I'm confused. Anyone know why the IRS would want/need people's airline travel records and payment info?

You're right. Scientists are ill-equipped to figure out that ~400 specific butterflies died out of 200,000 is due to a transmitter and are instead left fabricating a cause. But an Internet anonymous coward is up to the task. Sure.

Did you read what you quoted? Those are the worst customers.

The hotel needs to book X rooms at $Y to break even on a given day. They know their average room-fill rate, and they build their asking price based on that, with the target profit on top, getting $Z. A customer books a room in advance, and agrees to pay $Z.

All is well so far.

Now, as the day approaches, the hotel sees that they are not booking to capacity. So they offer the remaining rooms at below $Z and possibly even below $Y because empty rooms bring zero revenue.

You can view that the long-booked customer is getting a poorer deal than the last-minute booker. Okay. Too bad. You agreed to the terms you agreed to. And you got the guarantee that your room is held, where someone who waits until closer to the date may not get a room. It's completley fair.

The problem comes in when a customer uses a third-party booking company that cancels and rebooks, artificially replacing foundational income that was used to determine when discounts could be issued, replacing a $Z consumer with something less. That act undermines the hotel's profitability and stability.

I don't know why booking anywhere but a hotel is even a thing. Makes no sense to me whatsoever for a third party site to generate a discount. And playing scummy games that erode the predictability necessary to operate something like a hotel or restaurant... also not cool. I don't see how the hotel's actions are in the wrong.

I find it illuminating that your demands are simply the best quality and the lowest price. Easy-peasy, right? You're part of the problem.

I'm sorry but the words "most ambitious infrastructure project in human history " were put together to form that sentence. HUMAN HISTORY. Ever hear about the great pyramids in Egypt?

Installing solar panels, batteries (are they even using them?) and charge controller / inverter for a home is an extremely fundamental thing that most anyone can do given simple instructions. In the US and other developed countries it often isn't done by a homeowner because if they intend to sell power back to the grid it has to be done by a certified installer and signed off on by the power company.

Now maybe if the sentence was "most ambitious infrastructure project in Sub-Saharan Africa" I wouldn't bat an eye, and that sounds like a reasonable statement, but not when it comes to the entirety of the human population over all history.

We now also have the "improved" under new management BLS ... :-)

Over exaggerate much? Installing solar panels to power individual homes doesn't even come close to the "most ambitious infrastructure project in human history". Maybe building a railroad across an entire continent, or building a massive roadway system with thousands of bridges that span mighty rivers and gorges. Perhaps digging canals to connect the planet's oceans, or building power plants and distribution systems to provide power to a billion people...

What is funding this is companies trying to buy carbon credits. I actually tried to read this article but it was so overhyped and the guy was so giddy to blow it out of proportion my eyes almost got stuck in a permanent eye-roll.

I don't think OP was dissing EVs, just noting that they, like other things, also use petroleum product for things other than fuels and some things that use fuels can't be easily replaced with EVs.

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and he got a pardon from the current President. If she doesn't have the political connections, this might cost just her some $$$ -- crypto or cash, they're not picky. /s

Pretty sure we reached that point on November 5, 2024.

So close. More accurately, "Out of sock". :-)

Yes, if. That said, it's entirely possible to do this right. Head office bags the money in front of the driver, who scans a barcode indicating he's agreeing to the amount in the now-sealed bag. Recipient scans the barcode confirming the package is sealed when handed to them. Plus the company only assigns drivers who have established they are capable. It's a stupid service and the company involved is stupid so you're probably right, but it doesn't have to be that way.

And... this would enhance my *browsing* experience how?

In Scotland, it's the Model S Tartan, btw.

(Or it should be anyway. :-) )

Um... Aren't the younger generations more prone to using electronic payments *rather* than cash?

Gen Z and the Future of Payments: Cards, Cash, and the Shift to Digital

2024 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice (article has nice graph of payment types 2016-2023)

Google: younger generations cash vs electronic payment

Well it did top a chart - the Digital Download (IE purchase for $0.99) Chart, with.... 3,000 sales. As Rick says, "So it cost $3,000 to get the #1 spot."