unicorn

You don't understand what seems pretty obvious to most people. Yes, of course the investigation needs to be completed. And, yes, the pilot is entitled to due process before any criminal conviction. However, if the control tower recordings are accurate, this pilot's career is over (at best). I can guarantee that if a surgeon amputates the wrong limb, he will never be allowed to operate again. The error is so egregious that it's career-ending. If the reported communication transcripts are verified as accurate, I'd be astonished if this pilot's error wasn't career-ending as well. And res ipsa loquitor is a recognized legal term, which a judge can inform a jury about when it applies.

Yikes! 😬 I wonder what percentage of their fleet are 737Max's. I'm scheduled for some Alaska Air flights in June. Update. Google's great. "Boeing Max 9 Makes Up 29% of Alaska Air Passenger Fleet...". Double yikes. That's a whopping percentage. I hope our flights don't get cancelled. I don't know how they can find so many planes in such a short amount of time. 😩 The flights are listed as Alaska Airlines 1041 Boeing 737-900 (Winglets) I wonder if those are the 900 Max's.

Well, the analogous situation might be a surgeon who amputates the wrong leg, instead of the one with the cancer. There are hard-and-fast procedures that are standard policy at all hospitals. Before surgery begins, there is a "time-out" in which the surgeon, operating room RN's, and anesthesiologist review and sign off on which side is being operated on, and so on. Failure to follow those protocols is considered a gross violation and will result in those involved being barred from the operating room. While they could fight the charges, most do not, since operating on the wrong body part is pretty much black-and-white evidence of gross negligence. Claiming "I thought I knew," "the other leg looked bad, too," or "the stop lights weren't working" will not cut it. Now there are other cases in which there are more shades of gray. I remember being in a panel judging a surgeon (fairly new to our staff) who'd had two serious surgical complications for a similar procedure. There were no violations of protocol, but other surgeons questioned the adequacy of his surgical skills. He fought the charges, and there were witnesses on both sides due to extenuating circumstances (the cases were difficult), but eventually the surgeon had his privileges revoked. Assuming those transcripts are accurate, this pilot's situation is more akin to the wrong-side surgery than to that of the new surgeon with the complications. Again, assuming those transcripts are accurate, being on an active runway without clearance is simply an inexcusable no-no. In legal jargon, it's called res ipsa loquitor: the act speaks for itself. One "can infer negligence from the very nature of an accident or injury in the absence of direct evidence on how any defendant behaved in the context..." (Wikipedia definition).

I'm not convicting anyone. He's entitled to due process. That being said, this does not seem to be an issue filled with nuance or room for interpretation. Stop lights or not, a pilot should not move his aircraft into a runway unless he's been cleared by the control tower. Period. If the transcripts are accurate, things are looking pretty bad for the CG pilot. The instructions are not "guidelines" subject to the pilot's interpretation. They're hard and fast rules.

No, NOTHING is conclusive. Maybe the CG pilot's self-serving statements are true, and the recordings between the control tower and the pilots were all faked. I guess we'll just have to wait to find out the truth. 😉

Obviously, the pilot is entitled to his day in court, and should not be considered guilty under the law until convicted. However, if the facts are as previously stated (the control tower didn't give clearance for the Coast Guard pilot to be on the runway, but he was there anyway), then I don't see much room for nuance. The conversations were all recorded, so either someone faked the transcript, or that pilot's responsable. The fact that this pilot lied about it afterward only makes matters worse, in my opinion. Again, assuming the transcripts of the communications are accurate, things seem pretty clear-cut. Everything is on tape, so, unlike some criminal or civil trials, this is not a he said/she said situation, with the addition of circumstantial evidence. What was said was recorded.

Sad that, ironically, the pilot was the only one on his plane to survive. Well, hopefully he'll be court-martialed, fired, and thrown in jail for manslaughter/criminally negligent homicide. It could have ended up even worse.

I feel a song coming on.

BN is responsable for this tragedy from start to finish, although Hamas is worse. The US is essentially bankrolling BN's entire operation, and our aid should be contingent on how it's carried out. BN's policies were the catalyst for this mess. Before BN even got elected, Biden should have made an announcement that the amount of US aid to Israel would depend on whom they elected. And now, Biden should make it clear that further US $$ would depend on how the fight was conducted. I remember hearing some Israeli government official saying something along the lines of "We're of course interested in what our friends in the US have to say, but ultimately it's up to us to decide how to conduct this war." I thought, "No, it's our money. If you can't behave in a decent manner, it's up to us to decide whether or not to continue to fund it." The arrogance of BN and his officials simply floors me. The US can and should put its foot down. Certainly, one cannot in any way justify what Hamas did. The response, however, is becoming increasingly over-the-top, as plainly manifested by Israeli soldiers gunning down their own citizens, who were holding white flags. That was standard IDF protocol, not a fluke. Time to put a stop to this. There should be new elections in Israel.

That David Ermold sounds like a piece of work himself: https://apnews.com/domestic-news-domestic-news-general-news-46b00bab86dc4238a4d03a8688a65605 "...Ermold said he has no firsthand knowledge of Caudill, 45, using anti-gay slurs. But he has posted screenshots of others on Facebook making the accusations, calling Caudill a bigot and urging others not to vote for him. At least one person who made those accusations has since retracted them. Caudill showed The Associated Press lengthy private Facebook messages from one man who apologized and said his account had been hacked... This annoyed Ermold, who acknowledged he was “bitter” about losing the primary. He said he didn’t regret posting the messages about Caudill, even if they helped Davis win...". Calling someone a bigot simply based on rumor/innuendo and being bitter about losing a primary represents childish pettiness in the extreme. Fortunately, Caudill was elected and has been gay-supportive, despite Ermold's defamatory statements.

Wow. Maybe some air traffic controller or pilot had too much celebration for New Year's?

Yikes. I'm all for more research, but according to that link (of a lay press article): "In theory, the similarity of the two bacteria suggests that the meningitis B vaccine could offer some protection against gonorrhea... But to date all of the data supporting the use of the vaccine to protect against gonorrhea have been observational, meaning researchers have looked at gonorrhea rates in cohorts of people who received the vaccine for meningitis-control purposes." Observational studies can only suggest areas for further research in the form of randomized clinical trials. They never suggest causation. The observation that those who are vaccinated against MGC have 33% to 42% fewer gonorrhea infections that those who don't only raises the question. It does not provide an answer. One obvious interpretation of the observation is that people who've received the meningococcal vaccine are simply more cautious, and could be doing any number of other helpful behaviors, such as partner selection, condom use, and so forth. Of course, one might argue that vaccination against meningococcus is very unlikely to cause harm, so why not. That's true. However, any help the vaccine may or may not provide is still quite speculative. I would get the vaccine with the idea that it'll protect me against MGC. Even if it were to provide some 38% protection from GC (probably best-case scenario, and theoretical at this point), that's not something to count on.

Well, if you put "perhaps" after a statement, the perhaps can be anything, no matter how outlandishly unlikely. Putting unfounded medical advice out there might lead someone to rely on that information, and get into real trouble. There is no evidence that scrubbing won't be harmful, either. One can imagine that tears in the skin could increase risk. I know of no evidence either way. What a person might find "aesthetically attractive" is entirely besides the point.

Well, those bacteria take hold in the urethra and the rectum (and throat). Where did you get the information that scrubbing those places helps prevent infection? I haven't read that anywhere. If anything, it might be that damaging a mucous membrane could increase the risk of infection. Please read page 1 of the syphilis brochure and page 2 of the gonorrhea brochure. The CDC does not believe washing is helpful. https://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/the-facts/syphilis_bro_508.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/std/gonorrhea/the-facts/gonorrhea_bro_508.pdf "• Washing the genitals, urinating, or douching after sex will not prevent any STD..."

Although there are quite a few people on this board from Thailand, this string was not posted in the Gay Thailand forum. IMHO, it would have been more appropriate to title this string "Thai domestic airfares set to fall.". This board isn't, and shouldn't be serving only the gay Thai community.

Medicare Advantage can help those temporarily out of the country. However, if you live abroad, you'll probably need another policy. They're usually much less expensive in foreign countries than they are in the US.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470439/ "...When patients with gonococcal arthritis are treated with antibiotics, there is usually full recovery without any sequelae...". Kudos to whoever diagnosed you. It's not an easy diagnosis to make, in that one must suspect it (of course, if you already had urinary symptoms, the diagnosis may have been more obvious). Hopefully, you will also be evaluated to see if your immune system is functioning well. Disseminated GC can happen in anyone, but is more common in those with compromised immune systems.

I'm not sure I believe those numbers...

We found the movie a bit slow and in need of editing. The acting was good, though.

Ajar A jarjar

I join your skepticism. Septic means something different, by the way... 😉

I'm not fan of Putin's, for sure, but that statement's hyperbole. Russia has a lot of competition, such as Syria, Somalia, North Korea, Uganda, Yemen, and Venezuela. You won't catch me in any of those places.

There is ZERO evidence at this point that masks provide ANY level of protection against SARS-CoV2. The confidence intervals include both harm and help, so it's possible that masks increase the risk. In fact, one of the meta-analyses showed a relative risk of 1.01. Comparisons with casino gambling do not support your argument. Gambling against the casino with the expectation to come ahead is irrational. Coming out ahead is possible but unlikely. Comparisons with cancer chemotherapy are also irrational. While chemo provides no guarantees, those medications have been been proven to extend life in large studies. The alternative is usually certain death. People frequently take actions just to allay fears without proven benefit. Rhinoceroses may be going extinct because of the myth that their horns, taken in powdered form, may help with erections. This is despite the fact that rhino horns are simply made of keratin, the same material as fingernails or hair. One cannot prove something which isn't true by using irrational "arguments." Facts are discovered through scientific scrutiny, not sophistry. The fact that people can and do at times act irrationally doesn't prove anything.

For a shorter excursion, I would recommend Rhinefalls over Luzern. Luzern deserves a few days, as the main sights are going up and down the mountains around the lake and other cities around Luzern, as well as boat trips on the lake. When you take the train from Zurich to Rheinfalls, you go through a German exclave (Büsingen am Hochrhein), and your phone will say "Welcome to Germany" when you enter the town and then again "Welcome to Switzerland" when you pass the town.