background reactions on this show are always top-notch. The actors have such perfect handles on their characters.

The Selina/convention storyline was gold. I agree with the reviewer that the lobbying plot was pretty weak, which brought the whole episode was gone. I mean, if I told you the show would do a story about Dan, Jonah, and zucchini, is that the best you'd think they could do with it?

I think, like Dan, the show will follow her post-Meyer life. I can't imagine they'll both be away from the administration forever.

Did Thatcher really ruin the office for future women, though? For all of the hatred she got, she was also popular during her terms (as far as I understand) and looked back on fondly by conservatives, at least. Similar to Reagan in that regard as in so many others. There's a difference between "polarizing" and…

It absolutely didn't affect the games, but it would be absurd to let that affect the judgment. Otherwise teams would have an incentive to just go ahead and cheat, knowing that if it didn't work the punishment would be minor, and if it did work the game would be tilted in their favor.

Exactly – the report said "more probably than not," not "probably," because the former has a specific legal definition. It's the burden of proof in a civil case. And, not coincidentally, the standard of proof agreed upon by players AND teams in the most recent CBA.

Regardless of whether it had an effect on the punishment, Brady's agent came across as a completely insane person to me. His defense was basically, "other teams suspected the Patriots of cheating, and the league didn't even tell us [so we could cover it up] before investigating!"

That's true, but what matters is the NFL's perspective. And the NFL maintains that the Patriots were caught cheating, appropriately punished, and explicitly warned that future infractions would be treated more harshly.

I wouldn't say he didn't get anything in return. He went from licking his wounds on Dragonstone (in the Lannisters' backyard) to a fortified position where his army can recuperate and resupply. Now, he is able to march directly into territory likely to be full of allies (the North).

His "Klaus" character on the 6th anniversary show was hilarious as well. Really hope he becomes a CBB regular. His improv work has made me really appreciate his acting as Richard, since he is not like that at all in real life.

They don't know yet, which is a big problem for Selina. She first fired Dan to take the rap for the girl with HIV (a separate-but-related breach of privacy).