A mash.

Well, what a couple of days, eh? At the end of it, I only know one thing for sure: “Putin’s niece” is a real dime, and George Papadopoulos was desperately hoping for that London meeting, so they could, y’know, have a drink, get to know each other better. I’m sure they’d exchanged pictures. Hers emphasized her Slavic cheekbones, his a certain Hellenic moodiness.

And I don’t have much to offer beyond that. There are hundreds of thousands of words of analysis, and I’ve only gotten through a few thousand. Plus, this story has now been overtaken by a terror attack in New York.

Still, is this the beginning of the end? Or the end of the beginning? Odds on a) firing Mueller; and b) pardons for convicted aides? Anyone?

I woke up today with a sore throat, which sent me into a reflexive panic for a moment – how will I do all the things I have to do while operating at .75 power? – before I remembered that I can call in sick, so to speak, and I did. Still applied for three jobs, two of which I could do in my sleep. I won’t get any of them, because this is a run of bad luck I’m just going to have to get through. And it sucks.

But a few the celebrity world: Stop calling Kevin Spacey a pedophile. He is — or apparently is, if recent revelations are to be believed — and ephebophile. The difference is the one between pre- and post-pubescent, but still underage, children. Pedos go for kids, ephebes for young teens. Both are terribly damaging in their unique way. Sexuality is a continuum, and ephebophiles no doubt see themselves as wise father/older brother figures, initiating the young into the world of adulthood. But it’s revolting just the same. Spacey’s going to have a long climb back.

It’s raining creeps. Still.

And Halloween is a wrap. I’m getting weary of the days-long candy thing. I give out candy on Halloween, to anyone who rings the doorbell, until it’s gone. I decline to participate in special trick-or-treat carve-outs — the special just-for-the-neighborhood hours, the business-district things, all of it. Halloween is one day, and it’s a good day, but that’s all it is. Or used to be. Adults ruin everything.

Back to nursing the ol’ throat.

Posted at 9:40 pm in Current events |
 

58 responses to “A mash.”

  1. alex said on October 31, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    I’m still not ready to write off Kevin Spacey. Until other ephebes step forward and claim the same thing happened to them, I can certainly see how Spacey might have been in a blackout drunken state and might just as easily have tried humping a dog or anything else lying around in his apartment at 4 AM in 1980-something. Good thing there were no handguns laying around or the accuser might just as easily have ended up dead rather than humped. And what was a 14-year-old doing unescorted at a drunken/drugged-out adult party at 4 AM anyway?

    Before anyone accuses me of victim blaming, I’m simply pointing out that until I see other evidence of a pattern I’m not inclined to think the worst. And dating younger men in Hollywood isn’t evidence of a pattern if they aren’t underage.

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  2. susan said on October 31, 2017 at 11:44 pm

    Yeah, the kid was probably wearing a short skirt and a provocative top.

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  3. Bitter Scribe said on October 31, 2017 at 11:46 pm

    From what I understand, other gay celebs are angry at Spacey for making his confession/apology about coming on to that kid as the occasion to officially announce that he’s gay.

    As well they should be. One of the most obnoxious stereotypes about gay men is that they’re all child molesters. That’s why certain homophobes constantly talk about NAMBLA. When someone like Spacey comes along, it just sets everything back.

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  4. alex said on November 1, 2017 at 7:24 am

    I see this morning that Spacey has a second accuser, an adult who says he was fondled aggressively. So my initial resolve not to rush to judgment is being tested.

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  5. Suzanne said on November 1, 2017 at 7:54 am

    Alex, I would disagree that Spacey being drunk gave him a pass for going after an obviously underage kid, male or female. I do, however, agree with you about wondering what the heck was this 14 yr old doing at a wild party at 4 am? Just as I wondered what parent with a young child would think that it was perfectly ok to have a sleepover at Michael Jackson’s house back when all that happened.
    But then, people do odd things. Just look at who is running the country!

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  6. adrianne said on November 1, 2017 at 8:30 am

    We’re hanging tough in New York City, greatest city in the world, after Tuesday’s terror attack. Happy to report that the Halloween parade from Greenwich Village still went on, with the zone flooded with cops. One cop was a hero Tuesday, shooting the POS attacker. Sigh.

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  7. alex said on November 1, 2017 at 8:31 am

    I’m not giving Spacey a pass for being drunk. But I know what it means to be blackout drunk. It’s why I don’t own a gun and will never have one in my house.

    I’m still angry over something that happened to me when I was 18. I had a college professor who invited me to a dinner party at his house. All of the other guests were older, and the guest of honor was a guy having a birthday. I didn’t know until fairly late in the evening that I was being served up as the dessert and birthday boy expected me to go home with him. Though they plied me with plenty of alcohol, I wasn’t so impaired that I couldn’t fight them off and leave, but I was fairly manhandled and given a dressing down by my elders for not putting out. Prof still gave me an A, though.

    If sexual aggression can be judged by degree, I think adults who plan to inebriate and seduce a young person are just about the ickiest.

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  8. nancy said on November 1, 2017 at 8:37 am

    Spacey’s had a long, long rep in Hollywood for years, for a) being an ass in general; and b) preferring twinks. I think this kid is only Patient Zero of a lot of revelations. Which, I grant, will probably be less-than-Weinsteinian, if only because the persistent closet may keep some young men from coming forward.

    As for what a 14-year-old was doing at a drunken party in the predawn hours, well, if you lined up all the ghastly stage parents willing to allow that sort of thing and laid them end-to-end, you could walk on their backs from Hollywood to New York City.

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  9. Peter said on November 1, 2017 at 9:06 am

    I really think that it’s a matter of when Trump will fire Mueller, not if.

    I’m through with Lindsay Graham and his ilk – “Oh, that will never happen, oh I can’t imagine that will happen”, and then it happens. Although, I can understand why they’re clutching the pearls and tut-tutting instead of taking a stand – some Reichstag members complained too, and what did it get them? An all expenses paid trip to Dachau.

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  10. Deborah said on November 1, 2017 at 9:21 am

    If/when Trump fires Mueller, that will be the last straw for me. I will go to Washington or anywhere else and protest my head off. I hope progressive orgs are planning protests now.

    “Putin’s niece” is real dime – I have not heard that term before – “a real dime”.

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  11. coozledad said on November 1, 2017 at 9:25 am

    The Republican Party has disassociated itself from Lincoln entirely now. They’re essentially Strom Thurmond Democrats

    Their hero, Lee, reminds me of a Republican defendant’s counsel, or a thoroughly disingenuous Gannet hack:
    https://twitter.com/NaCo89/status/925565388963934208

    What a flaming asshole. He’s a lot like those pomaded fundies who’re always groping kids and begging their congregants for a new airplane.

    Grant should have called a drumhead court and shot ol’ racist Santa Claus right there at the McLean farm with a firing squad of black corpsmen. It’s the only way to deal with a pretty boy traitor.

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  12. Randy said on November 1, 2017 at 9:27 am

    People are saying they can’t watch any of Kevin Spacey’s movies the same way, if at all. Imagine how many movies we’d have to discard by using that logic.

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  13. ROGirl said on November 1, 2017 at 9:29 am

    Putin doesn’t have any siblings. 2 brothers died before he was born. Dumb Trump foreign policy “expert” is too stupid to do any verification on Putin’s “niece.”

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  14. brian stouder said on November 1, 2017 at 10:01 am

    Well, I’ll give Fox News credit – they allowed ½ a day before unleashing unrefined racism:

    http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/10/31/new-york-terror-attack-dont-offend-anyone.html

    Even before the names of the perpetrator and the dead and injured are known, there will be warnings not to stereotype, not to sully the reputation of any faith or ideology. Don’t link radical Islam with terror.
    Yet, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio came right out and said it: “This was an act of terror.” That was already apparent to the New York City police, whom de Blasio has repeatedly insulted as racists, and demeaned for quickly confronting the dangers of criminal behavior. That’s the same de Blasio who pompously defied Trump’s call to dismantle so-called sanctuary cities, making it tougher for authorities to find and corral criminals. “Don’t let the terrorists change our life in any shape, manner or form,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, just two hours after the attack took place. That’s right, New Yorkers. Listen to your governor. Don’t take any extra precautions in how you live your lives. Don’t admit that there are evil people in the world who want to kill you, then exhort God’s greatness. Don’t use that ugly word — war – to describe our conflict with radical Islam. Don’t offend. And don’t defend. It might upset someone.

    Because, y’know – bored rich white guy danger (such as in Las Vegas) has nothing to do with immigration or religion….it’s just human nature (and bad luck for the hundreds of people he put bullets into)

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  15. Sherri said on November 1, 2017 at 10:13 am

    gossip is the first draft of news.

    https://nickdenton.org/todays-gossip-is-tomorrow-s-news-8c4536535a94

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  16. Icarus said on November 1, 2017 at 10:13 am

    Deborah @ 10 I thought it was a reference to dime a dozen but Urban Dictionary says “a real 10″?

    I noticed something yesterday as the news was coming in about the NYC attack. The usual right wing sources used the following phrase ” Multiple outlets are also reporting that the attacker shouted ‘Allah Akbar.'”

    whether he did or not (I believe it has now been confirmed he did) it’s a backhanded way to make sure their base keeps hating Islam.

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  17. Snarkworth said on November 1, 2017 at 10:31 am

    Nancy @8: “If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end-to-end, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.”
    — Dorothy Parker

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  18. Jeff Borden said on November 1, 2017 at 10:34 am

    Fuck Fox News. I’m in complete agreement with Cuomo. No one is going to keep me from living my life. I’m not going to hide in my basement with a bunch of guns. Or move to a gated community with security guardhouses. Or an isolated cabin in the Great North Woods. I’m a happy urban dweller and still have a much better chance of dying from heart disease or cancer or some other random genetic time bomb than olga-booga terrorists. Living in fear is for losers.

    Those of you who enjoy eviscerating the blather written by Mitch Albom really ought to broaden your palate by reading the occasional “column” by John Kass of the Chicago Tribune. Kass –the K is silent– is the sole honest journalist who saw Obummer as a cheap politician and Hitlery as the agent of satan she is. Kass, you see, is the humble son of a Greek immigrant butcher (he lives in the far western suburb of Western Springs), so he the very image of Diogenes, standing bravely in our blue city for rightwing nonsense. Sample this glop and tell me what you think:

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-met-putin-trump-manafort-kass-1101-20171031-column.html

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  19. Sherri said on November 1, 2017 at 10:37 am

    On keeping the attack in NYC in perspective: https://twitter.com/hodgman/status/925709160712372224

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  20. LAMary said on November 1, 2017 at 10:39 am

    I’ve always found Kevin Spacey annoying. He’s on my list of annoying actors which includes Tom Cruise and Sharon Stone.

    The guy who ran over the cyclists in NYC was living my home town of Paterson, NJ. I bet no one there is surprised.

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  21. coozledad said on November 1, 2017 at 10:54 am

    Trump and his team (most likely the work of Stephen Miller) tried to put a “Jew face” on the attacks in the person of Chuck Schumer.

    Instead, Trump kicked himself in the gunt.

    Trump is only a thing inside his shrinking base, now, and it’s clear he’s praying for some catastrophe to turn it around, or provide an escape from the shit lagoon he’s currently dog paddling.

    https://twitter.com/yottapoint/status/925712632950034433

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  22. adrianne said on November 1, 2017 at 11:33 am

    Jeff, right on! For a tip on how to respond to terror attacks, watch “Casablanca.”

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  23. coozledad said on November 1, 2017 at 11:40 am

    Fucking white trash.
    http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article182021981.html

    What in the fuck is wrong with people who identify as white? Seriously, fuckers, there is something wrong in your fucking code.

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  24. Heather said on November 1, 2017 at 11:47 am

    Well, at least we can take comfort in the fact that we’re all miserable? http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/11/lowest-point.aspx

    “More than half of Americans (59 percent) said they consider this the lowest point in U.S. history that they can remember — a figure spanning every generation, including those who lived through World War II and Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.”

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  25. brian stouder said on November 1, 2017 at 12:20 pm

    Well – here’s a little palate-cleanser: Pam scored her two tickets for Hamilton (in Chicago) at 3 minutes past midnight, this morning.

    The bus-trip there & tix were offered by the (altogether marvelous) Fort Wayne Parks Department, and they include transport there and back, and of course the show.

    Then, just out of curiosity, she checked availability this morning around 8 – and they still had 6 left….!

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  26. Peter said on November 1, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    Heather, that poll just depresses me. My Dad, who needs his eight hours of Fox News to make it through the day, has one of their mantras glued to his brain “There’s never been as much hatred in our country as there is right now”, and I’m like really? Vietnam? The Freaking Civil War?

    I know I spend an inordinate amount of time checking Slate, TPM, Politico, and this site on the unproven belief that in doing so I am upholding This Great Republic. But sometimes I take a deep breath and say that Fearless Leader’s great heart, the best heart, really, won’t be able to take all of the stress, and ice cream, and cherry pie, and is going to flatline, and maybe, just maybe, General Kelly will remember what he’s there for and will prevent anyone from entering the private residence for a day or two, and then we can watch the funeral parade down Pennsylvania Avenue with 10 or 12 mourners, the most ever, and then we can work on Pence.

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  27. coozledad said on November 1, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/925736689947103235

    Terrorists are learning from their brethren in Republican state legislatures.

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  28. Heather said on November 1, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    I don’t know, Peter. I read somewhere that we can’t expect a savior. We have to save ourselves. That’s democracy. Since Kelly apparently thinks slavery is something we can compromise over, I’m not counting on him.

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  29. Peter said on November 1, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    Well, here’s a shocker: While 45 found time to tweet about this is all (((Chuck Schumer’s))) fault, he hasn’t had the time to call the mayor or governor of NY.

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  30. Peter said on November 1, 2017 at 2:01 pm

    I apologize to the President and any that I have offended in #29 – he was very busy – as it turns out, he spent all morning thinking of the perfect name for the tax reduction legislation – he wants it to be called “The Cut Cut Cut Act”.

    Genius, I tell you, just pure genius.

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  31. nancy said on November 1, 2017 at 2:05 pm

    I’ve heard the Civil War thing, too. And every time I read history about the ’60s, I’m amazed by the details. Dozens dead every week in Vietnam, bombings so common that they didn’t even make the front page, parents kicking children out of the house over things like their hair or opinions.

    I don’t think it’s that bad yet. But I think we’re getting there pretty fast.

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  32. jcburns said on November 1, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    “Two cuts, nah, not enough. Four cuts, too many!” This is why Donald Trump is a master of branding. In a pig’s eye.

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  33. brian stouder said on November 1, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    Just last night, I caught a snippet of Ken Burns’ Vietnam show, and it was about 1968 – and it encapsulates the very thing Nancy refers to.

    American cities burning, American colleges and universities in chaos, American statesmen and moral leaders gunned down (chiefly MLK, but also Senator Kennedy – just 4 years after his brother’s murder), riots in the streets; the incumbent president (LBJ) declaring he will NOT seek, nor accept – his party’s presidential nomination… all while we’re mired in a war on the other side of the world, that shows no signs of ending anytime soon….and indeed – we’re no further past the end of the Second World War at that time, then we currently are from the beginning of the Clinton administration…

    definitely fraught times

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  34. Deborah said on November 1, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    Brian, will you be accompanying your wife on her trip to Chicago to see Hamilton? If so, let me know if you’d like to meet up somehow, maybe we can make it an all Chicago and environs peeps meet-up?

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  35. Jeff Borden said on November 1, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    Perhaps the largest difference between “then” and “now” is our inability as a nation to accept common facts. There were arguments Vietnam was simply the first of a series of dominoes the Commies would knock over in Asia and without the U.S. to stop it, the entire region might be lost. It was fallacious, yes, but at least based on interpretation of facts. Even backers of remaining in Vietnam recognized the fearsome price being paid in lives. They argued it was worth it. Anti-war protesters argued it was not. And as more families were confronted with the deaths and maimings of sons and nephews and cousins and neighbors and church friends, the chorus against the conflict grew so great the war could no longer be countenanced.

    Today, you make judgments based on your news sources. While most cable news channels were all over the Manafort indictments, Faux News was covering a “hamburger emoji” scandal. This channel is a joke to most of us, but fuck, it remains the most popular cable news outlet. I’m not even going to mention the entire Mercer-funded Breitbart operation. . .or the odious Alex Jones. . .or World News Daily. . .or any of the sundry rightwing propaganda arms churning out vile chum.

    Even assuming the Orange King leaves office –by resignation or impeachment or whatever– the 30-plus percent of Americans enthralled by his atavism will remained outraged. Even if he croaks of natural causes magnified by his poor eating habits and lack of exercise, does anyone here doubt there will be whispers he was poisoned?

    It’s taken years to get to this point. Personally, I’ve laid the blame on Newt Gingrich and his vicious rhetoric, but what about Spiro T. Agnew and his “nattering nabobs of negativism?” Or the lionization of the masses as the “Silent Majority?”

    Information and disinformation have been weaponized. I am profoundly worried that this is, indeed, the new normal.

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  36. Deborah said on November 1, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    Where in the world did they dig up this Sam Clovis guy? What a maroon http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/ummm-whats-up-with-sam-clovis

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  37. brian stouder said on November 1, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    Pam and one of her friends will be doing the trip.

    But on the other hand – if (at some point) an nn.c meet-up can be arranged, I’m thinkin’ I could possibly make it!

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  38. brian stouder said on November 1, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    Here is a text-grab (copy-paste) of the Fox News site, as of 2 minutes ago:

    2:13
    Attack suspect Sayfullo Saipov: What we know
    DNC job openings not for ‘cisgender’ males already in ‘majority’
    NO STRAIGHT, WHITE MEN
    DNC job openings not for ‘cisgender’ males already in ‘majority’

    What do the latest Russia revelations mean for Democrats?
    5:36
    DNC funding of anti-Trump document causes partisan sniping
    Actress told of 30-foot sharks, storm that never happened
    SURVIVAL STORY SINKS
    Actress told of 30-foot sharks, storm that never happened

    1:35
    Sailors’ lost at sea tale is now being called into question
    Navy rescues mariners, dogs stranded in Pacific Ocean for 5 months
    Nashville power player denies abuse of male country singer
    ‘SEXUALLY VIOLATED ME’
    Nashville power player denies abuse of male country singer

    2:58
    Sexual assault allegations bring down more celebrity men
    Brett Ratner accused of sexual harassment by Olivia Munn, 5 others
    Substitute at Christian school accused of phone sex with student
    TEACHER TROUBLE
    Substitute at Christian school accused of phone sex with student

    Probation for middle school teacher, 46, who got caught having sex with friend’s teenage son
    Married teacher and mom, 32, busted after lewd videos show ‘threesome sex’ with teen boy students

    If Nancy’s theory of the case is true, Mitch Albom must have a stiff…..neck… right about now.

    That news outlet is in full “nothing to see here” mode, with regard to their (currently spiraling) favorite president.

    PS – what does “cis-gender” mean?

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  39. 4dbirds said on November 1, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    One man, MAN accuses Kevin Spacey of something and his show is shut down. How many women accused Cosby, Weinstein, and Trump? (Not original, I saw that somewhere but don’t remember who to credit.)

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  40. brian stouder said on November 1, 2017 at 3:39 pm

    re- “cisgender” – uncle google has enlightened me

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  41. Peter said on November 1, 2017 at 5:15 pm

    Oh, why do I look at other websites?

    A theme I’ve noticed in a few places is that Papadopoulos was a mole hired by Hillary Clinton to infiltrate the Trump campaign and pretend to collude with the Russians to bring down Trump’s presidency.

    I have GOT to find out what they’re on….

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  42. Sherri said on November 1, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    It’s hard to get a sense for how terrible or how good a period of time is when you’re in the middle of it. I don’t know if it was worse in 1968 or now. No, we don’t have bombings or riots, but we do have mass shootings. Our election was undermined by a hostile foreign nation. We’ve got Nazis marching. Seems bad enough!

    The weirdest thing is, despite everything happening in the world, despite my in-laws’ health issues, despite my daughter not making much progress towards figuring what’s next, I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. Go figure.

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  43. Sherri said on November 1, 2017 at 6:58 pm

    If you store anything in the cloud, with any company, it is unquestionably being scanned by that company. Unless you encrypt it with a key that the company does not have, it will be scanned. That goes for documents, photos, anything, and is true of Google, Microsoft, Amazon, all of them.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/technology/google-docs-glitch-bug.html

    What happens after scanning may vary, but they are looking. If you store kiddie porn in the cloud, for example, these companies will report you.

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  44. susan said on November 1, 2017 at 7:10 pm

    I don’t get the cloud storage scam, especially when external hard drives are so inexpensive and expansive. And you can get small portable drives with many gigabytes capacity.

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  45. Sherri said on November 1, 2017 at 7:37 pm

    There are good reasons for using cloud storage. I have multiple cloud storage accounts, and use them all. It’s the easiest way to collaborate with someone on a document and make sure you’re both working off the same version. I use it all the time with people I’m working on projects with.

    Files stored in the cloud are accessible anywhere, too. I can store something in OneDrive, and see it from my phone, my laptop, my iPad, or from a random computer at the library, or your computer.

    Another reason is backup. My camera roll on my phone is backed up to multiple cloud servers, because it’s free. I do also do regular incremental backups of my devices, but I’m a techie who can deal with the software for doing that (and my backups are in the cloud these days, too, though I encrypt them.)

    The cloud isn’t a scam; at least, I wouldn’t think so, since I worked on a distributed file system that was a precursor to the cloud 30 years ago and missed it when I left!

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  46. Bitter Scribe said on November 1, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    Sherri: The worst things to happen in 1968 IMO were the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. I don’t fetishize the Kennedys, but I and a lot of others were royally pissed when his murder led to the nomination of the spineless Hubert Humphrey despite the fact that he never entered a single primary.

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  47. Bitter Scribe said on November 1, 2017 at 8:10 pm

    Regarding cloud storage, I feel sorry for data-storage/file-sharing companies like Dropbox, who are trying to charge for what Google Drive, OneDrive and iCloud will do for free.

    Although I remember reading that Dropbox is one of those techbro places where women are condescended to, ignored and/or harassed. So I guess I don’t feel that sorry for them.

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  48. J. Bruce Fields said on November 1, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    “I worked on a distributed file system that was a precursor to the cloud 30 years ago and missed it when I left!”

    AFS, I bet! Neato. (An NFS developer and previous AFS user myself.)

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  49. Heather said on November 1, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    I’m not a fan of cloud computing myself for security and privacy reasons. But it allows gadgets to be smaller and lighter, because there’s less need for storage. So it’s definitely the way of the future.

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  50. Sherri said on November 1, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    Correct, Bruce! Where did you use AFS?

    Dropbox has a free service, too, and all of the cloud providers charge for storage above a certain limit. I don’t know how techbro they are, though all unicorns seem to be these days. While Dropbox no longer is valued at the ridiculous $10B it was a few years ago, it will still make a lot of money when it goes public.

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  51. Bruce Fields said on November 1, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    “Where did you use AFS?”

    The University of Michigan. Which still uses it, as far as I know.

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  52. Sherri said on November 1, 2017 at 10:19 pm

    Thanks to Peter Honeyman, Michigan was one of the first places outside of CMU to use AFS.

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  53. beb said on November 1, 2017 at 11:07 pm

    Here’s why liberals will never be able to understand Trump supporters:
    https://www.vox.com/2016/9/9/12843120/rolling-coal-government-overreach

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  54. Dexter said on November 2, 2017 at 4:16 am

    Random thoughts… I wasn’t a dumb kid…I always read the morning paper when I was 13, just before I delivered a big bag of newspapers to the townsfolk. Both the paper’s headlines as well as Walter Cronkite in the evening told us reports like “220 Americans killed last week in Vietnam”, as I did the math & figurin’…only a few years before my turn. Numbers numb . Once we got used to 220 weekly dead reports, 170 dead the next week seemed like a victory. Small hope for guys who were coming slowly into draft age. Now the draft is long gone…how nice it must be for kids able to channel their futures and not worry about dying in the military.

    Massachusetts wants to move into the Maritime time zone? I wonder how that’s going.

    Craft beer industries have Budweiser quaking in their boots I hear…but also all I see people buying is coconut water and flavored seltzers, so I suppose Coca-Cola is off as well…but around here their DaSani water is big…in New York it’s Poland Springs everywhere. Personally, maybe 10 cans of diet soda per week in summer’s hottest, but it’s coffee always, and much more in cool weather. I might drink 4 sodas a week in winter.

    Zorn posted the funniest Huck photo-comparison…one side Uncle Fester with one bug-eye and one squint-eye, and then Huck-Sanders in the same pose…ah—here it is…his readers (some) called him out, claiming ugly-shaming I guess https://i.imgflip.com/1yi8ia.jpg

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  55. Suzanne said on November 2, 2017 at 7:00 am

    I never thought I’d say I miss Mr Spicer, but when he was press secretary, I always kind of felt that he knew he was in on the joke, knew he was throwing out a big bundle of BS, but, meh, it was a job in the White House, so whatever. Ms Sanders is a horse of a different color. I think she really believes the garbage she spews. After seeing Dexter’s picture, I may have to start calling her Aunt Fester.

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  56. Deborah said on November 2, 2017 at 7:09 am

    “One bug eye, one squint eye” is the perfect description of that look.

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  57. alex said on November 2, 2017 at 7:39 am

    Ugly-shaming hell. It’s really rather unfair to Uncle Fester. He doesn’t deserve to be compared to a malicious liar.

    And I see Kevin Spacey’s stock continues to tumble, although the naked opportunism in at least one of the stories comes across as more shameful than the alleged transgression itself. PTSD from having your junk grabbed in a gay bar? Really? If I could have PTSD for every time I’ve been inappropriately grabbed in gay bars I’d be a permanent inmate in the booby hatch, and so would anyone else who’s ever frequented gay bars. It comes with the turf.

    https://www.salon.com/2017/11/01/three-more-step-forward-to-accuse-kevin-spacey-of-sexual-harassment-and-assault/

    In Chicago over the weekend I found myself chuckling over an old memory while driving down Ashland Avenue past the site of a dirty bookstore now occupied by a gleaming new midrise condo building. It was on that sidewalk one Sunday morning that I was meeting friends for brunch at a nearby restaurant, also gone. My friends, who were approaching from about 100 feet away saw this coming. A dirty old man exiting the dirty bookstore was studying my ass as I stood on the sidewalk, unaware of him. He gave me a playful grope and then took off running. I wasn’t traumatized and still find it as funny now as I did then.

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  58. brian stouder said on November 2, 2017 at 9:50 am

    OK – so we have another terror attack, only this is a crazy white guy in Colorado, and we’re not being told what his religion (if any) is.

    And Fox News is, today, busy attacking NBC for a report wherein they spoke with local folks who were concerned that their churches/religion might be targeted for revenge, in the wake of the NYC terror attack.

    I’d call this willful ignorance…but really – it is more like informed hate-mongering, on the part of Fox News. (Color me ‘surprised’!)

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