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Samson's Wig

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Posts posted by Samson's Wig

  1. 27 minutes ago, Chopper said:

    /csb For some reason I am reminded of the (absolutely true) story about a senior leader at Dell (one of the few VPs back in the early 2000s - it's always been a very flat org chart) who held his team meeting in Amsterdam for the team's US and EMEA employees and decided to treat them to dinner and theater. The problem was he (knowingly, obv) chose the theater in the RLD with a live sex show. He was fired as soon as he returned to the US because one of the team reported it.

    Dell has had its fair share of sexual harassment/gender discrimination/unsafe work environment issues over the years.  It seems like they've generally been able to manage them and move forward, though.  I hear things are in much better shape in this regard than they used to be.   

    It's amazing how many harassment lawsuits were filed over the last twenty years in the tech industry alone, but also not that amazing if you know people in tech.  Elon is merely a byproduct of a much larger disease.

    • Fuck Around and Find Out 1
  2. 15 hours ago, YGIFS said:

    That's a good comparison, it really is like those books we read as kids, "Choose your Own Adventure."

    'To follow the teaching that faith, hope, and love...and the strongest of these is love; turn to page 137.'

    'To beat the shit out Bob next door for planting two different crops side by side, and you suspect he may be lay with other men, turn to page 46.' 

    Not to get all "As a student of comparative theology" or a long Lobo rant.  But as I've further embraced higher powers and Jesus' teachings in middle age, it is weird to me that bible isn't that complex a book compared to other holy texts of other faiths.  Maybe something was lost in translation, but the Old Testament is an historical account, the New Testament is basically Jesus teaching good stuff.  Now we have 100+ recognized denominations, all of which fuck the whole thing up whenever they can.  Meanwhile, the other 4 "big books" are much more complex and purer in their translation over the centuries, but they somehow to remain closer to their original dogma.  

    I remember a talk at the Ransom Center about the Gutenberg Bible (Johannes, not Steve).  She posited this theory that because it was the Christian Bible that was first to mass print, and not the other 4 holy texts of Buddhism, Shinto, Hinduism, and Islam..........that different interpretations spread earlier and faster and fractionalization began earlier (obviously it was already occurring in those other faiths but was relatively isolated in terms of geography and class).  

    I suspect many of us have long struggled with the imbalanced question of whether or not this is all a leftover remnant from a time when we tried to explain why the world was the way it was.  Or is the feeling in our bones that something is behind all of this really true?  Has it endured merely because of perpetual habit that we invented on cold, dark nights?  Or is it baked into our DNA to provide some sort of compass?  

    I only know three things to be true when it comes to Christianity.  There was some overture made by the universe to all life to help us.  Anybody that uses it to judge other people is a fucking asshole.  And we have no idea why we're here or happens when we die.  Other than that, it's just another tool in the toolbox to achieve selfish gains.  I'd rather people just admit, "I wasn't sent by God to save your country, I just like money and tits."  

    Wait a minute, are you trying to tell us that Steve Gutenberg wasn't a printing magnate?  Then how do you explain his constant whining about some dude named Fust?  And also, how do you explain this image?

     

    spacer.png

    • Haha 1
  3. 17 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

    Follow up - the REAL kicker on that is that the groups most likely to judge like a motherfucker....are also the groups most likely to excuse and cover up conduct that DOES fucking harm others (sexual offenses, etc.) because "well...he was tempted.  He's a godly man.  We should forgive him."  Judge like a motherfucker if someone simply BELIEVES differently, but excuse and cover up if someone else is actually harmed, BECAUSE the bad actor is a "believer, with a 'Jesus is Lord' card."

    Excuse and protect a fucking rapist.  Because hey, he's a believer, and nobody is perfect!

    Phone in a bomb threat to a drag queen who hasn't hurt anyone and who hasn't done anything except do a kickass job singing Gloria Gaynor tunes.

    That's where we are.

    Tribalism at its finest.  I understand it's human nature and that a lot of people will simply never rise above it, but it's still disgusting.

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  4. 8 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

    Do Catholics still call condoms / birth control a sin?

    As far as I know, yes.  I highly doubt there are many Catholics under the age of seventy who follow that one, though.  I'll ask my Catholic wife and get back to you.  Like all religions, it's pick and choose what you like and ignore what you don't, because if you tried to actually follow every rule of any religion you'd go insane.

    • Like 1
  5. Just now, BeardIP said:

    100% agree with you, in the case of American "faith" or mainstream cultural Christianity. 

    And that is because those who would want their sin enabled usually aren't attemption to walk with Christ. I assume that's mentally exhausting with the level of cognitive dissonance that has to happen to reconcile your day to day life. I mean, just read the bible and those who aren't obviously and explicitly sinning will be convicted they are sinners and have a long way to go to look like Jesus.

    No true Scotsman, amirite?

     

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  6. 15 hours ago, bolverk said:

     

    I mentioned to Anastasis before that I was raised Southern Baptist and never really understood what the Holy Spirit was supposed to be. Still, then again, the concept was hardly ever mentioned. Growing up, I basically thought "the Trinity" was just some weird Catholic thing like saints and popes and stuff that was part and parcel of a religious hierarchical bureaucracy.

    Our family attended church virtually every Sunday morning, including Sunday Bible school, until I was in junior high school. Maybe the First Baptist Church in my hometown was simply an outlier, not too big on anything other than the repetitive retellings of parables and Old Testament stories.

    Anyway, the more I read these religion threads on Surly, the more I realize what a piss poor religious education I got as a kid. Certainly, deeper discussions never really took place, and I don't recall questions being highly encouraged. It was always just, "Shut up and believe, or you're going to hell." At least, that was the implied message.

    At the end of the day, I'm not sure it would've prevented me from losing my faith as a teen, but maybe. 

    Back to my original purpose for posting here, this is a reminder to Anastasis that he once mentioned to me that not believing in the Holy Spirit was considered heresy. This honestly kind of took me aback since I didn't realize that something so amorphous and ill-defined (and not emphasized at all in my church-rearing) was such a big deal.

    Hell, I just had to use Google to remind myself exactly what the Nicene Creed is because it was never mentioned in the church where I grew up. I think I first heard of it in my 20s on some Discovery Channel ancient history documentary.

    So, yeah, maybe the SBC is heretical, or maybe that particular small-town congregation just didn't have its shit together. I dunno.

    I was also raised SBC and also gave it all up as a teen once the con/cult became obvious.  I could have written this same thing just about word for word, so I don't think it was just your small town congregation.

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  7. 25 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

    We drove with another family on a ski trip to NM years back.  They've made the trip before, and once ran out of gas after cutting over through Amarillo into NM.  It's a desolate stretch and getting colder by the hour.  They called 911, NM PD answered and told them TX LEO's were closer.  So they called TX and they said you are not in Texas......so.....

    They called back and NM balked again, until the mom raised high and holy hell.  Hours later some guy shows up with jumper cables.  But no gas.  So he has to go back.  It was a hot mess.  

     That area of NM is empty as fuck.  I grew up in the panhandle and drove through the Raton Pass all the time on the way to ski or do whatever in New Mexico or Colorado.  I once ran out of gas in a new (to me) truck that turned out to have a faulty gas gauge.  I think I was around 20 years old or so.  I started walking and kept walking for a few hours when, out of nowhere, a school bus with about ten kids on it pulled over, picked me up, and dropped me at a gas station a good ways down the road.  Those kids must have had one hell of a ride to and from school every day.  I wasn't as lucky getting a ride back to the truck, and now I don't trust gauges anymore. 

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  8. 1 minute ago, troph said:

    my practice is Texas/national and I won't spend an ounce of money or time trying to develop local business regardless of where we end up - I'd rather spend that money on travel back to Texas to meet with clients 3-4 times a year.  Santa Fe is probably a fall back position for us, honestly I'd rather be somewhere else. I'm bougie AF and NM doesn't quite do it for me.

    I hope my screed can assist in discussions with your partner about a different location.  :)

  9. 2 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

    Very interesting view. I’ve only had limited interaction with the state. I dealt with the New Mexico State police a lot. I found that law enforcement organization to be pretty solid. It didn’t seem to be as corrupt or political as other State law enforcement orgs. Maybe I was shielded from it as an outsider from Texas. 

    State law enforcement, as far as I know, has done just fine, but it is tiny compared to the ABQ police department, as the vast majority of the state resides in Albuquerque. The ABQ police department was taken over by the feds not too long ago and was notoriously one of the worst departments in the country for years. I haven't kept up recently, so I don't know what things look like now.

  10. 1 minute ago, troph said:

    @Samson's Wig thanks for sharing all of that, it's incredibly insightful. there is a strong contingent of LGBTQ+ (read mostly wealthy gay men) who live in Santa Fe and the art scene is arguably third only to NYC and LA. But that's all I have to add.

    We are 4-5 years out from a major change as my kids - for better or worse - are Texas kids and still in high school.

    No doubt about the art scene, and the LGBTQ+ community is definitely strong in Santa Fe.  It's also quite prevalent in Albuquerque.  That was the only community we found any welcome from in our time there.  In fact, my very first client in New Mexico was the local drag show.  My old law partner is a gay man living and practicing in NM and by all accounts is still happy there. If you ever want to talk shop with someone who is local about what practicing there might look like, shoot me a message and I'll connect you.  I can tell you it can be rough, and I never earned much locally but fortunately had a nationwide practice.

  11. 4 hours ago, troph said:

    mountain locations that aren't red:

    image.thumb.png.d9faf38c572fd9056a680cb8fc65a361.png

     

    New England?

    Asheville NC, what's that other spot in NC?

    None in the rest of Appalachia.

    None in the Ozarks.

    None in Utah.

    WY/ID not really except Jackson Hole. Ha.

    Far West Texas.

    As I mentioned earlier - it's really Colorado, New Mexico, parts of Oregon and Washington. Montana I guess. And looks like parts of the Sierras.

    Affordable? meh, none of those are going to be very affordable.

    Speaking from experience.  Do not fall for the New Mexico trap.

    • Hook 'Em 4
  12. 3 minutes ago, shakahorn said:

    There are many restrictions now in place especially Oahu and Maui.  Maui having had the restrictions a few years longer. There are still a few folks trying to get around the restrictions but for the most part the restrictions are working.  Now whether the desired effect of such restrictions are working is tbd.  But I don't think Hawaii has as much corp ownership as the rest of the country either.

    Every short-term rental that gets turned into a long-term rental space for actual residents to live in is a win.  If they're sold to a resident/owner, even better.

  13. 25 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

    My namesake is Robert Stack alone. And he was no mechanic. He was a former fighter pilot who will never forget Macho Grande. 

    Your attempt at comedy to deflect from responding to my post is noted. 

    Then please also note your obtuse comment didn't merit a reply, hence the weak attempt at comedy, but okay here's a response:   Sure, small and middling PE firms fail without fanfare. No one said they didn't.   I never wrote that any PE firm, even a large one, would actually be bailed out, which seems to be your misguided point of contention.  I merely laughed at the notion that they wouldn't try, and your lack of reading comprehension and irrational level of defensiveness on this subject took care of the rest.  I wasn't even engaging with you, and have no real interest in doing so moving forward.  If you don't think a PE firm the size of Bain Capital, The Carlyle Group (both clients of mine), or BlackRock wouldn't seek assistance were they facing insolvency, you're merely highlighting that you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. 

    And while we're at it, I'll go ahead and point out that your earlier comment about TARP making money is complete bullshit, although commonly touted bullshit among investment bankers thanks to a false Treasury Dept. memo that still gets passed around, as TARP managed to net out about a $15B before you factor in inflation, but since, you know, inflation exists, the actual number is a loss of ~$24B.   But why get caught up on numbers, right?  Was TARP necessary?  I think so, but I'm also tired of listening to know-nothing mid-level investment bankers and low-level VPs at PE firms spewing similar rhetoric as you have in this thread.  You probably also think it was Andy who went to pieces when it was clearly Buddy.
     

  14. 9 hours ago, Texas Jeff said:

    Are we talking about Austin's plan to build a subway to the airport?  Some fun facts:

    The City of Austin collects your tax money and gives it to Austin Transit Partnership, which is not governed by the city.  Some city council members are also ATP board members.  ATP now has 87 employees who split $16.1 million per year, or an average taxpayer cost per employee of $185,057.  The median base salary of an ATP employee is up to $143,520.

    Over the last year, the cost estimate for the rail portion has risen from $4.8 billion to $7.1 billion, however this rise mostly reflects a change from 2022 dollars to 2033 dollars.  They expect to break ground on the rail in 2027 and expect trains to roll in 2033.  Expect to be disappointed.

    They are getting sued by folks that think that Project Connect promised a downtown subway with surface rail to the airport, and 20 miles of rather than 10.  They got these ideas from the original Project Connect promotional pitch prior to the vote, which showed a downtown subway, rail to the airport, and 20 miles of track rather than 10.

    They are getting close to opening two new bus rapid transit lines.  They got a federal match for those and they are very cheap compared to rail.  Cap Metro is getting 26 miles of BRT for under $100 million with more than half of that paid for by the feds.  Compare that with 10 miles of rail at a cost of maybe $5 billion in today's dollars.  The two BRT lines are delayed because they want to use only electric buses and they are having trouble getting the buses and are figuring out how to keep them charged.  Also, compare the BRT development timeframe (about five years even with the electric buses) with rail (13 years if it opens in 2033).

    For now, you'll have to wait if you want to take transit from the UT campus through downtown and on to the airport .... unless you hop on the #20 bus, which goes exactly down this route, is available now, arrives every 15 minutes, and costs $1.25 to ride.

    More info here:

    https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2023/09/21/austin-transit-partnership-budget-oks-190m-fiscal-year-2024/70913560007/

    https://communityimpact.com/austin/south-central-austin/transportation/2024/03/25/71b-project-connect-light-rail-to-break-ground-in-2027/

    I have to stop reading shit like this or my house will be on the market and my kids will hate me for taking them away from their friends.

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  15. 1 hour ago, aggie08 said:

    The stupid, it burns.

    It's just incredible.   And frightening.  It's also why I refuse to talk about anything like this, or politics of any kind, with anyone in person, ever.  If someone opens their mouth and spews out the complete pile of bullshit that TexasHammer just laid out, I would never be able to take them seriously or even deal with them in any capacity, ever again.  Generally speaking, morons can be fun to hang out with so long as you don't know their deep thoughts, and I don't want to ruin any potential good times to be had.  Most of my family is dumber than a bag of broken dildos as well, so I would never be able to attend holiday get-togethers if I held that aga . . . wait a minute. 

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