unicorn

I like Pita.

Putin's blocking of Ukrainian grain exports could again stoke marked rises in grain prices, with consequent effects on inflation and the world economy. It would seem that NATO countries could defuse that by announcing that ships registered with NATO countries would be transporting said grain. Any attack on ships from NATO countries would therefore trigger NATO involvement, which would probably result in Putin's demise. I don't think even Putin is crazy enough to attack ships from NATO countries. That would be tantamount to suicide.

Factually wrong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thérèse_Coffey "Thérèse Anne Coffey (born 18 November 1971) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs since October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she previously was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care but only from September to October 2022..."

If it's Trump vs Biden, one on one, Biden will probably win. Only hard-core Republicans will vote for Trump. Independents are the ones who determine election winners. If a moderate Democrat enters the race, Trump will probably win. Actually, almost any Democrat can swing the election to Trump. Due to the electoral college, one doesn't even need a plurality of votes to win. Even though he only garnered a tiny fraction of votes, Ralph Nader gave the election to Bush, Jr., with catastrophic results. Bush, Jr. won the election even though he didn't even have a plurality of the votes. Bush won by a handful of votes in Florida, which was all he needed. Now if Trump loses the Republican nomination but runs as a 3rd party candidate, the whomever the Republicans nominate will have zero chance of winning. 3rd party candidates can't win themselves, but they can steal enough votes to determine the election results.

Fortunately, the law often limits the fine print. The law has to limit underhanded insurance company schemes, otherwise each time we bought insurance, we'd have to hire a lawyer to go over the details and negotiate each contract. These policies generally run some 30 pages or so long and are written in legalese. Obviously, most people don't have the ability/means to go over everything each time they want to buy a travel policy. This is why we have laws--to limit sneaky insurance company tricks. Yes, insurance companies should be able to invalidate claims which result from the insureds' law violations, such as driving under the influence. However, one should not be able to invalidate a policy just because the insured had some drinks at his hotel. As others have mentioned, we lack enough details in this particular case to come to a judgment.

I usually get my insurance through https://www.insuremytrip.com/ They always ask age, country of travel, airline (if any), and cruise company (if any).

If the insurance was properly paid-for, it would probably be the insurance company's burden to prove why it shouldn't pay (at least if UK courts work similarly to US courts). If the hotel were negligent in its maintenance duties, or abiding to building codes, that would be irrelevant as to any case between the insured and the insurance company, since the insured doesn't own the hotel. Of course, if the hotel were negligent, then I suppose the insurance company could try to sue the hotel (in Thai courts), but good luck with that. I know that when I buy travel insurance, I'm asked to provide the destination country, airline I'll be taking, and so on. I assume that this is because rates differ between countries and airlines, depending on their risks (in part, for example, as to how well that country enforces building codes and airline safety regulations).

Well, I don't know about British law, but in the US, if you bought your policy in the US from a company which does business in the US, you could sue in US courts. I'm not sure if this would come under the state or federal court system, but if the company refused to pay your bills, you wouldn't have to rely on Thai courts. I think it comes under the regular, state courts, because when I've purchased travel insurance, there are pages devoted to differences in coverage depending on what state you're in.

Any decent insurance policy should cover an accidental fall. If he jumped over intentionally, either because he was showing off or feeling suicidal, then I could understand the insurance not paying. I don't know how things go in the UK, but if it were accidental and he were American, he could probably sue and win. I don't think the insurance company could prevail over some small-print technicality buried on page 12 that no coverage would be provided if he'd been drinking. Most people drink when they're on vacation.

I agree that the Declaration of Independence is poorly worded. Obviously, we're not all created equal, thank goodness, although hopefully we should all be entitled to equal rights, opportunities, and protection under the law.

In case anyone here was unaware, Meat Loaf was a Trump supporter, climate change denier, and Covid-19 denier/antivaxxer. He reportedly died from complications of Covid-19 himself.

They may not be as good as some of the top foreign airlines, but Delta appears to have the best on-time arrival data among North American airlines. I usually fly American Airlines, but occasionally I do fly Delta, which is generally overall rated the best US carrier (American not that far behind).

Well, the rarest blood group is AB-, but those people can receive blood from any donor who's Rh-negative (for example A-, B-, O-). There isn't really a "rare" blood group, since the percentage of donors from each group will probably equal the percentage of those needing the blood. What is true is that O- is in greatest demand. This is because if someone needs an emergency supply of blood, and there isn't time to type and cross, one must give from O-, the only universal donor. In any case, this story doesn't ring true for me.

That's actually not a joke. It's reality! https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tucker-carlson-firing-at-fox-news-draws-comment-from-russian-foreign-minister-lavrov-and-ostensible-job-offer-from-rt-d048ee9e https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/tucker-carlson-russian-state-tv-job-offer-b2327099.html

Any lawyers here know if that's true? I find that difficult to believe.

It lasts for 2 months. So be aware--if you get side-effects, you're stuck with them for 2 months...

One of the problems with US elections, is that Democrats tend to nominate those that are too far left, while Republicans nominate right-wing nuts, so one is left with voting for the lesser of two evils. California did a great thing when they switched to a primary system in which the top two vote-getters from both parties face off in the general election. This is how the east bay area of the SF Bay finally got left-wing Pete Stark out of office, and moderate Democrat Eric Swalwell in, for the largely Democratic district. Sure enough, in the primary Pete Stark had a plurality, but when the majority of the district was given the choice, they went with moderate Swalwell (who's done a great job!). California's 15th congressional district election, 2012 Primary election Party Candidate Votes Democratic Pete Stark (incumbent) 39,94342. Democratic Eric Swalwell 34,34736. No party preference Christopher "Chris" J. Pareja 20,61821 Total votes 94,908100. General election: Democratic Eric Swalwell 120,38852, Democratic Pete Stark (incumbent)110,64647. Total votes231,034100. Democratic hold

According to the AP, "Minneapolis will allow broadcasts of the Muslim call to prayer at all hours, becoming the first major U.S. city to allow the announcement or “adhan” to be heard over speakers five times a day, year-round. The Minneapolis City Council unanimously agreed Thursday to amend the city’s noise ordinance, which had prevented dawn and late evening calls at certain times of the year due to noise restrictions, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The vote came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan...". https://apnews.com/article/muslim-prayers-minneapolis-6bc3fe5ca2eb7436fbdf417481821277 Considering dawn can be quite before 6 AM in northerly Minneapolis, that puts a burden on those who don't want to hear the adhan. I would think that if people want a call to prayer on their own phones or in their own house, the technology is pretty easy to do that. This change in the law might force some people to need to move, and lower property values in areas near mosques. It seems like this constitutes jamming some peoples' religious views on others. Thoughts?

We'll be flying to Japan from LAX in October, and it looks like the fares are running $5000 for business and $1800 for Premium Economy. So I guess we'll just fly Premium Economy and take some sleeping pills with some sake or cognac, and hopefully that'll put us out even if we're not in a flat bed. I haven't purchased those tickets yet, but I did find a $3700 RT flight from LAX to Cairo on Qatar Airways, and I found that to be reasonable, so I snagged those tickets, even though the Cairo flights won't be until February. For your 7-hour trip, though, I personally would rather save the money and fly in PE. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/japan-airlines-premium-economy We're also going to Italy next month. On the way over, with a long overnight to Europe nonstop, we did spring for business class. On the way back, we're switching planes in Charlotte, so we got PE tickets for the return journey, on the waiting list for an upgrade with miles. Since I'm Executive Platinum with AA, I could also get upgraded for free from CLT to LAX. Although one doesn't get to lie flat, one also doesn't feel "squeezed in" for those PE seats, and they're pretty comfortable for a 7-hour flight. https://travelupdate.com/aa-good-premium-economy-dub-phl/

I haven't been agreeing much with the SCOTUS these days, but they may have gotten in right here: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-transgender-sports-west-virginia-64d2fd48678afb1a62e5eb84d7762c31 "The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a 12-year-old transgender girl in West Virginia to continue competing on her middle school’s girls sports teams while a lawsuit over a state ban continues. The justices refused to disturb an appeals court order that made it possible for the girl, Becky Pepper-Jackson, to continue playing on her school’s track and cross-country teams, where she regularly finishes near the back of the pack. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have allowed West Virginia to enforce its law against Pepper-Jackson. Pepper-Jackson is in the middle of the outdoor track season. She had filed a lawsuit challenging the law, the Save Women’s Sports Act, which West Virginia lawmakers adopted in 2021. A federal appeals court had allowed her to compete while she appealed a lower court ruling that upheld the West Virginia law..." I can't imagine why one would ban trans girls or women from competing in amateur sports. That would just be mean-spirited. Yes, there are certain sports (for example volleyball and swimming) for which trans women have an unfair advantage, so I can understand restrictions on levels where $$$ are involved (either the professional level or in the competition for college scholarships). A ban on the amateur level, however, doesn't serve any purpose, other than to be nasty.

His base won't waver their support of the orange menace, no matter what happens. As weak of a candidate as Biden is, I can't imagine Trump returning to the White House. So much the dumber of the Republicans if they give him the nomination.

Thomas is a scumbag, but the notion of ousting an associate justice of the SCOTUS seems all but impossible. Look what Trump got away with. I'm not even sure they'll oust Representative Santos and put him in jail, where he belongs as well.

It wasn't the payments which broke the laws. It's the fact that he tried to pass the payments off as a business expense in order to avoid paying taxes. Remember, it's the tax evasion which put Al Capone in the slammer, not his more horrific misdeeds. Tax evasion can be easier to prove.

That would be quite something if the indictment increased his popularity among Republicans and they nominated him. Other than his base, it won't go well. If Republicans nominate him, he'll lose.

As so often happens, you have no idea what you're talking about. Voters don't have to "claim" anything. A person's party preference or lack of affiliation is simply a matter of public record. Since independents don't choose parties' candidates in primaries, why would anyone claim to be independent if he wasn't?