Posts made by bi4smooth

@anythingold said in Showing My Age Now.:

@bi4smooth

You couldn't get much more private than a BBS.

That is somewhat less true than you know. We were just individuals - and sometimes the cops came calling... different sysops handled things differently.

I actually helped organize other local sysops (gay, straight, non-sexual BBSes all together) to help standardize how we did things (learn from each other). Many of us (BBS Owners) would get requests by police from time to time! They were NOT oblivious!

Brevard County Sheriffs knew me and knew I was happy to help when it was a case of violence, or theft, or the like... but NOT willing to help in (the thankfully rare) case of "outing someone" (mostly they didn't care if you were gay, but sometimes I'd get subpoenaed in a divorce case (trying to prove infidelity, esp same-sex infidelity) or some lame indecency suit... we did NOT comply with those, and I had some limited ACLU support in that.)

Honestly, the only cases where we (BCSD and I) truly butted heads were the prostitution cases... I wouldn't support giving up data for that.

So, by way of examples:

• Is/Was Bob Smith a member of your system (will not answer)
• Is the user aaa actually Bob Smith (will not answer)
• Is Bob Smith actually the user aaa (will not answer)
• We already know Bob Smith is user aaa - is he of legal age? (IF TRUE, we provide copy of ID. IF NOT, we did not - and we wouldn't allow "fishing" either...)
• We believe Bob Smith is engaging in prostitution, can we read their messages and confirm? (will not answer)
• Bob Smith was attacked, and we believe he was setup by users on your BBS... (We had this happen: We got Bob's permission* - then WE (not police) perused "Bob"'s messages and determined that he WAS setup. We provided ALL copies of his messages to/fro the attacker & I testified in court. Lawyers wanted ALL of their (perp's) messages, but I declined to provide that. I DID, however, send a note to ALL PERSONS the offender messaged on our system, giving them the scoop and providing a police number to report any additional offenses to.

The point is, though, some SysOps would comply completely with the police, and in some jurisdictions, those were fishing expeditions - trying to "out the queers" and charge them with indecency for posting nude pictures!

(Remember: at dial-up speeds, you got PICS, not VIDEOS!)

@nhuixnhuix

Excellent question.

MY PERSONAL definition of a twink is a lithe (skinny), smooth body, likely a little smaller than average, and often moderately to more effeminate.

MY PERSONAL definition doesn't include age...

I LOVE TWINKS OF ALL AGES!

@ricky

I used to run/host a 6-line BBS system for LGBTQ (just "gays and lesbians" back then!) on the Space Coast of Florida.

The best part of it was that I didn't have to download the images - they were right there on my system!

I had some problems with it when I had a BF though - he would login and do things (read other people's messages, approve memberships, etc) without my knowledge. He let a couple of kids join (I always required ID - he was more interested that they were cute!), and that nearly got me shutdown!

The BBS (I named it Space Coast MOTSS after the UseNet group MOTSS - for Members Of The Same Sex) long outlived my relationship with my ex (he was actually my first ever boyfriend!)... but I closed it down when I moved to the west coast of Florida ca. 1992.

Six modems back in the day (14.4kbps - v.32bis!)!
We were one of only 2 in the area that had multiple lines, so you might - might - actually be able to chat live with someone!

@raphjd

Come now - do you really think George Floyd is the first black man killed at the hands of police? What made that case blow up was solely the fact that it was captured - in its entirety - on video, and then made public. Plus the fact that it took over 8-minutes for the man to die - slowly - as the policeman showed complete indifference.

Take that one facet away, and he's just another statistic!

The truth is, death by cop is an epidemic in our country - and with easily defined reasons:

• Police are not trained to de-escalate a situation! Rather, they are trained to escalate and gain control of the situation! Often with tragic consequences - and not just the civilians!
• Police are given advanced tactical gear (largely military), and often are looking for a reason to use it (to justify maintaining it, for one!)
• Police are trained in military-style attack methods - often mirroring the military's training. This is actually counter to the primary function we give to our Police: to preserve the peace.

As a result, the Police often act as-if the public were the enemy, and that virtually all situations are potentially violent.

IMHO, we need to re-think what we want out of our Police force... Do we want Robo-Cop (who shoots first and asks questions later)? Or, do we want Adam-12: (Reference to a 1960's and 70's police drama about 2 LA police officers who routinely went out of their way to help people, catch the really bad guys, and sometimes give people who need it a break.)??

@raphjd

I'm sorry, if you payed as much attention to the goofball (and frankly, just as dangerous) ideas coming from the RIGHT as you do the LEFT, you'd see why the MSM just doesn't think it's newsworthy -- at least, not until it gains traction....

When you only have 22 minutes (or even 45!) to present the news (allowing for all the commercials that interrupt), combined with the desire to do a "deep dive" on one or two of them, and there is just precious little "space" to report on the pop-up fringe nutball ideas - even the dangerous ones...

That doesn't take away from the fact that both the far-left and the far-right are becoming even more radical in these times... and, in-fact both are becoming dangerous... it's just that there's so much ELSE out there that is "of consequence"...

BTW: That's why MSM came up with their NEWS magazine shows - 60 minutes, Dateline, 20/20, and so forth...

And cable news? Sheesh - they have the opposite problem... there just isn't 24-hours worth of actual news out there to report on in MOST 24-hour period! They need filler - and these hyper-extreme stories can sometimes fill the void...

Funny - now that we're in the Information Age we're REALLY STRUGGLING with clear and important aspects of Communication!

@raphjd

Of course I think it's wrong... I think it's "wacky" wrong...

But the part of your post I replied to was the part about MSM not reporting on it!

The point I was trying to make is that I see this kind of "wacky" (just plain bad) idea on the leftist and rightist sites all the time... they don't get traction - usually not even on their own networks - and the bad concept dies a quick and quiet (and well-deserved) death...

In other words, the MSM doesn't cover this kind of dumb idea unless (until?) it starts to gain traction in the wacky world from which it originates - unless they're doing a segment on stupid things that should have never been said or something...

You know the segments: where they look at how they convinced themselves that we'd all be in flying cars by 2000!

@raphjd

I should point out that I also peruse the BBC, DW, GlobalTV, and other "international" news outlets - I try not to be US-Centric...

And for the record, some of those outlets have a "political bent" as well - I think it's really hard to present news without some kind of angle. Further, I think the appearance of impartiality we like to remember about the newscasters of old is a beautiful illusion

@ricky said in Trump VS Biden LGBTQ:

Would someone that is anonymous, need privacy?

Actually, the privacy concern there would be the maintenance of their anonymity.

@duke4172

I'm not so sure about histrionics (and from @raphjd? Pot meet kettle!)

But it certainly has a liberal bent... that said, a lot of the "acceptance" of LGBTQ people are progressive ideals.

The terms "Conservative", "Liberal", "Progressive", "Libertarian" and so forth can be applied to many very different "parts" of our politics.

For example, I consider myself a Conservative on many fiscal and government policy areas. I consider myself a Progressive Libertarian (both) on most social issues (in a nutshell: leave people alone to live their personal lives they way they want, so long as it doesn't actually hurt others!)

In a broad sense, I think our American (and global) Society is being challenged on 2 major fronts:

• the lack of privacy (everything seems to be everyone else's business these days!)
• the rise of anonymity (the true test of a man is how he acts when he thinks no one is watching -- and most of our Society fails this test!!)

Until we can find ways to ensure people's privacy, and at the same time hold people accountable for their actions (even verbal/texted ones) -- seemingly opposite issues -- we're going to struggle...

@bc22

I've posted about this before....

The reason Obama, Trump, and now Biden can make all of these Executive Orders is because there is no controlling law. I think Biden hit it on the head when he said he wasn't creating law, he was creating policy!

It's up to the Legislature to make LAW - and when they do, Presidential Executive Orders are either codified into law, or overturned by the law.

This is a symptom of a totally broken congress.

It was broken under Republican "rule" in Obama's term, it was broken (even worse?) under Trump's term... it remains to see just how broken it remains in Biden's...

And the result is that we all get whiplash when a new President comes in and starts changing all the "policy" - for which there are no laws!

Congress needs to pull its head out of its collective ass and start passing laws! Start by evaluating the Trump version and the Biden version of some of these Executive Orders... get together and negotiate a middle-ground that both sides hate equally! Codify it into law, and STOP THE MADNESS!

@raphjd

I get my news from multiple sources.... some Internet, some "print", almost none "cable news"

It is a fair charge to say I can't speak directly to what's on FoxNews or MSNBC airwaves (a misnomer, as neither is a broadcaster!)... because I can't watch either, except to watch clips online.

There's a good reason for that: I cut the cable years ago What little "live" TV I watch is through *https://locast.org" - a re-broadcaster of over-the-air TV signals...

I like to watch the Atlanta area news, even though I don't live there anymore.

My VPN provider makes that easy LOL

As for online news: I read from several sites: some liberal, some conservative (I won't name them here)... the stories that I believe are the ones that are reported by ALL of them

As for the "political" take, I am smart enough to filter that out - filter it out of foxnews.com, filter it out of cnn.com, and filter it out of the others.

@raphjd said in MSNBC Suggests Using Drone Strikes Against American Citizens:

https://newspunch.com/msnbc-suggests-using-drone-strikes-against-american-citizens/

MSNBC is a poor imitation of successful right-wing media badly attempted by the left. Seeing the success the likes of Rush Limbaugh (who I don't always agree with, but you cannot [or should not] ignore his success!), they're an experiment in trying to do the same to the base of the Left.

In short: MSNBC is a Fox News wannabe... a failed wannabe at that!

But he truth is, we should not have either! At least not from the same companies who claim to bring us real news! (and what I mean by that is that the same media outlets that purport to provide unbiased news shouldn't also be spouting one political side or another on the same channel - or with the same name).

Newsmax doesn't even pretend to be "real news" - it's political, and they revel in it! Fox News and MSNBC try (badly) to wrap their political agendas into news wrappers, and I find it offensive (on both sides).

Not surprisingly, MSM isn't reporting on this.

I'm not as surprised... MSM cares about real news, and MSNBC being leftist and purporting some lefty-wingnut idea is no more newsworthy than Newsmax being right-ist and purporting some right-wing nutjob idea.

maybe on a slow newsday, but with the Biden administration just starting to make this shit real (and starting to scare the pants off some who voted for him solely because he wasn't Trump) - combined with the absolute CIRCUS MAXIMUS that is the impeachment trial in the Senate... and there's just no room for another lefty (or righty) nutty idea that's DOA in the real world today.

Honestly, it's no more troubling to me that the Left is proposing to use drones to enforce the law (including, essentially, air-strikes! Really? Jeezzus!) than the Right proposing to crate Militias in each State to be prepared to forceably re-take "our Country" -- equally shocking, and equally covered (minimally) by MSM...

This is a FREE COUNTRY and Freedom IS NOT Free! We do have to put up with nutjob ideas published in public media! But, to be honest, I'm just as terrified of the far-right as I am of the far-left! Both are like waking up from a nightmare and seeing footprints in the carpet next to your bed! "Is this shit real?"

We are truly living in interesting times... Thanks for the curse!

@bc22 said in It haunts me.:

Posted a trimmed version on Reddit, and that is the version my partner read. Now the different bits and parts told over the years make sense.

My partner had two words for me.

FIND HIM

It sounds like you have a great partner who is mature enough not to be threatened by this.

Congrats for that, at least!

@raphjd

Your powers of mental gymnastics are truly amazing!

You belong in a circus!

Then again, you get it wrong so often, the organizers would go broke giving away prizes....

c'est la vie!

I would imagine I'll get far more pushback from our local wingnuts, but I am prepared for that...

@andergarcia said in THIS or THAT: the game:

Skinny dipping, no doubt about it. We have great beaches in Spain where you can practice nudism.

I have been to Malaga (technically, we visited Malaga, but stayed in Torremolinos!)
Beautiful beaches, beautiful naked bodies, but chilly water LOL!
(Anything to explain the small - when soft - penis!!! ROFL )

Sleeping naked or with pyjamas?

I don't sleep well with clothes on - too many years sleeping nude (since I was like 12!!) to change now!!
So - definitely naked

Next:

unusual for a gay forum (stereotype much?)... but...
It's SuperBowl Sunday!

Bucs or Chiefs?

@raphjd

Yeah, well this so-called-RINO was called this weekend by my local Republican Party to serve on a committee - a committee focusing on rebuking QAnon and returning our Party to one of true Conservative Values.

SANE minds will re-take this party!

@bc22 said in New York undercounted C-19 deaths:

I've called out others before. Things like this only reflects on you, not others. If you tell me Mother Teresa has ugly toes, I'll be looking at your sandals.

I admit, I sometimes allow myself to get overheated.

I should not have called @raphjd an idiot.

I was wrong. I apologize... to @raphjd and any other readers.

@andergarcia said in THIS or THAT: the game:

Fingerfuck or get fingerfucked?

OOmph! easy one there! I HATE fingers in my ass! Dicks and tongues are awesome - and most dildos are OK, but there's just something about fingers that makes my skin crawl!

Next:

Spit or swallow?

@andergarcia
There are lots of things you can do together, out of the house, that don't have to be in groups. My ex and I used to, for example:

• picnic in the park - for no special reason
• go for long walks around the neighborhood (we used to walk our dog together)
• go to the beach (or lake or river)... late at night! We used to put our beach chairs in the surf and have long, deep conversations. Once, we lost track of time and didn't get home until close to 3AM!
• Drive - and play your own version of carpool karaoke (our rules were that we got to pick our own songs on the way there, but pick each other's songs on the ride home!)
• if you're into it, play a board-game or card game together (David loved to play Uno!)
• we had a noisy and busy household (6 of my kids lived with us!) - so, sometimes we'd get fast food and just park somewhere... stay in the car and eat our meal with just us...
• I don't know if you live (or sleep) together, but for David and I, we never ever - even in the midst of fights - went to bed without saying I LOVE YOU (although it was sometimes: I still love you!). Additionally, we never left the house without saying goodbye and I love you....

@raphjd said in New York undercounted C-19 deaths:

Biden was and still is protected by the media.

You silly twit - once the Biden Administration actually gets up and running, the media will be scrutinizing them too... They're already complaining that Biden has done even more executive orders than Trump!

Umm, who won their election with the highest majority?

Ummm... in 2016:

• Trump won 46.1% of the vote
• Clinton won 48.2% of the vote - that's a margin of negative 2.1%
• Trump won the Electoral College vote 304-227

and in 2020:

• Trump won 46.9% of the vote
• Biden won 51.3% of the vote
• Biden won the Electoral College vote 306-232

(If you look closely: in 2016 there were 7 "unfaithful" electors in the Electoral College - thankfully, not enough to sway the outcome though. There were no unfaithful electors in 2020.)

I think BY ANY MEASURE, Trump was a loser in 2020...

Trump is only toxic because the media like, as they did with MS-13 and countless others.

What the f^ck? Do you write these things when you're drunk?

You don't like Trump because you believe the media lies.

Again, thank you for the personal inventory. I know I have difficulty speaking for myself, and making my own thoughts and opinions heard, so I really appreciate it when you do it for me... such kindness and consideration....

BTW: I don't like Trump because: he cheapened the office of the US Presidency, brought ridicule and derision from the rest of the world to the office, and because he was authoritarian - thinking he had powers that were virtually unlimited. In a word, he was a CLOWN and had no business being the "leader of the free world".

Frankly, I'm embarrassed that my party didn't have the fortitude or strength in 2016 to do in the primary season what the Dems did in 2020: recognize that a loser was going to be the standard-bearer if we didn't rally behind a mainstream candidate, and before it was too late drop out of the race and get the mainstream candidate firmly in place.

• In 2016, the scary Republican candidate (who had no business being there) was Trump
• In 2020, the scary Democratic candidate (who had no business being there) was Sanders

The Republicans rode with Trump right into a dumpster fire in 2016.
But in 2020, the Democrats avoided their own version of a dumpster fire when virtually every mainstream candidate dropped out in the primaries and stood behind Joe Biden - so that the nut-job Sanders wouldn't be their standard-bearer.

For the record: The Republican Party should be proud and honored to be the Party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Reagan, George HW Bush, and John McCain! But we should also be contrite in also being the party of Johnson, Hayes, McGovern, Nixon, ... and now, Trump, who is destined to go down in infamy. NOT the worst President in history, but certainly giving some of those other ass clowns from the Civil War era (like Andrew Johnson - who, to his credit, was only impeached once) a run for their money!

The problem with the RNC is that it is controlled by swamp monsters and RINOs who cuck to the DNC.

You're just an idiot. Actual facts don't matter, only the fact that your Pumpkin King lost...
EDIT: I shouldn't have posted that...

So you know: the RNC CONSISTENTLY outperforms expectations... expectations of the mainscream media and conservative outlets alike!!

In 2020 alone, the expectations were:

• Trump would lose badly
  He didn't: it was way closer than anyone (other than Trump) legitimately thought...
• Dems would take the Senate by 1-3 seats
  They didn't - it's a 50/50 split, and if Trump had stayed out of the GA Senate runoffs, the Republicans would be holding a 52-48 edge in the Senate today! But Trump's divisiveness energized the Dems and we lost BOTH seats (though we should be able to get one of those back in 2022, when the Democratic electorate won't be so energized
• Dems would take a wider - a much wider - lead in the House! A Juggernaut!
  They didn't: They lost seats, and in fact, it's one of the closest House "balances" in decades!
  Also: GAINING seats in the House while LOSING the Presidency - both in raw votes and in the Electoral College - is extremely rare in US politics!
• Dems would win in the State legislatures, setting them up for having control of a majority of them when redistricting happens due to the 2020 Census
  Again, they didn't. In fact, Republicans GAINED control of 2 more state legislative bodies! It's now 61-37-2!
  Lose my ass!

The REAL DATA is CLEAR: There is NOTHING wrong with the RNC leadership! They tried, and couldn't get a self-destructive, self-aggrandized, self-important, clownishly orange-painted moron (who thought the country in 2020 was the same as it was in 2016) re-elected... but hey, they almost did!