Seems like I've heard this one before...

Ramblings Post #399
First, let's be clear. I do NOT have an OnlyFans account. I mean, as a customer, not as a creator. Not either one. Seriously, I'm barely suitable to show my face in public. The idea of taking off my shirt and preserving those images for posterity (or the internet - same thing) might get deported from the planet. Yes, I've lost some weight, I think, but for me to get camera fine would involve an act of God and plastic surgery. I've said it before and I'll say it again, my biggest asset is a lovely personality. I'm a delight!

I could never bring myself to give OnlyFans any money. Don't get me wrong the women seemed...interesting. And a number of them supposedly were surprisingly relatable. I understand that one of the features was that the women would actually interact with followers regularly, and that it wasn't just a show on the internet. And for those people who performed, it provided a safe environment in which to work since it was all virtual. Which actually says a lot more about the state of society than I'm gonna comment on this post. Oh, I've given money to worse endeavors, I assure you. But something about it just didn't sit right with me.

And now the good folks there have banned (or are going to ban) content not safe for work, and go back to what they were doing before. Um...

Let me explain. While my only involvement with OnlyFans was to occasionally ignore the young woman who would follow me on twitter so she entice me to open my wallet on her behalf, I did have an account with another site called Tumblr (which I've admitted here before and I'm sorry). That actually wasn't a half-bad hangout, a interesting mix of photo collages, art, creations, gaming stuff, stories, and just whatever someone wanted to put on there. It was free form, and could be almost magazine like if done right. There was a little eye candy too, but what got me started was the vast array of imagery, some of which I have used on this very blog. And the eye candy.

Anyway, when I say I've heard this one before, well, the creative and eclectic Tumblr already mapped out this future. A few years ago, the then very popular Tumblr was purchased for $1.1 billion dollars. It was going to be a multi-media powerhouse to rival Facebook that had grown organically, so the future was bright. And to protect that future post the sale the site pretty much banished the adult content, all that eye candy, behind multiple-multiple impediments. Essentially they just hid them away and put a lock on the door. Well, within the first 90 days about 30% of their user-base packed up shop and headed for other parts of the internet. Whoosh. I'm not saying the two events were connected, but hey. So you think there would be a lesson there. I would, but apparently not. 

Tumblr did all things....

As much as THE OWNERS don't want to admit it, for investor purposes, adult content pretty much MADE OnlyFans. While the platform was originally was designed to showcase musical and other artists with small but devoted followings, it was barely on my radar prior to the shift to more ...interesting content and I stays on the internet. I mean with Tumblr the draw of the adult stuff wasn't as clear, but here the brand has become attractive women saying "come check out my OnlyFans!" Which is kind of definitive. And as I've said over and over again, IP is not a fungible as people think it is. You would expect change of something like this to be gradual, not a hard and fast turn.  

Just last year OnlyFans handled some $2 billion in revenue on sales $12.5 billion through this portal, something most sites not named Amazon would kill for. Quite a bit of that was the adult stuff. So what is going on here? Why the hard turn? Well, to be honest this is greed. The company is trying to get "valuation" which is investor talk for "even more money" but like by the end of the quarter. Yes, it grew organically, but now the owners are done with that. And just like with Tumblr this cleaning up the site is part of the getting valuation process, because investment groups hate porn. (I started laughing as soon as wrote that.) Now that they've got a "BRAND" they're hoping to convert the platform back to the musical artists and other influencers. *giggles*

Just so we're clear, how did that cleaning up the adult stuff work out for Tumblr and its deal? Well, let's see, they ended up being sold again not too long after in 2019 for ...checks notes... $3 million doll ...checks notes again....um, million? THREE Million?  

Whoa.

But it could work this time, what do I know?

Barkeep, it's me. I used to come in here all the time. I'm the guy that orders the bourbon when the vodka is free. Remember? Yeah, I'm that guy! 

Never fight a land war in Asia...

This is a political post.

This morning, as I sometimes do, I took a peek at Reddit. Sometimes it's something funny, gets my day going with a chuckle or laugh. They have some neat architecture stuff, gaming, movie stuff and writing prompts to flex my creativity. Everything really. It replaced Facebook for me. But this morning it was...not good.  

This morning I watched video of people desperate to escape Afghanistan running alongside and then clinging to the exterior of a plane DURING takeoff. 

The end of the video isn't from a movie...

This is a shitshow.

This whole "action" was a shitshow at the start. It was a shitshow under every President who presided over it (...including my man Barry!), it's a shitshow now and because of how we're leaving it will be a shitshow in the future. I think the United States should very much think about getting out of the Nation Building business. Democracy R Us might need to close up shop. We had twenty years, most of a generation, and we wasted it. Instead of  developing infrastructure, or building up small local industries to help alleviate poverty, a mass education system or building up political parties we simply set the stage for the sequel to our ignominious Vietnam exit. The country we "liberated" didn't last 14 whole days without us standing there propping it up. And now the women and children we filled with hope will pay the price.  

And a good part of this is the current administration's fault - I mean, who didn't see this coming and why didn't we try to mitigate it. People have been screaming about getting the translators who worked with the troops out of the country for months. Yet we sat around looking at each other like we were sure some "other" agency would handle it, or if we waited long enough the problem would just go away. I see pictures of Taliban fighters holding US weapons now, because apparently the idea to take our toys with us never even occurred to anyone. There will be explanations in the future, reasonable explanations and reasons why X or Y didn't occur or fell out of the timetable. Some we'll be okay with, others we will not. But here every mistake here isn't a dollar value, but an actual human life that might be over, or worse just beginning the dark days ahead. One does not cling to the outside of a jet hoping to be carried away if one does not believe whatever you're leaving will be worse.    

By the way, the folks over at Ya'Queda are busy trying to pretend that Cheato's "historic peace summit" with the Taliban just last administration, and his invitation to them to come to Camp David, are merely figments of our imagination. Even now some conservatives look at the Taliban's plan to ban gay marriage, abortions and vaccinations and wonder if they were on the wrong side all along. That's just disturbing. Last year the GOP were screaming that Biden would have us at war forever, while Cheato would end it and bring our troops home. Well, the Dems actually followed through on the past administration's plans. And this is where we end up. *Sigh*

If this is where we're going, and it looks like it is, then we need to start expediting the process for getting those out who want to leave... yesterday. We may have gone in with the best of intentions, but like most things of late it turned into a ideological farce covering up a cash grab. And we are responsible. But then cleaning up messes caused by Republicans *cough* Bush *cough* is what the Democrats do best. 

The plane is supposed to hold 102. They squeezed in 800.

Bar Chatter

Bar Chatter #39
When it's not enough to make a post, but deserves to go out to the world... it's just Bar Chatter.  

I play NBA2K. I took the Magic to the Championship in my second year, don't front. But I also play that other mode. That mode that almost nobody plays but is so interesting to me. That other is Franchise mode, where you have to run a franchise - hire a head coach, figure out the practice focus, set the rotations, decide the pace and style of play, deal with injuries, scout future players and, interestingly enough, manage the SALARY CAP.

I said that to say....HOW IN THE HELL DID THE Lakers DO THIS?

They got Bron Bron and Anthony Davis, somehow snookered a trade that got them the services of Russell Westbrook and now can somehow still get an admittedly older Carmelo Anthony?  I mean, I realize Carmelo is at this point chasing a ring and probably only give you 15 to 20 good minutes a night, but he still putting up double figures. Somebody call the commissioner because something is screwy in Hollywood. Even if it was mathematically possible, and this shouldn't be, the Lakers might be in salary cap hell until 2055 behind this. 

This ain't right ya'll. You couldn't do this with a cheat code and you damn sure shouldn't be able to do this in real life.  

It's like he selling Monorails, I swear...