And probably on United, no less!

I mean, a lighter is butane in a can with a conveniently-placed sparking apparatus, so it would be bad to have on a plane (where firefighting is super difficult).

I mean, you’ve seen Cincinnati’s topography; where could you even put an airport on the OH side of the river?

Oranges and fennel are a super traditional combination, but... yeah, I’m not sure of the effect of substituting clementines and have no idea why one would bother.

Neither one had any status with the airline. Holding a cobranded credit card is worth the proverbial bucket of warm spit and one checked bag each. They bought upgrades at check-in, probably for about $45 each on a flight of that distance. The flight was then downgauged from a CRJ-900 (12 first-class seats) to a…

McMaster, being on active duty, did not have the option of declining an order from the president and continuing in his previous role, though. He could put in his papers earlier than he meant to, or he could take a big bite of that... um, bullet. Doesn’t really give us any indication of whether he thought he could…

Yeah, um, the far left is exactly as bad as the far right in every meaningful respect.

Hot take: healthcare ISN’T a basic human right, because no rivalrous good or service ever can be.

I will pour one of my complimentary glasses of champagne out for my homies in coach and then sheepishly apologize to the flight attendants.

I’m lower-upper-middle-class, I guess—hardly wealthy—but biz/first travel is pretty much what I have in lieu of a mortgage, car, or kids. Would not trade. I can’t go back, man. I just... can’t.

Where stand those of us never got laid in high school and judged the whole affair to be a no-contest?

Well, one can know them by their fruits. The Abrahamic religions, viewed uncharitably, include ritual cannibalism, speaking gibberish, arbitrary dietary restrictions, polygamy, and full-body depilation among their practices.

Scientology is super extremely not for me, but a quip (I forget whose) comes to mind on the difference between whackadoodle cults and mainstream religions: “In a cult, there’s one guy at the top who knows it’s all bullshit. In a religion, that guy is dead.”

Agreed. No free passes for raping someone who turned out to be exceptionally well-adjusted despite it all. That’s dumb luck, not special merit on Polanski’s part.

Kissinger’s reputation is based on the fact that a) he’s really smart and b) was very effective at getting what he wanted, which is the primary metric of diplomatic talent. The problem was that as a strategist (and a human being), “what Kissinger wants” and “what’s good for the U.S. and humanity” were frequently,…

The person asking the questions does not get to hold the baby, alas. Unless the baby can fit through a bank-window slot, in which case there would be other questions.

Well the airlines are pretty up front about you needing to enter your name exactly as it appears on your ID. You can get away with a middle initial instead of a full middle name, but that’s the limit of the fudge factor. TSA is dumb and bureaucratic in a lot of cases, but they do run your info through namecheck…

Having been a terrorist (like, say, an IRA member) can actually be gotten around if you’re up front about it. Lying about having been a terrorist on a visa application makes you ineligible twice over. So yes, people actually do truthfully mark that box yes and do sometimes end up getting visas (after a VERY thorough…

It cost the baby’s family $160 (plus the ESTA fee of $14) and the U.S. taxpayer nothing. Consular affairs are entirely fee-funded (visas, passports, notarials, etc.). And the visa officer no doubt had a chuckle.

Bannon is evil, yes, but he only thinks he’s a genius. He’s thoroughly mediocre in every respect, except for his outstanding suckitude.