Python 2 is NOT simple. Why does str + unicode return unicode (Python 3 clearly separates bytes and str)? Why is there int vs. long (Python 3 dropped long)? Why

Python 2 is NOT simple. Why does str + unicode return unicode (Python 3 clearly separates bytes and str)? Why is there int vs. long (Python 3 dropped long)? Why can an inner function not assign to a variable of an outer function (Python 3 allows nonlocal)? Why does print have special syntax (>>, trailing comma) and is not a function? Why range() vs. xrange() (Python 3 makes all of them lazy)? Why redundant operators like <> vs. != (Python 3 eliminated the former)? Why class Foo vs. class Foo(object) (Python 3 eliminated the former)? Why multiple syntaxes for catching an exception?