Well... up until now, airplanes have been reasonably peaceful and quiet. It's been that way for so long that I think it is reasonable to expect it.

As for earplugs... they're not really all that effective. They're good for dampening certain kinds of noise, but it's far from silent. Even with earplugs in you're going to have no trouble making out the conversation of the person next to you, and that's going to remain distracting.

I really don't believe that legislation is the answer here. I think there are a lot of alternatives to try first. But this is going to make some people happy at the expense of making a lot of other people very unhappy, and in considering where we go from here I'd ask the people in the former category to not put all of the burden on the latter.

Is that because AdS corresponds to a negative cosmological constant, and as far as we can tell the cosmological constant is positive?

This has always confused me. Why are they working in AdS at all? I figured it was because the math was easier, and they were hoping to reach a point where they understood it well enough to flip around the sign of the constant and get the "real universe" back. Or... maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about, so I apologize if what I just said was gibberish.

Actually, I was given bloodletting for a while as a treatment for a rare blood condition (hemochromatosis). It came in the form of blood donations. Obviously this is completely different from the "bleed them until they faint and figure it's progress because they've stopped screaming" kind of bloodletting, but I found it deeply ironic.

"UK law is clear in that ownership has not transferred to the recipients and that the items should be returned."

Citation?

"but you are required by law to return the product if they request it. "
no, you are not.
from USPS( http://about.usps.com/publications/pub300a/pub300a_tech_021.htm ) bolding done by me:
A company sends you a gift in the mail — a tie, a good luck charm, or a key chain. You didn’t order the gift. What do you do? Many people will feel guilty and pay for the gift. But you don’t have to. What you do with the merchandise is entirely up to you.

If you have not opened the package, mark it “Return to Sender.” The Postal Service will send it back at no charge to you.
If you open the package and don’t like what you find, throw it away.
If you open the package and like what you find, keep it — free. This is a rare instance where “finders, keepers” applies unconditionally.
Whatever you do, don’t pay for it — and don’t get conned if the sender follows up with a phone call or visit. By law, unsolicited merchandise is yours to keep.

" unless (or until) the provider requests that you return it. "
false.

Anything you didn't ask for is unsolicited by definition.
dumb ass.

~~~~~~~~
http://about.usps.com/publications/pub300a/pub300a_tech_021.htm
A company sends you a gift in the mail — a tie, a good luck charm, or a key chain. You didn’t order the gift. What do you do? Many people will feel guilty and pay for the gift. But you don’t have to. What you do with the merchandise is entirely up to you.

If you have not opened the package, mark it “Return to Sender.” The Postal Service will send it back at no charge to you.
If you open the package and don’t like what you find, throw it away.
If you open the package and like what you find, keep it — free. This is a rare instance where “finders, keepers” applies unconditionally.
Whatever you do, don’t pay for it — and don’t get conned if the sender follows up with a phone call or visit. By law, unsolicited merchandise is yours to keep.
~~~~~~~~~
Gift - something bestowed or acquired without being sought or earned by the receiver.

Gifts don't have to be intentional

no, The would be fighting to get what they ordered. It's the companies responsibility not the consumers.

Yep, I know. I remember when the US post office used to advertise that, with an Eskimo getting a oscillating fan.

And this would count.

"No need to look down to see where the mouse has gotten to on my desk."
was this an actually problem for you? I mean, wow, it might be in a 2 foot square.

"Big fat ball that's always where I expected. Like all the balls in my life."
In your mom?

funny, but I think this might have been funnier

Paradoxes are cute little wiener-doxs!

I don't want to live in world where the end party is responsible for the errors of a company. Assuming the end party didn't intentionally commit fraud.

Otherwise we end up back to a point where companies would just send stuff out and demand payment.

If you can't tell us, why did you reply?

Public air ways is one of the places it does belong.