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Ben Darlow

@kapowaz.net
1.1K followers 728 following 7.1K posts

Designer/Engineer. Maker of things. Emoji artisan. Keyboard enthusiast (@kapowaz.industries). Coventry City fan. Invented @-replies. Not John Green. Non-American. He/Him.

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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 52m
I don't drive, so this would result in smaller tax revenues, which have to be paid for somewhere. What public services that I rely on would be cut to pay for it? It also gives a tax cut to people who *can* afford the high fuel prices. Why do they deserve that, at the cost of public services?
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 2h
Sir, this is a Toys-R-Us
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 2h
Oh bore off. They still make sets like the ones you describe for younger kids - this one is just clearly aimed at adult Lego fans (of whom there are *many*)
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 3h
So how long before Burnham resigns in disgrace?
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 3h
I guess surrounding yourself with racists when you’re a person of colour and instead of getting the fuck out trying to come up with a worldview that makes it okay kind of melts your brain
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 3h
ha, I wrote something similar elsewhere
wouldn't it just be funny if after a successful progressive labour party conference Burnham were felled by being too close to Abu Dhabi in the fallout from the Man City affair
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 3h
This is a slam dunk policy win for Labour. They just tell them where they can go, and pretty much every football supporter in the country will think you did a morally correct but difficult thing, and Burnham's government will reap the rewards at the polls.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 3h
The best time to ban foreign ownership was before they bought it. The second best time is now.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 5h
Clifford Chance giving their legal advice to Etihad today www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqo5...
youtube.com
POT BROTHERS AT LAW ONE MINUTE TIP OF THE DAY
YouTube video by Pot Brothers at Law
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Reposted by Ben Darlow
Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 6h
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 6h
The problem with bsky is this is actually very typical bsky reply behaviour. A bit like doing a sieg heil on twitter and saying it was a joke, wtf can’t you detect irony??
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 6h
Jesse, what the fuck are you talking about?
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 6h
“Not to be contrarian…” [proceeds to be contrarian]
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 7h
I think it’s the new contrarian thing to refuse to watch it, a bit like people refusing to watch Breaking Bad because so many people said it was good.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 7h
I don't know who made this. I wish it was me.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 7h
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 7h
I remember from the early years of my career living so hand to mouth that I didn't start contributing to a pension until my early 30s. Had to play catch up ever since, but boy I had *no* spare money back then!
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 7h
I love that they do this every year, and this might be the best one yet. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAn3...
youtube.com
Gboard くるくるバージョン
YouTube video by Google Japan
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 19h
One way we can improve our mental health is through shared joyful events like Traitors Celebs, not just a constant unending firehose of the traumatic shit unfolding at home and abroad.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 23h
David Allen Green’s analysis is worth reading. They just keep going for the option that is the most aggressive, with the most damaging effects if unsuccessful.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 23h
“But if a master leather worker is given the skin of a young child, he does not ask where it came from, he simply makes a beautiful purse, which we can admire.”
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 23h
This is the excuse of a sociopath, unused to ever having to explain or justify anything, who always gets their way.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
I think that’s part of what’s happening here with Man City. They’re not only guilty and they know it, but they’re affronted at the fact they’ve been correctly identified as such. The only positions left to them are to accept their fate, or… to scream bloody murder.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
But what should you’re a baddie and you actually get (correctly) accused? So much of the game rests on peoples’ (flawed) read of your body language and reactions that you only have one option: you scream bloody murder! ‘How *dare* you accuse me?? I am utterly innocent! You must be the traitor!’ etc.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
This is very important because a truthful person should never lie. It’s harmful to not only their own defence but the team as a whole (the contestants on the US version of Traitors do this all the time and it’s part of why I don’t enjoy it).
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
Ignoring the specific mechanics, most of the game is just talk. Accusations and debates, arguing and sometimes shouting. It can get very intense (although I think it’s also a lot of fun). It’s all about game theory and figuring out what a truthful person would say/do vs a dishonest one.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
They’re both hidden identity games, in case you’re unfamiliar with them or the show. The goal of the good guys is to uncover the baddies. The goal of the baddies is to slowly eliminate the goodies — by murder and by encouraging the goodies to suspect their fellow goodies.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
I’ve been thinking about this some more and I think the strategy is basically what you do when you know you’re the villain. Tonight is the first episode of the new series of The Traitors Celebrities, and so it’s a timely moment to talk about two games which inspired it: Werewolf and Secret Hitler.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
“What can explain such an aggressive and counterproductive approach?” Ego. Having essentially unlimited wealth, and being unaccustomed to ever hearing the word ‘No’. This is the psychology of a bully. I don’t think they ever conceived they could lose.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
One benefit of this is there’s no obligation for the current owners to sell up, which would satisfy Andy Burnham’s concern too! Okay, it probably wouldn’t, but how a government should respond to having their prize cultural asset hijacked by a hostile foreign power is a topic for another post…
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
So… liquidate them! Let the loyal fans create their own phoenix club in whatever step of the pyramid will accept them and build their way back up. Other clubs have had to do the same, for far smaller financial misdemeanours and mishaps.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
They can’t (legally) funnel UAE money into the club to pay fines or compensation to other clubs, so the only mechanism left is the sale of assets (players) to foot the bill. If the total owed exceeds the value of assets on book, liquidation is a realistic outcome.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
But the EFL is also under no obligation to take them, and in fact their fit-and-proper ownership test makes it impossible. You can’t have an owner who cheats by funnelling his own wealth into a club illegally as an owner. So where does that leave them?
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
There’s the question of the titles won by cheating: these should be stripped. Expulsion from the Premier League is also necessary: their continued presence is a mockery to the integrity of the competition. They can’t be handed a deduction and somehow survive: every club relegated would file suit.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
There may well be criminal charges, but also a substantial fine for that. Additionally, several Premier League clubs have already reserved the right to pursue damages to the tune of £200m each. These seem likely to win, given the guilty verdict. That’s close to £1bn of obligations already.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
There’s no fixing this mess or rewinding the clock that can make everyone whole, but there are certain obligations that have to be fulfilled. Firstly, the owners are not fit and proper. They cannot continue. Secondly, it seems plausible that HMRC may have a claim for criminal tax evasion.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
Previously when I’ve opined about Man City’s potential punishment I’ve maintained that the only fair sanction would involve mandatory exclusion from the PL for a minimum of six seasons, including relegation to a lower tier. I now believe I’ve not gone remotely far enough.
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
If you're in my GP's office any time soon, prepare yourself for what many are calling the greatest mnemonic of all time. Come for E and P, but sit down and clap for I.
A screen in my GP's office advertising a mnemonic of signs to spot SEPSIS.

S slurred speech of confusion 
E extreme shivering or muscle pain 
P passing no urine all day
S severe breathlessness
I ot feels like you are going to die
S skin mottled or discoloured
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Martin Calladine @uglygame.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I think this will be one of the defining images of the Premier League's void years: a proudly working class fanbase celebrating that the ruling family of an oppressive regime had hired a barrister on £10,000-an-hour to try and prevent them suffering consequences for their cheating. Embarrassing.
A bunch of mugs celebrating their perceived impunity
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
Like, genuinely: how can a newspaper credulously platform *her* opinion? It’s the most transparent evidence that the paper has abandoned all journalistic integrity.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
Seeing anything Liz Truss says taken seriously feels like I’m having a stroke.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
It’s amazing, really. In a week where he’s signalled a willingness to engage on proportional voting, rejoining the EU and removing the triple lock on pensions, *this* is a topic that could actually literally hurt Labour at the polls.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 01/10/2026
This was the one thing that made me nervous if justice could ever be served: that soft power worked. If Burnham intervenes in any way then you can say without irony that the game is gone.
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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
something extraordinary is happening on Garvaghy Road Northern Ireland. Decent minded protestants & unionists have started to come out to support the Garvaghy residents, against the Orange Order parade madness. This is truly extraordinary. quick 🧵
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 30/09/2026
Nutmeg is commonly used in British sausages too.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 30/09/2026
Well usually the way you’d expect this to be handled is by reducing the number of relegations, so one fewer side would go down to the National League in this case. But you’re right to ask! And the EFL wouldn’t be obligated to take them.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 30/09/2026
And let’s not forget why it was done: Chelsea FC was a project from Putin to win Russia soft power in the UK. Abramovich was put in post for that purpose. Man City was the same: an attempt to leverage soft power for the UAE.
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Beefcake Dad @jeffsreturn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Googling Tony Blair Arms Deal to find out what the deal is with those arms
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 29/09/2026
As Strachan called it, there’s no ethics in football.
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Ben Darlow @kapowaz.net · 29/09/2026
Relegation to League Two. Ineligible for promotion for six seasons. This would ensure a minimum of 9 seasons outside the Premier League, which seems fair.
Should City lose their appeal, there will be endless talk of punishment for the club. The scale of any sanction will be a matter for the relevant process. If the behaviour lasted nine years, the consequences will inevitably be considered in the context of that
period
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