unicorn

My husband was startled upon seeing the current appearance of the legendary actress Shirley MacLaine

We just had a Australian guide give us a tour of a former whaling village in the South Shetland Islands. The Australian habit of pronouncing almost every vowel like a long "I" made it at times difficult for us to understand him. For example, he pointed to a structure and said "This is where they had their whiles...". It wasn't until he finished his sentence with "so they could obtain fresh water," that I understood he was saying "wells," which in Australia is pronounced the same as "whales" and "whiles" (it had occurred to me that the structure was too small to contain whales). 😉

I must admit that at the current time, it would be nice to have a monarch or his representative call for a new election. My understanding though is that this almost never happens in any of Charles III's realms, so even that theoretical advantage doesn't seem to exist in practice. I suspect that a new Congress will put the brakes on Cheeto Benito's (and his lackey Speaker Mike Johnson, the closest we have to a Prime Minister) shenanigans in another year or so. At least the two years of unfettered power will show the US public what doofuses the Republicans are, and there won't be anyone else to blame. It would also be nice for the President of Israel to call for a new election, but it doesn't look as if that's ever going to happen. When the legislature and the country's political leader have unfettered power, disaster can occur, and this is almost always this is almost always the case in constitutional monarchies--prime ministers run the legislature. I have a feeling that despite Republican monkey-business attempts to dilute Democrats' votes, Johnson will lose the speakership in another year. At least in the US system, the legislature can put the brakes on the country's political leader. Johnson's too much of a pussy to get his nose out of Don the Con's ass. This is the first time Americans have elected a bona-fide convicted felon and con-artist to lead our country. Not all Presidents have been great, but this is the first time we've had a dictator--at least until the '26 elections.

When Australia wants to become a republic instead of a monarchy, they have only to vote and choose to do so. Until then, they can continue bowing and curtsying to their royal families. Charles III is still their king. Americans rejected the monarchy two and a half centuries ago:

I never accused @PeterRS of lying. I found his posts, however, ambiguous in their meaning and easy to misinterpret. If what he meant to say was that the parents erred in NOT following professionals' advice, then we agree completely in this matter.

Wow, wow, wow. So you actually believe that Nick Reiner (and his parents and you) knew better than professionals with "diplomas on their walls," who actually looked at the science of the matter and studied the issues for years, how to treat himself? News flash: almost all addicts lie. I think that the evidence is pretty plain. The fact that the parents rejected knowledgeable professionals' views and advice is what led him to relapsing and ultimately to kill his parents. The fact that the three of them were so sure they knew better than the experts how to treat him is what led to the tragedy. Similar fates have happened to many people who eschewed the advice of medical professionals because they knew from their faith that medical professionals didn't know what they were talking about (such as Scientologists and Christian Scientists including Jim Henson). Although the parental instinct may be to cover up, comfort, and enable all of the messes addicts get into, this behavior is ultimately to the detriment of well-being of the addict, to say nothing of those around the addict. While addicts love it, enabling is ultimately counter-productive. For the most intransigent addicts, a good, long prison sentence is ultimately what will help them change their behavior. Some addicts need more time in jail than others. Paris Hilton was a spoiled brat, doing drugs, driving under the influence, etc. Fortunately for her, her judge knew she needed some time in jail to reflect on her behavior. When she drove while her license was suspended for a DUI, she finally served 23 days. Although she continues to be a bit of a wild woman, her behavior has improved since being behind bars.

I'll never forget the words of those who killed him: "It's a pity he can only be killed once!". Ceaușescu was indeed a monster. I felt the same when Jeffrey Dahmer was killed.

There's more to getting asylum than getting a tourist visa. RR not only helps foreigners get the right visas (say, to Canada), but also helps support them once they're safe on Canadian (or other) soil, with housing, job assistance, and so on.

Putin has cut off internet access to Rainbow Railroad, an organization which helps members of the LGBTQ+ community in hostile countries (such as Russia, obviously) leave the country and get asylum elsewhere (most commonly Canada): https://www.rainbowrailroad.org/the-latest/russia-blocks-rainbow-railroads-website-cutting-off-a-critical-lifeline-for-lgbtqi-people This is an organization I fully support, and also has the full backing of charitynavigator.org as an honest and efficient charity. Hopefully they can at least access the website with a VPN? I don't know if the government has a way of punishing those who access the website via VPN?

I'm American, and I never say "like," though it can be irritating to hear Canadians finish every 3rd sentence with "eh." I can remember in a cruise a few years ago, meeting my neighbor at the balcony, and he said "Nice weather we're having, eh?". To which I responded "What part of Canada are you from?". He laughed and said "Did I end a sentence with 'eh' again?". The host of the MTV program Ridiculousness, Rob Dyrdek, has an annoying habit of ending every other sentence with "You know what I mean?". I feel like yelling at him "YES! I know what you mean!".

I hope I'm reading this incorrectly, and that you're not hinting that the parents are in any way responsible for their own deaths. The son Nick was given countless opportunities to clean his life up with rehabilitation programs (paid for by his parents). Each time he went in front of a judge, he was simply given more probation for violating his probation, and innumerable stints in rehab. The only lesson he apparently received was that he could act with sociopathic impunity, and expect no significant consequences. The lesson I glean from this unfortunate incident is that we need to be more serious and separate these people from society after the 3rd strike. We can't have these Eric Cartman "I'll do what I want" people wandering the streets. Hopefully, this time he gets locked up for good and society will finally be protected. If he's let out, one can expect more tragedy.

I always thought it was shameful that Honecker was never held accountable for his actions. They should have hanged Jefferson Davis, too. He was also allowed to live a normal life and die a natural death without so much as a day of incarceration.

Thank God you informed me. If I saw Charles III in a crowd, I might have called out "Hey, Royal Highness!" instead of "Hey, Majesty!". Gaffe averted! 🤣

Well, I don't believe HRH the King missed the Great Vowel Shift.

Us car instead of my car? I haven't heard that one...

Unless I'm misunderstanding, you're listing examples of conflicts in which the ICJ has not ruled and delineated a specific border. According to a prior post, the ICJ has, in fact, delineated a specific border, but Thailand just doesn't want to comply with their ruling. Also, if at least one of the UN members is a military superpower/nuclear weapons owner, enforcing such a ruling could be very problematic. Neither of these applies to the Thai/Cambodian conflict. It would be far easier for China (or any number of other countries) to pressure Thailand, than for Thailand to pressure China (or India or Pakistan).

I was thinking more along the lines of how people speak their native language. I never get annoyed (much) by foreigners mispronouncing a language foreign to them. [That being said, when I speak foreign languages, I do make a concerted effort to pronounce the language in a native way, and when abroad, the locals often comment at how well I pronounce their language, even if my knowledge of grammar and vocabulary may be poor. Speaking intelligibly is a matter of effort, rather than one of knowledge, which only time can help.] When I hear someone from northern England say "me" instead of "my," I want to shake them and scream "You grew up in England. Speak friggin' English!"

After an elevator ride, my husband remarked that the language a couple of foreigners were speaking while on the elevator really got on his nerves. Although I've never remarked on it before, I would have to say that a number of accents and languages do rub me the wrong way. For example, whenever I hear someone say "me" instead of saying "my" (such as "me car" instead of "my car"), it makes me want to punch the speaker in the face. Without necessarily calling out a specific accent or language, are there ways of speaking which irritate you?

That's like the coal calling the diamond black. BN has no regard for Palestinian life, then pretends to cry a river when Jews are targeted. Some people never learn that respect doesn't come from behind the barrel of a gun. Murder breeds disrespect, not respect. Of course, these murders will breed more anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate (notwithstanding the fact that it was a fellow Muslim who stopped one of the two murderers).

On the subject of useless substance abusers who shouldn't be allowed to walk to streets among the decent public, it appears as though Rob Reiner's junkie son Nick may have murdered both his parents (and has been arrested for this): 😪 https://nypost.com/2025/12/15/us-news/rob-reiners-son-nick-in-custody-after-horrifying-murder-of-princess-bride-director-and-wife/

Well, if the ICJ has ruled on the matter, the matter is settled and the question is how to enforce the ruling. If not militarily, certainly other UN members can put economic pressure on Thailand. This speaker believes that China could pressure Thailand all by itself. Or maybe an economic blockade?

Obviously, international involvement doesn't mean that every single country from Eswatini to Bahrain must be involved. However, the absence of ICJ involvement has obviously not worked. The international community can and should be involved. If not the ICJ, what would be another suggestion for a fair and effective resolution?

FIFA just seems like a criminal enterprise, from my understanding.

In the US at least, prisons are typically state facilities, usually for longer sentences (over a year), and have hardened criminals. Jails are county (or city) facilities, typically used to incarcerate less serious offenses, and those incarcerated there aren't quite as nasty..

I've never been to Iran (or any other predominantly Shia country), so I'm curious if you'd clarify what you mean by that. I've always found the Shia and Catholics amazing in their ability to ignore their holy books. The Koran definitely forbids paintings and artwork of people or other animals, so I'm always astounded to see the Shia parading paintings/sculptures of their "saints." Similarly, when I go to a Catholic church and see all of these paintings and other artwork of saints (notwithstanding the Bible's prohibition of painting/artwork of anything in Heaven and Hell), I feel more like as I were in a Hindu Temple rather than a Christian place of worship. The only difference I see between Catholics and Hindus is that the former pray to the Virgin Mary, St. Peter, etc., but the Hindus pray to Ganesha, or Shiva, etc. Were you referring to the Shia practices when you said Iran doesn't look Islamic?