:( Embarrassingly, I never read that one. I’m a big reader of contemporary fiction, but The Taming of the Shrew was my only voluntary Shakespeare read. I’ve seen quite a few of the plays too, but never Claudius.

Yes. It is very House of Cards. I mean, there is a good chance that Pence will end up president if Trump gets impeached, so you’d even have the VP to president story arc.

Oh, very true. I listened to a fascinating episode of the Freakenomics podcast about scions. Apparently, family businesses are pervasive all over the world, but that second generations do much worse than the first, on average. The one exception is Japan, where they have a tradition of adopting the future company…

She would be amazing fodder for TV drama. She’d be this character who is supporting her repugnant father while espousing beliefs that completely contradict his platform. The audience would constantly be asking whether she has an internal battle between her own desire to do good and her desire for power. You’d wonder…

I wish I had though of that!

You gave me this dream vision of the escape pods just being UAVs. For instance, when I fly home, the plane often goes over my house and I’m like “Oh, just let me off here please!” With this they could!

BTW, what you are describing seems to be Emirates First Class. They keep advertising to me, and it sounds AMAZING but…

That looks so luxurious compared to most airline seats. I want it.

Oh! I lived through that. I just flew to/from Japan on United and did two 2 hour domestic flights the month before. I find the leg room sucky, but the long hauls were not terrible. What I cannot stand is their announcements. They are truly excessive in number, length, and volume. Further, on the domestic I had a…

Well, after Joy-Anna they’ll be out of adult women to marry off for a while. Given their sexist lense, I doubt their be able to exploit their sons’ relationships for ratings as effectively. Plus, with their lower family income and lack of education, these boys can’t support families at young ages. As a result, they…

To me, winning the war is not quite the same as burning down the White House. I’ve heard many Americans say their country has never lost a war, but the fire is pretty undeniable. I was mostly trying to perpetuate your joke.

Canadians call that back bacon. It is disgusting. Tue story: my sister once ordered Canadian bacon in Florida and cried when she got her plate.

The housing market is delightful! 1000$/month rent for a two-bedroom downtown. <3 <3 <3 The influx of French immigrants has brought amazing pastries, or so Nancy tells me. Those gussied up reindeer tamers cured my friend’s cancer for free last year. I was under the impression that they used chemo, but if they did use…

Do not forget that we also won a war against you. #1812

I think that these idiotic ideas are popular among desperate people seeking explanations for their misfortune. So many people have an almost religious belief in pure capitalism, but are also currently being squashed by it. For them - as with everyone - it is very hard to abandon their beliefs, and much easier and more…

Although I heartily agree that Trump’s foundation is a mess, I am shocked that the Attorney General got involved. Yes, his face is orange and disgusting, but a man’s foundation choices should be between himself, his makeup artist, and nobody else.

Agreed! Guillaume has always been my favorite because it sounds so much like guimauve (marshmallow), and Marion is not too far from macaron. A very cute pair of names!

It was really nice to read this; I have felt pretty alone in having the views you expressed here. Even as a small child, I knew about the unibomber, the Polytechnique massacre, and how the FLQ putting bombs in mailboxes prevented my mom from enjoying her last childhood trick-or-treat. As long as I can remember, there…

Level 26 and still no Snorlax. My husband has 3 :,( But I do have a Lapras (from an egg).

Canadians tend to think of Americans as more brash and pushy, but also more friendly and helpful. When Bush was in power, people often mocked and derided Americans, but inevitably someone would point out that he lost the popular vote. We’d then all turn to sympathizing with you.

I’ve also heard Italian and Spanish…