“Speaking clearly” is a fiction; it’s not objective. Personally, I find some American speaking habits and grammar choices to be unclear (and even personally annoying), and I’m a native English speaker. Who is to say that your English is better than my English?

Yeah... it is cultural. “Standard American English” is wholly relative, and doesn’t sound “refined” to even other native English speakers, like Canadians, Britons, or Singaporeans. By our standards you are not using the correct words... can you see how circular this whole thing is?

Is there a social/economic value in…

Where are they even gonna get all the additional foreign-language speaking employees to cover social media? I somehow doubt that DHS has hundreds of surplus Arabic-speakers who aren’t already tasked to something more urgent.

They also JUST elected president Trump and majorities in both houses... Trump’s barely more than 100 days into 4 years. No one is facing “the voters” for 2 years, and then four years. That’s not exactly “you’re on your way out.”

The Democrats seem to be getting over their humble-pie lost-in-the-woods moment really…

Respectfully, I very much disagree. As a foreigner who lived in the U.S., it’s fantastic in major cities/if you’re doing well. Basic things like a lack of healthcare safety net, or the quality of law enforcement, or how protests are handled, or public infrastructure, or how politics function (in regards to money),…

For the Air Force I guess deferrals under this specific circumstance were expected in the past, but the policy has now suddenly changed.

He signed knowing he would be doing service, but expecting that it would be possible to go straight into his athletic career; the Air Force is allowed to change to that rule, but it…

Not really... for them it works out even better, because the person is still committed to service, but they can get them when they’re older and have gained experience or training outside the military. The military could get the athlete back after their career, when they have the benefit of national/international…

Most people Americans surely don’t care, but the American logging industry and dairy industries have welcomed Trump’s support, and it speaks to his rust-belt base. The renegotiation of NAFTA is something Trump announced early and reaffirmed this week; while Canada still expects Mexico to bear the brunt of U.S.…

From Canada’s perspective, Trump plus his unorganized administration (in this week alone) announced his displeasure with the trade relationship, then instituted a tax on lumber, then insiders said he was going to actually file notice to end NAFTA, then walked it back and said they won’t “for now.”

He got two phone…

Totally! I remember thinking “damn, Paul Ryan is probably kicking himself for not running, apparently the whole Republican party is a joke.” Apparently the momentum was real though. :/

I would like to think that the AfD night of long knives will mean those nazis will be less able to organize for the upcoming election... but after 2016 I don’t even know anymore.

Angela Merkel is always the diplomat, because she has to be... the closest I can think of is her speech after Trump’s election, where she basically laid out the principles she believes Germany and the United States share (“democracy, liberty, respect of the law and of human dignity irrespective of background, skin…

The leader of “Alternative for Germany” (essentially the German version of the French FN) is a woman as well, and the extreme Canadian Conservative-Party leadership candidate Kellie Leitch comes to mind.

The major success of extreme-right parties has been to normalize their positions, and appeal to highly-conservative…

Your employer owes the large fee to the U.S. government, not you the applicant. Yeah your employer could screw you in other ways (i.e. skip yearly bonus, just make your salary lower), but they are the ones being asked to cut the big check, even if the applicant picks up smaller fees/fees for sections of the process.

The administration also wants Mexico to agree to hold would-be immigrants while their cases go through American immigration courts.

Post school outcomes are also really startling, especially for arts and humanities students.

For example, you can earn your BFA in one of the very reputable New York or California art and design schools, or say you get your bachelors and masters in anthropology at a good private university, and say conservatively you…

I’m a foreigner (though not in America), and honestly I’d be stoked if the local theatre had “subtitles” night. If it’s not your first language, sometimes you miss quiet bits or mishear a word.

Singlish? Ok lah, that’s mostly just English with a few Mandarin words mixed in. ;)

Personally I would agree with you, that behaviour is dumb... if people aren’t blocking anyone/ jostling for space, then I feel like “who am I to define how he should experience this.” As you said though, in a crowded museum... that sounds pretty anti-social to be blocking every piece for your photo. :/

While I wouldn’t support a ban... honestly taking photographs in a gallery can be really rude to other people if it’s busy, and also the end result is going to be inferior to the 50cent postcard you could buy in the gift shop.

If it’s an empty place, I mean go ahead, whatever floats your boat... but it definitely can…