The electronics ban is being progressively lifted for many of the airlines though, as their hub airports are now meeting the U.S.-imposed security rules about screening large electronics (such as making them go through X-rays outside of bags, being swabbed for explosive residue, and being turned on to confirm they…

I don’t think it actually says they *were* at the lower altitude. The detail is just included to describe the potential danger of what he was doing - that the door *could* have opened *if* they were at a lower altitude.

Indeed, the one time I flew international business class to Japan, I had port dessert wine. The only time in my life I’ve had the stuff.

There’s a Starbucks around the corner from my office, which I rarely go to unless someone has given me a gift card. Maybe 2 or 3 times a year. There’s a barista there, an older guy, who *remembers everyone’s name*. And I don’t mean just regulars... he has remembered my name after 2+ years of never seeing me... and he…

There’s a good argument to be made that we should phase out $100 bills anyway. The VAST majority of the $100s in circulation are used for criminal activities, mostly outside the United States. Average people have very little use for $100 bills.

If you, as a man, walked into the House of Representatives wearing a nice sleeveless dress, I’d defend your right to do so as well, and tell Speaker Ryan to shut the hell up about it.

And even if your thought is “think of my family!” - stop and consider: how often do you ever actually stumble across photos of medical cadavers? Or run into them in person? Almost never! Even if you donated your body to a medical school in the same city where you live, it is highly unlikely you or anybody you know…

Cops are trained to shoot center mass and the fact is in a dangerous situation, a cop is more likely to miss their shot if they aim for limbs. It’s a much smaller target and stress from the situation is going to disrupt their aiming ability.

Or put it this way:

I’ve been on the SF Muni bus many times - I dated a guy in San Francisco for a while, and that’s how we got around the city. They were far more pleasant than the LA bus system was/is (at the time, that’s where I lived). Part of that obviously has to do with the compact nature of San Francisco proper - the buses don’t…

Where the fuck did I say I wanted to abandon public transit systems? You’re putting words into my mouth and making ridiculous and false assumptions about me. For one thing, if Boston / Chicago / Europe is your experience, then good for you. Those are some of the best examples of the few actual, functioning public…

I don’t live in San Francisco and have never been on the system described in the article above, my comment is only directed at the smartasses who keep lecturing the rest of us about how great they *imagine* public bus transit is, while never setting foot on it themselves.

the “disconnect” is that people like the author can’t imagine themselves using public transportation, basically for class/caste reasons

As somebody who actually takes public transportation (formerly during my entire car-free four years in Los Angeles, now in Phoenix - both cities not at all known for public transit) - I can confirm that it is routinely unpleasant and stressful.

Yes, I’m absolutely sure that they aren’t using X-ray backscatter machines in the United States anymore - they were officially dropped by the TSA in May 2013. And I haven’t seen one since then.

Wait, you can bypass them? Jesus fucking wept. If they work, it is 100% inappropriate for you to “bypass them”. That is completely mad.

And most of the time only metal detectors instead of those fucking backscatter machines.

Some interpretations of Islam hold that dogs are “unclean” animals (cats are far more common as pets in the Muslim world). That said, I know and work with many American Muslim people (although not one myself) and a sizeable number of them have dogs as pets. One of my best friends from high school has had dogs her…

If someone has got a “religious” objection to a dog, I’m sorry, but get over yourself. There are far fewer people offended by dogs than are offended by a groin pat-down.

Before I had pre-check and could bypass them, the millimeter wave scanners seemed to *always* catch stuff I had forgotten in my pockets. They would also catch when the shirt on my back was wet with sweat (from running late to the airport here in Phoenix in 110 degree weather). All political and/or justification…