unicorn

Well, travel has simply returned to normal. Unless NBC News is lying, the State Department cut their workforce by half. That's going to hurt. Of course, aren't passport fees supposed to be going to pay for these salaries?

If you're not changing a word of the text (which they did), you're not changing the plot.

So glad you don't feel the need to perpetuate any stereotypes regarding Americans. So do you travel with UK or Irish/EU passport, or both?

On NBC news today, they said the reason is the State Department laid a lot of people off during the pandemic due to low demand. Very forward-thinking.

Wow. What generosity.

You're putting words in my mouth incorrectly. I did know that there would be bizarre casting. And this is one of my favorite musicals, so I did appreciate the performance (at least the music). I didn't know the group was going to change the plot (in fact, in their blurb, they stated the plots and the song were going to be unchanged, only the latter of which was true). So while I appreciated the music, I didn't appreciate the plot changes. The same group will soon be putting on a production of 1776, another of my favorite musicals. In this production, not one of our founding fathers will be played by a white male. It's this group that's trying to make political points, and this time we won't be going.

Then his statement was an irrelevant/non-responsive post. The question is whether or not the two have legally married. I pointed out that marriages are a matter of public record. Marc pointed out that in California (and, as it turns out, only in California) there is such a thing as "confidential marriages," of which I was not aware. Apparently, this quirk in the law, which dates to the 19th century, is unique in California. Since these two live in California, therefore, I was wrong about the marriage being a matter of public record, if it was performed as a confidential marriage. One learns something new every day. California is an exception (if the spouses want to make the effort) to the rule of all marriages being public: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2013/06/19/go-ahead-keep-your-marriage-secret/ideas/connecting-california/ "I’m going to let you in on confidential marriage, an only-in-California concoction that is little known but deeply relevant to today’s debates about marriage. Confidential marriage is in most respects the same as any old legal marriage—solemnized and binding. But confidential marriage licenses, unlike regular marriage licenses, are not part of the public record. And confidential marriage is limited to couples who are already living together...". I've lived just about my entire life in California and never heard about this, nor have I known anyone to get a confidential marriage. That being said, it is out there--presumably for big-name celebrities to keep things secret.

Made in Taiwan, of course:

I don't find the resemblance that striking. Maybe Xi is being a bit paranoid?

I guess you're right. What the F did you mean by "There's no registry of "linked" or common law partners in the USA."?

I will certainly admit that I didn't know California allowed confidential marriages. I'd obviously never heard of this, and if they're granted routinely, then I was wrong about all marriages in California being a matter of public record. Other than that, there's no difficulty in finding the record, nor, according to what you wrote, even any cost involved as long as one doesn't ask for more than 5 records at the same time. There are websites which will apparently do it for a fee. Never tried them, though.

The point is that every county (or parish in Louisiana) has public records of all marriages, which anyone can access if they're interested (obviously also available to news reporters). There is no such thing as common-law marriage in most US states, including California, where Mr. Geffen resides. And the OP wasn't speculating on a possible common law mariage. Since same-sex marriage became legal in California, few people avail themselves of registered domestic partnerships (it has all of the problems of marriage with few of the benefits), but those are a matter of public record as well.

Don't leave home without them: Reducing noise from 60 dB to 28 dB leads to a noise level most can tolerate for sleep:

My sense is that if one could lie flat in Premium Economy, there wouldn't be much of a market for business class seats...

Marriage certificates are a matter of public record in California. If someone's interested in whether this report is accurate or not, finding out the truth's not difficult.

Apparently the censors felt that the Winnie-the-Pooh character resembled Chairman Xi too much for this "cinematic masterpiece" to be seen in China! 😂 Cracks me up!

You think that the US didn't acquire most of its territory from Mexico from conquest? When the Mexicans sent 80 troops north of the Rio Grande to support their claim over that area, the US sent troops to attack Mexico all the way to Mexico City then pretty much forced the Mexicans to sign the treaty giving the US most of the territory the US wanted. The victor in wars usually sets the rules. C'est la vie.

Hell, should the Ruskies have to give back St. Petersburg and Murmansk back to the Swedes?

Waah, waah, waah. What a bunch of crybabies. If they're so big on history, maybe they should give all of their territory back to Mongolia. After all, in the past China was part of the Mongol Empire: There are many countries, maybe most, which were bigger at some point. Turks: British: French: And what would Africa look like?

From what you're posting, it sounds as if there was a treaty signed and agreed to by Russia and China. It's fine to remember history, but obviously all countries can't claim to land just because that's the way it was historically. It's clearly impossible for every country to be the size it was at its greatest extent. Greece used to extend all the way to India. The Persians had an empire that extended to Greece. The US once owned the land around the Panama Canal. Hell, Lithuania once extended all the way to the Black Sea. Once both sides agree, for whatever reason, borders need to be respected.

And, of course, the US bankrolled the KGB/FSB czar to lead Russia. Nuttiest stuff I've ever read.

Do you not even read what you write? You called news in the US "propaganda narratives," and use Noam Chomsky to support your narrative. I can't believe he's still alive, in any case. Anyone familiar with Fox News and MSNBC knows that the news in the US present widely diverging opinions--just not so far as holocaust denial, such as promoted by Chomsky. It's preposterous to believe that news in the US is a "government narrative," unlike in Russia (or China), where the press is only allowed to present the leader's views (and live). When was the last time the US government threw a reporter out a multi-story building's window?

Dude. You previously promoted the idea that elections are freer in Russia than they are in the USA, now you're saying the press is freer in Russia? The country in which countless reporters (and others) who have been critical of the government get unceremoniously thrown out of windows, poisoned, and shot? That's not even mentioning what happens to even apolitical gay people. If that's really what you believe, I really don't understand why you don't live there. You can't seem to explain the contradiction between your words and your deeds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11574603/Another-Putin-critic-falls-window-death-Tycoon-plummets-luxury-hotel-India.html "Russia's 'highest-earning elected politician' who had criticized Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has been found dead after a mysterious fall from a hotel in India. Sausage multi-millionaire Pavel Antov, from the main pro-Putin party United Russia, had been on a trip to celebrate his upcoming 66th birthday. A male friend in his party had died 'from a heart attack' on Thursday last week, and the wealthy politician perished two days later...". https://www.npr.org/2018/04/21/604497554/why-do-russian-journalists-keep-falling https://www.newsweek.com/russians-keep-mysteriously-falling-windows-deaths-1738954 https://www.newsweek.com/every-russians-who-fell-death-ukraine-war-started-this-year-2022-pavel-antov-1769951 "Ravil Maganov, who was chairman of Lukoil, Russia's second-largest oil producer and biggest private oil company, was found dead on September 1. According to reports from Russian media outlets, he had fallen from the window of a hospital in Moscow. Russia's Interfax news agency said Maganov "fell from a window at Central Clinical Hospital and died from injuries sustained." But the reports did not explain why Maganov was in the hospital...".

Factually wrong, as I'm fairly sure you know. First of all, the "vote" in the Donbas occurred only after the Russian invasion, with "voters" under the watchful eyes of armed Russian soldiers. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/23/europe/occupied-ukraine-referendum-russia-intl-hnk/index.html Secondly, that agreement was never passed in the first place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agreement_on_settlement_of_political_crisis_in_Ukraine Russian Federation: Refused to sign What Russia did agree to was to respect the 1994 borders in return for Ukraine surrendering their nuclear weapons to Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum#:~:text=The "Budapest Memorandum" is actually,States%2C United Kingdom and Russia. According to the three memoranda,[6] Russia, the US and the UK confirmed their recognition of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine becoming parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and effectively abandoning their nuclear arsenal to Russia, and that they agreed to the following: Respect the signatory's independence and sovereignty in the existing borders.[7] Refrain from the threat or the use of force against the signatory. Refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by the signatory of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind. Seek immediate Security Council action to provide assistance to the signatory if they "should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used". Refrain from the use of nuclear arms against the signatory. Consult with one another if questions arise regarding those commitments