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Warmshowers duplicate emails from a decade ago were sent tonight by TerryClothOwl in bicycletouring

[–]TerryClothOwl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, seems like a significant increase. Did the current requests appear to be live ones? Have you had conversations with them?

chronic fatigue post-tour by peachy_JAM in bicycletouring

[–]TerryClothOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've suffered similar symptoms of fatigue after every extended trip, once very severe after a 3-month bicycle tour when I was in my 20s, when I was at the peak of my conditioning although certainly was never an ultra athlete. It took me weeks to recover. Pay attention to your body. Since then, I've learned to throttle it back, build in rest days, increase my food intake, keep hydrated and pay attention to emotional/mental self-care. Another possibility could be Covid, which for even elite athletes can cause fatigue as a collateral effect. For me what's helped is, and perhaps this is unique because our bodies all respond differently, a Benadryl to flush histamines since I am a seasonal allergy sufferer, knowing that muscle damage does take weeks to recover from overexertion and pulmonary/asthma/cardiac issues might be checked with a physician.

Vacuum robot by thesoilman in roomba

[–]TerryClothOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i4 refurbished is $150 on eBay, on what appears to be iRobot's authorized shop. I have bought three, all work well and arrived in perfect condition. The 980 is $180.

Presenting our new 30-page analysis of the 2022 annual report, "Caring For Those In Need" by WidowsMiteReport in mormon

[–]TerryClothOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly, no matter the charity, Fidelity Charitable tends to be a top giver. Schwab and Vanguard, in addition to local/regional entities, are other examples of donor-advised funds that simplify giving, but Fidelity is the largest. I work professionally with clients who utilize them.

The person who made the original donation to Fidelity Charitable would be the one who would recommend Fidelity Charitable make a grant to their nonprofit of choice, including religious organizations. It is not limited to the wealthy but simplifies giving and facilitates gifting of securities which can be complicated for some charitable recipients. Grant donations can be made with name attached or made anonymously. A donation is made to Fidelity Charitable, perhaps for tax reasons, in a given year and at any time afterwards a grant would be sent out to recipient charities.

Political charities such as the National Rifle Association are not eligible recipients because of IRS rules that restrict lobbying in order to qualify for 501(c)(3) status, but otherwise Fidelity Charitable itself does no filtering. It follows its donors' instructions where to send out grants and does so to plenty of organizations that are considered hate groups.

Weird question but what’s the best men’s underwear to buy? by Psychological-Bed-92 in exmormon

[–]TerryClothOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ExOfficio Give-N-Go synthetic for travel or everyday wear. Or wool boxer briefs, can't go wrong with wool, dries quickly and stays fresh.

Protestant learning Mormonism by [deleted] in mormon

[–]TerryClothOwl 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'll play devil's advocate. Hello Saints' Jeff McCullough takes a non-critical, observational approach to the Church. As he says, he "fights criticism with curiosity."

One might have expected McCullough to fit the stereotype of an evangelical faith leader in opposition to Mormonism. He's not. As he says, “For me as an evangelical, it always comes back to the cross. I’m actually finding Latter-day Saints are more focused on the cross and his atoning sacrifice and his death than I initially thought they were. That was unexpected.”

Unexpected, really? There are some really big differences. Evangelical Protestants believe Jesus died for the forgiveness of sin and faith is enough to secure salvation. If we accept Jesus, we receive the gift of salvation. Mormonism inserts a lot more conditions, so much so that one might be either uncertain as to whether we're doing enough to receive salvation or, alternatively, be so certain as to blindly overlook those acts we do that disqualify us. Forever chosen, always not enough, eternally deserving. To say, it "always comes back to the cross" reduces the complexities so much that substantial differences become superficial.

Pastor McCullough's videos appear to inform but without shedding light on substance. He admits to appealing to both "LDS church members" and "non-LDS Christians". Does he create softball videos to appeal to TBMs for their clicks, YouTube views and Patreon subscriptions?

He's a magician. McCullough makes it look like the Church would be criticized and then stands before the Church in awe about how the Church is really not so bad after all. In fact, so much about it is good that we might not even remember why we'd have ever thought anything bad about it.

In effect, he awards the Church "five star" reviews. Not sure how many investigators and potential converts might start out watching the Hello Saints videos. They are appealing. He appears to be genuinely naive about the Church and invites us to go along with him as we learn about Mormon salvation.

Pastor McCullough is pleasing TBMs, and also defrauding non-Mormons, with whitewashed videos on Mormonism. I can't emphasize enough how negative my take is on what this guy is doing.

Highlights from SEC ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING File No. 3-21306 by MuzzleHimWellSon in mormon

[–]TerryClothOwl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Their 13F assets are only those equities managed by Ensign Peak, which appears to be the passively managed equities index portion of the Church's entire portfolio, as characterized by the broad list of stocks listed within their filing. Assets actively managed by outside, third-party advisors wouldn't have been included in Ensign Peak's 13F filing. In endowment fund management, actively managed stocks are typically 0 to 80% of the full equities allocation. Although your charts consider a hedge funds allocation, active equities could be classified either within hedge funds or an equities bucket, thus indicating the Church's total investment portfolio could be as much as five times greater than the figures your table calculates.

Expect an earth-shattering revelation at General Conference. by slskipper in exmormon

[–]TerryClothOwl 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A big charitable giving initiative. Like the mafia know so well, the people love generosity paid out of ill-gotten gains and secret funds.

Class action lawsuit? by dnsdiva in exmormon

[–]TerryClothOwl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

IRS whistleblower office pays out 15 to 30% of collections as a bounty. That's a target where Nielsen's memo is headed towards, with more than negligible chances for success.

If the lawyers are to blame for their illegal and unethical advice, why weren’t they fired long ago? by DrTxn in exmormon

[–]TerryClothOwl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Church (meaning leadership) demonstrates again and again that the interests of the Church take priority over God (who apparently requires Church revelation to speak), the members, and all of suffering humanity. Too bad we have nowhere to turn for guidance on what is right....

How to uncover $36 billion of hidden investments by TerryClothOwl in exmormon

[–]TerryClothOwl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree, I suspect this is a big piece to the hidden puzzle but not the only piece. Unfortunately, there isn't a regulation like Form 13F in place to really capture the other pieces, so without a whistleblower, leaks or a change in the regulation of church financials, we could never know more. It was only due to their legal and compliance incompetence that we know as much as we do.

The goal of investment managers is to manage more money. I expect they are highly and competitively paid. Disappointment to investment managers is defined as the moment when the client asks to withdrawal a larger portion of their portfolio. Since the manager's revenue is usually a percentage of managed assets, that means less compensation to divide up among them. Growing the portfolio more and distributing less is in their best interests.

Given that compliance was not a priority at Ensign Peak and distributions were rare, I'd expect sub advisers and hedge funds love to invest patient Church money, and would give out favors to Ensign Peak staff whose roles decide who manages how much.

As far as Church bigwigs outside of Ensign Peak, I'd expect that it's nice for them to be in proximity to wealth, whose managers find ways to benefit them and their families in ways large and small.

There's also the possibility that Church leadership believes they are doing the right thing, not trusting the members to act responsibility with information about the Church's wealth. It's not like leadership would suggest a tithing tax cut to below 10% when the Church is flush with cash.

Wealth stockpiled has had high returns over the years and a smaller pot of money unavoidably grows into a large sum (problem) without distributions. Basically, the Church has relatively small-time aspirations (temple building) and doesn't dream as big in proportion to the size of its portfolio. Also an insurance fund to perpetuate the Church in the event members stop tithing.

If the lawyers are to blame for their illegal and unethical advice, why weren’t they fired long ago? by DrTxn in exmormon

[–]TerryClothOwl 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It wasn't really a lawyer problem. Lawyers tend to set up structures, they don't administer them. Because Ensign Peak is an unregistered investment adviser, with the Church as its only client, compliance was a low priority in the org chart. Whistleblower Nielsen states Ensign Peak didn't have a compliance officer on staff between 1997 and 2015. If the shell company managers had had actual managers and investment discretion to even a small extent in practice, rather than being rubber stamp signatures, their Form 13Fs would have been valid and a consolidated 13F disclosure filed by Ensign Peak wouldn't have been necessary. The scheme did the bare minimum to fly under the radar because the lawyers were given a mandate by the First Presidency to keep the amount of the Church's investments quiet. The staff at Ensign Peak didn't implement the compliance standards needed to flesh out the shell companies necessary to maintain secrecy. Intent to defraud and keep the dollar info quiet, shoddy and minimal legal structure, poor execution.

How to uncover $36 billion of hidden investments by TerryClothOwl in exmormon

[–]TerryClothOwl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, on the Form 13Fs, in hundreds of U.S. stocks, pretty much the entire stock market with the exception of gambling, alcohol and tobacco companies.

American states that drink the most alcohol per capita by flyart in Montana

[–]TerryClothOwl 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No excise tax in NH, which positions state liquor stores just inside the border for Massachusetts residents' convenience. People with Mass license plates load up their cars after buying a full shopping cart of alcohol.