On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:01:24 +0000
The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

> We were chased by a listed company wanting to make a story for the
> stock market.

Just make sure you aren't too attached to what you've built. My employer
was acquired by one of those "97 MBAs and a dozen vulture capitalists"
outfits when the founder wanted to retire, and ever since it's been a
constant struggle for management on our end to stave off the attempts
of a bunch of know-nothing suits to run us into the ground with full-on
FYPM policies towards pricing, licensing, and customer service...

> As my business partner's wife seemed determined to wreck the company,
> we decided a sale would be the optimal strategy.

....but then, in your case it sounds like a lateral move at worst ;)

On 16/12/2024 16:42, John Ames wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:01:24 +0000
> The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> We were chased by a listed company wanting to make a story for the
>> stock market.
>
> Just make sure you aren't too attached to what you've built. My employer
> was acquired by one of those "97 MBAs and a dozen vulture capitalists"
> outfits when the founder wanted to retire, and ever since it's been a
> constant struggle for management on our end to stave off the attempts
> of a bunch of know-nothing suits to run us into the ground with full-on
> FYPM policies towards pricing, licensing, and customer service...
>
>> As my business partner's wife seemed determined to wreck the company,
>> we decided a sale would be the optimal strategy.
>
> ...but then, in your case it sounds like a lateral move at worst ;)
>

I spent 9 years in two companies tripling turnover every yearand I was
utterly exhausted.

I built a house, instead. Much more fun

--
"Nature does not give up the winter because people dislike the cold."

― Confucius

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 16/12/2024 13:25, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 16 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 15/12/2024 19:43, rbowman wrote:
>>>>   I carried a high deductible ($5000) medical disaster insurance
>>>> which was relatively inexpensive back then. Today a company insurance
>>>> plan
>>>> may be a major attraction, particularly for people with families.
>>>
>>> Sheesh. I must have cost the taxcpayers upwards of £100,000 in free NHS
>>> hospital  shit.
>>>
>>> But I gave the taxman £400,000 one year when I sold my company. So they
>>> are still in credit
>>
>> How did you initiate the sale? I have currently no intention of selling
>> mine, but I am curious about how much it would be valued at in the market.
>
> We were chased by a listed company wanting to make a story for the stock
> market.
> As my business partner's wife seemed determined to wreck the company, we
> decided a sale would be the optimal strategy.

Ahh, so it seems like it was just a nice coincidence and good timing!

> You can enlist agents to do this shit

Yes, I have heard many stories from an acquaintance who is a senior
partner in a big lawfirm and it does not sound like a very pleasant
process if we're talking about serious money.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 16/12/2024 13:29, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 16 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 16/12/2024 05:54, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>>>> Long long back I kinda coined the term "Dali-Ocracy".
>>>>    That means a faux 'democracy' where it has become
>>>>    impossible to know what's real ... and thus the
>>>>    info needed to WORK a democracy is absent. All
>>>>    is surreal. Conclusions without solid axioms.
>>>>    Squishy-soft 'reality'.
>>>>
>>>>    We're HERE .....
>>>
>>> Yes.
>>>
>>> And worst of all, our Glorious Leaders are no better, They too have lost
>>> touch with Reality.
>>>
>>> So a 3 day 'special military operation' turned onto a 3 year war of
>>> attrition that has effectively destroyed Russia and much of Ukraine too.
>>> Although people will help rebuild Ukraine.
>>>
>>> In Europe the EU is completely clueless and even the UK which had re
>>> temerity to leave it is now being led back into it my a man who thinks men
>>> can have a vagina.
>>
>> Ahh... so Starmer is part of that religion? Doesn't look good for the UK,
>> but hopefully the new tory woman and Nigel can "crush it" in 3.5 years or
>> so.
>
> Early days. Neither can competently run a country, but they may attract those
> that can. Reform are gathering momentum, and with chummy Trump in the white
> house, and Elon on the donation list, may do better.
>
> A lot of people with big dosh are sensing that Reform may be a bet at least
> worth a hedge if not full support.
>
> Always corrupt your politicians *before* they get into power. ...

This is the truth!

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> On 16/12/2024 13:31, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 16 Dec 2024, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>
>>> On 15/12/2024 22:01, D wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, 15 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, 15 Dec 2024 11:42:21 +0100, D wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> It still happens from time to time. Didn't one member of the british
>>>>>> royal house dress as a nazi at a masquerade? I also know that a few
>>>>>> politicians here and there from the sweden democrats have been kicked
>>>>>> out for having nazi tattoos that at one time or other were caught on
>>>>>> camera.
>>>>>
>>>>> There is a lot of history that some would like to forget. The Norwegians
>>>>> executed Quisling as their sacrificial lamb and to hear them tell
>>>>> everyone
>>>>> was in the resistance. France, Sweden, Finland and most other European
>>>>> countries developed amnesia without the need to shoot anyone although
>>>>> some
>>>>> rehabilitation might have been necessary. The US wasn't occupied so it
>>>>> was
>>>>> difficult to 'colloborate'.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This is the truth! Sweden most definitely collaborated under the flag of
>>>> neutrality. Not a very honorable way, but I am convinced it saved a lot
>>>> of swedes, at the cost of a lot of other people. This is a fun topic to
>>>> start if you ever meet any swedes! ;)
>>>
>>> Somewhere there is an interesting account by John le Carré of experiences
>>> in British intelligence post WWII. They simply left the Nazis in place in
>>> government to get their pensions eventually.
>>>
>>> The Pigeon Tunnel. Good read.
>>
>> I really like le Carré, especially his earlier books, but haven't heard
>> about this one. Must have a look!
>>
>> I think they also managed to convert the Nightmanager and the little
>> drummer girls to quite good TV-shows as well!
>>
> Little drummer girls was appalling. Gave up after first episode.

Horses for courses. ;) I liked the night manager a lot, the dummer girl
was good, but not as good as the night manager.

> I've got em downloaded if you want.

Thank you. Already have them tucked away on the NAS.

> Best TV was tinker tailor and smileys people - epic shows.

YES! Much better than the night manager. More cerebral, and always nice to
see Obi-Wan Kenobi without his robe. ;)

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024, John Ames wrote:

> On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:01:24 +0000
> The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>> We were chased by a listed company wanting to make a story for the
>> stock market.
>
> Just make sure you aren't too attached to what you've built. My employer
> was acquired by one of those "97 MBAs and a dozen vulture capitalists"
> outfits when the founder wanted to retire, and ever since it's been a
> constant struggle for management on our end to stave off the attempts
> of a bunch of know-nothing suits to run us into the ground with full-on
> FYPM policies towards pricing, licensing, and customer service...

Sounds like the clowns who acquired SUSE linux. Absolute disaster. It is
very strange that those types of people are earning the amount of money
they do.

Surely it must only be about finding the greater fool, and nothing about
actually creating value.

>> As my business partner's wife seemed determined to wreck the company,
>> we decided a sale would be the optimal strategy.
>
> ...but then, in your case it sounds like a lateral move at worst ;)
>
>

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:45:03 +0100
D <nospam@example.net> wrote:

> Sounds like the clowns who acquired SUSE linux. Absolute disaster. It
> is very strange that those types of people are earning the amount of
> money they do.
>
> Surely it must only be about finding the greater fool, and nothing
> about actually creating value.

It absolutely is, where "finding the greater fool" is defined as
"juicing the numbers just long enough to pull off an IPO, and scampering
off before the resulting twisted steroid mutant collapses into flaming
ruin."

Unfortunately, this model is absolutely *epidemic* these days (in the
US, at least.) Ed Zitron - https://www.wheresyoured.at/ - has written
quite a bit in the last few years about the deleterious effects this
has had on the tech industry.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:56:59 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> What else could they do? Kill 30% of the nation for having cheered
> Hitler on? For believing in German racial supremacy and the subhuman
> nature of Romanians Jews Poles and other Bolsheviks?

Considering Brits have their own opinions on subhumans they were in as
weak a position as the US explaining to von Braun's crew why blacks were
completely segregated in Alabama.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 10:38:58 +0100, D wrote:

> Hm, doesn't ring a bell. A quick search only got me finnish books for
> some reason.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85sa_Larsson

I see most of them are now in English translations. Germans love their
Schwedenkrimi so there's often a German translation first that is
available on Kindle. It keeps my German familiarity from vanishing
completely.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 10:37:27 +0100, D wrote:

> Ahhh... the land of the free! We'll see if the long term plans work out.
> If so, when I retire, I'm coming! Sadly a lot can happen between now and
> then, but that's part of the charm.

Choose carefully. Some parts of the land of the free aren't very free.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:51:27 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> In Europe the EU is completely clueless and even the UK which had re
> temerity to leave it is now being led back into it my a man who thinks
> men can have a vagina.

Scholz got his vote of no confidence. It will be interesting to see how
that plays out. Apparently the CDU head isn't a EU fan.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 01:52:06 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> Oh, the Boy Scouts wouldn't let me in because I was an unbeliever ...
> but I kinda understood that. They had their agenda.

I don't remember any vetting for the Boy Scouts. When I claimed no
denomination in boot camp the DI said 'I'm a Catholic. You're now
Catholic.' It wasn't about religious belief per se. A time slot was
scheduled on Sunday for services and everyone had to be accounted for. I
don't think there were any Jews or they would have found themselves
Christian too. As far as Muslims, the .45 ACP 1911 pistol came to be
because Muslims were too hard to kill with a .38.

On Sun, 15 Dec 2024 23:09:13 +0100, D wrote:
D> Ahh... the land of the free! Try 31% in sweden or around 20% where I am
D> now. Oh, and the 31% has a cap, so you only get part of that to fund
D> your own retirement. The rest goes to happy arabians!

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
rb> There is a yearly maximum for the SS tax, which gets raised frequently. It
rb> was nice to max out and have a few weeks without the deduction at the end
rb> of the year. The current cap is $168,600 so I would guess the majority of
rb> the workers don't see those bonus weeks anymore.

On 2024-12-16, D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
> Jesus! I thought it was only in sweden. Well, as you say it's 168k, so I
> imagine that the majority of people in the US never hit the cap.

rb> Of course your benefits are taxed. Some states don't tax SS benefits but
rb> this one does so both the Feds and the state have their hands out. Then if
rb> you have an IRA or other retirement account there is a required minimum
rb> distribution yearly which is taxed when you hit 73.

> Of course it is taxed! ;) And your private retirement savings are taxed as
> well, so a nice double tax. First the salary, and then you save it, and it
> is of course taxed again at withdrawal.

The salary that goes into the retirement account is NOT taxed (the
contribution is tax deductible in the year it is earned) but when you
take money out later, the withdrawals are taxable income. Not so
unfair.

> If you're content to wait until you are at least 55 to withdraw money, you
> can start a retirement foundation. The gross assets are taxed with a flat
> tax of 0.3% or so every year, regardless of if the assets shrink or grow.
> And in return you can withdraw your retirement savings for free. This is
> not very well known, and I have never heard of a company that offers this.

So an after-tax savings account. How is this different from an ordinary
savings account ... I guess the difference is that the interest is
tax-free? Sweden special!

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 10:58:52 +0100, D wrote:

> What!? Aren't they about nature and stuff? Or are they a religious
> organization in the US?

A little bit but the troop I was in didn't take it seriously. We met in
the basement of the Dutch Reformed church but that didn't mean anything
other than it was a more suitable meeting space than the Catholic church
had.

Many years later the LDS became very active in scouting locally and
sponsored a couple of troops, Some of my neighbors wouldn't let their kids
join from fear that they would come home converted. I'm not sure what the
LDS is doing now that the Boy Scouts became coed. I know they didn't buy
into the idea. Maybe they have their own fork.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:17:27 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> We have guns out the ass - most people have several. You can have an
> arsenal out of a 'Terminator' movie. Yep, there IS some abuse, but -
> pop corrected - doesn't seem THAT much worse than the UK. Almost all
> abuse is from GANGS, not Joe Citizens. Any downsides are compensated
> by personal rights/autonomy/defense issues.

The claim is 65% of the households in this state have at least one
firearm. Even some of the libs are armed.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 10:41:17 +0100, D wrote:

> Had no idea! Sad that you swerved from the northern europe policy. I
> thin the US would have a lot less problems today if you would have
> remained a bit more selective with the immigration.

Hell, yes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Nationality_Act_of_1965

Emmanuel Celler and his shabbas goy, Hart got it passed. The ADL was
pushing it. Handlin ghost wrote Kennedy's pamphlet.

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

Johnson was in panic mode as the blacks burned down US cities. Parasites
prefer the host weakened but not dead.

On 2024-12-16, D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
> The EU
> politicians have set themselves up as a new nobility. They get lifetime
> pensions after 1 or 2 terms in office, they get a huge part of their
> salaries tax free, they get free business travel, taxi, free apartments,
> and of course, legal immunity. I cannot for the life of me imagine how
> come the public hasn't rebelled at the revolting life styles and benefits
> they have awarded themselves. And they then have the stomach to complain
> and call entrepreneurs "greedy".

US politicians also get a pension after a term in office (although I
think it is quite modest if they serve only one term).

Lots of people that work outside of their official country of residence
get some benefits tax free.

Travel mandated by the employer (so-called business travel) is usually
paid by the employer.

There may be some exploitation, but most of the things you mention do
not seem outrageous to me.

On Sun, 15 Dec 2024 23:34:24 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> Very true that they "over-built" in the 1800s. Fails were usually due
> to some unrealized design fault, not the overall-average strength of
> the structure. Building on old swamp-land was a common error.

One of the first things we were exposed to in the engineering curriculum
was the Tacoma Narrows bridge as how not to do things.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_(1940)

Moisseiff was a product of the Baltic Polytechnic Institute and Columbia
University, not RPI, fortunately.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:04:19 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> On 12/15/24 5:10 PM, D wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Sun, 15 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 15 Dec 2024 14:08:24 -0000 (UTC), Lars Poulsen wrote:
>>>
>>>> My boss and I looked out and saw that there were no engineer jobs
>>>> available in town; LM Ericsson had just closed their US Internet
>>>> group and put 300 Internet engineers on the street. So he asked if I
>>>> would be willing to join him in a startup.
>>>
>>> A friend got caught in the Marconi to Ericcson transition. It was fun
>>> while it lasted.
>>>
>>>
>> Ahh Ericsson... the only company on the planet that makes the
>> government look and feel like a startup with hipsters!
>
> Hey - Nordic - a different way of thinking. Don't be a bigot now :-)

Hey, Nordic Semiconductor does fine work -- but they're Norwegians, not
Swedes.

On 2024-12-16, The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> I used to design Mil Spec hardware where we had a giant chest
> freezer to take all the kit down to -25°C to ensure it still worked.

I could have sworn it was required to run at -40 degrees (C or F, same
thing). My little company of "4 guys in a garage" has a chamber where we
can test from -40 to +70 C. (Got it for free. A friend at a large
defense contractor company nearby alerted us when they got a new one and
put their old one out in the parking lot for the trash collector to pick
up.)

On 12/16/24 4:18 PM, rbowman wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:04:19 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>
>> On 12/15/24 5:10 PM, D wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, 15 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Sun, 15 Dec 2024 14:08:24 -0000 (UTC), Lars Poulsen wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> My boss and I looked out and saw that there were no engineer jobs
>>>>> available in town; LM Ericsson had just closed their US Internet
>>>>> group and put 300 Internet engineers on the street. So he asked if I
>>>>> would be willing to join him in a startup.
>>>>
>>>> A friend got caught in the Marconi to Ericcson transition. It was fun
>>>> while it lasted.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Ahh Ericsson... the only company on the planet that makes the
>>> government look and feel like a startup with hipsters!
>>
>> Hey - Nordic - a different way of thinking. Don't be a bigot now :-)
>
> Hey, Nordic Semiconductor does fine work -- but they're Norwegians, not
> Swedes.

FYI ... Norway, Sweden, Finland and often Denmark are
generically referred to as "The Nordics". There is
enough shared culture & history to kinda make them a
distinctive cultural group.

As for the BUSINESS SENSIBILITY of Ericsson, well ...

On 12/16/24 3:58 PM, rbowman wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:17:27 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>
>> We have guns out the ass - most people have several. You can have an
>> arsenal out of a 'Terminator' movie. Yep, there IS some abuse, but -
>> pop corrected - doesn't seem THAT much worse than the UK. Almost all
>> abuse is from GANGS, not Joe Citizens. Any downsides are compensated
>> by personal rights/autonomy/defense issues.
>
> The claim is 65% of the households in this state have at least one
> firearm. Even some of the libs are armed.

A *lot* of the libs are armed - and tend to buy the
top-dollar stuff like AR-15s.

As for percentages ... I think many, perhaps wisely,
don't admit to being armed. The real figure is surely
about 85%

But don't get too close to armed libbies - they're
likely to shoot you while trying to figure out where
the safety lever is :-)

On 12/16/24 4:41 AM, D wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, 16 Dec 2024, rbowman wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 15 Dec 2024 23:01:58 +0100, D wrote:
>>
>>> Oh, and the swedish socialist party was very much into eugenics. Also
>>> something that they are working hard to bury in some distant, dusty
>>> corridor of history.
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_v._Bell
>>
>> "Three generations of imbeciles are enough"
>>
>> https://womanisrational.uchicago.edu/2022/09/21/margaret-sanger-the-
>> duality-of-a-ambitious-feminist-and-racist-eugenicist/
>>
>> There are facets of Margaret Sanger, the patron saint of Planned
>> parenthood, that the left would rather forget.
>>
>> https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/feb/06/race.usa
>>
>> It's a Guardian review of Black's book but I've read the same in other
>> sources. Besides the eugenics programs of the '20s and '30s US
>> immigration
>> law heavily favored northern Europeans. They threw that out in '65 so
>> here
>> we are now.
>
> Ahh, the left is so cute. They can do no wrong, and when inconvenient
> facts are pointed out, you are cancelled, or the facts are "fake news". ;)
>
> Had no idea! Sad that you swerved from the northern europe policy. I
> thin the US would have a lot less problems today if you would have
> remained a bit more selective with the immigration.
>
> On the other hand, the master of chaotic and detrimental immigration is
> of course sweden!
>
> This is a classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOGe02pjE-g .

A CIA advisory now lists Sweden as kinda dangerous.
Islamist thugs and gangs now routinely prey on the
weak. Women are more reluctant to go out on the
streets at night.

On 12/16/24 3:50 PM, rbowman wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 01:52:06 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
>
>> Oh, the Boy Scouts wouldn't let me in because I was an unbeliever ...
>> but I kinda understood that. They had their agenda.
>
> I don't remember any vetting for the Boy Scouts. When I claimed no
> denomination in boot camp the DI said 'I'm a Catholic. You're now
> Catholic.' It wasn't about religious belief per se. A time slot was
> scheduled on Sunday for services and everyone had to be accounted for. I
> don't think there were any Jews or they would have found themselves
> Christian too. As far as Muslims, the .45 ACP 1911 pistol came to be
> because Muslims were too hard to kill with a .38.

"No Denomination" is different from 'unbeliever'.
To the BSA it suggests that you are 'religious',
probably Xian.

As for the .45 ... "Moro" tribesmen - fanatical
Islamists/Nationalists - would use drugs and
tie rope around the body to delay any shock
response to being shot. The USA had switched
from the old 'cowboy Colt' to .38 because the
latter was smaller/cheaper. Alas, NOT what was
needed for the Moro.

On Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:21:40 -0500, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:

> But don't get too close to armed libbies - they're likely to shoot
> you while trying to figure out where the safety lever is

That's why they like Glocks -- point and shoot.