Tuesday

NYT: "How concentrated has wealth become in the globalized modern world? Here’s one answer: Just eight of the richest people on earth own as much combined wealth as half the human race." ... ... Time: "Trump will take office as the least popular incoming president in at least four decades, according to the survey." Trump tweets: "The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before." ... ... I'm letting the cats go this afternoon. It's expected to be another stormy night. They have already been in for a couple of nights. They are restless and were wrestling this morning with each other as hard as they ever have in a long time. I say, let them tear up mom's plum tree instead! and maybe give the litter box a little break. ... ... In one of his trips through Paris, in 1944, Orwell has a nasty little squabble with a cabbie. He later figures, "With my English accent I had appeared to him as a symbol of the idle, patronizing foreign tourists who had done their best to turn France into something midway between a museum and a brothel." [Essays, p. 750] ... ... Another loss! Damn, I thought I had Free Cell cracked. When I flirted with the game to see about bringing it back into my repertoire, I won the first three games flat and decided that this might be a fun game indeed. But then I lost the next five games straight. Pi asks, "Does that man you are going to drop the game, again?" Hah, funny! No, I like having the little brain teaser now. It helps that I know I can win the game. It's supposed to be an easy game, though. I wonder what I can be doing wrong. "Maybe that's the tease!" So close, yet so far. "That is precisely the art of the tease." You should know. ... ... Someone posted at Motherless a couple of hundred videos from the Max Hardcore oeuvre. I imagine that they will be deleted. Surely people have tried before. In any case, this little collection doesn't seem to have anything that has some strong rapey vibes to it. If only Max could be in his prime today! Now that rape scenes are acceptable, it would be interesting to see what he might do with this freedom. ... Hmm, checking out Wikipedia, it seems that he has returned to porn since leaving prison. I wonder what his new stuff might be like. Not a clip seems to have made it to the free-streaming sites to give one an idea. ... Since Norton gave the green light, I dared to check out his official website. I didn't dare to navigate around it, but judging from the front page, it does not appear that he has gotten bolder in bringing out the rape themes. Maybe he is going for the mainstream American trade, the stuff that you can rent at adult shops, which might not be as free as the Internet - forget the chikan stuff! for instance.