Also, having been on the other side of such a situation: it’s not cool to pressure or guilt trip your guests. Either be hospitable and let them do whatever they want, or don’t invite them.

If people aren’t hungry, then they aren’t hungry. Maybe they are on a diet, maybe they misunderstood OP’s intention and ate beforehand. Maybe they are recovering from something and don’t want to eat too much.

And as for the two that did not showed up. It’s a good practice to reconfirm the night before. Sometimes people forget. Sometimes life gets in the way.

If they did reconfirm and still didn’t show up and did not have a good excuse, then I would start looking for better friends.

Hope OP has better success next time. I do understand that the situation sucks.

But it’s also a situation that, in my opinion, is preventable.

I agree. The rule based order only works if the rules apply to everyone.

And from a more realpolitik perspective: the Arab world is our (European) backyard.

We really don’t benefit from instability there.

Indeed - and I really hope it passes.

I thought about mentioning it in my previous comment. But basically, it’s another example that States hold most of the power. The States actually have the power to effectively replace the current system with a national popular vote if they choose.

Other examples are the IRV in Alaska and the district system in Maine and Nebraska.

Both elections exactly prove my point.

The federal system is set up to favor State power, which is why the US presidential election isn’t decided by popular vote. By design, Wyoming and California are considered equals in many respects.

It’s a bad system, but it’s very much entrenched in the constitution.

And it also requires critical mass. It’s basically impossible to enact meaningful change with a 50-55% majority. You need 60% or more to get big changes. And a majority of states.

A somewhat less pessimistic take: the system is set up to be self-stable.

And it was also designed so that States would have most of the power, not the Federal government.

At various points in history the common people did get benefits. New Deal. Universal suffrage. Civil rights. Abolition.

But it always requires a critical mass of the population to support change.

John Stewart always finds the best way to express what I’m feeling.

Regardless of the outcome, this election will go down as a shit stain on history.

I just hope the outcome doesn’t turn it into explosive diarrhea.

Unfortunate reality, but headline placement is quite OK.

As your links explain, C series is used for envelopes, while B and elongated A are special case that aren’t commonly used.

In any case, none of those series has an equivalent to American Letter.

The only paper that you will commonly find in European offices are A4 and (to a lesser extent) A3.

A big office printer might have 4 trays stocked with A4 and one tray with A3, for example.

As a European, I do appreciate Legal as a format.

It just happens slightly too often that an A4 is not long enough and the last bit, including the signature, goes to the next page.

I wish Legal was common here. Or perhaps we could get a Long A4 with a third extra height or so.

The Letter format should just be replaced by A4 though.

Looks like they at least made it sturdy enough to withstand a car wash.

Progress!