through my window. I can see the world from there

Dropped sidewise into an extended conversation elsewhere was this little gem--a minor ton of Finnish silent films that have been subtitled into English. So, if you're a speaker of English OR Finnish, you're covered. And even if you speak neither, it will likely be enjoyable. So enjoy.

Meanwhile, why does Disqus think I'm Slovakian?

Ahoj emilly,

Nedávno sme od vás obdržali požiadavku o obnovu hesla. Prosím nasledujte tento link : {{link omitted on the off chance it's spam}}
(V prípade, že kliknutie na odkaz nefunguje, skúste ho skopírovať a vložiť do vášho prehliadača.)

V prípade, že ste nepožiadali o obnovu hesla, považujte toto hlásenie za nepodstatné. Platnosť tohto linku automaticky vyprší za 72 hodín.

This (roughly) translates to:

Hi emilly,

We recently received a password reset request from you. Please follow this link: {{again omitted}}
(If clicking the link doesn't work, try copying and pasting it into your browser.)

If you did not request a password reset, please disregard this message. This line will automatically expire in 72 hours.

Since I didn't request one, and wouldn't have because I haven't commented on a Disqus-engine blog post in a good six months, easily, I'm just going to ignore it. Because even if it does seem to be a notice sent directly from Disqus itself, it could be spoofed, and I'd have no way to know for sure. But why Slovakian? I'm nearly nine thousand kilometers from there. It's baffling.

Heir of meanwhile...

[23:17] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: i am reading about books being taken off the curriculum in an alaska school. And...while it is stupid..I am not sure how that is a book ban. The story even notes that the books are still available..
[23:17] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: Just not going to be taught as part of the curriculum.
[23:17] Emilly Orr: What sort of books are they?
[23:17] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: classics..
[23:18] Emilly Orr: If they're standard textbooks, that are available elsewhere, what are they being replaced with?
[23:18] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: great gatsby..etc
[23:18] Emilly Orr: Hmm. So no longer teaching the classics of American (and some British) literature, because...?
[23:19] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: i am just not seeing a book ban here..no one seems to be saying you can't read them..just that they won't be on the curriculum.
[23:19] Emilly Orr: No, in fact, they seem to be saying that if a student or parent requests it, they will buy the book requested so the student can read it.
[23:20] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: well..that is Portugal the Man.
[23:20] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: A cool move
[23:20] Emilly Orr: That's not a ban, that's more of a...civilized restriction. The school saying, we realize these issues are harmful un society, but we don't want to be the ones insisting everyone reads about incest, rape and murder.
[23:20] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: Yes
[23:21] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: I don't agree with it , but..it isn't prelude to book burning.
[23:21] Emilly Orr nods
[23:21] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: Catch 22 is a wonderful book.
[23:21] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: The great Gatsby, too
[23:21] Emilly Orr: I don't agree with it either, but I would much rather have something like that, then a total ban that means any student caught with X book gets expelled.
[23:22] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: yea
[23:22] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: I feel like the people commenting..and the title of the article..didn't read the article
[23:22] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: or..just read the title..
[23:23] Emilly Orr: While I see a HUGE problem with not teaching teens about their bodies, so that they actually know enough to make decent informed choices about sex, there are other places to read books. Libraries. Bookstores. Online in some cases.
[23:24] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: yes.
[23:24] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: And..i maintain it is the role of the parents.
[23:24] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: Not old ms mcgillicudy putting a condom on a zucchini
[23:26] Emilly Orr: I'd agree, but...the problem is, the rise of that certain stripe of fundamentalism that says, if we remove knowledge from children, they will remain innocent and never engage with sex, drugs, acting out, foul language--that is an entire branch of religion essentially going LA LA LA YOU'RE WRONG THEY'RE PERFECT ANGELS LA LA LA LA
[23:26] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: Still.
[23:26] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: their children
[23:27] Emilly Orr: So...if you have parents that understand that kids will get hormonal, and are kind of dense at times, and is willing to honestly explain things, great. But if your parents are more the "abstinence is the only solution", then...you're going to get pregnant kids and young fathers and the next generation with STDs, because no one just talked with them.
[23:27] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: Theirs to lose.
[23:27] Emilly Orr: I guess. It just seems like such a waste.
[23:27] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: Yes.
[23:27] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: But..that is life, sometimes
[23:27] Emilly Orr nods.
[23:28] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: Unless we want to just say we know better, so parents should shut up
[23:28] Emilly Orr: Marion Zimmer Bradley said it best: "The world goes as it will, and not as you or I would have it."
[23:28] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: i....would not trust her on child rearing..
[23:28] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: or anything..
[23:28] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: she abused her kids
[23:28] Emilly Orr: Amusingly, she raised...what was it, six? Of course, not all of them were hers.

I know two were related to her, the rest sort of cycled in and out of the house.

[23:28] Emilly Orr nods
[23:29] Emilly Orr: So often, people we admire for other reasons are problematic in the main.
[23:29] Emilly Orr: It's a struggle.
[23:30] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: Well...when it veers into criminality..there is an issue.
[23:30] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: A world of difference between being an asshole and diddling your kids.
[23:30] Emilly Orr: I think of it as the John Denver effect. Brilliant songwriter. Great voice. Very talented musician. Beat his wife.
[23:30] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx: yea.
[23:31] Emilly Orr: So...yes, the songs are timeless, and beautiful, but...the other side of that is criminally bad.
[23:31] Mxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx nods

There are no answers. Sometimes, there never are with conversations on these topics. But it's good that the school is providing the option to get the 'banned' books into student hands. That's something, at least.