Yes, that is exactly what they were trying to say, and a US magazine would have used more appropriate language for a US audience - but the message would be the same. How many spreads have you seen on black artists which are based around the exact same idea, only with euphemisms like 'ghetto' and 'sassy' and 'attitude'…

To all those people claiming that Dutch people don't have an excuse because of that country's history of colonialism and enslavement - that is not the issue here. The issue is about words. 'Fuck' is a very commonly used Anglo-American import in the Netherlands, but the connotation is not the same, because it does not…

Yes, this, exactly. What it means to be French (or Spanish or German or whatever) is not what it means to be American. It's not worse, it's different. I can understand why to an American the idea that seperate identities and communities are not encouraged might be shocking, but the French national identity is much…

Oh God, some of the reaction to this story was SO SO SO stupid. Like a parent won't be able to work out what floor to go to unless the gender of their child is carefully printed beside it. It's not even like the floors have even changed - if you see one floor of trucks and guns and one floor of princesses and ponies…

Maybe this was a poor sample, but jeeeez American kids seem motherfuckin' rude. They have this kind of terrifying precocity - they talk like adults (emotionally unstable adults, yeah, but still). No way I would have ever raised my voice to my parents between the ages of 3 and 13, never mind screaming and shouting. …

Huh. Now I think back, this kind of makes sense.

I swear this insatiable harpy has an opinion on everything under the sun. On the bright side, I guess this means lesbians are free to do whatever the heck they want.

But my main point is that her sentencing seems political to me. For instance, take the Muslims who burnt poppies on Remembrence Day and shouted marlarkey at passersby about British soldiers being babykillers and whatnot. That was considered deeply offensive by the nation as a whole and they got a £50 fine. Now, I…

The reason is sucks is purely grammatical. A teachable moment means literally a moment that we are able to teach. Until we start opening schools for units of time, this is a meaningless phrase... God, I'm such a Niles.

I'm not so sure. Yes, I think this kid may well have a non-ideal life, but that's more based on the fact that his mum seems to have an alcohol problem that she's alone, drunk, in the daytime. I mean, we're focussing on her nasty tirade, which is probably a fraction of who she is as a person. I know lots of people…

It is indeed horrible, but do you honestly think that if this hadn't received such media attention she would have been sent down? In my opinion, at least, it's unlikely. A fine or some such is a much more common punishment for public order offences. And the 'incitement to violence' question is so slippery that it's…

Ugh, I know. Just imagining being stuck in a carriage with no way out with that shit going down... I think I would melt with embarrassment, and feeling awkward is out national pastime, so that's saying something.

I'm not thrilled about this. I think a fine might have been more appropriate and I'm 99% sure that if the video hadn't gone viral that's what she would have got, and that ain't right. Presuming she's the child's mother, he'll now be spending Christmas without her (whatever her odiousness here, she more than likely…

And stay out of the Woolworth! God, I love that film... This is exactly the kind of character who seems to inhabit these news stories. "Well, you see, Judge... it was a feller in a dress."

Every single time a story on here quotes an anti-trans bigot, my head subconsciously reads it in the voice of a Coen brothers character. They always have that flustered, confused and upset whine I associate with a 1950s Southern storekeeper or something.

Surely a better way to make this moment 'teachable' (ugh I hate that word. Thank goodness it hasn't made it to Britain yet) would be to explain how 'gay' can also mean bright and cheery? Editing the song seems to me to be keeping up the idea that there is something wrong/taboo/unsuitable about the word. And kids, just…

Oh ho ho, don't I know it. I'm living in France at the moment, and teaching adults really gives you some terrifying insights into the French psyche. Gems so far include "Women like men with big cars. It's because they're materialist." and "When I have my own business, I want a girl secretary because they're neater and…

But little present-less children? The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot etc etc.? The Internet (well, the nicer part) LIVES for that stuff. Although I agree, they were obviously hoping that they had created a pool of Suck so large that this story would be just another imperceptible drop.

My thoughts exactly. I eagerly await their next study, concluding that naps, fondue and Jane Austen adaptations are life-prolonging.

This sounds skeevy to me, frankly. "Women have historically been objectified by men, so if we do it to them, it's just empowering fun!" is not a thing. For the same reason that in the 60s we didn't start making white people sit at the back of buses. One, because it contravenes the basic principle - people are not…