Something is Coming

Something is Coming

I feel this in my bones, and it’s been getting worse, quickly.

It’s not the economy.

It’s not COVID.

It’s not the vaccine.

It’s not illegal immigration.

It’s not DEI.

It’s not ESG.

It’s not AGI.

It’s not corporatocracy.

It’s not the uniparty in Washington.

It’s not the ticking time bomb of the national debt.

It’s not the deep state.

It’s not the wars in Ukraine or Israel, or the burgeoning war with China and Taiwan.

It’s the spirit of anti-Christ. These are the prophesied End Times. Literally.

I need a giant banner at the top of Twitter, constantly reminding me: It’s the last days, dummy.

AI for all the Corporate IT Things

I got an email with a link to a “town hall” about IT. I said to myself, alright, I dare you to tell me something interesting or actionable, and started watching the replay.

The CIO leads off, of course. His first slide is about DEIC, and celebrating/observing Black History Month and the Lunar New Year.

Sigh.

I mean, that’s great and all, but that’s 10 minutes we’re not talking about IT, which is what this meeting is supposed to be about, and which is all I care to hear about. I seriously doubt that people in, say, Europe or China care much about the US Black History Month, or that people in the US care about the Chinese Lunar New Year, for that matter. But, sure, let’s waste time pandering in the name of the current thing.

And then he says he’s able to relax, now that we know Taylor Swift was going to the at the Super Bowl. He doesn’t know what teams were going to play, but he spent a few minutes talking non-ironically about Swift being there.

Again, I mean, that’s great and all, but a half hour in, we’ve now spent thousands of man-hours not talking about IT.

When we finally get around to talking about, you know, information technology, and I find out that we’re apparently using AI to modernize our “corporate operating system.” I know a little about AI. I know a lot about how our internal procedures and organizational systems works. I do not understand how we can get AI to fix any part of this.

Well, it’s a good thing I don’t understand, because he’s not talking about using AI to fix IT. He wants to use “technology” to improve our “safety-ness.” Say wha..? Like, he wants to use AI to improve safety on the factory floor. Huh?! Are we going to buy Tesla robots to pull people’s fingers out of the way of presses?! I’m confused.

Next, we’re apparently going to minimize all “risks” to IT uniformly, without specifying or identifying what any of those “risks” are. So, at least we’ve got that going for us, which is nice. We’re going to do this by 1) reducing “new” findings, 2) eliminating repeat “findings,” and 3) closing “findings” faster. Well, that certainly seems simple. A little light on details, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.

Then we’re going to “partner” with AI, and it’s going to help us be more “exponential.” Except that we’ve also been sent a company-wide email that says we’re not allowed to use AI for, well, anything!

After an hour and a half, I gave up watching. I just want to note that the leader of “transformation” just bought a new-fangled “Mac” and says he’s “challenged” to set it up.

Crushing Traumatized People

After I got struck with chronic health problems a few years ago, I was forced to notice how much Pentecostal churches preach that if you just make some grand display of worship, you will be miraculously healed. But I’ve done the things, and I’m still sick, so I guess I did them wrong? It can be confusing, and if I were new at this, or hadn’t actually read the Bible, I would be defeated by my experience.

This approach to healing is not scriptural. No one ever came to Jesus wanting to be healed (or to get healing for someone else) where Jesus said something like, “Hey, worship God like your life depended on it, and maybe I’ll do it.” He never demanded worship to heal. He often asked for a display of thanksgiving AFTER the healing, but not before. If He asked for anything, it was a confession of FAITH.

I’ve heard it preached that God led Abraham to the Promised Land because he “worshipped” God by being willing to offer his son as a sacrifice. Nonsense. His attitude wasn’t joyful or thankful. It was depicted as somber and resigned. That was a story about OBEDIENCE and FAITH that God would somehow work it out, regardless of what it looked like. The same message referenced marching around the walls and “shouting” at Jericho, as though that “worship” brought down the city. But the army of Israel wasn’t “shouting” in worship the way the phrase is understood in modern churches. They were letting out a war cry in OBEDIENCE and FAITH in what God had promised.

It’s been a very frustrating few years for me now, and it’s been compounded by these “Pentecostalisms.” Let’s just worship, shall we? God is still God, and worthy of praise and worship regardless. Let’s not make it into something that obligates God to do anything for us. And it’s OK if I can’t run laps or stand on my head anymore, isn’t it?

I can’t find a book called “Thriving Forward” by Diane Langberg, but she has several with intriguing titles that make this quote seem legit.

Apple and Corporate Limits

It’s become clear over the past 20 years that we’re headed for the megacorp cyberpunk version of dystopia, where it’s more important who you work for than which country you live in. I think there ought to be many limits on corporations: market cap, employees, levels of horizontal or vertical scaling, etc. When a limit is tripped, they should be forced to divest into *competing* interests, not collusive.

You can say it’s great that Apple has become the single-source provider for OS, computer, tablet, phone, headphones, music, TV, storage, AND CREDIT CARD, and I use all of that, but it’s creepy and weird that we let companies have this much concentrated control over our lives. These areas should be broken up.

Wouldn’t it be great if we had more viable choices for operating systems and hardware platforms? Maybe the work involved in bringing a modern operating system or a new CPU to market precludes having more than 2 or 3 players. But there’s no inherent reason to have a credit card from a computing platform vendor. Any bank could offer a similarly great app for your phone. They just choose not to.

Holding to God’s Promises

James 5:14,15 – “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.”

I’m standing on this promise, and holding God to His Word about it.

Arguing with a Narcissist

Our HOA president has repeatedly harassed us about parking on the street in front of our own house. I need to summarize how we got here, because there’s a definite pattern.

First, she told me that I couldn’t park on the street because we lived in an HOA, as though that, in and of itself, precluded it. I told her my copy of the covenants said nothing about parking passenger cars on the street.

Second, she implied that I didn’t have the latest copy of the bylaws, but wouldn’t supply me with a copy that she deemed current. So I went to the recorders office and confirmed that my copy is, in fact, the latest legal instrument that applies to my lot.

Third, she told me that the city didn’t allow it. I called the police department, and they said, if there were no signs, there were no restrictions.

Fourth, she told me that the garbage collectors don’t like it. I called the city garage, and they said they didn’t care.

Fifth, she said that emergency vehicles can’t get through if there are cars parked on the street, and says the fire department “reviewed” her rule. I called the fire marshal, and he confirmed that fire trucks were no bigger than school busses, which go through the neighborhood with cars parked on the street, every school day. He also said that if the streets were too narrow for emergency vehicles, the city would ban parking on one side or the other.

Now she claims that, as the president of the association, she has the authority to unilaterally make up rules, under a general safety clause in the by-laws, and that the association’s attorney said this was legal. She hasn’t faithfully represented the positions of any other cited sources, so she’ll have to forgive me if I cannot trust what she says any more. Given the history on this topic thus far, I believe she is either misconstruing what he said, or distorting what he said for effect in the process of relaying it to me.

So I called my attorney. He feels — and I wholeheartedly agree — that any change to the covenants would need to follow the change procedure outlined in the covenants themselves, especially changes to rules that are already covered.

I was ready to dive into all of this when I finally realized…

Arguing with a narcissist is like wrestling with a pig in the mud. You just get tired, and the pig loves it.

Gen Z Bible Stories

These things are great. I guess it’s time for a whole new Gen Z Bible translation.

After Jesus started live streaming, and the chat filled up, he began to go off saying:

W to those who aren’t thirsty for this mid life, for they will have eternal life.

W to those who take L’s from this life, for they will receive an everlasting W.

W to those who don’t throw hands, for they will secure the eternal bag.

W to those who want help passing God’s vibe check, for he will say bet.

W to those who don’t cancel others, for they will not be cancelled by the top G.

W to those whose spiritual fit is immaculate, for their hearts will be cuffed by god.

W to those who turn opps into bros, for they will be called CEOs of peace.

W to those who catch hands for being valid, for they will not be left on read by God.

W to you when the opps be cappin hard and do you so very dirty because you’re my fan,

Trust you have crushed it and have the eternal W, for so they did the true bros before you.

https://www.tiktok.com/@gen.z.bible.stories/video/7347722777505402154