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I was getting my morning coffee from the coffee shop near my house this morning. It was a quiet morning, and one of the girls took my usual order. I asked her how her weekend was and she giggled and said it was great. When I asked what she did, she said she plays DOTA2. I said "Shut Up!" and let her know that I also played DOTA2 as an evil Techies player (the most hated hero in the game). We talked for another minute as she wrote her playertag and phone number on a little slip of paper.

I also went in for breakfast last weekend with my wife, her sister and her husband. I had grabbed a table that had just been vacated and she came over to wipe it off. I asked how she was and she just started talking. She told me about her previous employer and how she hated it, and how she is much happier now.

I'm really bad at telling if a girl likes me or not, but I'm pretty sure she was flirting with me. It it just seemed too giggly and awkward to be a normal conversation, but I guess you can never be sure. Anyways, her name is Annie.

She has, I assume, a sister that also works there. They look almost identical. They might be identical twins, although I think her sister is a couple years older. I have a hard time telling them apart, but I'm like 80% sure that that I talked to the same one over the weekend as I did today... It would be a little awkward if I called her by her sister's name.

Anyways, I think she likes me... Maybe. I don't want to fuck this up. I haven't had a chance like this in a long time.

I googled her playerid, nothing came up. I googled her phone number and I found a couple pages for an escort from 2014. The escort was supposedly 35 in 2014, and there was a picture of the escorts ass. There is no way Annie is 35, and the picture of the ass was too big for her. I'm thinking that she just got a used phone number.

Anyways, like I said, I don't get chances like this very often. What should I do?

UPDATE: I texted her yesterday and we ended up playing a game of DOTA together before bed. I was hoping to impress with my wicked DOTA skillz, but of course ended up having a shit game. Oh well. I think we are both pretty awkward, so even if there is interest (who knows?!), we could continue just having awkward interactions for the foreseeable future. If anything happens, I'll post it here.

If there is no future update on Annie, assume I'm a pussy and nothing happened.

Russia's Navalny detained as protesters point to poll fraud threat

Russian presidential elections: Navalny freed after day of protests

A Pakistani man who became a Humanist and renounced Islam sought political asylum in the UK. His application was refused. From The Guardian:

Walayat, who has lived in the UK since 2011, said he had received death threats from members of his family and community in Pakistan after integrating into secular British life, forming a relationship with a non-Muslim partner and refusing to conform to the expectations of conservative Islam.

In true British pub quiz fashion, the Home Office tested his claim to be a Humanist by asking if he knew the names of any Greek philosophers who were humanistic.

When tested on his knowledge of humanism, Walayat gave a “basic definition” but could not identify “any famous Greek philosophers who were humanistic”

The last pub quiz I was at, the question master was adamant that Apollo 14 was the last manned mission to the Moon... I see the Home Office takes things as seriously.

Walayat joined the Humanists UK organisation in August, but said he had believed in the basic principles of humanism from childhood.

Now more than 120 leading philosophers have signed a letter asking the Home Secretary to reconsider the man's case since "Knowledge of Plato and Aristotle is not a reliable test for whether someone is a humanist.”

Sometimes I despair.

Found this comment while I was searching for NASA GOLD stuff.

Zuma!

From time to time someone who is genuinely concerned for my well-being suggests I shouldn't make my writing to easy to find.

It's not just at Soylent News: a close friend that I know IRL advised me not to post to Kuro5hin anymore. But I persisted because I regarded K5 as the most effective way to disseminate my views.

How much of the code you write today will still be in use ten years from now? There is some code like that but it is quite rare when considered against the total amount of code written ten years ago.

How about a hundred years?

Homer's Illiad and Odyssey were composed about 3,000 years ago - but I own a copy of each. Few read it for pleasure but they are quite widely read by college students. A good friend of mine read them in their original Ancient Greek.

I am dead certain that my essays on mental illness have saved many lives.

Those who are concerned for me are doubtlessly correct that I will face repercussions for writing and publishing the way I do.

But I regard that as the price that I pay for doing right by others.

I mostly write essays. I've taken a stab at writing books but have never been satisfied with my results, so I regard myself as an essayist more than anything else. I don't really regard myself as a coder, rather I am an essayist who just happens to know a lot about computers.

You can find most of my writing here.

My story submission of this got rejected in record time.

"Suit up before you play."
-- Dear Abby

I Swear I'm Not Making This Up:

I was once a regular at the Paris Adult Theater. It was located conveniently near public transit, and was organized as a private club so that doing the evil deed on its premises was not illegal.

Occasionally a real live female would show up. I once had the opportunity to spend all the time I required to climax inside a complete stranger. After I put my clothes back on and prepared to leave, she grasped my hand then smiled at me.

I kissed her on her forehead.

You might not be aware that when men get their cookies, our bodies are flooded with a hormone that results in us losing all interest in sex. So I went home. I have since concluded that leaving was a mistake, quite likely the hand she took mine with could have given me a hand job.

To my great dismay, the Paris was sold then converted into a music venue.

That's why I was quite excited to learn of the Oregon Theater. However I was dismayed that it was located in a part of the city with which I was unfamiliar. For quite a long time I regarded the Oregon as hopelessly out of reach.

But then this afternoon I remembered that google maps can produce public transit plans. It turns out that I could take the TriMet #4 bus at 5th and Salmon.

[Continued]

Once on the bus I was quite anxious that I wouldn't know where to get off (so to speak). I was pleased to notice that the addresses of the buildings we passed corresponded directly with the cross street.

The Oregon is located at 3530 SE Division St in South-East Portland. The next stop after we passed the theater was three or four blocks east, but the walk from there to the theater was quite pleasant.

The admission was ten samoleons, which is typical for porn theaters. Strip clubs often cost more than that, despite that except for one club whose name wild horses could not drag from my lips, there is no sex in the Champagne Room.

The guy at the front desk told me that I could come and go any time I wanted once I had paid my admission. He also told me how many seats, couches and "gangbang beds" were found within.

The men's room is upstairs and is kept clean, with the exception of abundant graffiti offering anonymous, meaningless sex with a wide variety of men.

I was at first disappointed when I entered the theater. There were very few men and no women. It does get women from time to time because during my researches I found a post by some guy who brings his wife there when they want to "get freaky".

I sat in a chair on the aisle about halfway to the screen, dropped my pants to my ankles then gave the monkey the spanking he so richly deserved.

But for a while it seemed that were I get to get off during my visit, I wouldn't have any help doing it.

Eventually a man walked by then sat two seats away from me - that is, with an empty seat between us.

Here I must explain porn theater ettiquette: one doesn't sit directly next to other patrons but have some seats between the two men. That enables one to express his interest in totally anonymous, meaningless sex by getting up then moving closer.

Often there are more empty seats between me and my hope to obtain a blowjob, so we each move closer by one seat, then when we've both communicated our consent that way, we both sit right next to each other.

As soon as I sat next to someone whose name will be forgotten by history, he stretched out his hand then gave me a very pleasant hand job.

I at first thought a hand job was all I would get but to my great delight he got down on his knees directly in front of me.

Now I must remind you that Welbutrin can cause Anorgasmia. I cut my dose in half for about a month so I could get my cookies back, but realized last weekend that I was getting depressed again, so I've gone back to the dose my witch doctor originally prescribed.

I was concerned that I would tire him out before I came anywhere near what all men desire but few obtain. I actually did just that a couple weeks ago at Hawk's PDX.

But no he had the patience of Job and so redoubled his efforts by giving me a hand job and a blowjob at the very same time.

I took quite a long time to blow my wad, but when I did so, I jizzed in his mouth. To come in someone's mouth is my very favorite way of feeling the Earth move.

After we were done he thanked me, got up then sat several seats away. You see, many men feel it is better to give than to receive.

As I was putting my pants back on I realized my wallet was missing. I didn't see it anywhere then realized I was quite hateful but for a moment as I considered whether blowing my load in his mouth was just a cover while he picked my pocket.

But no, as I was looking around I happened to kick my wallet a little ways and so found it in the darkness. Had I lost it it would not have been a big deal but would have been a PITA to get all the cards replaced.

On the way out I asked for a Coke. The guy at the front desk advised me they were serving RC Cola from a name-brand Coke machine.

"That's OK," I replied, "I like RC too".

Overall I would rate my experience as three out of five money shots.

tl;dr: Would fap again.

Men Only: Inside the charity fundraiser where hostesses are put on show

Female journalist goes undercover at posh ‘men only’ London fundraiser, reports widespread groping

WPP Cuts Ties With London Charity Dinner After Groping Report

Presidents Club: Women Groped at Exclusive Charity Event Filled With Politicians, Businessmen and Media Elite

Grab 'em in the ass, grab 'em in the wherever.

---

Congressman Accused Of Harassment Defends Himself, Says He Saw Aide As A 'Soul Mate'

Intel Has a Big Problem. It Needs to Act Like It

During the six months Intel was quietly working to try to fix the vulnerabilities, Krzanich sold $24 million in company shares. Intel says the stock sale was part of a plan that had been in place before anyone there knew about Meltdown or Spectre, but the day after Krzanich’s CES speech, two U.S. senators sent letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice demanding investigations. Consumer and shareholder lawyers have filed a dozen class actions against Intel, and there are few signs the pressure will let up on Krzanich anytime soon. In a research note, an analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. called the stock sale “indefensible.”

I just mailed the following to my mental health clinic's case managers:

I didn't make any trades today.

But after just one day of doing nothing my profit went up by a thousand dollars.

I have a friend who used to be a day trader - trading stocks. He told me it was incredibly stressful, and that he would make more money by working in a regular job.

So he gave up the stock market, then got hired as a Civil Service engineer at Corona Naval Airbase in Southern California.

He loves that job and has held it for so long that he is quite close to retirement.

I once worked for a private hedge fund that traded commodity futures at the Chicago Board Of Trade. His trades were guided by a very complex computer program. I called his software "A license to print money".

It happened all the time that he'd lose tens of thousands of dollars, only to get it all back and then some. His fund consistently outperformed all the publicly-traded funds.

The owner was quite definitely the most bitter, angry man I ever met. It was easy to see why. He thought the key to happiness was for his hedge fund do so well that he would have a billion dollars.

From The Guardian:

Intriguingly, the Ancient Greeks had a word for what’s missing: isegoria, which they thought must accompany freedom of speech, and which means equality of speech – people need to hear their own voices reflected in political discourse.

Well, we have Farcebook and Witter.