unicorn

I find it a bit silly to be "debating" this issue. Sadly, it looks as though Trump will probably win. Smooth talking by a lifelong con-man will probably win over facts. I'm moving some of my assets over from stocks to bonds, since Trump's tariff frenzy will probably cause a downturn in the great economy which Biden has left us with, despite what he inherited. But this is purely a matter of informed speculation, not of opinion, so there doesn't seem to be much sense in arguing. If one actually wants to be productive about it, one could help the campaign. Criticizing someone's predictions seems pointless.

While the ethics of prostitution is debatable, prostitution is, de jure, illegal almost everywhere in the US.

Here she is playing with an unrecognizable Sir Lawrence Olivier: She received an Oscar nomination for her role in this movie.

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-pilot-found-dead-after-alleged-hammer-attack-1972098 "A senior Russian pilot complicit in a deadly attack on a Ukrainian mall has been found dead with hammer wounds to the head, according to the Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR). The pilot, named as Dmitry Golenkov, was said to be involved in the missile strike on civilians at Amstor mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, on June 27, 2022. A total of 22 people died in the attack and at least 59 were injured. The body of Golenkov, who was chief of staff of the Russian 52nd heavy bomber aviation squadron, was found in an orchard on Sunday morning, in the Russian village of Suponevo, per a report released by HUR... At the time, President Zelensky called the attack, "one of the most brazen terrorist acts in European history," as at least 1000 people were inside the Amstor mall when it was hit... G7 leaders labeled the strike as "abominable," and listed aid for Ukraine as top of their agenda, according to Newsweek reporting at the time...". I feel a song coming on...

It's kind of difficult to miss one's own head when holding a gun to one's head. Murder makes more sense to me. 🤔

Maybe the simpler explanation is that one of those "names" forced him to write a "suicide note," and wanted to make sure he was dead. Then, of course, there are the Russian defenestrating "suicides," which rarely left behind notes.

My husband knows me well, and said "This is you at the dentist":

Two? Now how does that happen?

I feel a song coming on...

And I don't think that calling attention to objectionable behavior of airline staff is in any way analogous to telling a neighbor's she's ugly (even if she is). Bad behavior, particularly in an organized setting, needs to be addressed so that corrective measures can be taken (so that, hopefully, this doesn't happen to others). Airline staff and police are given wide berths of authority, and this authority and trust can unfortunately be greatly abused. Biases and stereotypes are common, and keeping them in check requires active effort for those in authority. I may personally think Hassidic Jews' beliefs and behaviors are ridiculous, but I have to make the effort to recognize my biases and show them the respect we are all due as human beings.

Make it snappy! 😄

I must give you credit for being man enough to backtrack on your previous post, @vinapu. 👏 Some people will stick to their guns after having written some pretty ridiculous stuff, perhaps after a few drinks (?). Admitting an error is not a sign of weakness, but rather of wisdom and open-mindedness. Respect. My neighbors on both sides are beautiful, albeit a septuagenerian on one side and an octogenarian on the other. I suspect (but don't know) the reason the investigation took so long was that Lufthansa was stonewalling on providing the information, which was obviously shameful and showed the airline in a terrible light. I suspect the DOT needed to threaten further legal action. Hopefully some lessons were learned. For what it's worth, I also don't think my post was inflammatory either. Even if a problem does not necessarily represent a systematic bias in an entire airline or system, it needs to be addressed nonetheless. I marched for George Floyd even though I don't think that the actions of the few police officers who murdered him represent the entire police force. I don't think I was being inflammatory then, either. You're big enough to admit to your mistakes. Most corporations are not, and it took an external investigation to identify the problem at Lufthansa. (Had Lufthansa quickly admitted the problem, and immediately taken steps to rectify the situation, I suspected they wouldn't have faced such a hefty fine)

Obviously, saying that anti-Jewish sentiment still has its place among SOME Germans at Lufthansa is neither "sweeping" nor "inflammatory," but simply factually correct. And yes, there are anti-black sentiments among SOME police and anti-Israeli sentiment among SOME students. Only an abject fool would deny that. Obviously, the US Department of Transportation, after investigating the matter for over 2 years, agrees with me (and not with you). One cannot address a problem without identifying it first. Sticking one's head in the sand would be a rather bird-brained reaction. Thankfully, Lufthansa has given its staff additional training in this matter.

What's a woman? 😄 I guess there are some bearded ladies. I've also seen at least one drag king (in Anchorage AK).But the map did say "Androgenic male hair map". https://www.facebook.com/empoweringhairywomenofficial/

This is not realistically an issue when the plane is in flight. I'm very atheist, so I personally find the beliefs and actions of Hassidic Jews farcical and almost clown-like, but I respect the rights of others to practice and behave according to their own beliefs, as long as their actions don't impinge on my own rights and beliefs. It looks like those believers did their best to be out of the way of others, i.e. not blocking the aisles. I may look at them and silently snicker to myself, but I feel I have no right to dictate or condemn their behavior when they're obviously doing their best not to be obtrusive.

Thanks for the info. The actions by Lufthansa, given this new information, seem particularly egregious, for a number of reasons. This seemed to be a case of selective enforcement of what were, at the time (May 2022), highly outdated masking requirements (which most airports and airlines had already abandoned, though not Lufthansa, obviously): "...They told me that there was zero mask enforcement in first class and that one of the first class flight attendants was not wearing her own mask for most of the flight. Passengers in first class didn’t wear masks for most of the flight and weren’t asked to. From talking to several passengers in economy, it seems like there were a couple of isolated masking issues in economy class, both among some visibly Hasidic Jews as well as non-Jews. It’s a shame that they flouted the rules, but it’s unclear why those few passengers weren’t singled out for punishment as would happen on most airlines in the world...". It also appears that many passengers who were not wearing Hassidic garb were also effectively not wearing masks (it was still the accepted belief at the time that masks were effective in reducing transmission, but obviously not with the mask hanging around your chin and not covering the nose): Strange that the blurb from Reuters didn't discuss the actual issue at hand, but given the information in the article provided by @Riobard, it's clear that anti-Jewish sentiment still has its place among some Germans at Lufthansa.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-imposes-4-million-penalty-against-lufthansa-over-treatment-jewish-passengers-2024-10-15/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C Oct 15 (Reuters),Transportation Department said on Tuesday. "Lufthansa (LHAG.DE), opens new tab has agreed to pay a $4 million penalty for allegedly discriminating against Jewish passengers who were trying to board a connecting flight in Frankfurt in May 2022, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Tuesday. Lufthansa prohibited 128 Jewish passengers, nearly all of whom wore garments generally worn by Orthodox Jewish men, from boarding a connecting flight in Germany on the basis of alleged misbehavior by some passengers, the Transportation Department said. Although many of the passengers did not know each other or were not traveling together, passengers interviewed by DOT investigators stated that Lufthansa treated them as if they were a single group and denied all of them boarding for the alleged misbehavior of a few, DOT said...". Bad PR for the German carrier 😬. Left out of the story was what the "alleged misbehavior" was. That seems like an important part of the story. Did they refuse to wear seatbelts? Drink too much kosher wine? Also makes one wonder why they couldn't have simply identified the unruly (?) passengers. They must have known where they were sitting. I'd surely like to know the details. It seems crazy at first glance.

The map is silly and seems to be purely from someone's vivid imagination. Moroccans and Tunisians aren't that hairy.

What is the map supposed to show? Percentage of men with hair on their heads? Chests? Back? Arms?

I lived with a domestic partner who was from Russia, and we lived together for over 13 years (during which time he became an American citizen). I told him there were three words to describe a Russian with brains and/or talent: No Longer Russian.