NOW I see your comment, after I had posted mine. Yes, I agree with you. I didn’t see the Guiliani connection, but sure. It makes sense.

I have a theory that the Trump organization has good friends in the NY FBI office. Maybe just one well-placed person... which would explain a bit of Comey’s feckless flopping about before the election. Someone at the NY FBI office (about 10% of the entire FBI) might have threatened Comey with the release of…

It is confusing. But I think the alt-right works it out like this: An ideal world is one in which there are no international organizations. Each nation is defined by its majority ethnicity, and stands alone. Powerful ethnostates can dominate their neighbors (or “back yard” in US parlance) with impunity, annexing them…

The studio is the “author”. These are works for hire, and every contract stipulates that the writers do not own the copyright, the studio does.

Good for you! Good school. (you’re missing a verb; put otherwise, your clause is open)

Can’t even get through the first book of A la recherche du temps perdu.

Or, as someone cleverer than I said, a tiny reduction in vast overprivilege feels like genocide.

You can’t fix the spelling of Inglourious Basterds. The switch-up would have to be Inglourious Bishches or something.

Seems like a smart move. The lowest common denominator reaches the most people. And if she were only to appear on some snooty talk show (whatever that would be these days...) she would (a) not reach enough people, and (b) garner a reputation of being, well, snooty.

You mean, of course, in the USA. Elsewhere, employees get paid. I know, I know: “socialism.”

That is well put. Thanks.

I’m starting to see that among all the divides in this country - college educated vs HS or less; rural vs urban; left vs right - maybe the most important is desperate for drama vs calm. I think that along with the sense of fantasy that lets you imagine your country as your home writ large (symbolized by the Wall and…

I think that’s right. But also, they can’t be expected to know everything. Now, if there were a band of researchers back home, on a live feed, and they could pipe comments/questions to the reporter in the room, THAT would be something.

“...men-only clubs haven’t been players in politics in years”

Depends on what you’re trying to produce. If you want to increase the potential for women to compete, then you’re starting with an imbalance, and you need to tilt things in the other direction for a while until it balances out.

Yes, but... all it takes is one obnoxious dude to ruin it for everyone. It’s certainly true that one toxic person can make life miserable for everyone regardless of where they are on the gender spectrum, but there’s nothing quite like a dude with a chip on his shoulder...

Thanks for the laugh. That was great.

Well, you have to slap them and shout, “Live, damn you, live!” Otherwise it won’t work.

Interesting cultural meshuggas there. I’m a dual US/Canadian citizen, and I just worked in France for three months. So much for my bonafides...

Yes. That is it exactly. Give me brisk efficiency, and if it’s also brusque, that’s fine. I’m a native Manhattanite, and I live in LA. A sandwich line in NY moves. Here, not so much. Here, if I order “ham & swiss on rye, mustard, no mayo, lettuce and tomato”, the next thing out of their mouth will be, “uh... mayo?”…