Germany's federal police agency purchased and used 'Pegasus' spyware

Re:Germany's federal police agency purchased and used 'Pegas... by javajosh on Sunday September 12, 2021 @04:51PM (#28504798)

"Anybody can look at a pretty girl and see a pretty girl. An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl that she used to be. But a great artist-a master-and that is what Auguste Rodin was-can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is...and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be...and more than that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo, or even you, see that this lovely young girl is still alive, not old and ugly at all, but simply imprisoned inside her ruined body. He can make you feel the quiet, endless tragedy that there was never a girl born who ever grew older than eighteen in her heart...no matter what the merciless hours have done to her." - Heinlein

And so it is with us, and our beautiful, human sense of morality, responsibility, and integrity, ravaged by time and the requirements of practicality.

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Re:Germany's federal police agency purchased and used 'Pegas... by cutemonster on Monday September 13, 2021 @04:05PM (#28516115)

I've been thinking like that sometimes, that in a way one never gets older than eighteen (or 19 or 20), only the body does

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Re:Germany's federal police agency purchased and used 'Pegas... by pasabagi on Sunday September 12, 2021 @07:11PM (#28505981)

> He can make you feel the quiet, endless tragedy that there was never a girl born who ever grew older than eighteen in her heart...no matter what the merciless hours have done to her." -

Yeesh. I'm glad I've met a lot of 'girls' who are actually grownups, not teenagers in more wrinkly skin.

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Re:Germany's federal police agency purchased and used 'Pegas... by javajosh on Sunday September 12, 2021 @07:53PM (#28506301)

It is truly remarkable the effort people make to express outraged offense. It requires so much! It would not be enough to ignore the point, which is about hope in the face of political hopelessness, you then had to then ignore the gist of the quote, which is that beauty is obscured by time, never lost, and then the coup de' grace, manufacture an attack! All of this to rise up to defend women from that attack, speaking down to the cruel jackal(s) that would reduce divine womanhood to nothing more than a piece-of-ass in this abhorrent way!

You, sir, are a true inspiration to anyone who ever searched for offense. You've shown clearly that all it takes is grit and determination, and you can find it, right there for the taking, that juicy plumb of outrage. Bravo, and well done!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Germany's federal police agency purchased and used 'Pegas... by pasabagi on Monday September 13, 2021 @02:22AM (#28508359)

You sound more a lot more outraged than me. I thought the Heinlein quote is kind of gross because it sits on the idea that the high point of a woman's life is to be 18. I'd feel similarly it if you replaced 'girl' with 'boy'.

It's also funny when people try to be poetic but just reproduce some of the most ordinary and depressing sentiments of their society. Something you and Heinlein have in common, I guess.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Germany's federal police agency purchased and used 'Pegas... by javajosh on Monday September 13, 2021 @08:45AM (#28510780)

The quote speaks to the body, and it's representation in art. It acknowledges that the body decays and this is great suffering. Yet the inside is still filled with life and love, in defiance of the outward decay, and a great artist can show this. That in fact the bodies decay is even more interesting and beautiful than the beauty of youth and health.

By characterizing the quote in the way you have, you've willfully ignored this intent, which was clear in the quote and in my usage of it. You've denied the beauty of decay, the notion that value can be ascribed to the elderly.

And why, because Heinlein acknowledges what we all know, that the two universal indicators of attractiveness are youth and health? And that we lose both over time?

In any event, this is my last message on this thread; I've made my point. As for poetry, yes, I try and usually fail. But I try, and I will keep trying no matter what.

[ Parent | on HN ]