On The Border - Of North Korea

There are reports that China is massing troops on the North Korean border. The current explanation is plausible:

As concern mounts that North Korea will use a national commemoration on Saturday to conduct its sixth nuclear test, claims the Chinese army has amassed 150,000 troops including medical teams on the border with North Korea have been repeated on the front page of China's state-owned Global Times newspaper.

...

The People's Liberation Army has recently expressed concern that northern Chinese towns were at risk of nuclear pollution from North Korea's tests, and said that contamination would not be tolerated.

"Not tolerated"? Kind of an aggressive tone which is then dialed back:

China's nuclear envoy Wu Dawei met with his South Korean counterpart Kim Hong-kyun in Seoul to discuss the North Korean crisis.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported the two sides had agreed that if North Korea conducts another nuclear test or missile launch, China and South Korea will carry out any future United Nations Security Council resolutions that are passed.

Well, fine - the troops are there for emergency decontamination and the Chinese response will be to work more closely with the UN. 

But in my fantasy, the US fires a few cruise missiles at North Korea and China responds by sending in its troops to defend its ally from imperialist aggression. And while they are there, they depose Kim Jong Un and replace him with a saner and more pliable heir to the throne, to wit, the son of the recently murdered half-brother of Kim Jong Un.

Obviously this is a long-shot. As best I recall the Chinese military has not demonstrated a particular flair for moving troops quickly - they are hostile but not especially agile or mobile, unless times have changed. On the other hand, in a year of surprises why not one more?

ERRATA: OK, the Chinese army looked good in 1950. But against North Vietnam in 1979, not so much. Business Insider summarizes a Congressional Research Service report from 2016:

China's ground forces

While China commands the largest ground force in the world, it is plagued by mobility problems.

China lacks sufficient transport helicopters, and still largely relies on trains for transportation across the mainland.

The ground forces mainly exist to deter and manage conflicts with China's borders, and their goal is to increase mechanization by 2020.

 The Weekly Standard covered the NoKo version of Game of Thrones.

Comments

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

The Kims are not insane. Their moves are shrewd, rational and calculated.
They are evil.

[David, Infamous Deplorable]

Last page:

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2017/04/on-the-border-of-north-korea/comments/page/99/#comments

(I think)

David

[bunky]

United: "We'll drag you there"

[Golem for a Term]

Heh..
http://shareblue.com/breaking-panicked-white-house-forbids-reporting-on-russia-briefing/

[David, Infamous Deplorable]

Some more slogans for United:

"If we can't beat our competitors, we'll beat our customers."

"Our in-flight service beats anyone else's."

"United is now offering a new, low-cost class for consumers. Along with first-class and business class, we are introducing 'Fight Club.' "

David

[Golem fo]

Perfectly legal to drag a paying customer to make way for dead heads. All airlines assholes. It's been legislated.

[Golem fo]

Perfectly legal to drag a paying customer to make way for dead heads. All airlines assholes. It's been legislated.

[Golem fo]

Perfectly legal to drag a paying customer to make way for dead heads. All airlines assholes. It's been legislated.

[RattlerGator]

Everybody else @ UAL needs to get off my lawn.

Posted by: Captain Hate | April 11, 2017 at 10:50 AM

Yeah, it wouldn't do for me to have that job. I would have beaten that guys ass, too, so I'm also very sympathetic to the security folks.

In his employed capacity, the lead security guy was given a job to do and properly accepted the order. At that point in my universe, you're either going to get up and remove yourself from the plane right now or I'm going to physically remove you by whatever means is required. But you are going to be removed. Take your pick, end of story.

[Clarice Feldman]

Why do you suppose the Korean fatso had his stepbrother killed in Malaysia--he's afraid the Chinese plan to depose him I think,

[Golem fo]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/10/donald-trumps-action-syria-proves-not-league-putin-says-son/

Heh. He takes announcing military action in advance another level.

He does pros for his peccer launches.

[Golem fo]

Promos for the Trump pekker launch

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Spicer press briefing at 1:30.

[James D.]

Here's an email on my neighborhood listserv about excessively high water bills:

My house had a $1,300 water bill last year (which is $1,000 more than usual), despite there being no evidence of an additional 50,000 gallons of water that we allegedly used.

With there being no way to actually prove happened, I felt pretty impotent in my dealings with the county to get it resolved. We qualified for a one-time "leak adjustment" where they relieve 50% of the overage (not the total bill) if you can show you had a repair done to fix the source of the leak. We had a miscellaneous fix done on a toilet that may have slightly contributed to the overage, but could not explain the magnitude of additional water used.

Anyway, I'm still suspicious of the county...

Of course, this person is not suspicious enough of the county to stop voting for the prog bureaucrats who are actually causing the problem and higher costs in the first place (not to mention the problems and exponentially increasing costs to obtain simple construction permits that OL has detailed).

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

James D.,

I wouldn't be surprised if that overcharge went into a fund for vacations.

Probably no chance anyone will audit the water people either, to see if, oh, maybe each year they charge a random 25% of customers higher $$ figuring about 1/2 of them will just pay without complaining.

[JimNorCal]

Heh.
But actually, he's got a point....

"Even if the #SyriaStrikes start WWIII, the whole planet gets nuked and we all die, that's still much better than if Hillary would have won.
Mark Dice (@MarkDice) April 7, 2017"

[Golem fo]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-election-hacking-russia-spain-arrest-authorities-pyotr-levashov-barcelona-a7676251.html

Hang together or hang separately.

[James D.]

I'm also very sympathetic to the security folks.

I'm not. I have no sympathy for anyone on the United side of this thing.

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of bad things that happen at airports:

The Most Trusted Name In News

I can't figure out how I can possibly have less respect for CNN as a news organization. It's like I've reached some sort of Kelvin scale absolute zero point at which it is simply not possible to get any lower.

For the past 18 months, CNN's main objective has been to destroy Donald Trump. I realized this back in September when I went to CNN's main page, which I rarely do, and saw 6 features about Trump or his candidacy, and every one of them was negative, and highly critical. Every. Single. One. That's when I knew that there was something weird going on.

And really, once you understand this, their news coverage makes sense. "Trump's presidency must die" is the CNN party line. And it's so blatant I have trouble believing that the CNN bigwigs don't have a daily staff meeting where they consciously work out the details for maximizing their anti-Trump message. Did not one of their own employees, in the heat of the recent election season, actually claim that Trump was so awful that the abandonment of any and all journalistic standards was justified to in order to destroy him?

This seems to be CNN's new modus operandi. So their anchors and newsreaders say negative and critical things about him whenever they can.

--As do their in-house political pundits.

--And their guest political commentators.

--And whoever else they give airtime to.

Whenever some random guest is on, the CNN interviewer will try to get him to say critical and negative things about Trump.

"I think Trump is a bad president. Do you think Trump is a bad president? Here's a video clip that shows what a bad president he is."

And they expect the guest to say, "Yes, I think Trump is a bad president".

"Oh good, we're all agreed, then, that Trump is a bad president."

That's how CNN infobabe Brooke Baldwin thought it was supposed to work. Her guest was a Syrian victim of a 2013 gas attack. Plus, she had a video of Hillary teed up and ready to go to emphasize the anti-Trump talking point. So what could possibly go wrong?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Charles V Payne‏Verified account @cvpayne

The stock might bounce back or then again it might not but right now @united company has lost $830,000,000 in value #united

----------------------------------

One of Payne's replies points out that a charter for the crew to St. Louis would have cost a whole lot less, and thinks it is a sign of a dysfunctional and poorly-run company.

Given OL's comments, I think that's a pretty fair assessment.

[sbw]

CH quoting AoS w/out link, probably on purpose.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

The video I saw of Brooke Baldwin yesterday was pretty funny. By the end of the segment, she looked like she had eaten the sourest pickle in the world.

[Another Bob]

James D., there's no meter involved?

[narciso]

Levachov who may or may not be severa, Russian for North, is the spam king shirley.

[Goebbels would be proud]

What ideology, these Millennials?

Probably no formula except Libertarian. How do they like him?

http://reason.com/blog/2017/02/17/trumps-anti-libertarian-ethno-nationalis

[Captain Hate]

sbw,

AoS links don't post here for whatever strange Typhus characteristic. They used to but then it changed.

[Dave (in MA)]

I just tried posting the AoS link, did it come through?

[James D.]

AB, I have no idea. I'm not a homeowner. I was just marveling at my neighbors who continually vote for more bureaucracy with more power and less accountability, and then act surprised when they inevitably get screwed by it.

[Another Bob]

CNN said they'd declared war on Trump because of Trump picking on them during the campaign.

They're following through with their promise, and discrediting themselves in the bargain.

Trump wins again.

[lurkersusie]

Calling out Chuckie

This morning Neil Gorsuch became the 113th Justice of the Supreme Court, vindicating the decision of conservatives to vote for Donald Trump in 2016. This may signal the end of the Republican NeverTrump movement, which in its heyday attracted the support of literally dozens of think-tank scholars and columnists in a broad coalition that stretched from Washington, D.C. to as far away as Manhattan. Speaking of Manhattan, Trump’s Gorsuch triumph is also bound to inspire a new movement, this time within the Democratic Party. Expect more internal dissent as party members review the historic political blunder committed by New York’s Charles Schumer, current Senate Minority Leader and a man previously viewed as perhaps the shrewdest and most effective legislator in Washington.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/gorsuch-and-more-such-1491848942?mod=djemBestOfTheWeb

[Captain Hate]

Politico: The Stupid Cousin Scratching His Crotch in the Family Christmas Photo
Posted by: Circa (Insert Year Here) at April 11, 2017 12:30 PM (B+qrE)

[Captain Hate]

I don't know what idiot ever thought of Schoooomer as being some sort of genius, unless being drawn to television cameras makes him the world's smartest moth.

[Dave (in MA)]

I wonder if it's the p h p in the link? You can't even LUN the damn thing.

[henry]

He's smarter than the other idiot on camera with him. (Yes, Twit of the Year matchbook size hurdle there).

[Account Deleted]

Gold spikes $18. ;) UNTIED Airlines is down 2.5%.

The old "hold me and short me" strategy.

Lod I lub this country.

Line of the day so far CH's "whining vag." Kudos and air claps.

The deplaned ;) passenger is going to fly for free the rest of his natural life with UAL vouchers on other airlines beside the pile of Weimar money he is gonna get via his ambulance chasing sharks.

New UAL mottos:

"Too big to give a shit about you and your little dog."

"Resistance is FEW-TILE."

The new flight attendant uniform includes jodphurs and knee high leathers.

Free monocles for the kiddies.

The Mile High Club is now "The Mile High Clubbing" so be nice.

Curious about the alcohol consumption rate after the incident figuring for the "dead heading" sots who were on the manifest.

[Clarice Feldman]

To be fair, chuckie probably thought he'd be able to hoddwink the likes of McCain and Collins again.

[Account Deleted]

"CNN said they'd declared war on Trump because of Trump picking on them caught them picking their noses during the campaign."

FIFY

[Captain Hate]

Your (nearly) daily Children of the Cornhole:

Trump Would Fail Even Worse With Kushner’s Centrism
Steve Bannon is right about one thing: Trump's son-in-law is incompatible with the president's ethnonationalist base.

By Brian Beutler

Don’t Believe the Hype About Jon Ossoff
The Democrat might steal a Republican congressional seat in Georgia. Or not. Either way, the election won't reveal much about the Trump resistance.

By Graham Vyse

The Comedic Genius of Netflix’s Chewing Gum
The second season of this brilliant British comedy presents a refreshing interrogation of normality.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Why it Matters That the United Dragging Victim Is Asian
The outrage over the incident has largely left out discussion of the man's race. And that's a problem.

By Clio Chang

Will the Voice of America Become the Voice of Trump?
The president is poised to turn a government broadcaster into his personal megaphone.

By Chris Iovenko

[Account Deleted]

Is Shoomz using more product on his hair these days. The glare from the camera off his noggin made me grab my sunglasses.

He always has that Eddie Haskel sneer in his eyes too. Howzabout a fam trip to Mosul, Mr. Leader of the Resistance in the Absence of The Rat?

[Dave (in MA)]

I think it was Janet on FB who pointed out that if it was PP instead of UAL, the people with the phones would be in trouble.

And the guy would have had his skull opened and his brains removed before he was dragged out, I might add.

[Captain Hate]

Dave, I'm sure it has something to do with Pixi's weird software.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Errrrr Pixy's

[Account Deleted]

"Why it Matters That the United Dragging Victim Is Asian"

Why it matters that PC bag holders can't resist turning people with lineage from Asia into a "voting bloc"--- just because their eyes are "funny."

I'm sure the UAL beat down was a message to the ChiComs that they better take out the Asian government in PyongoBongoYoYoKoKoKokomokoGood.

[henry]

ZH, so grain of salt, but China threatens to bomb NK nuke shelters. Xi with the red line. I'm impressed if true.

[Another Bob]

The problem is UAL didn't sort out the deadhead situation before boarding. Pulling a well-behaved paying passenger out is a bad look, made far worse when they have security do it physically. And the CEO dug the hole deeper trying to defend his employees (and avoid friction with their union(s)).

Payne may be right that a charter for the deadheading crew would have cost less than the stock hit, but it would have turned this flight into a sure moneyloser.

If I read 2015 round numbers (which popped at random from a search) correctly, UAL had operating income of $5B, having carried about 140M passengers. Works out to $35/passenger/flight profit. Again, very round number that doesn't account for differences between long- and short-haul, revenue from cargo also being carried, etc.

I understand why UAL did what they did, they just did it in the worst way imaginable. And I suspect their policy will change to something like once the passenger is on the airplane, they can't be taken off except for behavior or mechanical reasons, and they'll eat the cost of that decision.

[daddy]

Re gibbon and his aversion to Christianity, how does he explain how the eastern empire lasted another thousand years

Completely missed the Gibbon discussion, but years back I read parts of a paperback copy of his unpublished Memoirs, and I came upon it in my stack recently and if anyone has read it lately please advise if it's a good read.

This short article on Gibbon's Life show he had a bit of a broken childhood, without formal education other than his enormous personal reading, then entering Oxford which he apparently despised, followed by converting to Catholicism and fleeing to the Continent as somewhat of a protest towards his Father. After essentially becoming a French thinking Euro-phile, he returns to England and some form of Protestantism, followed by hanging out with many entertaining eggheads at Samuel Johnson's Literary Club in the 1770's.

The article includes some passages on why he was not a fan of Christianity in the Western Roman Empire, and from the blurbs on the East it appears he thinks Byzantium hung together largely because of insufficient organization among it's enemies to overthrow it during it's teetering 1000 year downhill slog after the fall of the Western Empire.
Can't vouch for the article but thought it interesting.

Good Morning!

[Porchlight]

I don't care about what happened to the guy on the plane.

I do hope UT Arlington gets sued into oblivion per the story Iggy posted on the previous thread.

[lurkersusie]

Ha ha

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Just Stepped Up To The Mic And Called Lindsey Graham One Of 'The Women Of The Senate' [VIDEO]

https://t.co/VEHysxs1O1?amp=1

[Old Lurker]

A-Bob " but it would have turned this flight into a sure moneyloser."

...whereas losing a few hundred million of shareholder's value is no problem since that does not come out of the company bank accounts?

Having the CEO double down, claiming that the passenger was belligerent after they screwed him, then trashing the victim's reputation for his past bad acts...yes, that is the sort of good governance we all hope for from our companies.

All they had to do was 1) sort it out before they boarded the flight, and 2) pay the amount it would take to induce four passengers to sell their seats back. Golly. THAT might have taken five minutes and cost more than $5 but less than $10,000.

Without questioning their legal right to do whatever they want to the sheep who buy their services, this is ALL on UAL.

[Captain Hate]

without formal education other than his enormous personal reading

A lot of his errors illustrate imo the perils of the autodidact..

[daddy]

She (Laura Ingraham) will never realize that this personality trait of hers, petty and backstabbing, is exactly why she didn't get the press secretary position.

Agree completely, Miss M. Trump was smart not to pick her. If we think there are reports of infighting in Trump's inner circle at the moment, imagine how magnified they'd be if she was in that inner circle self-promoting her disagreement and disdain to her buddies in the Media.

[daddy]

Ginsburg: “Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. John McCain” and the “women of the Senate, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Lindsey Graham.”

[Captain Hate]

Tammy with a preview of her weekly column:

http://tammybruce.com/2017/04/video-tammy-responds-hillary-says-misogyny-played-a-role-in-her-election-defeat.html

[jimmyk]

"I understand why UAL did what they did"

I don't. Over the weekend Delta was paying up to something like $1700 for volunteers to be bumped. That's costly, but not nearly as costly as this. Maybe they've been doing this and no one's ever put up a fuss, but I doubt it. I know I would, especially if I needed to be somewhere by a certain time. It's insane not to find volunteers with more flexible schedules.

All this aside, I thought there was a rule that prohibited airlines from involuntarily bumping people. Was that eliminated at some point?

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Well, Justice Ginsberg unwittingly spoke the truth, plus it seems to me with a statement like that and a couple of other things she has said, maybe people could appeal her rulings based on incompetence due to dementia.

[daddy]

Hate the double bind of having to slow down to keep from having the wings ripped off while that causes you to spend more time in the gauntlet. Managed the timing so the first fuel stop is above freezing and no longer gusting to 35 kts. Then the second stop leaves me with a tire just holding the rim a half inch off the runway.

Holy moly, Man Tran! Yikes. I apologize for any of my bellyaching about Sim nonsense.

[Buckeye]

One thing the UAL fiasco clearly demonstrates, there is no shortage of assholes, even if we disagree who they are:)

[Porchlight]

Tin foil hat theory: Buzzy desperately wants to retire, but knows the left would never, ever forgive her, and her legacy would be forever tarnished.

So she mounts a very carefully timed set of "episodes" that make it clear "she can no longer in good conscience continue on the Court."

[boatbuilder]

It was very highly focused misogyny, Captain.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Porchlight,

Works for me.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ToI65P9qL4

Jeff Sessions speaks in Arizona. This speech got great reviews but I haven't watched it yet. It seems that he announces the Smackdown.

[Porchlight]

Buzzy was quite beautiful once upon a time:

[daddy]

NPR is hopeful of Repub trouble in KS "This is a heavily Republican district that includes Wichita. It's one that Trump won by 27 points in 2016. But in a low turnout election, almost anything can happen."

Should we be worried? Just a guess, but I'm thinking "no"

Jim,

We just had a local Municipal Election in Anchorage. The Libs clobbered us---(ie: Voting for a handful of Voter Propositions that will absolutely raise Taxes on property owners, and Liberals elected to our money spending City Assembly and to our insane School Board seats)

Very frustrating and only 22% of the voting population voted.

I hang about 95% of it on the State Repubs doing such a lousy job at explaining who to vote for and the issues. There was nothing I could find in print or on-line that was easy and accessible, or simple in terms of explaining who to vote for and why. The Dem's had that in their face every single day for months on the front page of the Local Paper and in the evening News Shows. They all had direction about who to go in and pull the Lever for. They couldn't have got it wrong if they tried.

We on the other hand were totally disorganized and uninformed. If I was lucky enough to be home to hear one of the candidates interviewed on Talk Radio it was pretty much all the input I got. We completely sat on our butts and did nothing to inform the Electorate. All that said, I sure hope Kansas in this interim election is much less complacent and lazy than we were.

[Threadkiller]

I'm going to physically remove you by whatever means is required. But you are going to be removed

No need to offer compensation then. Just drag any old poor fucker off the plane.

[Old Lurker]

Porch, those pictures are exactly why Dads always warn their sons to look for pictures of the mother and grandmother before popping the question.

:-)

[Clarice Feldman]

Porch, I knew a couple of guys in her law school class and they said she was gorgeous.

[lyle]

Please swallow anything liquid or solid before reading this headline:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-discuss-restoring-filibuster_us_58ebdfa3e4b0ca64d91848e4

“When the Democrats return to the majority and capture the presidency ― which we will, that day is going to arrive ― we will restore the 60-vote margin,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) told MSNBC on Monday. “We will ensure that for the Supreme Court, there is that special margin that any candidate has to reach, because that is essential to ensuring that our country has a confidence in people who are nominated, rather than just someone who passes a litmus test.”

Markey thinks we're stupid. Or his base is.

[henry]

He knows the latter is true.

[Tom R]

SIAP

Here is an epic essay from Sundance that has a detailed timeline of Obama's foreign policy mistakes in Libya and Syria over the course of his presidency. It's a long read but has a lot of connecting the dots and worth the time.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/04/10/a-warning-against-the-no-fly-zone-approach-in-syria-its-bait/

[Stephanie despicable me]

Actually Delta paid one family of three $11K over the last week horrors.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2017/04/09/why-delta-air-lines-paid-me-11000-not-to-fly-to-florida-this-weekend/#272cd03d4de1

[daddy]

Ginger:

Mary Anne:

Aunt Bea:

or Ruth Badr Ginsburg?

[lyle]

Speaking of stupid, anyone who owns UAL stock even before this latest PR CF falls under that description. Or stock of any passenger airline.

[Old Lurker]

This is why MM pays no attention to The Hill.

Rush was just reporting, while warning that it is The Hill and therefore might well be fake news, that R's are telling The Hill:

Congress has no chance of passing a real budget for the short year ending at the end of April. So Dems demand a clean CR at baseline spending levels and no money for a wall, or else they will shut the government down and blame it on Rs.

Further, any budget proposed for FY2018 will have to have zero money for Trump's wall or no deal.

There are enough Rs in agreement with the Ds that the Hill says you can count on this.

I'm just reporting what he said...

[Porchlight]

She was great looking in middle age, too, Clarice.

Ah well. There comes a time for all of us to retire and rest.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

That speech I linked up above by Jeff Sessions is great!

"We're going to take your drugs when you try to enter the country, and we're going to take your money when you leave."

No more catch & release. All detainees will be held. Flooding the zone with judges to catch up on the backlog. Felony for second illegal entry. Felony for assaulting border patrol. Lots more.

[Porchlight]

1, 2
Sessions coming for you

[lyle]

Of course the stupid UAL CF can't pass without some D congressschmuck demanding a hearing over it.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/2017/04/10/transportation-committee-dem-wants-hearing-on-united-airlines-incident/

[Another Bob]

OL, and jimmyk, I did say they did it in the worst way possible. ;)

[jimmyk]

This WSJ piece explains bumping rules. Probably behind the paywall. Normally you are entitled to compensation.

What to Do When You’re on an Overbooked Flight

https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-to-do-when-youre-on-an-overbooked-flight-1491930615

And Porch, I agree it's an overhyped story. Guess I'm somewhat sensitive as I've been living out of a suitcase the last couple of weeks, including 3 round trip flights, without a large margin of error.

[Dave (in MA)]

Daddy, everybody in Mayberry would be astounded by that Aunt Bea pic. Well, maybe not Gomer.

[Another Bob]

I'm going to suggest that anyone critiquing RBG on the basis of then and now appearance get out their high-school yearbooks and have a close look.

[Porchlight]

I hope no one thinks I was critiquing her on those grounds, AB. We all age and wither. I just wanted to share some pretty photos of her younger years.

[Another Bob]

Pointing no fingers Porchlight.

[Another Bob]

But "women of the Senate" including Lindsay Graham?

Has he started using a different bathroom or something?

[Dave (in MA)]

lyle | April 11, 2017 at 02:30 PM, I'm surprised it wasn't Anti-Biz Markey. He likes to crawl out of his hole every once in a while and try to link himself to issues that have been in the headlines.

[Dave (in MA)]

Was the women of the Senate remark out of senility, or was she taking a shot at Miss Lindsey?

[jimmyk]

AB, what people make fun of in RBG is her apparent willful adoption of the Ruth Buzzi schoolmarm look. Not so much the fact that she's not as attractive at 84 as at 28.

Similarly for Hillary. In her case it's partly weight gain, but more the horrid Maoist outfits.

[James D.]

The thing about the United situation is that it's not merely a private business. They were able to do what they did because of federal regulations that allowed it.

Yes, the fine print on your ticket says all kinds of things about what they can do, and how you have no actual rights, etc. They can order you off the plane for any reason.

But they can only do it because the government allows them to do it, and doesn't call it fraud.

In any other business, there'd be no question about who was wrong, and no criticism of the customer:

Say you order some unique and time-sensitive item from a craftsman. You pay in advance, and your agreement stipulates delivery on such-and-such day at so-and-so location.

You show up on the appointed day, the craftsman produces the item, looks it over with you and then helps you load it into your car.

But then, before you can drive away, the craftsman comes back out and tells you that you can't keep the item because it turns out his brother-in-law really needs it instead. And then he opens up your car door and takes the item back.

When you follow him back into the store, the craftsman tells you to get out, and then calls the cops, who beat the crap out of you and drag you away.

[daddy]

This United Airlines passenger fiasco is reason number 1 why I thank the Airline Gods for letting me be being in Cargo.

And like much of America I was furious with the belligerent Chinese/Vietnamese/American Doctor going banana's, until I realized he knew he'd have to go back inside the Terminal and be bombarded for hours and hours from non-stop Airport CNN.

Poor bastard:(

[Dave (in MA)]

.

[henry]

Dave... no.

[Pagar, a bacon, Ham and pork chop supporter]

Has anyone noticed most major sports events start on time?

http://www.weaselzippers.us/333568-clemson-university-employee-training-asking-people-to-show-up-on-time-is-not-inclusive/

[Buckeye]

RBG may have been a hottie back in the day.

I actually had a few women chasing me when I was 20 something, but learned the painful lesson that good looks are fleeting, kinda like springtime snow:)

I will know the diet anonamom and KK conned me into is working when Mrs. Buckeye has reason to give other women the evil eye.

We can dream can't we?

[Account Deleted]

Not a fan of Buzzy's posed pics.

The most recent pic from daddy reminds me of all the yeastheads walking around here in Berkeley with their "oh the wonder of my diva-ness-can't-you-just-feel-it" look on their faces.

Lod I cynical.

[Account Deleted]

"Has anyone noticed most major sports events start on time?"

Don't the EmoTards realize that once the trains stop running on time and inflation has bankers howling at the moon that the next Il Duce is waitin for em just around the bend?

Snowflakes love to fractalize everything and then say there is "no unity" (code for 'be like me' as they rail against conformity).

A flippin mental disorder.

[Buckeye]

Guys like ManTran don't worry about how the airlines treat their passengers, and like Mrs. MT says, you never worry about lost luggage.

However, after the description of his flight home yesterday, you might correctly conclude he packs plenty of spare BVDs.

Like they say, flying is hours of pure boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror:)

[Captain Hate]

Similarly for Hillary. In her case it's partly weight gain, but more the horrid Maoist outfits.

For all the jack she and the rest of her grifter family have skimmed off of productive people, she could very well afford to look much better than she does given that she chooses to be in the public eye. There's something going on in her noggin that the pink pussy hats prefer to pretend doesn't exist.

[James D.]

From Pagar's link @ 2:53

There is much more revealed in the training, created by compliance training provider Workplace Answers, which cost Clemson nearly $27,000. The invoice went to the department led by Chief Diversity Officer Lee Gill, who earns $185,850 per year.

That's a total of $212,850 (actually much higher due to the benefits that are also part of Chief Diversity Officer Lee Gill's compensation package).

Where does that money come from? Tuition and fees.

Where does the tuition and fees come from? In large part, federally guaranteed student loans.

Who pays when the student loans default or are forgiven? We do!

I'm really thrilled to be paying a share of Chief Diversity Officer Lee Gill's salary, aren't you?

[daddy]

Don't know this particular United situation but I can add this. A senior Captain I know very well, now retired, lives in LA. Captain Tom always bragged about how he always got free transport by United to his Condo in Honolulu, by booking seating for his family of 5 or 6 from LAX, showing up, then immediately pouncing on the inevitable overbooking offer of free tickets in future for any travelers willing to give up their seats. That was Tom's modus operandi. They were always prepared to travel but were always pulling for the overbooked offer to come thru.

[Jim Eagle]

Possible terror bomb explosion in Dortmund, Germany. Dortmund Bourusia soccer team was on a bus going to their Champions league game against Monaco tonight. Game now postponed. Saw the news during the Juventas v. Barcelona match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zenM0Rjc1c