From: oldernow@dev.null   
      
   On 2024-02-08, D  wrote:   
      
   > Wise choice! Please see attached file for more information.   
      
   AW, shucks, I'm not seeing a way to deal with what I imagine to be   
   MIME attachments in slrn. Installed Alpine to see if it might be   
   more robust along those lines, but for the life of me (Alpine man   
   page, Alpine "help" while running) I can't see how to specify creds   
   to authenticate a running Alpine session to a remote nntp server.   
      
   If there's not a way, feel free to send it to the email addy at   
   the bottom of this post.   
      
   > Amen! So do I. I have no plugins. At most I think I have a   
   > bit of space adjustment, syntax highlight and line numbers,   
   > but those are all built in. For some reason though, can   
   > no longer remember, I switched from vim to neovim. But I   
   > always feel bad for using vim because I heard that syntax   
   > highlighting is for nerds, and that vi is the "pure"   
   > religion (TM). ;)   
      
   I can't even remember what specifically drove me from classic   
   vi into the heretical arms of vim. It definitely wasn't syntax   
   highlighting. But have been something about being able to pipe text   
   in/out of scripts.   
      
   > Ahhh sorry for confusing you. I meanted alpine the email   
   > and news client. It is brilliant! Written in C, compiles   
   > without any problems and you can automate it to your   
   > hearts content. Have a look at https://alpineapp.email/   
   > for pure email bliss. =3D)   
      
   I might tinker with it.   
      
   > >> But that was tough, it could take several hours to answer   
   > >> a single message so in the end the thread collapsed under   
   > >> its own weight.   
   > >   
   > > There was a time when I'd have considered that a top-notch   
   > > description of heaven. :-)   
   >   
   > Well, you might just be standing right in front of the   
   > kingdom of heaven here! ;)   
      
   It's not where Thomas told me I could find it, but heresy loves   
   company, so.... ;-)   
      
   > Touch=E9! But life has taught me that if you agree too   
   > easily your better half will know what your doing and   
   > scold you for that. So first disagree lightly (even if   
   > you don't care, just in order to give the lightest hint   
   > of a discussion) and then agree, and she will love you   
   > for it. ;)   
      
   That's quite possibly the most useful paragraph I've ever encountered   
   online!   
      
   > Ahh, the final house! Haven't reach that stage in my life   
   > yet. On the other hand I'm only 41 so still just a, what   
   > do they call it...  whipper-snapper?   
      
   C'mon, now... *everyone* knows there's no way to know what to   
   call someone without knowing their skin color....    
      
   41? Mighty fine age!   
      
   > Ahh... this explains all those bible-people in alt.atheism   
   > who are trying to save the people of little faith. I   
   > always thought it was some kind of nasty bot, but perhaps   
   > they do overflow with divine inspiration and think that   
   > alt.atheism is the perfect vehicle for this inspiration.   
   > ;) Glad they haven't found this little oasis yet!   
      
   Atheism's *fightin'* words to them!   
      
   > > Ha... I re-read that past paragraph and suddenly the bible   
   > > verse about "where two or three are gathered together in   
   > > my name" came to mind.... :-)   
   >   
   > So not four??   
      
   Probably, especially when imagining a hidden "at least" before the   
   word 'two'.   
      
   > Oh, in that case you might like Huxleys Perennial   
   > Philosophy? He does what we do, and compares notes between   
   > several religions. The difference is that he made a product   
   > out of it and earned some money. ;)   
      
   There might have been a time. But these days that sounds too   
   voluminous for me.   
      
   > What made you exit your fundamentalism?   
      
   8 December 1980.   
      
   Okay, that's a degree or two of hyperbole stated so starkly.   
      
   But, I believe that was the beginning of my end in fundamentalist   
   protestant Christianity.   
      
   I was part of an evening cleaning crew on the campus of Bob Jones   
   University, arguably the most "fundamentalist" of all. We were on   
   "lunch" break.   
      
   I was minding my own business when one of the guys said (to the   
   entire group), "Did you hear John Lennon was shot?"   
      
   Nobody answered. Most if not all were all born and raised in said   
   fundamentalism, so likely couldn't care less about John Lennon.   
      
   But I grew up a Beatles fan, and John was my favorite.   
      
   "John Lennon was *shot*?"   
      
   "Yes. Shot. And killed."   
      
   I don't remember finishing that shift. But I do know that after   
   arriving back to my dorm room, I flipped on a local "rock" radio   
   station, which was strictly forbidden. But I just had to know. The   
   steady stream of Beatles/Lennon songs made it clear. A roommate   
   reminded me I shouldn't be listening. (I had five roommates.) But   
   I continued, never going to bed.   
      
   The next few days, I'd visit a piano practice room to play   
   Beatles/Lennon songs as best as I could remember.   
      
   I returned to school there for just one more semester, then took   
   a semester off to work and build up funds, then went to a "state   
   school" the remainder of my undergraduate degree, slowly but surely   
   falling away from all but what might be called the more "esoteric"   
   aspects of Christianity.   
      
   I'm not sure how to describe what "esoteric" meant to me, but a key   
   aspect was de-emphasizing/discarding information/matters/practices   
   that felt more "addressing the outside of the cup" than what might   
   lead to inner transformation.   
      
   > Of course I couldn't resist, and we spoke, and we was   
   > actually very nice. In the end, his judgment was that I was   
   > ok, even though I am agnostic, because I admitted that I   
   > was unaware, but my ex-girlfriend who was a catholic was   
   > apparently a hypocrite for not living a strict christian   
   > life. That made me laugh very hard, the agnostic beat the   
   > catholic! :D   
      
   LOL!   
      
   > I like the allegory of "flipping the reality bit" by   
   > faith. I am enormously fascinated by the phenomenon   
   > of faith.   
      
   I think Hebrews 11:1 had something to do with how I came to   
   understand faith:   
      
   "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of   
   things not seen."   
      
   I truly think of it as the now semi-famous (in this newsgroup)   
   reality-bit-flipping mental operation   
      
   I'm not sure one can "try" to flip a given notion's bit. It's   
   more that one "relaxes into the obviousness of it (a notion)",   
   so to speak.   
      
   > Yep... web is for children, usenet is for real men! ;)   
      
   Heheh!   
      
   > Ahh... I've been a remote worker for about 8 years now. My   
   > way to solve it was to start my own company that is 100%   
   > remote and not a trace of a physical office. :D But we do   
   > meet 2-4 times per year if the mood strikes us.   
      
   Wow, cool!   
      
   > Oh wow! Had no idea! =3D( You're saying the idea of the   
   > journalist as the lone gunranger fighting by himself to   
   > disclose corruption and injustice is no longer a thing in   
   > the US?   
      
   I'm saying that's what I believe. I've no idea what the masses think,   
   because that would require trusting journalists. :-)   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)