unicorn

Counter-tenors' vocal ranges are typically in the mezzo-soprano range. They typically play the roles castrati played in 18th-century operas, although the role of Cherubino in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro if often played by a female soprano. It was played by a woman when performed at the Los Angeles Opera last year, for example.

I was at a restaurant the other day, and was most interested in the seafood stew (cioppino). I often get this dish served with the hard tails (exoskeleton) still on the shrimp, so I asked if I could have the dish with the tails removed. As often happens, the waiter said he'd have to ask the kitchen, but it was done. This always makes me wonder: are there people out there who enjoy digging into a soup (or risotto, pasta, jambalaya, etc.) to pick out the shrimp and remove their tails? Or are there those who actually eat the hard tail? What do those of you who enjoy these kinds of mixed seafood dishes prefer? Are there any of you who actually prefer the tails on? If so, why? When we make shrimp with pasta or gnocchi at home, we always buy the shrimp tail off. Why would anyone prefer shrimp with tail on? What am I missing?

Passing nutty laws which criminalize common, normal behavior makes a situation ripe for law enforcement malfeasance.

Life can be especially tough in transphobic and homophobic communities... https://nypost.com/2023/11/04/news/alabama-preacher-kills-himself-after-being-outed-as-transgender-curvy-girl/ "An Alabama preacher and politician killed himself Friday two days after being outed for having a secret life he shared online as a “transgender curvy girl.” F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, who was the mayor of tiny Smiths Station, with a population of just 6,756, as well as the pastor at First Baptist Church in nearby Phenix City, shot himself around 5 p.m. in front of sheriffs who were following him. Copeland was a married father of three. His suicide came after police were asked to do a welfare check and began tailing his car. “He exited the vehicle, produced a handgun, and took his own life,” the sheriff’s office said...". One wonders if the suicide might have been prevented if the police hadn't forced his hand. Maybe sending law enforcement wasn't the best move?

You could learn something from a zombie. 😉

That's the funniest joke I've heard in a while. Russia could barely defend itself when attacked by Turkey, France, or Germany individually. How long do you think it could defend itself against all 3, let alone with the US, Canada, and almost all of Europe alongside? Well, I guess at least Switzerland and Ireland would probably stay neutral.

One can be jailed for carrying electronic cigarettes in Thailand?? Yikes! 😬 I'm firmly anti-smoking, but that seems a little nutty.

What a reprehensible misrepresentation of what I posted. I never said that marching or protesting represented immature behavior. What I said was that taking hammers to an irreplaceable work of art represents immature (and counter-productive) behavior. Making an ass of oneself in the supermarket may result in a child getting his way if he has lousy parents. Making an ass of oneself as an adult will not only not lead to what the adult ass wants, but will often lead to jail time and/or civil penalties. Of course, I doubt these losers have the funds to pay for the damage they caused. However, they should go to jail and be forced to at least empty their bank accounts. If any of your family members were trained in pediatrics or family practice, they would have been educated on the consequences of poor parenting.

Both EK and MC have valid points, although EK exaggerates more than MC does. While the Rafah crossing is an exception to the Israeli strangulation of Palestinian movement, Palestinians are, for all intents and purposes, prisoners in their own land. Few can leave. They would even need a difficult-to-obtain visa to so much as enter Egypt. Palestinians are even severely restricted in their movements WITHIN their territories in the West Bank: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_freedom_of_movement EK does have a point that Hamas leaders steal from their own people, and are, to a very large extent, responsible for the misery of innocent Palestinian civilians (including most of their deaths). It is, indeed, shameful in the way in which Hamas sacrifices its own people in order to promote itself, all the while cynically blaming the Israelis. That being said, the Israeli government has gone out of its way to harass and provoke the Palestinians at every turn, including within West Bank territories which should not be under their jurisdiction. I believe that the US and its allies should have made it clear long ago that receipt of aid would be contingent on fruitful dialog, and, especially, with removal of the unnecessary Israeli encroachments/provocations into Palestinian (former Jordanian) lands.

It would be more accurate to say that the whole world (except the leadership in Belarus) hates Putin. Russian planes are quite limited as to which airspaces they can fly over these days.

I agree that these infantile acts of vandalism hurt, rather than help, the causes they're trying to promote. Had I been a supporter of the organisation involved, I would certainly have withdrawn my support, for example. I can somewhat at least understand Greenpeace, which harasses ships which hunt whales directly. However, neither London's National Gallery nor the artists involved are climate change deniers or promoters, so attacks on them are unwarranted. I suspect that these protesters were spoiled brats as children. In all likelihood, when they acted up as children, their parents gave into their tantrums instead of disciplining them. This probably taught these people behaviors which are ineffective and counter-productive in adulthood. When I was a practicing physician, I'd counsel parents to respond more effectively to misbehavior. If a child starts screaming that he wants candy while at the supermarket, buying the candy will shut him up for now, but will encourage further misbehavior. The appropriate response would be to tell the child that if he does not quiet down immediately, there will be no candy or desert for a week (ramping up the consequences if the misbehavior continues or escalates). Unchecked, these children become juvenile delinquents, and then criminals as adults (as seen here).

Obviously, no one can deny climate change. However, your post seems to imply that the issue is "too complex" to pin this change on human activity. I'm not a climate scientist. That being said, virtually all those who are climate scientists seem fairly convinced that human activity, fossil fuels in particular, are the prime cause of the climate change we're all seeing. Unless you've been educated and trained to study this issue, I feel it's the height of arrogance to claim you know better than the actual scientists in this field, thereby pronouncing the issue as being "too complex" to pin to human activity. I wonder where it is that you could live that you used to, but no longer need to use air conditioning. That being said, your personal experience should not be relevant regarding an issue which has been well-studied by scientists around the globe. https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/10/more-999-studies-agree-humans-caused-climate-change "More than 99.9% of peer-reviewed scientific papers agree that climate change is mainly caused by humans, according to a new survey of 88,125 climate-related studies. The research updates a similar 2013 paper revealing that 97% of studies published between 1991 and 2012 supported the idea that human activities are altering Earth’s climate. The current survey examines the literature published from 2012 to November 2020 to explore whether the consensus has changed. “We are virtually certain that the consensus is well over 99% now and that it’s pretty much case closed for any meaningful public conversation about the reality of human-caused climate change,” said Mark Lynas, a visiting fellow at the Alliance for Science and the paper’s first author. Reviewed Scientific Literature,” which published Oct. 19 in the journal Environmental Research Letters...". https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/17/do-scientists-agree-on-climate-change/#:~:text=Yes%2C the vast majority of,global warming and climate change. "Yes, the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists – 97 percent – agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change. Most of the leading science organizations around the world have issued public statements expressing this, including international and U.S. science academies, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and a whole host of reputable scientific bodies around the world. A list of these organizations is provided here...".

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/07/europe/ukraine-military-chief-assistant-grenade-death-intl/index.html "...Major Gennadiy Chastyakov, who served as the assistant to Valery Zaluzhny, had received a gift box from a colleague for his birthday on Monday that contained several “Western model” grenades, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram. Chastyakov’s 13-year-old son then picked up one of the grenades and started turning the ring, Klymenko wrote. As Chastyakov took the grenade from him, the ring was pulled out and the weapon detonated...".

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/celebrities/24648918/evan-ellingson-dead-child-star-home-san-bernardino/ "Former actor Evan Ellingson has died at 35. The actor, who appeared in numerous television shows and films including 24, CSI: Miami, and My Sister's Keeper, died at his home in San Bernardino, California... Evan's father, Michael, shared with the outlet that his son had been struggling with drugs in the past. The star seemed to be "better of late," but his sudden death is a complete shock to the grieving family. Evan's brother, Austin, also died of a drug overdose in 2008, according to IMDB...". Very sad.

😄

The significant difference between Russia/USSR and every other country on the planet, is that Russia/USSR is the only country that brags about how many of its own citizens it kills versus how successful they are at preventing their own citizens' deaths. Listen to any Russian talk about WW2, for instance, and you will be drowned out by the thumping of his chest at how proud he is of all his country's own deaths. Quite sad, actually. During the battle of Iwo Jima, 3 times fewer US troops died than Japanese, although the Japanese were defending from fortified positions. The fact that your leaders kill their own people is nothing to beam with pride over. Instead of being a source of pride, it's a sad commentary on the Russia psyche.

There's a tautology for you. Obviously, if the movement failed, it didn't result in a country, so it cannot be named. One cannot name the Basque Republic, Tamil Republic, nor the Catalan Republic because those peoples' fights for independence failed. Your question was the equivalent to asking "Name me someone who failed but succeeded." Just silliness, really. Of course, there are quite a few countries which de facto govern themselves, but are not recognized either universally (i.e. Kosovo), or even barely at all (i.e. Transnistria).

Yes, because, as we all know, if Paraguay were to send missiles into civilian areas of Bolivia, Bolivia would just sit there and invite Paraguay to send some more. But Bolivia should know something about starting a conflict without knowing how it would end. The conflict they started with Chile resulted in that country now being land-locked.

Ridiculous. Only a complete fool would believe that a civilian power station has any (much less significant) military relevance. I doubt you're a complete fool, so I don't know why you would post such garbage. It's obvious to just about everyone that bombing these power stations has no function but to hurt civilians. Putin isn't bombing those power stations to give him any military advantage, as you well know.

Sorry, but you're factually wrong (NOT a matter of opinion): https://guide-humanitarian-law.org/content/article/3/military-objectives/ "...The destruction of the object—in whole or in part—capturing it, or neutralizing it must show a specific military advantage. Hence, attacks that will result in solely unspecified or potential advantage are prohibited...". Civilian power stations are NOT legal targets, but rather terroristic ones.

I cannot believe that anyone in this discussion could be so ignorant as to be unaware that Israel is the #1 recipient in US financial largess, and could not have flourished to the extent it has without the US's generosity: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2023-10-10/how-much-aid-does-the-u-s-give-to-israel "...The United States has given Israel more than $260 billion in combined military and economic aid since World War II, plus about $10 billion more in contributions for missile defense systems like the Iron Dome, a U.S. News analysis finds. That’s the most granted to any country throughout that time frame, and around $100 billion more than Egypt, the second-highest recipient historically...". Had the Palestinians received such aid, obviously they would be doing quite well. Also, Israel controls most traffic in and out of Palestine, as well as their power and water. Yes, Palestinians should have recognized Israel by now, and Israel should also long ago have recognized Palestine. For its part, the US should not have allowed this situation to continue indefinitely. The US should have put its foot down and said "Peace in this area is in the US's interest. We will donate generously to both Israel and Palestine, and help the two countries flourish, IF AND ONLY IF each recognizes the other's right to exist." I personally can't see this happening with either Hamas or BN at the helm, and the US should make the voters of Palestine and Israel aware that their votes have consequences.

Well, at least you are informed that your blessed Putin intentionally bombs critical civilian infrastructure, rather than military targets, in violations of international military law. As you therefore know, and everyone else knows, Putin is intentionally targeting and terrorizing civilians, rather than enemy troops.

I do agree in this case, since there was no immediate threat. However, in the case of missile launch sites and munitions storage areas placed under schools and hospitals, that's on Hamas, since potentially many Israeli civilian lives are at stake. I would think, however, that taking out dozens of civilians to kill one military leader probably does represent a war crime. If it doesn't, it should. That goes beyond decency. Just because Hamas behaves like animals shouldn't given the IDF the green light to do whatever they feel like with no accountability.