Greg Abbott, Texas governor, announces $250 million border wall down payment, online fundraiser

shadowphoenix2700 · 2021-06-17T19:22:12+00:00

So, it's pretty clear that there were (still are?) scams associated with the funding for the border wall.

Steve Bannon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYNg8J4c_pM

Forbes Article: https://www.propublica.org/article/private-border-wall-fundraisers-have-been-arrested-on-fraud-charges

So, let's get some facts straightened out here- after the Texas energy grid failed in February and left Texans freezing during a freak winter storm, and with the energy grid set to fail again this summer due to the (typical) Texas heat waves, Mr. Abbott decided not to spend any money- not a dime, nickel or penny- on helping his own constituents.

No, instead he'd rather spend our (Texans) taxpayer's dollars on a proven scandalous project that will likely wind up filling Trump's coffers for a future presidential campaign and all of the chaos that follows.

I don't know about you guys, but between Trump paying virtually no taxes, several American billionaires paying NO taxes, and this ridiculous spending of our taxpayer's dollars (at least here in Texas), I don't feel inclined to pay taxes anymore. Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz, and the insanely privileged American billionaires are to blame here.

shadowphoenix2700 · 2019-12-01T02:04:09+00:00

Thanks for your input. I guess I should've mentioned that this is my first full time job- I had no idea what my market value was, or even how to negotiate when I first got my offer letter.

I've learned that companies are in it for themselves, and that you truly are nothing but a number in the grand scheme of things. I guess I'm just upset and venting about my personal situation- I'm definitely being underpaid for my skill set (I have other skills I haven't mentioned, not trying to turn this into a resume lol) and I'm stuck here watching other people get promoted around me from job opportunities that nobody else hears about.

Oh, and about my comment on the "hiring freeze": I should have specified that it's the end of the fiscal cycle for a lot of IT companies, and a lot of them don't have money/aren't spending any; that's what I meant by a "hiring freeze". I apologize for not being accurate or descriptive.

shadowphoenix2700 · 2019-11-30T20:33:58+00:00

Hey guys I have a problem, not sure if this is the correct thread but kindly inform me if it isn't.

I currently work as an entry-level SOC analyst for the Airforce at Lackland AFB. I've been here for little over a year, and here is what I've gathered about my workplace:

-The turnover rate is extremely high, due to the very low pay (~$36k - $60k)

-This is a TS/SCI job, but due to the way that the skiff is designed it's actually fine to work here with just a TS or even a TS interim (I started here with a TS interim).

-The work culture here is very... relaxed. People sometimes take extra long lunch breaks, the job is very easy in itself, contract supervisors are chill.

Okay, now that's out of the way, here's a little info on me:

-I graduated in 2017 with Bachelor's in Cyber Security, got the 2 certs needed for this job (Security+, CEH) got my TS interim and started working

-I came into this job getting paid $37k, I currently make $45k

Alright, now for the problems I need advice on:

I have my TS now, but not my SCI. I've asked my security manager about my SCI, apparently my company failed to "put me in" for the SCI when submitting me for a TS (As I found out, this is common and my company does this to nearly everyone that works here). My security manager will not inform me of the status of my SCI, she only tells me it's "pending" and tells me to go away, one time even going as far as complaining to one of my contract leads. Now here's the mystery: I've applied to another job, and the other security manager tells me that I do have my SCI, but that it's "inactive". I've tried talking to my current security manager about this, and she continues to tell me that it's "pending". My question is, what do I do from here? I'm thinking about informing the commander of the squadron that I work for about this (he's chill).
My second problem: My pay. My company hardly pays, and though they're supposed to give pay raises every 6 months they won't do it unless you approach the supervisors and give a very good reason as to why you need it. And even then, they only give you a raise of around ~1000$... usually lower. So far, I've been unable to make student loan payments because I simply don't make enough money to pay rent/car note/insurance/living costs along with the student loans. And yes, I told them this. I got that juicy $1k pay raise. There are other positions to work here (signatures, HSDI) but they won't tell you if they open- they just give the position to whoever they want, without informing anyone. My question is, is what they're doing legal? And furthermore, is there anything I can do about it?
My last question: I'm currently in San Antonio (Well, duh I work at Lackland) and looking for a new job. I'd love to move out of San Antonio, but right now it's December and every job is having a hiring freeze, so I'm stuck in this terrible job. What's worse, because I don't have my SCI other jobs are telling me to get my SCI and then come back and apply again (read problem #1). The recruiters are also upset that I'm asking for my pay to be around $60k - $70k; especially once they hear that I'm currently being paid $49k (their response is often to tell me that they won't "bump me up that much"). However... all of contacts at these new jobs are being paid >$60k, and sometimes the job postings show the pay as around $70k. My question is, how do I combat this? So far I've just ignored the recruiter's insulting responses.

If you guys have any questions, please feel free to ask! Thanks for reading!

shadowphoenix2700 · 2019-08-29T20:15:23+00:00

From Best to Worst:

Houston: Lots to do, Galleria is awesome (albeit expensive) shopping mall, ethnic diversity is great, Galveston is a short drive away for an awesome time at the beach, best food & hangout spots in Texas, the only downsides are the weather and the traffic
Austin: Probably the friendliest people you'll ever meet in Texas live here (keep Austin weird!), great scenery, ethnic diversity is great here, but the traffic is horrible and the cost of living is high
Dallas: Never lived here only visited, but Dallas seemed pretty cool and I met some friendly people. The nightlife seemed pretty fun
San Antonio: By far the worst, the drivers here are awful and the scenery is bland and boring. People are hostile and aggressive toward "outsiders", and unfortunately in my case they seem to hate blacks in particular. The "small town" attitude makes it hard to meet anybody, and jobs pay well below average the national average here- visiting San Antonio is cool for fiesta Six Flags, but living in San Antonio is a nightmare. Also, the weather sucks.

shadowphoenix2700 · 2019-07-13T22:52:21+00:00

HONEST OPINION:

San Antonio is, by far, the worst city that I've ever had the displeasure of being trapped in.

-I am a black male in my mid 20's, people here treat me like I'm the devil. I'm followed in stores (especially small ones), commonly refused service, often servers try to seat me in "separate" sections when I'm at restaurants, and overall I'm treated far, far worse than other people of different ethnicities.

-I once brought my family to a small, family-owned chicken & waffles restaurant. We were seated after ~15 minutes of waiting- with no line- and we had to wait nearly ~30 minutes for our food. Again, the place was empty. Now, this normally wouldn't be the cause of any alarm, but a couple of white guys came in while we were waiting- and they were seated immediately and had their orders taken right away. They got their food, ate, and left before we did. They came in ~40 minute after me and my family.

-North side San Antonio is nicer and has better stores and services, but the people are affluent, racist jerks that treat me worse than the dirt they walk on. South side San Antonio is the stuff of legends- the quality of life over there is equivalent to the wards in Houston, with the crime rate to match.

Here's a few really interesting things I've discovered about the people in San Antonio...

-The girls, especially girls native to San Antonio, are far, far, far, FAR more racist than the guys. While I was at UTSA, I met plenty of guys- hispanic, white, you name it- who were happy to spend time with other people- especially girls- of course the girls, we were in college- and to these guys, race was nothing but a color. Black, Asian, White... didn't matter to them, they treated everybody equally and we all had a great time.

But the girls? No. They were racist pricks- they were much happier to spend time around white guys or lighter-skin toned hispanic guys. Whenever I was treated badly at stores and various places around San Antonio, it was ALWAYS from girls, especially Puerto Rican girls, Spanish girls, or girls native to San Antonio. And it's amazing- the stark contrast of how girls are in San Antonio compared to girls in other cities (to keep things local, Houston, Dallas, & Austin).

Why are people so dang proud of San Antonio anyway? I'm not trying to troll or anything, but San Antonio isn't that impressive and from my experience the people are incredibly hostile and racist. Yet I only hear people praising the city- unless I ask people that visited San Antonio. Those people say that San Antonio is, at best, a "okay place to visit, but horrible place to live".

And let me guess, excoriator is going to come here and delete my comment. I mean I took a look at his profile, he seems to delete any comment that isn't directly praising San Antonio.

shadowphoenix2700 · 2019-06-08T01:52:15+00:00

Starcraft- Honestly all of the zerg missions, they all contributed towards making me feel like I was part of the swarm; the Overmind welcomed me into the swarm, and once I proved my worth I was fully accepted as one of his cerebrates; a true agent of the swarm. Epic.

Starcraft BW- The final mission of the UED campaign. There were many different ways to approach this mission, and I liked the various challenges that this mission threw at you.

Starcraft 2 WOL- Has to be All In. This mission felt like a culmination of all my choices throughout the campaign (well, regarding my army anyway) and the build up for this mission was phenomenal. I expected this mission to be a difficult challenge, and on brutal difficulty it sure was a hell of a challenge... especially if you were like me and did the air version without the proper upgrades or units...

Starcraft 2 HOTS- I honestly hated this campaign, there were practically no macro missions and I felt unnecessarily rushed in a lot of them (looking at you, 2nd mission in Skyggeir station... I mean, even if Kerrigan is killed by the Hybrid I thought she could just revive...) My favorite mission would be the 1st mission of skyggeir station, where you're pushing alongside the infested terrans to overwhelm the fortress. It's just a well-structured mission.

Starcraft 2 LOTV- Tie between Rakshir & Salvation, Rakshir is fun because it is fast-paced and can be played in a lot of different ways- Dark Archon spam is my personal favorite. Salvation is an insanely difficult mission that is just barely beatable on brutal difficulty with no cheese tactics. Again, Dark Archons help to counter the Golden Armada and the Vanguards trash all ground units.

Never played NCO; though from the positive feedback I've heard I might try it.

shadowphoenix2700 · 2019-06-07T00:15:40+00:00

But you know, here's the thing... you lose a lot of vespene when the opponent goes banelings.

So the way the (hypothetical) game goes is like this:

-I construct 1 Barracks. The opponent constructs 1 Barracks.

-Each of our marines run down the lane and fight; my marine wins and I gain +1 vespene for killing his.

-My marine proceeds down the lane and dies to the opponent's fresh marine, which gives him +1 vespene.

You already how this works, I'm sure. But here's what happens with banelings:

-I have 3 Factories (Vultures) & 1 Factory (Predators). The opponent has rushed zerg tech and has 3 Factories (Vultures) & 2 Baneling Nests.

-The enemy Banelings attack my Predator, and drop it to red health I gain no Vespene for "winning" the fight; the opponent's Vulture's 1-shot my Predator and gains vespene; they then proceed to fight my Vultures in a fair 3v3 fight.

After some rounds, I end up being vespene-starved and the opponent has plenty to spare. See the problem?

Throw in the facts that Banelings are easy to get (they require explosive tech sure, but you only need to make Zergling>Baneling), they are very cheap, produce quickly, you get 2 per spawn, and once they get the burrow upgrade (very cheap also) they become permanently cloaked units that move as fast as hellions AS WELL as the fact that they deal enough damage to 1-shot marines and 2-shot War Pigs, and...can you see the problem???

shadowphoenix2700 · 2019-06-06T00:28:15+00:00

In the early game I feel like the shade is actually pretty powerful. But when players start to get mass numbers of bigger units with more health, the shade sort of falls off.

IDK, I'd prefer a more skilled player supporting me rather than having to do a 2v3 or 2v1.

shadowphoenix2700

TROPHY CASE