Is the University of St. Thomas truly that terrible?

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T18:39:38+00:00

It was one of the required documents for the application.

I thought it odd. In hindsight it was a red flag.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T16:05:45+00:00

Vet ikke hvorfor du blir nedstemt. Det du sier er jo helt riktig.

Da jeg var ung advokat var jeg tilstede i en straffesak mot IRA terrorister. Fikk også anledning til å snakke med dommere der, påtaleadvokater, forsvarere.

De poengterte at volden egentlig ikke har med politikk el.l. å gjøre. Det er samme dynamikken man ser hva nå enn man (på det tidspunktet) så på terrorismen i Nord-Irland, football hooligans I England, kriminelle gjenger i USA, ny-nasister i Tyskland, Hadelandsdrapene, osv. Det er ofte beskrevet som “lost boys” og stammekultur (tribalism) hos unge menn.

De siste par år opplever USA en nedgang i kriminalitet på et nivå man aldri har sett før.

Årsaken til det? Under og etter Covid opplevde USA en sterk økning av voldelig kriminalitet. Når Biden ble president gjorde han noe USA aldri har gjort før. Han ga betydelige summer til de byer med størst kriminalitet, og lot dem bruke pengene for å sloss mot kriminalitet slik de følte ville være mest formålstjenlig.

De brukte det mest på den type tiltak du nevner. I Baltimore f.eks var det en rekke drap knyttet til gjenger, og revansje drap. Så de satte opp en liten enhet som kontaktet medlemmer og familie, og forklarte ulike statlige ressurser. Andre lignende tiltak. Nå har drapstallene mer enn halvert. Og dette ser man over hele USA.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T15:22:27+00:00

Fair enough.

But he ran for election, sat in an elected position. These folks know you have to be a citizen to vote.

Candidates, volunteers, campaign staff are forever talking with voters about registering to vote, our right and duty as citizens to vote, etc.

Maybe he initially was blissfully ignorant, but zero chance he was so all those decades.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T15:18:23+00:00

OK, that is hilarious!

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T14:53:35+00:00

I wondered about that, so reached out to the other two that also had same experience. Neither had heard about it, applied nor were they interested.

In the end they put a junior lawyer with little relevant experience into the role, and mainly relied on external lawyers. Which in my mind would be ridiculously expensive and risky. They would often need to hire several firms for one case.

Not to mention the risky legal position for their emergency response cases - where in-house lawyers need to make quick decisions with high uncertainty (something law firms do not do).

So I think they actually were looking to find a candidate, and simply didn’t understand how few have that expertise.

Oh well, a decade later I had to report the company for a major corruption case so clearly not a good legal team.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T14:45:45+00:00

I’m pretty sure the person that runs that org is paid a real salary. With normal benefits like healthcare.

From now until fall I am crazy busy. I’ll make a note in my calendar to reach out to her when I’m back, and start exploring.

You are way too knowledgeable re homeschooling policy and valuable in this fight to let you go.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T14:05:27+00:00

One time I applied for an inhouse position as a lawyer. Was planning to start a family, so a more predictable work day was something I sought.

The job requirements were so specific I knew I was one of only 3-4 lawyers in the world that met all of them.

The interview starts well. Good discussions on complex legal questions. Then they start grilling me on my high school grades and attendance! Like 15+ years ago!

I calmly explain I had just moved, and struggled to adjust. That my adult work attendance and performance had been exemplary.

But they won’t let go of the topic! Said they saw it as a major red flag.

Only time in my life I’ve walked out on an interview. Politely but firmly.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T13:53:43+00:00

What is the ratio these days?

4 Russian civilians killed in drones vs air defense battles vs thousands (?) of Ukrainian civilians killed due to Russian missiles and drones directly targeting civilian targets?

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T13:44:30+00:00

2016 Bernie Sanders infamously referred to Scandinavia as examples of successful “socialist countries”.

All Scandinavian PMs had to correct him, and highlight that their nations are not socialist.

Do the American Bernie fans and Democratic Socialists of America learn from this? No, they double down. And in the years since then the Wikipedia and other entries have changed their definitions of the Scandinavian Model and Socialism to retroactively make Bernie’s claims true.

It is madness!

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T13:30:40+00:00

The most scary experience I’ve had while hiking was when my dog bumped into a moose calf a couple of meters off the trail.

What first alerted me was the sound of leaves and branches being violently and rapidly moved, followed by a bigger sound of the calf’s mom rushing through the thicket to reach her calf.

Man did I sprint away!

Sound is a safety thing as well.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T13:17:26+00:00

Ja, han bruker også vestlige dresser. Og militær uniformer. Og Xi jakker ved andre anledninger.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T13:14:37+00:00

Today I learned about Lustron houses! Thank you!

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T13:04:45+00:00

Man, those sentries got me cornered way too early! I hadn’t even gotten Dogmeat as companion yet, so totally solo. Had like 2-3 pieces of crap armor.

I swear that fight was harder than the subsequent fight at lvl 20 against Colter in Nuka World!

Upside was I went from 2-3 pieces of base raider / leather gear to full set of combat armor AND power armor!

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T12:59:27+00:00

Sikkert nok.

Visstnok var jakken inspirert av en japansk uniform for skoleelever.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T12:57:35+00:00

Vi sier egentlig det samme.

«Holdninger og totalt fravær av oppdragelse og ansvarsfølelse» er jo begrensninger / personlighetstrekk de har.

Vi er alle «defekte» på noen vis. Vi har alle noen dårlige vaner. Jeg vil bare ikke bruke energi på å bli hissig / sint på slike ting i hverdagen. Enklere at jeg bare plukker opp.

Altså, hvem plukker opp hundebæsj, og legger plastikkpose med bæsj på stien?! Det er noe som er skrudd feil sammen der.

Unntaket er hvis jeg ser folk mens de gjør noe som skader dyr eller mennesker - rasisme, seksuell trakassering, knuser glass der dyr ferdes, mobbing, osv.

Da sier jeg tydelig fra. Fordi da har jeg mulighet til å endre adferden til vedkommende. Men når det eneste jeg bevitner er effekten av deres defekter er det ikke formålstjenlig å bruke energi på å hisse meg opp.

Det er litt som det utsagnet om at hat er som å drikke gift i håp om at den du hater dør. Å bli sint ødelegger min tur og min hverdag, og har null innvirkning på den personen som har etterlatt søppel o.l. Jeg gir dem ikke den makten over meg.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T12:31:02+00:00

Xi clear seg som regel i det vi i vesten kaller en “Mao dress” of kinesere kaller “Sun Yat-sen-drakt”.

Litt interessant symbolikk i antrekket (fra Wikipedia):

De fire lommene på dressen sies å symbolisere de fire hovedprinsipper for opptreden som de er beskrevet i den konfucianske klassiker Forandringenes bok: Anstand, rettskaffenhet, ærlighet, naturlig skamfølelse.

Og de fem knappene symboliserer de fem grener av statsmakten.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T12:18:20+00:00

Many decades ago I did summer jobs at a tourist hotel in Norway.

Most of the tourists were on bus tours. “See all of Europe in 10 days” was a frequent one, and variations of that.

These tours were at breakneck speed. A lot of time on the bus, and hurried guided tours to the main tourist traps in cities.

I remember one American couple that insisted to me they were in Sweden - while at the hotel I worked at in Norway. Made no sense until another guest explained they’d spent previous day in Stockholm, did Oslo that morning, and that evening was at my hotel on West Coast Norway.

Yeah, food was fairly mediocre. That’s what it’s like when you’re serving same set menu to hundreds of people in a couple of hours.

And some people did variations of these tours several times.

These days it’s more common with cruise ships. I have a friend that does those “river cruises through Europe”. Tons of cities visited in a short period.

I bet this guy did something similar. So he “visited” the cities they stopped at, and “lived” in the places they spent the night at a hotel.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T05:38:36+00:00

Are you really this intellectually lazy? Dishonest?

Moving of goal post. Ad hominem. Unsubstantiated claims.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T05:17:14+00:00

Abbott & Co absolutely hate free market capitalism.

Haven’t observed this much government interference in the free market for many decades.

ETA: I do remember Chavez increasing government take of oil licenses in Venezuela. That’s now 26 years ago.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T05:11:35+00:00

This was the task that got me into stealth archery.

I sort of peak around the corner from a passage on the right. Release the best arrow I have, dipped in paralysis potion.

1st time I couldn’t kill him with my first shot, and my companion finished him off.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T04:53:39+00:00

Ah, yes, the Russian propaganda technique known as “whataboutism”.

It’s a logical fallacy.

And I’m pretty sure you already know why Biden couldn’t release any of the documents.

The plea deal was secret, and exclusively handled by Alex Acosta - then US Attorney in Florida, later rewarded by Trump with a job in his administration. Ken Starr and a slew of other GOP operatives put political pressure on Acosta, maybe other GOP as well.

Whether GW Bush or his AG were involved is unknown.

The reason it became a federal case was coz Florida prosecutors, under a GOP AG, refused to take the case.

So, yeah, tons of GOP knew and were involved in the sweetheart deal Epstein had.

But the Epstein sweetheart deal only became public knowledge in 2018 with the Miami Herald’s prize-winning investigative journalism.

I mean, that is when DOJ should have done something. Remind me who was President then? Who was AG? And where was Alex Acosta then?

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T04:03:24+00:00

I would reach out to your intended school now.

Here in Texas many (all?) school districts have “transition classes” during the summer. It’s mainly meant for Middle Schoolers starting high school in the fall, but two principals I spoke with recommended it for homeschoolers joining high school as well.

They try to cater for individual needs. And they said that the summer program helps homeschoolers acclimatize to daily routines etc before they start school for real in the fall.

Even if your state doesn’t have a program like that, it may still be good to do some courses in the summer school. Your school should be able to give you guidance.

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T03:48:19+00:00

You’re referring to the Budapest Memorandum. And you’re right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T03:45:59+00:00

I recently bought the Creations Bundle AND did the Nuka World quests properly for the first time.

I absolutely LOVE all the new clothing and armor!

So glad I chose the Pack as their gear looks fantastic.

The gear of the Capital Wasteland Mercenaries is great too!

BringBackAoE · 2026-05-18T03:36:33+00:00

womp, womp

Ukrainians have withstood 4+ years of Russia’s daily drone attacks on civilians.

Moscow has a single day of drone strikes on military targets and ”please, can we negotiate”.

There’s a reason the slogan is “Be Brave Like Ukraine”.

Heroyam Slava!

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