A dispute is one thing. A chargeback another. My understanding is that under Visa/MC rules, a chargeback must be given effect. That comes from testimony given by a Visa security officer in a criminal case. If that is not true, I'd sure like to know.

The Stepan company in New Jersey is the only entity legally allowed to import coca leaves (aside from the DEA, ICE, the FBI and a few others that buy and sell all the time) and extract the illegal methyl benzoyl ecgonine (C17H21NO4) leaving the flavor compounds. Query whether they would sell the de-cocainized product to a soft drink hobbyist. Friends in Colombia report that Sek Cola sold there has the ecgonine ingredient. Not sure how close the recipe replicates the original Atlanta beverage.

Use Perrier glass bottles. They're designed for low-level carbonation and can be resealed.

All gum arabica comes from Sudan. When the US imposed sanctions on Sudan, this product was exempted.

Ha yeah. That whole thing is kind of crazy.

Perrier bottles can be emptied and resealed. I didn't see anything in the article about carbonation.

Speak for yourself. Black text on white paper is unreadable. Too much glare. There is no dark mode for printed books with only a few rare exceptions.

I wonder if wearing brown sunglasses (brightness-reducing contrast-enhancing) would work well for you.

Distillation of spirits is a necessary requirement for life on the Aramco compound in Saudi Arabia. Outside the compound, the locally-distilled "sid" is on offer. Both varieties have been available for a half-century with no reports of poisoning.

>Distillation of spirits is a necessary requirement for life on the Aramco compound in Saudi Arabia.

How so? For medical reasons? For the facilitation of the Saudi Aramco oil production which funds the life and habitation of humans in Dhahran?

I suspect something was lost in translation.

Saudi Arabia is a famously dry country in all meanings of the word, there's not much fun to be had as an expat unless you make your own.

Why do you need to distill your spirits? If you really need alcohol, can't you drink undistilled beverages to have 'fun'?

Why would you drink an undistllled beverage, do you mean alcohol free ?

I remember being in college a lot of Muslim kids coming to our parties drinking alcohol because we didn’t care and asking us not to tell anyone…Sake is wonderful.

> Why would you drink an undistllled beverage, do you mean alcohol free ?

Many people enjoy drinking beer and wine. These are undistilled.

Vodka and whiskey are examples of distilled beverages.

Absolutely not

How does Texas law affect the possibility of distilling in a Saudi compound? What’s the jurisdiction there?

The problem with printed books is issues suffered by the visually impaired. It's not an issue solely with font size; printed books have no dark mode. If you're a digital nomad, weight is an issue as well.

I used to work in that field and procured braille media for visually impaired people. In the US state that I live in, light-weight print-to-order braille books are free for qualified low vision students, especially in an education setting. Unfortunately, in most other states free braille media may not be true. On the bright side, thanks to the power of AI, blindness may be a thing of the past, even for people that have chronic blindness. That would be one area with AI can benefit people if used correctly.

If it helps, the bright white pages yellow with age. It'd be nice if dark mode caught on as an option. https://darkeditionbooks.com/ tries, but it looks like they don't have much more than works in the public domain.

I trust you found a wacky plaintiff personal injury lawyer with little to do who's taking this crusade on a contingency.

> by Linch 1st Apr 2026

Florida allows cameras in the courtroom, as do other, but not all, States. You have no expectation of privacy in a Florida courtroom during a public trial. Trials are supposed to be public. Thanks to Doc Shepherd (Ohio, 1954) cameras are banned in federal courts, but the trials themselves are public. There's nothing stopping you from entering and memorializing a proceeding using a court reporter.