| Three pros vs. 100 kids. Japanese television always seems to have strange innovations, so it should come as no surprise that they recorded three professional soccer players playing 100 kids. Fascinating. Dana Rohrbacher's bad interview. Before there was any speculation about Russia, they had a friend in Congress: California's Dana Rohrbacher, who has been around the Hill for quite some time. He's earned a reputation as an odd bird, which he dutifully demonstrates in a CNN interview with Ana Cabrera. Always install updates. Spectre isn't just a James Bond term now, it's a security flaw that you really really need to pay attention to, as it's scaring the pants off of people who are worried about computer system vulnerability. Here's a nerdy take on why computer software updates are important. Are some feminists turning on #MeToo? Apparently! From Daphne Merkin in the New York Times: And what exactly are men being accused of? What is the difference between harassment and assault and “inappropriate conduct”? There is a disturbing lack of clarity about the terms being thrown around and a lack of distinction regarding what the spectrum of objectionable behavior really is. Shouldn’t sexual harassment, for instance, imply a degree of hostility? Is kissing someone in affection, however inappropriately, or showing someone a photo of a nude male torso necessarily predatory behavior? I think this confusion reflects a deeper ambivalence about how we want and expect people to behave. Expressing sexual interest is inherently messy and, frankly, nonconsensual — one person, typically the man, bites the bullet by expressing interest in the other, typically the woman — whether it happens at work or at a bar. Some are now suggesting that come-ons need to be constricted to a repressive degree. Asking for oral consent before proceeding with a sexual advance seems both innately clumsy and retrograde, like going back to the childhood game of “Mother, May I?” We are witnessing the re-moralization of sex, not via the Judeo-Christian ethos but via a legalistic, corporate consensus. Good thing this came out on a Friday, lest it dominate the news cycle. Greetings from Cleveland! I'm back home this weekend to cover the Cleveland Browns Perfect Season parade and show off our twins to friends. It is extremely, unseasonably cold here, conditions experienced around much of the country. Which reminds me of this awesome story from 10 years ago. A guy walked across Lake Erie, from Port Clinton, Ohio, to Ontario. Here's a brief excerpt: 8:30 p.m.: I stepped outside the tent to relieve myself one final time, and met the scene that, more than any other on the trip, would become firmly imprinted on my memory. The wind had died down to a dead calm, and my thermometer read 20 degrees. The stars were out in full force, and I could see shimmering lights on three shores. Except for the drone of an occasional invisible plane, the silence was complete and overwhelming. It was a peaceful, striking image, and as I beheld the rare beauty of a frozen lake in the dead of night, I felt possessed by a satisfying and impregnable serenity. For that feeling alone, the trip was worthwhile. Ohio's islands basically turn into Alaskan villages in the winter months. Most people don't bother to stay for the winter. Hard to blame them. —Jim Swift, Deputy Online Editor Please feel free to send us comments, thoughts and links to [email protected]. -30- | 