I really don’t see anyone arguing that the punishment is fair by objective standards, because it’s not. But it’s a very dangerous and stupid thing to do and this kid had plenty of fair warning and now he is asking the US to make some potentially very consequential concessions to come get him when he was only too…

Ive seen the same hubris from Britons to be honest. In nations run by oppressive regimes, people in my company have intentionally antagonised petty officials with the power to have them detained and have had to be restrained by cooler heads from trying to pass customs without visas, simply because they think being a…

1) that’s an excellent point. I was harsh and I don’t mean to imply he by any means deserves this because he doesn’t. I’m going off the assumption he did steal the sign, but of course this is NK and that can be 100 % bullshit.

Nope. The Young Pioneers have nothing to do with Jesus. It’s a travel adventure tour to, and this is the website’s own words, “destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from”.

But he did not hurt anyone with his foolishness, and is now facing a really horrific punishment that he may well not survive

They also grossly underestimate how utterly humourless these regimes are. You can’t plead your case in court, charm a judge by claiming “boys will be boys”, pinky-swear you won’t do it again and get off with probation. You’ll probably just piss them off if you try

Exactly. Jesus. Usually my disdain for Americans who expect their swagger and privilege to travel with them around the globe overrides my more noble emotions, but FFS this dude is living in a nightmare, one he’s been sentenced to just because NK wants some US statesman to come suck their dick and sustain their…

I think that what sticks in most folks’ craw, though, is not the sign-stealing thing. It’s the going-to-North-Korea-in-the-first-place thing. Another commenter said this:

But here’s the thing, though..actions have consequences. EVERYONE knows that if you, as an American, travel to North Korea, you are taking a HUGE risk, and if something happens, the US can do very little to help you.

I can kind of see the appeal, especially if you think you’re going for some sort of good reason - learning about the situation, telling people about it, something like that - and it has some of that “unexplored to us at least” intrigue. Ten years ago I might have been sort of interested. Now, it sounds terrifying and…

Actually, there are studies that show a lot of the “false accusations” of rape are deemed false by law enforcement after the woman refuses to go forward. When examined by neutral third parties, a lot of them are accusations the woman recanted because the police treated her so poorly and didn’t believe her.

I feel like Obama must kind of feel the way I feel when I try to get my kids to eat anything. “Okay guys, here. I know you like this. It’s bland, inoffensive, yet substantive and you have definitely eaten something like this before. Now chew and swallow. GODDAMNIT WHY ARE YOU SAYING NO!?!?! YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO BE…

Believing most rape accusations are false should result in immediately losing your job as sheriff.

The sad thing is, his claim of rape accusations turning out to be “consensual sex” might actually be women who initially filed reports only to redact them out of fear (maybe of, I dunno, NOT BEING BELIEVED.)

Future societies will look back at the Trump presidency as an extended and inexplicable satire of Biff Tannen’s character from Back to the Future Part 2.

Everything you need to know about Donald Trump, you can know from the fact that he eats steak well done. My mom made me cook a prime rib to well done once, and I almost reported her to amnesty international.

Where’s a Robespierre when you need one?

This is how I read it too. I wonder (and this isn’t meant to be snide) if people would interpret it differently if it had been worn by a female model instead of a male.

I initially read it as non-rapey, then I looked closer and saw a guy wearing it, which made it a little rapey. Is it worth a think piece? Nah.

Trump Is Succeeding Because Poor White Americans Have Become Very Poor, Nobody Noticed, and This Undereducated Demographic Reaches for Culturally Familiar Narratives Of White Supremacy to Understand Their Disenfranchisement and To Make Their Feelings Better.