lookin

Since they did away with almost all the public toilets, this could be a major inconvenience for lots of folks. Fortunately, I think I've got a backup plan.

Thanks to you folks who speak up and, beyond that, offer alternatives! How handy to have a nearby auto full of great CD's!

Yikes! In all senses of the word, glad you're back. If I recall, your Thiago was worth going back to. Hope things keep looking up from here.

Just a bandaid until we can start raising prices

Add me to those who enjoyed the insights on racial dynamics in Brazil, especially those in Salvador. Not to mention, I expect my dream guy is a coffee-skinned, green-eyed beauty even now cavorting on a beach in Bahia and waiting for me to settle into a lounge chair with a smile and a fistful of reals. I'm a big fan of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown series and he recently did one on Bahia. It's still streaming on Netflix for anyone who's interested. What struck me was the presence of music and dance, pretty much everywhere and all the time. Not sure if that was editing, or reality, but I hope to find out one day. One thing Bourdain pointed out is that, in places like Rio, all the beach bodies were perfect whereas, in Bahia, there's much more variety. Not sure if you recent travelers noticed that, but it would be interesting to hear if you did. Thanks again, for whatever you care to post.

Summa, Ah say summa mah bes' friends are chickenhawks!

Once again, Tomcal's archives prove equal to the task.

OK, here's Robert McCrum's ten best opening lines from The Guardian in 2012. You can always give me Wodehouse: Into the face of the young man who sat on the terrace of the Hotel Magnifique at Cannes there had crept a look of furtive shame, the shifty, hangdog look which announces that an Englishman is about to talk French. - The Luck of the Bodkins (1935)

Not much of a literary critic here but join you in finding nothing in the snippet I read that pulls me in for more. Now comes a review in The New York Times that suggests Atticus Finch was a racist in later life. And this has brought no less a critic than Al Sharpton to the fore. Something tells me that the publisher who first read Go Set a Watchman all those years ago and suggested that Harper Lee go back and try again may have been onto something. Atticus Finch is a racist in To Kill a Mockingbird’s sequel

Oh, my. I think he needs to wash them.

Terrific!

Demands by US and British security agencies for access to encrypted communication data have been dealt a serious blow in a report by an influential group of cryptographers and computer scientists who dismiss the move as unprincipled and unworkable. (Ross) Anderson (professor of security engineering at Cambridge University) added: A point I would like to make to the prime minister and his circle is: whoever put the prime minister up to this should get a complete bollocking. The proposals are wrong in principle and unworkable in practice. UK and US demands to access encrypted data are 'unprincipled and unworkable' Keys Under Doormats Abstract Twenty years ago, law enforcement organizations lobbied to require data and communication services to engineer their products to guarantee law enforcement access to all data. After lengthy debate and vigorous predictions of enforcement channels “going dark,” these attempts to regulate the emerging Internet were abandoned. In the intervening years, innovation on the Internet flourished, and law enforcement agencies found new and more effective means of accessing vastly larger quantities of data. Today we are again hearing calls for regulation to mandate the provision of exceptional access mechanisms. In this report, a group of computer scientists and security experts, many of whom participated in a 1997 study of these same topics, has convened to explore the likely effects of imposing extraordinary access mandates. We have found that the damage that could be caused by law enforcement exceptional access requirements would be even greater today than it would have been 20 years ago. In the wake of the growing economic and social cost of the fundamental insecurity of today’s Internet environment, any proposals that alter the security dynamics online should be approached with caution. Exceptional access would force Internet system developers to reverse “forward secrecy” design practices that seek to minimize the impact on user privacy when systems are breached. The complexity of today’s Internet environment, with millions of apps and globally connected services, means that new law enforcement requirements are likely to introduce unanticipated, hard to detect security flaws. Beyond these and other technical vulnerabilities, the prospect of globally deployed exceptional access systems raises difficult problems about how such an environment would be governed and how to ensure that such systems would respect human rights and the rule of law.

A somewhat different take here, as I welcome the side trips these threads often lead to. Some of my favorite excursions have been to places I wasn't planning to go. So thanks guys and I do hope you'll continue sharing your experiences and insights as the spirit moves.

The middle finger, you say? No wonder I didn't get into that fraternity!

Interesting posts, Blackoch. Thanks. A good reminder that, while there's plenty to complain about, every so often we get it right too. I guess it's human nature, at least for most, to concentrate on what needs fixin' and that's of value, no doubt. But it sure can't hurt to count the wins from time to time.

Or, at a minimum, not excreting it.

What the hell is AdamSmith up to? He's packin' up his kidneys and goin' to town.

The all-new Acme Letter Slut® - for folks who get lots of male -

If you wanna see something scary, help me outta these speedos!

Certainly appreciate the insights, marcusclaus! The other night, however, I was watching an Anthony Bordain program shot in Russia and there was unpleasant footage of gays being beaten up. From what I gathered, there is a segment of Russian society that is progressive, in strong opposition to government policies and Putin, and is outspoken to the point of putting themselves in danger. There is another segment that is much less enlightened and is very susceptible to fear-mongering and acting on those fears. It sounded like that mob was in the majority overall. Of course, as you are on the ground, your views carry a lot of weight. Still, should I ever find myself going to Russia, I don't think I'd pack my best babushka.

At Weird Sheri's Ranch in Pahrump, There's a hooker who's kind of a frump. She thrashes her gums Till her customer cums, And she does it while taking a dump.

Sure wish I had a dollar for every time we humans decide we need a new whiz-bang tool when we failed to properly use the ones we already had. I guess it's easier and sexier to net every fish in the pond and toss back the ones we don't want than it is to come up with a better lure. If the Patriot Act is really such a terrific piece of legislation, why did it take Edward Snowden to tell us what was in it? And why are so many of our elected officials mad at him for doing so? If we do keep it going, what happens when it inevitably fails to capture every last fish and one gets through? Do we get a Super Patriot Act? That road, in my opinion, leads to every U. S. citizen becoming, at one time or another, an enemy of the government. And vice versa.

Just be sure you discuss your policy on licking.

According to the prosecution, Hastert systematically withdrew about $1.7m from banks, and then periodically delivered payments to Individual A for four years. I bet he wishes he had that money back now! Fortunately, my own reputation is sufficiently shabby that spending $3.5 million to defend it wouldn't cross my mind, even if I had the ready cash. Thirty-five dollars, sure, maybe even three hundred and fifty but, beyond that, it can go and defend its own seedy self.

Next time you're in Rio, perhaps you can fetch your poor dog a bone.