Thank you for getting how most non-Americans would respond to this news. I worked for the Paris Olympics, my first Olympic Games. I would turn down an offer to have a second go in LA.

Meanwhile, fact-checkers from anywhere shouldn't even try as they'll be refused anyhow visa, anyhow.
www.npr.org/2025/12/04/n...

You’re almost correct. Not the pandemic, but the virus itself. It causes 🧠 (and other organ) damage. theconversation.com/mounting-res...

They must all be Brits then. They don’t just drive but also walk on the left. Learning curve as a mainland European having moved to London. Here in France now, most people tend to think they are alone on the pavement and walk right down the middle. And Paris pavements can be narrow…

I celebrate those rare moments and use them for some positive reinforcement, hoping any more self-absorbed passers-by might take inspiration.

I’m kind of relieved to read this. I thought it was a sign of me getting old. People three abreast (taking up the whole pavement width) forcing oncoming pedestrians onto the street, one woman in the swimming pool shower having all five showers on so the water would be warmer... 🤦‍♀️

Absolutely! 🤗

Too bad. My heart goes out to you. Mind you, we are not too far from going down a similar road here in France. RN is at 36% of voter intention in France, so we may have to explain to the French that voting for anti-democrats means electing kings that their ancestors famously beheaded at some point.

Understood. Now you can refer your Republican friends to what I assume is still considered an authority in defining meaning in the English language. 🙂

To say it with Merriam-Webster: "We could say that democracy is to republic as monarchy is to kingdom."

You do know that democracy is 'rule of the people' literally, whereas republic is a democracy by proxy, i.e. a representative democracy, i.e. the people vote for those who represent them in order to rule, right? So republics are the concrete shape of democracy (the essence).

Interesting thought. It kind of had occurred to me, too. In German we say: Wenn es dem Esel zu wohl ist, geht er aufs Eis. There doesn't seem to be an equivalent English idiom so here my best attempt at paraphrasing it: A donkey feeling too much at ease will walk out on a frozen pond.

Wouldn't put it past them.

I reluctantly agree. I don't like to bad-mouth anyone, hence my hesitation.

Question (as picked up of Pod Save America): would it be okay to call MAGA Profa? Let's not forget that Antifa was the Hitler and Mussolini resistance. They were NOT a party, just people resisting fascism. Hence anti-fascists. 🤦‍♀️