The Goat Pen

eCat wrote:

Cletus wrote:You also may have a bleeding ulcer. If it's black, you probably don't have colon cancer so that's good.

colonoscopy 2 weeks ago

I can believe the bleeding ulcer part though. Serious cramping in my stomach for 2 weeks now

I had a bleeding ulcer about 5 years ago. I had jet black shit at about 7 am and was in the ICU at 5 pm. I lost a lot of blood very quickly. It was not cool.

Cletus wrote:

eCat wrote:

Cletus wrote:You also may have a bleeding ulcer. If it's black, you probably don't have colon cancer so that's good.

colonoscopy 2 weeks ago

I can believe the bleeding ulcer part though. Serious cramping in my stomach for 2 weeks now

I had a bleeding ulcer about 5 years ago. I had jet black shit at about 7 am and was in the ICU at 5 pm. I lost a lot of blood very quickly. It was not cool.

that does sound bad - no I don't have that

I've had the worst hemorrhoids for the past 3 days. I ended up getting an old toothbrush and running scalding water over it and then ever so gently scrubbing the inflammation. That was one of the best feeling s I've ever had

Considering the types of shit we talk about in here, it's quite rare for the thought "too much information" to ever pop into my mind. This, however, is most assuredly one of those times...

The Rise of the Unprotected.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-and-t ... 1456448550

It's going to take far more than a toothbrush to scour that image from my brain. I'm not sure 40-grit industrial grade sandpaper would suffice...

Yeah make sure to bring your own toothbrush over to Stu's house. I can see Stu giving Hedge ole roid scratcher, probably on purpose.

Well let us be honest. It was probably one of those vibrating toothbrushes and if he was scratching anything, it was on the inside.

I don't like the direction this thread is taking. Not one bit...

This is making eCat's bell's palsey sound like a spa weekend...

It's all about the shrimp.

Jungle Rat wrote:It's all about the shrimp.

I had forgotten about that

This week was not nearly that bad

I hate to derail any toothbrush up the ass discussion but I though this was intereseting

Apple Inc. has come out swinging in its pitched battle with the government on its home turf.

But when it comes to its second-largest market, China, the Cupertino, Calif., company has been far more accommodating.

Since the iPhone was officially introduced in China seven years ago, Apple has overcome a national security backlash there and has censored apps that wouldn't pass muster with Chinese authorities. It has moved local user data onto servers operated by the state-owned China Telecom and submits to security audits by Chinese authorities.

The approach contrasts with Apple's defiant stance against the FBI, which is heaping pressure on the company to decrypt an iPhone that belonged to San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook.

The years-long strategy in China is paying off at a crucial time. While sales of Apple products have flatlined or declined in the U.S., Europe and Japan, business in the company's greater China region continues to soar — to a record $59 billion last year. The Asian giant surpassed the U.S. last year as the No. 1 buyer of iPhones and could one day be the largest market for Apple Pay, the mobile payment platform that was rolled out for Chinese consumers last week.

Well, we certainly don't want to be like the Chinese when it comes to freedoms, no doubt, and while Apple did not give the encryption keys to the Chinese government, they made it easy for them to monitor their citizens' web activity. The decision was more pragmatic than anything. Other companies were already complying with Chinese demands, and Chinese companies were already selling reverse-engineered knock-off iPhones.


Apple's capitulation to the Chinese government brings up an interesting discussion: In the end, do we want Apple to give in to the Feds and allow our government and freedoms to more closely mirror China's government and freedoms? Because we seem to be getting closer to that as a nation. The NSA's actions alone over the last 20 years are shocking, chilling. Do we give them another tool?

And I STILL love that the Feds had the passcode, looked in the phone, changed the password, and then forgot what they changed it to. Of course, some believe this is just a ruse to get what they really want.

AlabamAlum wrote:Well, we certainly don't want to be like the Chinese when it comes to freedoms, no doubt, and while Apple did not give the encryption keys to the Chinese government, they made it easy for them to monitor their citizens' web activity. The decision was more pragmatic than anything. Other companies were already complying with Chinese demands, and Chinese companies were already selling reverse-engineered knock-off iPhones.


Apple's capitulation to the Chinese government brings up an interesting discussion: In the end, do we want Apple to give in to the Feds and allow our government and freedoms to more closely mirror China's government and freedoms? Because we seem to be getting closer to that as a nation. The NSA's actions alone over the last 20 years are shocking, chilling. Do we give them another tool?

We can talk about not becoming China, and while there is some merit in that discussion lets just not give too much praise to Apple on them fighting for our freedoms.

The protection wouldn't exist if it wasn't part of a greater plan to maximize revenue - and in the case of China, they chose revenue over fighting for the privacy of Chinese citizens.

If Apple were about to lose 15m users in the U.S. because of this encryption, it would go away as fast you can say mass update patch.

How can you stand up and talk about fighting for the privacy of American citizens as some patriotic value they owe their customers and then cave to the Chinese in order to access their market.

"The NSA's actions alone over the last 20 years are shocking, chilling. Do we give them another tool?"

An even more chilling question is, do we want to give Stu another tool to brush his asshole with?

eCat wrote:

AlabamAlum wrote:Well, we certainly don't want to be like the Chinese when it comes to freedoms, no doubt, and while Apple did not give the encryption keys to the Chinese government, they made it easy for them to monitor their citizens' web activity. The decision was more pragmatic than anything. Other companies were already complying with Chinese demands, and Chinese companies were already selling reverse-engineered knock-off iPhones.


Apple's capitulation to the Chinese government brings up an interesting discussion: In the end, do we want Apple to give in to the Feds and allow our government and freedoms to more closely mirror China's government and freedoms? Because we seem to be getting closer to that as a nation. The NSA's actions alone over the last 20 years are shocking, chilling. Do we give them another tool?

We can talk about not becoming China, and while there is some merit in that discussion lets just not give too much praise to Apple on them fighting for our freedoms.

The protection wouldn't exist if it wasn't part of a greater plan to maximize revenue - and in the case of China, they chose revenue over fighting for the privacy of Chinese citizens.

If Apple were about to lose 15m users in the U.S. because of this encryption, it would go away as fast you can say mass update patch.

I praise Apple for this decision. Whether their actions have a profit motive or not is irrelevant to me; it was the right decision. The China situation was not winnable as a corporate entity. And, no doubt, if he US says "either give us what you gave the Chinese or don't do business here," Apple will comply before they would perish as a company. I do not expect altruism from businesses. If they chose a path that helps secure their profits and my freedoms, I will still be in their corner even if their driving point was the former as opposed to the latter.

was not winnable as a corporate entity

is that another way of saying compromise your principles for profit?


and that is assuming Apple actually has principles.

I'm just not a fan of this faux patriotism they are pushing when profit motive is the driver.

again, I also don't think they should hand over the keys to the encryption to the government, but I do think they should help the government get the information they need to the best of their ability based on a valid warrant.

I don't see this as Patriot Act bullshit.

Some of my readings from the past week...

Matt Tiabbi goes in on Trump in his normally prickly, yet funny (to me), way... http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/ne ... e-20160224

What REALLY went down with that German pilot who decided to commit suicide by plane and take a whole slew of people with him... http://www.gq.com/story/germanwings-fli ... al-moments

The creator Deadwood and NYPD Blue is an addict and blew $100M over the years...http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/featur ... led-866184

How FIFA took its dirt nap from the NY Attorney General... http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_ ... -took-fifa