I can only imagine the slow, ossifying horror experienced throughout Middle England as everyone’s Brexit-voting uncles began to catch second-hand embarrassment.

This is why they roll out the “Keep Calm and Carry On” motto so frequently - it’s fucking true. It’s their natural setting. That poster isn’t a hopeful instruction, it’s just a basic reflection of national character.

This was a special election in a small district for a House seat. There is limited impact and an expiration date. As much attention as Georgia 6 got, it was completely outsized and mostly obsessed over by political horse-race enthusiasts.

The Georgia election is done, but it’s been sucking the air out of the room during a crucial period of secrecy for the ACA repeal bill in the Senate. McConnell plans to publish the bill this week and vote on it about 7 days later.

“IT’S GRAY AND MISTY OUT, LET’S GO FOR A LONG WALK ON A MOOR! THIS IS AWESOME!”

It’s real it’s real it’s real. I once moved hemispheres deliberately missing summer and it was the best year of my life - two autumns, two winters. I was like a kid in a candy store. And then I got diagnosed with reverse SAD.

It’s not likely that DPRK waterboarded him, given past treatment of Western prisoners. The main theme seems to be neglect, so I think collapse, self-injury or accident are highly likely. I’m just not interested in wild speculation that might lead to war.

For fuck’s sake, stop dramatizing an already dramatic event. Doctors who examined Otto when he got back to the US say there’s no trauma (visible or scanned) that could explain his brain injury. Stop saying “torture” when absolutely no one knows whether he was waterboarded or choked on lunch.

You are not wrong, the doctors say there’s no sign of trauma. If the North Koreans did cause his coma, it was a break from their usual western hostage-taking pattern and happened in an unusually subtle and traceless way.

Well the doctors said that they thought he had been beaten in to a coma so it’s likely that they are basing that opinion on damage they found to his body.

A) The doctors found no sign of trauma that would have led to this sort of injury. If they tortured him, they did it without a trace - and North Koreans are not known for their subtlety.

It’s unclear how Donald Trump will respond to the torturing death of an American citizen at the hands of an autocratic and brutal regime

I think he’s a stooge. I doubt he knowingly colluded with Russia but I’ll bet some of his associates did, and I’m also pretty sure that his final defense will be “well how was I to know that they expected a quid pro quo?” Basically he’ll argue he was too dumb to realize that there was a catch in a lot of the sweet…

...I’m now a little worried we’re related. Does anyone in your family refer to the Christmas of 2009 as “A Very Hitler Christmas”?

We do this too! With the one alteration that it’s mailed from abroad. I stock up on St Patrick’s and Your Nephew’s Christening cards for exactly this purpose, though my sister managed to do a complete 180 on the DNA on this one and is some sort of card-sniffing dog who finds exactly the right card for the occasion.

REALLY. Funny enough, LATAM was my only flight this year where there was no toddler in business. I thought it was coincidence.

I’m pretty torn on babies in business class. On one hand: I get it, I really do. As a parent it makes sense to have that sort of room on long-hauls (unless you’ve got one of the kids who demands to be walked around the whole flight). But as a person who relies on those business-class flights to sleep between onsite…

I was in Holland Park, and I think the “local officials vs. wealthier residents” story is too simple. Far more likely is that this was overall, ambient pressure on the council- the Westfields coming in, the property prices going up, and no doubt a certain amount of speculation about gentrifying Grenfell itself over…

Excuse me, marshes are an important stage in any Massachusetts child’s development. I for one clearly remember coming to grips with my own mortality when I tried to take a shortcut through a marsh, abruptly went from shin-high water to armpit-high water, and then got to spend about 15 minutes wrestling myself out of…

Admitting you were wrong up front (when someone points it out and it’s obvious you jumped the gun) really saves you a ton of time in replies. I highly recommend it, as a former over-explainer.