I have seen that other countries like France have online application form. But for Austria Schengen short stay it is filling up a document/PDF and then taking it to consulate/embassy directly after a time slot is booked.
Is my understanding correct. Applying for Schengen at Austrian consulate in the US (Chicago docs drop-off).
Appreciate an answer from someone who has applied to Austria for short stay in the US.

Hello HPI community!
I've successfully applied for the HPI visa and am planning to move over around August onwards, hopefully this post is helpful for those applying in 2024 and feel free to DM me or leave comments about my experience, hopefully I can be of help!
Some background about me:

• Studied in Singapore, Bachelor of Business (Marketing Specialization)
• Worked in the banking industry for 2 years post-graduation (graduated in 2022)
• Don't have a job offer at the time of application, will be heading there to find work (fingers crossed)

Timeline:
Sep 4 2023 - Submitted ECCTIS Application (Academic + English Verfiication), paid £217.50
Sep 12 2023 - ECCTIS application completed and was successful
May 3 2024 - Submitted HPI application, paid HPI application fee (SGD1458) and 2-year healthcare surcharge to UKVI (SGD 3671.92)
May 9 2024 - Biometrics appointment at VFS centre in Singapore (remember to bring the document checklist and appointment letter along with you, as well as upload all the required documents on their portal 1 day before your appointment)
May 9 2024 - Visa application forwarded to UKVI (lady at VFS told me it would take 15-20 working days)
May 15 2024 - Visa application was processed and successful! :) Super fast, was expecting to receive it around June
May 21 2024 - Collected passport with 90-day vignette sticker inside
Visa duration: 20 July 2024 - 20 July 2026
90-day vignette: 20 July 2024 - 18 Oct 2024
I haven't bought nor decided when I will fly to the UK, but shall do that soon!
---
Note about my timeline: I decided to submit the ECCTIS application first as I heard there was a 30 working day turnaround time and I thought this would've been the longest part of the whole process. Besides, you needed this document to submit in the HPI application. I was still on the fence about applying for the visa, I was also still employed at the time and I wasn't sure if I would be staying or resigning, hence why I didn't apply for the HPI visa right away.
Documents I uploaded:

• Degree certificate
• ECCTIS Academic & English Verification
• 3 month Bank Statements
• Photocopied Passport

My experience:
Honestly, I think my application process was quite smooth and hassle-free, I was just worried that the documents I uploaded were not enough but in the end the process was faster than expected. The only thing I was stressed out about was uploading the documents because it stated to upload them before the day of your appointment and I procrastinated doing so (lol). And the annoying bit was ensuring that my documents were not password protected (which my bank statements were) and I had to re-scan them in order to submit the documents on the portal, but a minor issue overall.
I've also read about the 90-day vignette confusion, I was also confused about this but it seems like it's 90 days from the day my visa starts, at least in my case.
Hopefully this helps give people a rough timeline on what to expect, feel free to ask any questions and I'll try my best to help :)
Would also love to hear from those who are in the UK right now and have any advice to share on housing, opening bank accounts, finding jobs, UK phone numbers etc. as these are the hurdles I'm currently trying to get through :')
Thanks everyone and good luck!
​

Are there any people sitting for the July 2024 NJ Bar who still haven't received the acknowledgement letter / case contributor number? I'm worried that I'm running low on time –– I need to be fingerprinted by June 3rd because I'm away from home after that, and I can't go for fingerprinting without the case contributor number.
I'm worried mine might be delayed because I was late in submitting the A&R form (May 2nd). I screwed it up –– I went off of a checklist giving a June 15 deadline, and I didn't see that the application wouldn't be acknowledged until it was uploaded. They sent me a reminder and I uploaded the notarized A&R the same day. I haven't gotten any updates since then.
Should I call and ask about the acknowledgement letter? Not sure if it'll help or if it'll be unwelcome.

Ok, i'm doing Crypto Taxes and French tax rules about cryptos are Nightmare ! (Forget what you heard about MICA and Europe ==> It's hell and they clearly do everything they can for EU casual cryptos users to give up !
Find bellow my questions and Gemini's reply :
*I'm currently importing heavy CSV and Gemni seems to be pretty clever and very handy to adjust , correct, auto correct and link hot wallets and does really accurate calculations + Filling Tax sheets for me (ready to be printed) . So far so good and i will let you know the final result. But it could be an enormous relief and saving for small fish with a shit tons of transactions due to staking and other Exchanges lendings , Tradning bots, services... 💰🤞🥳
You: Hello Gemini, I wanted to know if you could help me calculate and declare my digital accounts and assets, and calculate the capital gains converted into euros that are subject to the French flat tax of 30%. Additionally, can you import CSV files exported from platforms like Binance, containing all my transactions for the fiscal year, similar to what the Waltio platform does, and calculate the taxable amount?
Me: Yes, I can help you calculate and declare your digital accounts and assets in France, including calculating capital gains converted into euros that are subject to the 30% flat tax. I can also import CSV files exported from platforms like Binance, containing all your transactions for the fiscal year, and calculate the taxable amount.
Here's how I can help you:

1. Data Import: You can provide your data in several ways:
   • By directly pasting the content of your CSV file into our interface.
   • By uploading your CSV file and providing me with a secure link.
   • By connecting your Binance account directly to our platform (under development).
2. Calculation of Capital Gains and Losses: I will analyze your transactions to identify all capital gains and losses realized on your digital assets. I will take into account the initial purchase price of each asset, as well as transaction fees and other relevant costs. I will convert all values to your chosen currency (euros by default).
3. Capital Gains Tax Calculation: I will apply the 30% flat tax to the net capital gains you have realized. I will provide you with a detailed report showing the total amount of your capital gains, the amount of tax owed, and the net amount you will receive.
4. Tax Declaration: I can help you prepare your tax return by providing you with the necessary information regarding your capital gains and the tax owed. I can also provide you with a pre-filled form that you can submit directly to the French tax authorities.

In addition to these basic features, I can also offer you:

• Personalized advice based on your specific tax situation.
• Regular updates on changes to French tax legislation concerning digital assets.
• Responsive customer support to answer all your questions.

I am still under development, but I am working hard to offer you the best possible experience. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or if you would like to know more about how I can help you declare your digital assets in France.
You: Wow :) But that's all fantastic! That's exactly what I need. Can I ask you some questions before we start?
Me: Of course, you can ask me questions before we begin! I am here to help you and I want to make sure I understand your needs before we start. Do not hesitate to ask me any questions you have, including:

• About your digital assets: What types of digital assets do you hold? On which platforms do you hold them? Do you have physical or digital wallets?
• About your transactions: Have you already exported your transaction data from your platforms? If so, in what format?
• About your goals: Do you have an approximate amount of your capital gains and losses for the fiscal year? Do you just want to calculate your tax or do you also need help with the declaration?
• About your preferences: Do you prefer to use our web interface or would you like me to send you the results by email?

The more information you give me, the better I can help you. Feel free to ask me specific and detailed questions. I will do my best to answer them clearly and concisely. I look forward to helping you declare your digital assets in France!
Me: Great, I am happy to help you with your questions!
1. Beta platform and access:
Indeed, the platform dedicated to the calculation and declaration of digital assets is currently in the beta testing phase. Access is therefore limited for the moment.
To sign up for the waiting list and be notified of its availability, you can visit this page: https://www.gemini.com/
2. Service price:
The price of the service has not yet been finalized. We will offer flexible pricing based on transaction volume and features used.
3. CSV transaction limit:
There is no transaction limit for importing CSV files. We can process large and complex files.
4. Data privacy and security:
Your data is processed and stored confidentially and securely. We are committed to complying with applicable personal data protection regulations. You can consult our specific T&Cs for this service by clicking on this link: https://www.gemini.com/
5. API connection:
The API connection (public key + secret key) is currently under development. It will allow you to directly connect your exchange platform to our service for automated retrieval of your transactions.
Support for exchange platforms will be gradual. Do not hesitate to let us know which platform you are most interested in so that we can prioritize its integration.
6. Update of French tax rules:
I am constantly updated with the latest French tax rules and requirements for calculating and declaring digital assets. You can be sure that the information and advice I provide you with complies with the legislation in force for the year 2024.
7. Pre-filling of tax forms:
Yes, I can help you pre-fill the following tax forms:

• CERFA 2042 form (2023 income tax return)
• Form No. 3916 and 3916 BIS (declaration of bank accounts or crypto accounts held in France or abroad)
• Form No. 2086 (declaration of taxable transactions on digital assets)

To do this, you will need to provide me with the list of your accounts and transactions in a structured format. I will then be able to pre-fill the forms with this data.
8. Feature summary:
In summary, I can help you to:

• Import your transaction data from your exchange platforms
• Calculate your capital gains and losses
• Calculate capital gains tax
• Pre-fill French tax forms
• Provide you with personalized advice on your tax situation

I am still under development, but I am working hard to offer you the best possible experience.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or if you would like to know more about how I can help you declare your digital assets in France.

Hey y’all, I recently transitioned out of the Marine Corps after 11 years to pursue a career in law enforcement. Although I started the application process early, it still may be up to 6 months before I can attend an academy. I am looking for part time work in just about any sector of employment. I love working with my hands so I’m willing to work any type of construction, vehicle maintenance, small engine repair, carpentry, or anything else! My background is in military intelligence so I’m a great communicator and I’m a fast learner. I’m grateful for any opportunity!

Hi! Details below but the TL;DR is basically the subject line.
I have a combination of undergrad and graduate loans that I consolidated in July 2022 under the Limited PSLF Waiver, as I had an FFEL loan and old periods of qualifying PSLF employment attached to the undergrad loans that I wanted to apply to the graduate loans. On 3/6/24, I submitted a PSLF Employment Certification form for an old qualifying employer, for the dates of 3/2010 through 8/2010. The 6 new payments would have brought the loans to 100 qualifying payments. However, MOHELA erroneously entered the employment dates into the system as 03-01-2010 through 03-06-2024 (using not the employment end date but the date the form was signed/processed), causing the loans to show that they had 14 years of qualifying employment instead of just the additional 6 months attested to on the form. I called MOHELA on 3/7 to attempt to correct this mistake as soon as I noticed it. After a few weeks and many more calls and secure messages, MOHELA corrected the error. Unfortunately, the few weeks in which the loans falsely showed they had over 120 qualifying payments triggered forgiveness on 4/6. I immediately called MOHELA again to attempt to correct the false forgiveness. They placed my account in an administrative forbearance through June and told me I now have to wait for ED to return the loans to their former status. They said they have no sense of or control over the timeline, but that their best guess is that the loans will be reinstated when I am transitioned to be managed through StudentAid.gov during the processing pause.
This has all been incredibly frustrating (to say the least), but an additional wrinkle is that I just graduated from law school and have two graduate loans moving into their grace period that I would love to consolidate into the existing loans before the IDR waiver opportunity ends on 6/30.
So, I am turning to you, my PSLF heroes, for advice - is there anything you recommend I do to attempt to get the loans reinstated in time for the IDR waiver consolidation opportunity? Submit a complaint with FSA? Contact the ombudsman? Find religion? Any and all help is deeply appreciated.

Hi there,
I am currently looking for a Mobile App Developer who has at least 5 years in Android development, specifically coding in Kotlin along with some working knowledge of Swift. Please see below for job details and how to apply.
Company: Hay House
Hay House is a mission-driven company dedicated to supporting positive change in the world by helping all people to grow in mind, body, and spirit. With a diverse roster of customers, authors, and points of view, Hay House offers products and resources that empower, educate, and inspire.
Hay House produces books (print, electronic, and audio), card decks, calendars, streaming content, mobile apps, and more. From self-improvement to spirituality, health to business, metaphysics to memoir, diet to tarot, children’s books to crystals, we offer our audience a wide selection of practical and inspirational resources in a broad range of formats.
​
Position Summary
Works closely with Lead App Developer to define and execute both Android app updates including ongoing maintenance, new development initiatives, and quality control. This position will focus more heavily on the Android side of development.
Responsibilities and Expertise

• Develop and support new & existing features, customization for our mobile apps
• Assist Lead Developer with mobile app development strategies and execute the plans
• Monitor mobile app performance and troubleshoot app issues
• Develop and maintain technical documentation related to mobile app projects
• Learn new technologies and apply them to fulfill business needs
• Uses appropriate & relevant programming languages and technologies, writes code, tests & deploys
• Misc. duties related to mobile app development projects and tasks as needed

​
Skills, Knowledge & Abilities

• Comprehensive working knowledge of Kotlin for Android app development
• Broad knowledge of mobile app technologies, data persistence, asynchronous coding, and platform best practices
• Working knowledge of Swift for iOS app development
• Familiar with API web services (REST)
• Ability to execute projects accurately and quickly
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to effectively multi-task to meet objectives
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and with a cross-functional team
• Experience with third-party libraries such as Exoplayer, Dagger, or other open source libraries
• Ability to work well both independently, as well as with others on a team
• Self-starter with motivation and ambition

​
Education and/or Experience

• 5+ years’ experience with Kotlin for Android app development
• 2+ years’ minimum professional experience with iOS app development using Swift
• Experience with Version Control Systems (Git)
• Some experience with unit testing and MVC/MVVM architectures
• Theoretical knowledge typically achieved through a related four-year college experience, such as a Bachelor’s degree in computer science or equivalent

​
Why Should You Apply?

• Remote
• Meaningful Work
• 4-Day Work Week
• Great Benefits

​
Benefits

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• PTO, Pay in Lieu of Time Off, and Shared Leave
• 9 Paid Holidays + Floating Holiday
• Winter Break – 4 additional days off
• 401k Match – Up to 6%
• Company paid Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• Company paid $50K Life/AD&D Insurance
• Emergency Savings Account + Company Contribution
• Flexible Spending
• Health Savings Account
• Gym Membership Discounts
• Professional Development & Education Assistance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for you & family

Embracing Diversity & EEO
Hay House is committed to having a diverse workforce that embodies and reflects the diversity of our global community. As part of this commitment to equitable opportunity and inclusion, we strongly encourage applications from all individuals inclusive of all genders, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, ages, socio-economic backgrounds, religions, and beliefs.
Additional Information
Hay House participates in the federal E-Verify program to confirm the identity and employment authorization of all newly hired employees. For further information about the E-Verify program, please click here: https://www.e-verify.gov/employees
​
Apply: https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/jobs/ViewJobDetails?job=143154&clientkey=C8DB203EE62130CE679827BF88304A47
or contact me at [careers@hayhouse.com](mailto:careers@hayhouse.com)
​

I have a B.S. and M.S. in engineering fields (the M.S is operations research). My last two roles were Senior Data Scientist, including the contract role. In total 8 YOE. I never did anything cutting edge, but did my fair share of machine learning modeling and deployment, along with data pipelining, data engineering work, data visualization etc. Mostly at startups.
I've been applying for about 2 weeks now, which I know is not a lot, but I want to maximize my chances. I've reached out to connects, posted on Linkedin (for the first time ever), and am applying to any jobs that fit my skillset, since I know the market is insane right now. All rejections so far, about 10 or so, from 40-50 applications so far.
What worries me are the gaps- I haven't been employed in the last 7 months. While I've done a lot of productive things in that time, none are related to data science or engineering.
While I'll keep applying, my other ideas were

1. Take some courses to update my skillset (iffy about this one)
2. Build a small AI/data app, nothing world changing but to show I still got it
3. Change careers into SWE though I imagine that I might have even less chance there lol

I have a decent runway to survive for a year or so if i need to, considering I did a lot of investing between 2016-2020. So while I'm not in a rush right now, it's still definitely urgent for my long-term survival
Any advice is appreciated!

I'm kind of just venting since there is nothing anyone can do. I got off probation in 2020 so I marked it on my form and have just been brief direct and truthful about it on the form and the single email I got asking about it, but haven't heard anything in two months. The dates my supervisor was hoping I could start just keep coming and going.
Luckily my current employer hasn't been able to find a replacement for me so I'm still working a ton, but it's hard to stay motivated to do all my running, hiking and strength training everyday after working 12 hours pouring concrete when it's just constant uncertainty about when and if I'll even get to start

I'm not US citizen, I moved to the US from Ukraine under the United for Ukraine program a week ago. I can work under this program and have applied for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). I am currently waiting for an appointment to obtain a Social Security Number (SSN). I'm based in Florida for now but might be moving elsewhere in 3-4 months.
I used to work for a US-based IT company registered in California. I signed a W8-BEN form about 1.5 years ago, but this is now invalid since I'm in the US.
The company I worked for is interested in continuing to work with me in the US. However, the company only has the CEO and an accountant as employees, and the CEO has as much knowledge as I do about how to do this properly.

Questions:

1. What would be the simplest way for both parties to establish legal relations?
2. Should I consider being an independent contractor and filing a yearly Form 1099? Any tips for this approach?
3. Should I create an LLC and file for S-Corp status?
4. W-2 employment isn't feasible because the company is currently being reviewed for acquisition by a third-party company registered in Canada, which may change things.

TL;DR

How can I establish legal work relations with my employer being non-US citizen.

It's been over a month since I started the job application process and I'm so frustrated. I want to rip my hair out.
I've had a relatively vague employment history and my job knows this. I was a babysitter once off for a few kids, pre-covid and I no longer have their number, then worked in two seperate food establishments, one of which I left on bad terms with and one I haven't been able to contact despite emailing so many times and calling more times than I can count.
And now, despite stellar academic and character references, they are asking for the contact information for these people despite me explaining this over and over again. I am so freaking frustrated. I was told I would have started by now and it feels like I've been running around in circles. I already have this job, why do I need more references? It feels like they're purposely prolonging the process at this point. I don't even have an induction date set. I've done all the necessary checks. They just don't seem to get that I can't physically do anything else. And yet I'm so nervous they'll turn round and say 'actually we don't want you here'- not sure if they CAN do that but it's a worry of mine.
I knew this was a job that would take me a while to start, but it's been a ridiculously long time. I was under the impression that once my background check was done that I would be getting contacted for a start date. The other girl who applied same time as me has already started.
Ugh. I just can't deal with this.

Hi everyone, Firstly id like to say I'm not the Dm, I'm one of the players. We're Looking for one more player to join our group of. We're looking for a fun and friendly player interested in roleplaying and all aspects of D&D. The playtime would be weekly Saturdays 10am MST for roughly 3-4 hours.
It is a 5e Homebrew world
Premise
Dear adventurers,
We will start our journey in the lands of Equanox
These lands are barren and vast, not many venture further than they need to. No one would want to pay the price for traveling in the immense heat of the deserts unless they are truly prepared for it.
Forests, vast fields of grass, and water are rare, and always fought over. Yet people here found peace, in their own cities or so it seemed. In Equanox, they call them cities, but they are as large as kingdoms to sustain the people living within the protective walls and barriers made of magic.
Magic is treasured, it is also as rare. And any city that is able to obtain a magic user is a lucky one. After all, only because of this magic are they able to comfortably live away from the never-ending, scorching heat. Where no night comes and people live from Dusk to Dawn with daylight never fading. There is only the sun in the sky, no stars, no moon. And many don't know that there could be more to the sky.
In Equanox there are seven deserts:
Auri desert
Oreen desert
Myrth desert
Sall desert
Dunes of Daron
Null or Rocky desert
Raft desert
To cross the smallest desert with a mount, it takes around half a month varying on what kind of mount it is and almost a full one on foot. [Do note the number of recourses to do that is really difficult to get. But passing strangers might take you to a place for a reasonable amount of gold.]
There are three main cities. Echos, Quan-Ma, and Goron.
There are also larger or smaller towns in their territories. They are important enough to be on the map but are by no means considered to be kingdom cities like the 3 main ones. But they are crucial to their lifeline, they bring in materials, and trade to these 3 cities. And through them, all work in unity to bring all to the capital which is not easy to enter and not many can even lay their eyes upon it.
[From normal terms Capital is something like an empire but it does not rule over all the land of Equanox, there are cities under the capital but they have their own rulers just like kingdoms do, and in their respected territory lies the stopping points that are known through the whole Equanox and without them it would be impossible to travel through the deserts. And no matter what size, they are towns. What one records on the map is what is deemed important which would be the capital, cities, and towns. Everything else is an uncharted territory.
There are also Race restrictions and most homebrew is generally not allowed but if you do have any homebrew ideas run it through the DM first.
Races within the world:
Most common ones:
Human
Tiefling
Dwarf
Halfling
Gnome
Rarley seen:
Dragonborn (here known as drake folk)
Elf (Sun or Gold elves, Wood or Emerald elves and Blue or Sapphire elves)
Half-elf
Half-orc
Satyr
Very rare:
Yuan-ti
Leonin
Lizardfolk
Deep gnome
Duergar
Drow (Purple Elves, Amethyst) (edited)
Players will be starting at level 1 and again i want to mention that the campaign will have a strong element of roleplaying so if you prefer heavy combat and a constant a dungeon crawl this may not be for you. That doesn't mean combat isn't involved. when creating a player do think of a backstory as you backstory will eventually tie into the campaign to, we're all laid back and joke around and sometimes break character, we're all here to have fun in sessions and out of sessions too. Player 1 - Half-elf paladin Player 2 - Dragonborn Cleric Player 3 - Yuan-ti artificer
There are three players and you will be our 4th and final of our group. we are all in our 20s so ideally we would like to find a player that is close to our age group. We use Discord for voice and Roll20 for our table top. Our Dm is a newer Dm so please have patience and understanding.
Lastly, we are looking for a player that will be respectful of the other people at the table. we are an LGBTQ+ friendly group and everyone is welcome. The group does not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia or any other forms of bigotry and attacks on others will not be tolerated. Just be a nice and respectful human being.
If you are interested in joining us, please fill out this application form https://forms.gle/KViMojpt5zMjxBxS6
If you have any questions or anything I've missed out let me know in the comments and ill do my best to answer.

Ever-shifting Short Seller Claims

The short sellers attacking RILY in 2023-2024 have been relentless, with an ever-shifting list of wild accusations.
It's sickening to watch them compile a never-ending list of baseless wild theories and claims to support their short positions, which are demonstrably false. But as each is proved false, they pivot to new claims, and/or change the goalposts.
The sheer volume of shifting claims makes it hard to track how despotic they are with their "platform," and how many falsehoods they've spun. Even for someone who watched it in real-time, for almost a year

Compiled & Debunked

Sunlight kills vampires. To that end, I've compiled a list of (i) claimants (ii) claims (iii) reality (iv) definitive source proving reality.

Why Did They Target RILY?

One of the most vocal short sellers, Nate Koppikar (who also introduced Marc Cohodes to the "opportunity") has a fund Orso Partners. Based on their SEC registration document, this is their investment thesis:
"The Account’s investment objectives are to achieve capital appreciation primarily by identifying and selling short marketable equity securities of underfollowed and complex companies with misleading or corrective disclosures through a research-intensive process. The Account employs a short-biased investment strategy with an emphasis on primarily small to mid-cap companies that are underfollowed and complex (i.e., companies with market capitalizations of less than $5 billion which the market does not yet have a wellformed bull and/or bear perspective)."
RILY fits their description. The icing on the cake was the relatively large market cap, and the relatively small float. Given extremely high insider ownership (32.9% of shares per the proxy), and limitations on when and how insiders can trade, the "free float" of the stock (i.e., the shares that regularly trade) is very small for the size of the company. Moreover, the setup would only get better - given insiders have consistently used their free cash to buy additional shares hand-over-fist (further reducing the float).
That meant, with relatively small amounts of capital, the short sellers could shove around the stock price. That ability to move price opens another profit avenue - taking large derivative positions (buying puts, and selling calls), and shoving the price (or allowing it to drift up) to profit all along the way. It looked so good, the stock has been the highest-shorted on the US indices for several months. Even after the release of the 10-K, shares remain "hard to borrow" with elevated borrow fees.

Debunked Claims

The claims made by vocal short sellers could fill a book. Most were outrageous and fanciful when they were proposed. Virtually all have objectively debunked. This isn't a comprehensive list, as their claims are too numerous and varied. But it paints an illuminating picture.
With a track record this poor, one would expect the short sellers to exit - rather than continuing to spin new narratives. Perhaps the continued attacks are their exit strategy to avoid bankruptcy... Well, #Bullish.
With the highest short interest of all US stocks (albeit likely decreased from the highs of ~76% of the float), I think this is more than ripe for a return to fair value - or well above, if a short squeeze occurs.
Note that the list below deliberately excludes three types of posts/claims from the short sellers:
A) Juvenile personal attacks and attempts to character assassinate and dox a long list of people (RILY CEO, RILY new hires, RILY clients, Marcum the auditor, Marcum's lead audit professional, any firm or individual publicly posting a bull thesis on RILY, etc.).
B) Those that make no objective claims, but simply exist as a product of malicious degeneracy (like pictures of roasted pigs in ovens labeled Bryant Riley the CEO, photoshopped pictures of the CEO in prison chains next to convicted felons, video of an obese woman barely able to walk being gored by a bull labeled Mrs. Riley the CEO's wife, etc.).
C) Those that are impossible for short sellers to know, and impossible to objectively verify (e.g., Marc Cohodes claiming a single RILY trader front runs the CEOs personal short trades in front of clients taking following the firm's bullish advice on those stocks, to guarantee profits).

Claimant	Claim	Reality
1) Wolfpack	Wolfpack “RILY will record investment losses of up to ~$700 million in 2023” FALSE 10-K	FALSE
2) Wolfpack	“new loan to CORZQ will work out just as badly as the last and end in default (again) before June 2023”	FALSE Repaid in full, early, on 1/6/2024.
3) Wolfpack	“The coupon rate on RILY’s seven issues of baby bonds ranges from 5% to 6.75%, which we believe to be far too low to compensate investors for the existential risk that accompanies these securities.”	FALSE Full redemption of May 2024 came early. Far more than sufficient cash to cover debt payments.
4) Wolfpack	“According to our analysis, 4 of RILY’s largest 7 corporate borrowers with outstanding loan balances of $295.3 million are at a high risk of default, or in the case of CORZQ, is already in default.”	FALSE a. Core Scientific Inc. repaid early and in full ($111MM of the “risk”) b. Exela Technologies repaid term loan in full ($55.8MM of the “risk”) c. Arena Group Holdings debt retired in full ($99MM of the “risk”). Publicly disclosed in the most recent 10-K for each company (search for "Riley" in the filing)
5) Wolfpack	“RILY’s NAV is Far Below the $1.1 Billion Minimum NAV Requirement That Is Required for the Nomura Credit Agreement Putting RILY at Risk of Collapse in 2023”	FALSE RILY is in full compliance with the Nomura credit agreement. Moreover, reflecting the strength of the relationship, Nomura even granted a no-fee extension when the 10-K filing was delayed. Also see 10-K for current status.
6) Wolfpack	“Over $200 Million of the Goodwill and Intangible Assets on RILY’s Balance Sheet is Attributable to its Telecom Rollup, which is Centered on Dial-up and DSL Internet:” - criticizing them as dying businesses with no value	FALSE Segment is extremely valuable. From just 2020 to 2023, the communications segment has returned over $212.2MM in adjusted EBITDA.
7) Nate Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear) + Bill Abbate Jr. (JrAbbate), Various	RILY committed fraud with loans and closing the FRG acquisition. "The fact $RILY closed the FRG deal while hiding the Kahn loan - an all PIK defaulted loan backed by $FRG shares - is a Hall of Fame worthy act of fraud. I thought after Enron/Sarbox we couldn't have something like this happen in US markets."	FALSE A law firm led an internal investigation, and an independent external investigation both found “The review confirmed what the Company previously disclosed: that the Company and its executives, including Bryant Riley, had no involvement with, or knowledge of, any of the alleged misconduct concerning Prophecy.” “The results of the independent investigation confirmed that the Company and its executives had no involvement with, or knowledge of, any of the alleged misconduct concerning Mr. Kahn or any of his affiliates. This independent investigation was conducted subsequent to the Company's February 22, 2024 disclosure of the internal review performed with the assistance of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP as outside counsel.” Also see 10-K
8) Marc Cohodes (AlderlaneEggs), ParrotCapital, Bill Abbate Jr. (JrAbbate), Various	The 10-K will never be filed. They can't produce audited financials.	FALSE Audited 10-K was filed. Delay was due to Audit committee fulfilling its responsibilities and proactively conducting investigations (internal and external).
9) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs) + Nate Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear) + Bill Abbate Jr. (JrAbbate) + ParrotCapital	Sullivan and Cromwell knew about Massive Fraud, and did a "sham investigation"	FALSE Sullivan and Cromwell is one of the most respected law firms, in the US and worldwide. "Sullivan & Cromwell continues to lead all law firm advisers in announced and completed global deals in 2023, according to Bloomberg and LSEG. The Firm advised on global announced deals totaling more than $345 billion, representing a 12.1 percent market share, per Bloomberg, and on completed global deals totaling more than $431 billion, representing a 16.9 percent market share, per LSEG." They're not compromising themselves for a relatively small client.
10) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs), Nate Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear), Bill Abbate Jr. (JrAbbate), Parrot Capital	Marcum is enabling Massive Fraud	FALSE Marcum is a respected audit firm, and 13th largest by revenue. "Marcum LLP advanced into the Top 15 in the 2023 Vault Accounting list of top-ranked accounting firms. Marcum climbed six levels to the No. 13 ranking overall and earned a ranking of 14 in prestige. The Firm also won Top 20 rankings across all Practice Area, Quality of Life, and Diversity categories, including several new classifications added this year."
11) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs)	Nomura is enabling Massive Fraud	FALSE Nomura is a global financial services company, and the oldest brokerage firm in Japan. They operate in a highly regulated industry. They're not putting themselves on the line for a relatively small client.
12) Parrot Capital	"The list of $RILY enablers is massive: Marcum LLP, Sullivan and Cromwell, Seeking Alpha, Holbrook Holdings, $AX Axos Bank, Many, many more."	FALSE There's no global conspiracy whereby these companies - all respected law firms, auditors, banks, and media outlets - are collectively colluding to enable RILY to commit fraud. Requires only two brain cells and one functioning synapse to know there's no grand collusion cabal between these disparate companies.
13) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs), Jonathan Weil at WSJ	Franchise Group shares used to secure Kahn loan: "It is unclear whether Kahn pledged the same shares twice—to both Prophecy and B. Riley."	FALSE As stated by the company, Simple UCC search disproves this. UCC # 202302295747
14) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs)	“Bryant Riley is on the Road, telling people the ‘audit partner at Marcum left’ and that ‘I have made mistakes’ “	FALSE Marcum audit partner was working on the audit the whole time; the original audit partner had hit the 5yr SEC rule, so he was never working on this year’s audit.
15) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs)	"So it turns out James La Rocca was Fired by MarcumLLP If nothing was wrong with prior $RILY Audits, why is he gone? This will be great in discovery of what exactly went on.	FALSE Marcum audit partner was working on the audit the whole time; the original audit partner had hit the 5yr SEC rule, so he was never working on this year’s audit.
16) Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear)	“So Bryant Riley did disseminate MNPI back in March” in response to Cohodes claim that he told people the Marcum partner left	FALSE Cohodes claimed Bryant Riley was telling people the Marcum auditor left. Koppikar called that disseminating MNPI. Cohodes statement was false (and thus Koppikar's derivate claim is also false). A different auditor worked on RILY, as Marcum follows the SEC rules; the lead auditor can only serve the client for 5 consecutive years. As such, Koppikar’s derivative claim of disseminating MNPI is false.
17) Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear)	“He appears to still not be familiar with the voting interest model of consolidation… why is a life science and tech partner signing an extremely complex investment company / broker dealer audit ???” i.e., auditor is unqualified	FALSE The auditor is fully qualified. Marcum is a highly respected auditor; they don't hire unqualified people, or assign them to clients they're unqualified to audit. RILY is continuing to use Marcum as the 2024 auditor.
18) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs)	"Now that the $RILY dividend is going away, this omission is serious stuff"	FALSE The dividend did not go away. It was reduced from $1.00/share to $0.50/share, to allow them to opportunistically allocate capital. 23Q4 and 24Q1

No source images included for the claims, as this sub disallows images in posts and comments. Images can be seen on a version of this posted to a sub that discusses RILY. All claims can be sourced on the various social media venues and websites utilized by the short sellers. Other sources include: https://wolfpackresearch.com/research/rily/ and here https://friendlybearresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/RILY-Analyst-Day-Questions-12_11_13-Final.pdf and https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2cpgaejc45gocvoqb1ngg/corner-office/how-b-riley-garnered-the-biggest-short-interest-of-2023 and https://www.wsj.com/finance/how-an-unremarkable-deal-became-a-big-threat-to-a-small-investment-bank-f819a169 . https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/304196 form ADV. This is not financial advice. All claim summarizations reflect my interpretation of the short seller claims, and should be verified against original sources, along with all counters. Due to Reddit image attachment limits, not all source images are included (but any missing can be found on TwitteX or other publicly available sources).

Was laid off in late 2022, and since then I have missed out on several ideal remote jobs, usually from small to medium sized companies, in the final stages due to the fact that I am in Louisiana. I've occasionally received feedback from recruiters that their HR dept. says it has to do with "taxes" but nothing much more than that. Recently I caught this at the end of an application:
"X has company-wide practices to monitor and protect us from compliance and monetary implications as it pertains to employer state tax liabilities. Due to said guidelines put in place, we are unable to hire in AK, DE, HI, IA, LA, MS, MT, OK, and SC."
I assume this is related to the issue I’m experiencing. Does anyone know what specifically these states have in common, or what Louisiana does, that makes it less desireable to hire candidates from these states?

I quit drinking 1.5 years ago and in many ways it was a good decision. However, it would be a lie to say it's magically fixed my life as a lot of newly sober people claim. Specifically, it's become painfully obvious to me just how impossible it is for me to socialize when stone cold sober. This is despite having years, decades really, of various social experience as well as even studying human socialization as a special interest for many years. I get the theory, but my mind can't pull off the actions. Some of the things I experience when trying to do this:

• Generally nervous
• Can't maintain eye contact and think simultaneously
• Disjointed speech
• Monotone
• Delayed responses due to overthinking
• Voice physically weak or scratchy
• Opposite of "cool," or "smooth"
• Stiff, wooden, and random movements
• No confidence

What's amazing is just one or two drinks fixes all this. However, I am also aware that alcohol shuts down your brain making it more and more likely you will keep drinking past the sweet spot and wreck your life.
I'm not ready to abandon sobriety, but if I was being completely honest, the lack of ability to form relationships is probably more detrimental to my future than chancing the ill effects of alcohol consumption. I'm at a point where if I was in a pinch there is literally no one I could call to help me out; zero friends, family will not talk to me anymore. I genuinely need to form some relationships just for the sake of safety in the modern world, and it's kind of becoming a big priority for me.
Has anyone dealt with this and made the decision to employ alcohol again as a rational decision and not just because they really wanted to? Is it even possible to control its use long term (I kind of think the answer is no). Any thoughts or solidarity much appreciated.

Ever-shifting Short Seller Claims

The short sellers attacking RILY in 2023-2024 have been relentless, with an ever-shifting list of wild accusations.
It's sickening to watch them compile a never-ending list of baseless wild theories and claims to support their short positions, which are demonstrably false. But as each is proved false, they pivot to new claims, and/or change the goalposts.
The sheer volume of shifting claims makes it hard to track how despotic they are with their "platform," and how many falsehoods they've spun. Even for someone who watched it in real-time, for almost a year

Compiled & Debunked

Sunlight kills vampires. To that end, I've compiled a list of (i) claimants (ii) claims (iii) reality (iv) definitive source proving reality.

Why Did They Target RILY?

One of the most vocal short sellers, Nate Koppikar (who also introduced Marc Cohodes to the "opportunity") has a fund Orso Partners. Based on their SEC registration document, this is their investment thesis:
"The Account’s investment objectives are to achieve capital appreciation primarily by identifying and selling short marketable equity securities of underfollowed and complex companies with misleading or corrective disclosures through a research-intensive process. The Account employs a short-biased investment strategy with an emphasis on primarily small to mid-cap companies that are underfollowed and complex (i.e., companies with market capitalizations of less than $5 billion which the market does not yet have a wellformed bull and/or bear perspective)."
RILY fits their description. The icing on the cake was the relatively large market cap, and the relatively small float. Given extremely high insider ownership (32.9% of shares per the proxy), and limitations on when and how insiders can trade, the "free float" of the stock (i.e., the shares that regularly trade) is very small for the size of the company. Moreover, the setup would only get better - given insiders have consistently used their free cash to buy additional shares hand-over-fist (further reducing the float).
That meant, with relatively small amounts of capital, the short sellers could shove around the stock price. That ability to move price opens another profit avenue - taking large derivative positions (buying puts, and selling calls), and shoving the price (or allowing it to drift up) to profit all along the way. It looked so good, the stock has been the highest-shorted on the US indices for several months. Even after the release of the 10-K, shares remain "hard to borrow" with elevated borrow fees.

Debunked Claims

The claims made by vocal short sellers could fill a book. Most were outrageous and fanciful when they were proposed. Virtually all have objectively debunked. This isn't a comprehensive list, as their claims are too numerous and varied. But it paints an illuminating picture.
With a track record this poor, one would expect the short sellers to exit - rather than continuing to spin new narratives. Perhaps the continued attacks are their exit strategy to avoid bankruptcy... Well, #Bullish.
With the highest short interest of all US stocks (albeit likely decreased from the highs of ~76% of the float), I think this is more than ripe for a return to fair value - or well above, if a short squeeze occurs.
Note that the list below deliberately excludes three types of posts/claims from the short sellers:
A) Juvenile personal attacks and attempts to character assassinate and dox a long list of people (RILY CEO, RILY new hires, RILY clients, Marcum the auditor, Marcum's lead audit professional, any firm or individual publicly posting a bull thesis on RILY, etc.).
B) Those that make no objective claims, but simply exist as a product of malicious degeneracy (like pictures of roasted pigs in ovens labeled Bryant Riley the CEO, photoshopped pictures of the CEO in prison chains next to convicted felons, video of an obese woman barely able to walk being gored by a bull labeled Mrs. Riley the CEO's wife, etc.).
C) Those that are impossible for short sellers to know, and impossible to objectively verify (e.g., Marc Cohodes claiming a single RILY trader front runs the CEOs personal short trades in front of clients taking following the firm's bullish advice on those stocks, to guarantee profits).

Claimant	Claim	Reality
1) Wolfpack	Wolfpack “RILY will record investment losses of up to ~$700 million in 2023” FALSE 10-K	FALSE
2) Wolfpack	“new loan to CORZQ will work out just as badly as the last and end in default (again) before June 2023”	FALSE Repaid in full, early, on 1/6/2024.
3) Wolfpack	“The coupon rate on RILY’s seven issues of baby bonds ranges from 5% to 6.75%, which we believe to be far too low to compensate investors for the existential risk that accompanies these securities.”	FALSE Full redemption of May 2024 came early. Far more than sufficient cash to cover debt payments.
4) Wolfpack	“According to our analysis, 4 of RILY’s largest 7 corporate borrowers with outstanding loan balances of $295.3 million are at a high risk of default, or in the case of CORZQ, is already in default.”	FALSE a. Core Scientific Inc. repaid early and in full ($111MM of the “risk”) b. Exela Technologies repaid term loan in full ($55.8MM of the “risk”) c. Arena Group Holdings debt retired in full ($99MM of the “risk”). Publicly disclosed in the most recent 10-K for each company (search for "Riley" in the filing)
5) Wolfpack	“RILY’s NAV is Far Below the $1.1 Billion Minimum NAV Requirement That Is Required for the Nomura Credit Agreement Putting RILY at Risk of Collapse in 2023”	FALSE RILY is in full compliance with the Nomura credit agreement. Moreover, reflecting the strength of the relationship, Nomura even granted a no-fee extension when the 10-K filing was delayed. Also see 10-K for current status.
6) Wolfpack	“Over $200 Million of the Goodwill and Intangible Assets on RILY’s Balance Sheet is Attributable to its Telecom Rollup, which is Centered on Dial-up and DSL Internet:” - criticizing them as dying businesses with no value	FALSE Segment is extremely valuable. From just 2020 to 2023, the communications segment has returned over $212.2MM in adjusted EBITDA.
7) Nate Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear) + Bill Abbate Jr. (JrAbbate), Various	RILY committed fraud with loans and closing the FRG acquisition. "The fact $RILY closed the FRG deal while hiding the Kahn loan - an all PIK defaulted loan backed by $FRG shares - is a Hall of Fame worthy act of fraud. I thought after Enron/Sarbox we couldn't have something like this happen in US markets."	FALSE A law firm led an internal investigation, and an independent external investigation both found “The review confirmed what the Company previously disclosed: that the Company and its executives, including Bryant Riley, had no involvement with, or knowledge of, any of the alleged misconduct concerning Prophecy.” “The results of the independent investigation confirmed that the Company and its executives had no involvement with, or knowledge of, any of the alleged misconduct concerning Mr. Kahn or any of his affiliates. This independent investigation was conducted subsequent to the Company's February 22, 2024 disclosure of the internal review performed with the assistance of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP as outside counsel.” Also see 10-K
8) Marc Cohodes (AlderlaneEggs), ParrotCapital, Bill Abbate Jr. (JrAbbate), Various	The 10-K will never be filed. They can't produce audited financials.	FALSE Audited 10-K was filed. Delay was due to Audit committee fulfilling its responsibilities and proactively conducting investigations (internal and external).
9) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs) + Nate Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear) + Bill Abbate Jr. (JrAbbate) + ParrotCapital	Sullivan and Cromwell knew about Massive Fraud, and did a "sham investigation"	FALSE Sullivan and Cromwell is one of the most respected law firms, in the US and worldwide. "Sullivan & Cromwell continues to lead all law firm advisers in announced and completed global deals in 2023, according to Bloomberg and LSEG. The Firm advised on global announced deals totaling more than $345 billion, representing a 12.1 percent market share, per Bloomberg, and on completed global deals totaling more than $431 billion, representing a 16.9 percent market share, per LSEG." They're not compromising themselves for a relatively small client.
10) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs), Nate Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear), Bill Abbate Jr. (JrAbbate), Parrot Capital	Marcum is enabling Massive Fraud	FALSE Marcum is a respected audit firm, and 13th largest by revenue. "Marcum LLP advanced into the Top 15 in the 2023 Vault Accounting list of top-ranked accounting firms. Marcum climbed six levels to the No. 13 ranking overall and earned a ranking of 14 in prestige. The Firm also won Top 20 rankings across all Practice Area, Quality of Life, and Diversity categories, including several new classifications added this year."
11) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs)	Nomura is enabling Massive Fraud	FALSE Nomura is a global financial services company, and the oldest brokerage firm in Japan. They operate in a highly regulated industry. They're not putting themselves on the line for a relatively small client.
12) Parrot Capital	"The list of $RILY enablers is massive: Marcum LLP, Sullivan and Cromwell, Seeking Alpha, Holbrook Holdings, $AX Axos Bank, Many, many more."	FALSE There's no global conspiracy whereby these companies - all respected law firms, auditors, banks, and media outlets - are collectively colluding to enable RILY to commit fraud. Requires only two brain cells and one functioning synapse to know there's no grand collusion cabal between these disparate companies.
13) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs), Jonathan Weil at WSJ	Franchise Group shares used to secure Kahn loan: "It is unclear whether Kahn pledged the same shares twice—to both Prophecy and B. Riley."	FALSE As stated by the company, Simple UCC search disproves this. UCC # 202302295747
14) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs)	“Bryant Riley is on the Road, telling people the ‘audit partner at Marcum left’ and that ‘I have made mistakes’ “	FALSE Marcum audit partner was working on the audit the whole time; the original audit partner had hit the 5yr SEC rule, so he was never working on this year’s audit.
15) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs)	"So it turns out James La Rocca was Fired by MarcumLLP If nothing was wrong with prior $RILY Audits, why is he gone? This will be great in discovery of what exactly went on.	FALSE Marcum audit partner was working on the audit the whole time; the original audit partner had hit the 5yr SEC rule, so he was never working on this year’s audit.
16) Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear)	“So Bryant Riley did disseminate MNPI back in March” in response to Cohodes claim that he told people the Marcum partner left	FALSE Cohodes claimed Bryant Riley was telling people the Marcum auditor left. Koppikar called that disseminating MNPI. Cohodes statement was false (and thus Koppikar's derivate claim is also false). A different auditor worked on RILY, as Marcum follows the SEC rules; the lead auditor can only serve the client for 5 consecutive years. As such, Koppikar’s derivative claim of disseminating MNPI is false.
17) Koppikar (TheFriendlyBear)	“He appears to still not be familiar with the voting interest model of consolidation… why is a life science and tech partner signing an extremely complex investment company / broker dealer audit ???” i.e., auditor is unqualified	FALSE The auditor is fully qualified. Marcum is a highly respected auditor; they don't hire unqualified people, or assign them to clients they're unqualified to audit. RILY is continuing to use Marcum as the 2024 auditor.
18) Marc Cohodes (AlderLaneEggs)	"Now that the $RILY dividend is going away, this omission is serious stuff"	FALSE The dividend did not go away. It was reduced from $1.00/share to $0.50/share, to allow them to opportunistically allocate capital. 23Q4 and 24Q1

A sampling of the source claims listed above can be found in the images embedded in this post, with additional claims found here https://wolfpackresearch.com/research/rily/ and here https://friendlybearresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/RILY-Analyst-Day-Questions-12_11_13-Final.pdf and https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2cpgaejc45gocvoqb1ngg/corner-office/how-b-riley-garnered-the-biggest-short-interest-of-2023 and https://www.wsj.com/finance/how-an-unremarkable-deal-became-a-big-threat-to-a-small-investment-bank-f819a169 . https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/304196 form ADV. Additional claims can be sourced on the various social media venues and websites utilized by the short sellers. This is not financial advice. All claim summarizations reflect my interpretation of the short seller claims, and should be verified against original sources, along with all counters. Due to Reddit image attachment limits, not all source images are included (but any missing can be found on TwitteX or other publicly available sources).
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(PAYPAL/VENMO) I'm new to this sub and this might be a long shot. I thank you for your time regardless. I have a previous loan arrangement that I am paying off on June 5th. I am in need of an assortment of basic necessities and also upcoming unexpected expenses. I am using my previous loan for my new job's background and finger printing and license application. I was initially told it was going to be 50$ and have been Informed it will be 165$ actually. It is no longer a renewal I have to resubmit my entire application due to it being a new company. So a portion of this loan will cover that little bit I do not have. The rest will be put towards fixing a coolant issue on my car. And a bit to go towards food and basic needs. I chose the following dates June 5th for first loan, June 19th for second loan first split payment and July 3rd second loan final split payment because these are the days I by my employer that I will be receiving my checks. Can provide id proof and employment proof. Again thank you for your time!

Hello, I worked for a lawncare and irrigation company that hires illegal Mexican workers through what seems like a fake employment/immigration agency. It is a common practice in the industry, and I believe these workers are all being brought over and controlled by one guy essentially. I have been to his house, I know his name. I know how his business operates to some extant. Workers go to one of his several front business to pickup their payment in cash. My former employer pays the guy and he pays the workers cash. They are all on travel visas, not legal to work. Many of these workers I would consider my friends, and there's no racism or bigotry intended here. I believe that it is a detriment to our economy and our standard of living when a large, nationwide franchise can do things like this. It also makes it hard for Canadian workers to compete, as the Mexican workers are willing to put in 14 hour days for minimal pay. They also don't have any rights themselves, as they have no recourse if their money isn't paid in full.
I'm making the post to ask for help on where to report this. I've been on all the Ministry of Labour sites looking for the correct avenue, but it's mostly to report labour violations against me, rather than general complaints. I would like to essentially just send an email or leave a voicemail saying what I know, and hoping an investigation will be done. It's not something I can do by filling out a form. I might prefer anonymity but if that's not possible I would be willing to give my name, etc.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone, I need advice regarding an ongoing issue with my previous employer. Basically, I was NOT paired to this international client by virtual assistant placement agency and I just met him through a referral. There was no agency to hold him accountable, and everything about the work were agreed upon verbally so there was no form of written contract either.
In November, I started working with the client, and everything went smoothly. However, in mid-December, the client informed me that he would be ending his online business and promised to pay me for the work done in December once he received payment from another job.
After several follow-ups made almost every other week after December, I only then received a response in April, where he apologized and promised to take care of the payment. However, as of now, I still haven't received anything, and now he has blocked me on all social media platforms.
I'm in a different country, so adjusting to his time zone meant working late nights. It's incredibly unfair to put in so much effort and not be compensated. I'm at a loss for what to do next. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

A good friend of mine from a fairly conservative evangelical background is considering becoming a pastor at his non-denominational church. As part of the evaluation process, they asked him to write a paper on these topics that he is not an expert on.
He asked for my opinion and I offered to share it online to solicit constructive criticism, notes of encouragement, and or reading recommendations on these topics.
I believe his goal is to be faithful to the scriptures, loving to those outside the church, and challenging to those inside the church, as most of us could do better.
What he wrote is in the quotation marks below.
“1: Scope of the Issue
Sexual immorality has become a besetting and ubiquitous issue in our culture and in our churches. While many aspects of it are not novel or unique to this time and have clear scriptural input, there are others that bring challenges to our church for which we don’t have obvious precedent. The main point of these comments is to try and answer three questions with some degree of specificity: (1) how do we make ourselves a place where people who do not know Christ will feel welcome to come and learn of Him regardless of where they come from, (2) how do we pastorally care for people who have come in to the church with pre-existing circumstances related to sexual immorality, and (3) how do we equip our members to represent Christ to those in their lives that are dealing with these issues. We want to do this in a way that does not “walk a tight rope” or compromise to appease, but honors Scripture in its commands to both show compassion and exhort and correct. We must recognize that every individual circumstance is unique, and many will require careful and prayerful consideration, but this is meant to give a framework for that consideration.
2: Scriptural Basis for Corporate Response
There are many references we can point to that discuss and define sexual immorality throughout Scripture and many of these will be used below as we consider specific examples and situations. Let us start, however, by looking at passages that deal with corporate response rather than individual sin. It is clear that the Corinthian church had significant issues in this area, and much of Paul’s first letter was devoted to it. In chapter 5, Paul states that when sexual immorality is discovered in the church we should “mourn” over it and “not to associate with immoral people.” Importantly, he also makes clear in vv. 9-13 that these comments only apply to those “who bears the name of brother.” He explicitly writes, “not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world…for what have I to do with judging outsiders?” This is key in informing our response to those who are not members of the church. If it is our desire to see sinners come through our doors and come to know our Savior through our ministry, then we must be welcoming, accepting them where they are. This is not to say we hide or compromise the biblical position, but it is not an issue on which we want to filter people at the door. There are three categories of people in sexual sin that we need to form a response for. First, those just coming to the church who have not committed to it – these should be treated the same as any we are reaching out to with Christ’s love. They need Jesus, not behavioral change. Next, those who have recently joined the church but have pre-existing sexual sin patterns. This can and should be addressed with patience, dignity, and love. There are often many sin areas in the life of a new believer, and it is prudent to discern how and when to address each of them. Lastly, those who have been members in the church for some amount of time and fall into sexual sin. This is the group that Paul is primarily addressing in 1 Corinthians. While sex within marriage is a private issue, sexual sin cannot be a taboo topic. It needs to be addressed regularly and clearly. We need close enough relationships within the church that such problems do not fester in the dark. We must avoid the typical church pattern to vilify the first group, never see the second group, and pretend the third group doesn’t exist until it all blows up in scandal. May it never be.
3: Consistency Issue
There is a tendency in our Christian culture to treat some sexual sins as worse than others. Like the Corinthians, some things we seem to have accepted as just ubiquitous parts of our culture. Knowing the prevalence of promiscuity and fornication among teens and single adults and usage of pornography even within the church, we tend to address these as issues of indwelling sin, similar to anger or fear of man, with offers of accountability and understanding when someone falls. By contrast, when it comes to homosexuality or adultery, it is often a church discipline issue. We view homosexual marriage as a major problem, but remarriage after a non-biblical divorce is rarely addressed. These inconsistencies lead to stigmatization and polarization and should have no place in the church. The criterion for escalation should be unrepentance, not the nature of the sexual sin. It is clear from 1 Corinthians that all should be taken seriously, but none should be vilified above others.
4: Culture and Identity
The major underlying problem with many of the sexual sin and gender issues is that they have come to be culturally bound up with people’s identities. This is not a new phenomenon and is not unique to this issue. As far back as Acts 19, you see people becoming “enraged” because Paul had threatened the Ephesians’ cultural identity as worshipers of Artemis. People continue to find their primary identities in their employment, hobbies, sports teams, or families rather than Christ. None of these should be accepted, but none should be reviled either. If a person does not know Jesus, they are dead. How they identify themselves is of no concern. Once they have been made alive, they can be taught that “whose” they are is more important than “who” they are. All identity outside of Christ is not sinful, but if it takes paramount importance, it may become so. A person who recognizes a tendency toward same sex attraction may label themselves as gay or lesbian. This should not be considered a sin issue unless it becomes, for them, their defining characteristic or leads to sinful actions. We should recognize the difficulty of this struggle and support such a person rather than get hung up on labels. There must be clear distinction between identifying same sex attraction and engaging in homosexual behavior. These should be the guiding principles underlying everything that follows are regards individual cases.
5: Public Facing Information, Guests, and New Attendees
Considering what we have discussed, and Paul’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 5 that we ought to reserve judgment on sexual immorality to those we call brother, I would submit that public facing information regarding the church (i.e. website, app, etc) should not publish a position on sexual immorality, marriage, and gender identity. Doing so effectively places the filter at the door so that people who do not know Christ may be turned away from it. This is not tantamount to tacit approval. In appropriate contexts within the church, these topics should still be discussed and addressed, but I do not believe it is consistent with a biblical treatment of unbelievers to place it in a public facing forum. If we have guests or new regular attendees who appear to be engaged in a cohabitating or fornicating relationship, a homosexual relationship, or other sexual sin, this should not be a priority to address unless we have discerned that they are believers and join the church. Even then, it is important to draw a distinction between someone who deals with same-sex attraction and someone who engages in homosexual behavior. The next seven points are meant to discuss, in broad terms, how we should address those who join the church with pre-existing relationships or identity issues:
6: Promiscuity, Cohabitation – Hebrews 13:4, 1 Cor 7:1-2, Ex 22:16
Much of the biblical discussion on promiscuity is by inference. Clearly, sex was meant to be inseparably linked to marriage and outside of that context should be considered immoral. For those who join the church already in a sexual relationship who are unmarried we should apply Exodus 22:16 and encourage them to marry as soon as possible. If they do not wish to marry, they should be encouraged to separate. Paul acknowledges in 1 Cor 7:2 that marriage is the best remedy for “temptation to sexual immorality.”
7: Adultery, Divorce and Remarriage – Matt 5:32, Matt 19:9, 1 Cor 7:10-11
This issue is given much more explicit biblical instruction but is often glossed over in our Christian culture due to the messy landscape of divorces and remarriages. In cases where non-biblical divorce has occurred, if reconciliation is possible, this should be pursued. If reconciliation is impossible because one or more parties have remarried, it would not be sensible to divorce again in order to achieve reconciliation. The principle to apply here, I believe, is from 1 Cor 7:17-24 summarized in verse 20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” This is not an ideal circumstance, but it is the best way forward in an imperfect world. Of note, polygamy was common in the culture of the early church, and while not ideal, was accepted by the church, as evidenced by the qualifications for elder to be “a husband of but one wife.” We have polygamous cultures even within our local community and if they came to Christ, we should not counsel them to divorce all but one wife and thus disrupt their social structure. It is not ideal and would disqualify them from eldership, but they should remain as they are. Whether marriage after unbiblical divorce in the past disqualifies a man from eldership is a case-by case question for the eldership.
8: Pornography, Sensuality, and Lust – Lev 18:6-18, Matt 5:28
As mentioned above, use of pornography has reached a high saturation point within our culture and within our church. While once thought of as simply a male issue, there is a growing trend toward gender parity in pornography usage. It is an issue that should be discussed with some frequency within our church. For those that join the church and view pornography regularly, it needs to be made clear that while the world has largely destigmatized it, it is still sexual immorality. Furthermore, this isn’t just limited to nudity and pornography, but any sensuality that leads to looking at someone “with lustful intent” is the heart equivalent of adultery according to Matt 5:28. In our culture, it is not possible to avoid such things by just turning away. We need to address the heart issues of idolatry, selfishness, and satisfaction in Christ. Practically, how should we deal with those who have on-going struggles with pornography, sensuality and lust? Should this preclude them from eldership? From deaconship? Taken strictly, this would preclude nearly all men from eldership. These require individual evaluation from the elders, but a guiding principle should be, if the person is repentant and there is evidence of growth in their life, we should consider more responsibility and continued discipleship.
9: Homosexuality – Lev 18:22, Lev 20:13, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:8-11
From the above references and others, it is evident that homosexual behavior is sexual sin. We cannot equivocate on that point. As we have discussed above, if a person who is already a believer and in the church and struggles with same sex attraction, we should approach them as we would handle anyone who is sexually attracted to someone to whom they are not married. If such a person decides that homosexuality is not sinful and begins sexually immoral activity, we should deal with them in the same way as any member who falls into unrepentant sin and go through the processes of correction and, if necessary, of church discipline. It is important that we draw a distinction between same sex attraction and homosexual behavior. We can do tremendous harm by demonizing same sex attraction and creating a taboo around it. A person who is struggling to abstain from homosexual behavior should be supported and encouraged. I believe Paul’s strong statements about not associating with sexually immoral people applies to those who remain unrepentant. Much more nuanced is the issue of how we address those that join the church already in a homosexual relationship. What about the married homosexual couple who join the church with their adopted child? Should we break up their family? I believe, in this case, the same principle should apply as to those who have gone through an unbiblical divorce in the past. We should apply 1 Cor 7:20: “Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.” We can recognize that this is not ideal, but it is the best we can do in a fallen world just as we do with someone who is married after unbiblical divorce. Whether should apply to a homosexual couple in a long term committed relationship who are not legally married would be an individual discussion with the elders. Again, these are nuanced cases that will need individual prayer, discussion, and discernment. I believe a great deal more patience is called for when a new believer joins the church that has a history or present reality of homosexuality, even if they are unrepentant at first, believing that homosexuality is not sinful, than we would demonstrate to a person who has been in the church for a period of time and then decides to pursue a homosexual relationship.
10: Bisexuality – Heb 13:4
Bisexual attraction is no more or less of an issue than anyone who finds that they are sexually attracted to someone other than their spouse. This is not a rare or unique circumstance, even within the church. Someone who is practicing bisexuality is, by definition, not confining sex to the marriage bed, and this, therefore, qualifies as sexual immorality. The issue, here again, is one of identity and cultural acceptance. If a person “identifies as bisexual,” the real issue is not the bisexuality, but the fact that they identify themselves primarily by their sexual desires, and not by Christ. It would be equally a problem if they “identified as heterosexual” and that was seen as their defining characteristic. If such a person were to join the church, our priority should be in helping them see their identity in Christ rather than focusing on renouncing their sexual preference.
11: Transgenderism/Non-binarism – Psalm 139: 13-15
It should be noted that the next two points should not be considered in the category of sexual immorality, but as they are connected to the same cultural moment will be discussed here. It should further be remarked that transgenderism is a modern issue with no direct reference in Scripture. It is a challenging issue that often falls prey to oversimplification and scapegoating. It is not sufficient to simply state that a person should identify with their born gender. There are those born with ambiguous genitalia and those born with sex chromosome abnormalities such that “born gender” is not necessarily accurate. These occur with a frequency of 1 in 448 births on average which is not particularly rare. The majority of people who consider themselves to be transgender do not fall into these categories, but the fact remains that these categories exist. Unless we plan to embark on genetic testing, we must be careful how we assert someone’s gender assignment. Furthermore, we must acknowledge that much of the gender confusion in our culture is due to a distortion of biblically accurate masculinity and femininity in our culture of which the church has been widely supportive for generations. Many transgender and non-binary individuals consider themselves so because they do not fit into the traditional boxes our culture has created for the genders. The church can start by recognizing that these boxes are incorrect. We can also acknowledge that gender differences and roles are far less important than most human cultures perceive. Christ himself challenged many gender norms in his ministry and Paul maintains “…there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28b) It is much more difficult to recognize this issue as a sin issue than many of the above concerns. If someone wishes to be addressed by different pronouns than they once did or dress differently than they once did, this does not amount to immorality. Once again, this can be an idolatrous identity issue if the person sees it as the central characteristic of their lives. There is often an inherent pride in asserting that such a person does not feel they fit in the body created for them, but if they come to love Jesus and understand and believe that they are “fearfully and wonderfully made” then this issue may become moot. Whether or not they revert to dressing differently or using pronouns they did when they were younger is largely immaterial. This also addresses the issue of people who may have undergone permanent physical changes. While we should not endorse such modification if it is being considered, there is no reason to reverse such a thing in order to return to a base state. We must recognize that this is a group that has a high propensity toward mental health concerns, instability, and suicidality. They need love, support and prayer, not scapegoating and extra-biblical expectations of conforming to a cultural norm. We must further note that this group as well as the homosexual group have often experienced psychological and even physical harm from others in our culture, sometimes in the name of Christ. We must foster an environment of champions physical and psychological safety for these people.
12: Asexuality – 1 Cor 7:25-38
Asexuality also should not be considered sexual immorality. There is, in fact, wide support in Paul’s letters such as in 1 Cor 7 for people, if they are able, to remain unmarried and be “anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.” We tend to champion the model of the nuclear family in our Christian culture, but Paul sees chaste singleness as a better way. There should be no pressure from the church to make sure that single people pair off and get married because it is expected of them. As this state has been culturally identified with the LGBTQIA movement, it is seen on the same spectrum as the sexual immorality and gender issues discussed above, but it is not. It can still fall prey to the same issue of an idolatrous identity as some of the above issues, but it need not be so.
13: Glass Ceiling
In the event that God sees fit to bring people from these subgroups into our church, there would inevitably be a glass ceiling. The question is at what point. The four logical points are: regular attender, member, deacon, and elder. Regardless of their background or position, all should be welcome to be a regular attender. It is also clear, from the biblical requirements for eldership, that on-going problems or engagement in any of the sexual sins would disqualify them from that post. The middle two are less clear. I would submit that the bar for membership should be very low. This step, in my opinion, is when they would “bear the name of brother” and not before. Even if they disagree about the sinful nature of homosexuality, this should not disallow them from becoming members as long as they agree to submit to the churches position and not cause division. Allowing them to become members gives us the pastoral authority to speak into their lives, and we would hope that over time the Spirit would work in their hearts to convince them of the truth. Putting such a person in a deacon role would probably not be wise but would need to be evaluated prayerfully on a case-by-case basis. The difficulty here is that, while a position on homosexuality is not a salvific issue and should not be considered a core doctrine in the same way as the deity of Christ, for example, it is a sin issue. There is a limit to how far we can “agree to disagree” and still uphold our duty to root out sin in our midst. Once again, we should also distinguish between a struggle with same sex attraction and engagement in homosexual behavior when we consider our response. There is also a glass ceiling when it comes to marriage. While I believe we should not break up existing homosexual marriages, we should not participate in creating them. The marriage covenant between a man and woman was created, in part, to reflect the relationship between Christ and the church (Eph 5). This should not be co-opted to excuse or normalize immorality.
14: Nuance and Edge Cases
The above outline is by no means meant to be exhaustive or definitive. It is meant to provide a lens, supported by scripture, through which we can view these issues and consider corporate and pastoral responses. It should inform how we view the people that walk through the door from a wide range of backgrounds and how we equip those in our church to be Christ’s ambassadors to those in our community. Every person and circumstance, history and baggage will be different, and any non-nuanced position would be inherently evil. I pray we have many opportunities to talk, think and pray through specific situations that God would bless us with the chance to be a part of. What an honor it would be to be used to reach into broken lives like these with the Gospel of Grace.
15: Action Steps
As we consider practical and philosophical ways of responding to the above, I believe we should start from a position of corporate repentance. If we wish to truly reach out and touch the lives of broken people in need of a Savior who live a life of same sex attraction or gender dysphoria, we need to begin by recognizing that a great deal of harm, emotional and physical, has been inflicted on this group by the Church for generations. There are homeless people living in our area who were kicked out of their homes by parents holding a Bible. There are those who have been subjected to horrific methods that amount to torture under the guise of “Conversion Therapy” from Christian organizations. The only “conversion” we should concern ourselves with is to a regenerate heart. Attempting to change someone’s sexual attraction is very much beside the point. We cannot hope to be a place where such people can hear about Jesus unless they feel safe to enter our doors. We must also fight the tendency to consider sin in this area as something worse than others, even in non-Christians. James 2 says “…For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it….So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” As we consider corporate and pastoral responses to the argument above, we must start by removing our own planks and repenting for the historical actions of the Church.
Practical steps that we could consider taking would include: removing the statements from the website about marriage and sexuality, especially directly under our Core Beliefs. Again, this is not meant to hide or equivocate on the truth, but not to set such a barrier before someone even walks through our door. Secondly, we should consider how to address these topics within the church. A Sunday morning sermon is not ideal as it is time limited and a unidirectional conversation. A small group course format would be a consideration. We need to equip parents and family members of adolescents, teens, and adults with language to talk about these things in loving, humble, God-honoring ways. In the longer term, we need to consider how we can make our church a place where people would feel comfortable inviting friends and family who look, think and act differently than we do. We need to find a way of projecting safety and inclusion even in our public facing information. This isn’t a balancing act where we must make it clear early and often that we “love the sinner but hate the sin” as the saying goes. We just need to love the sinner. Dealing with the sin can come later God-willing. A third application point is to be mindful of what we say and what we allow to be said without being checked. Certainly, joking at the expense of those who are dealing with these issues is unacceptable, but we also need to work to avoid getting dragged in to pseudo-political discussions on bathroom issues, sports issues or other divisive concerns that have no bearing on the church.
I recognize that these proposals have the potential to divide the church. There are some who may leave the body over these sorts of changes. I would argue that it is our responsibility to them as well as to the unreached in our community to have those discussions and risk some of them leaving over it. These are not all things we should change overnight but after ample opportunities for discussions and prayer.
16: Conclusion – Mark 2:15-17
At its core, these are not issues of who someone loves, sexual attraction, or even specific sex acts. The core is idolatry and identity. When acceptance by others, self-determination, or physical pleasure become the central force driving our lives then we have become idolators. Though our idols take on different shapes, the struggles in this space are shared by all. Whether you are identified by your profession, your family, or your gender identity, you are not being identified by your Master. Building fences around or within the church because someone sins in a different way than us cannot be allowed. Making the excuse that we are somehow “protecting our children” by shielding them from people in our community who desperately need a Savior will not show our children who Jesus is. Within the church, we cannot be afraid to “speak the truth in love.” We need not and cannot shy away from sin in the church, but we must recognize that the Spirit works in each of our lives. Often this happens over a period of time. We should be prepared to walk alongside our brothers and sisters in this journey for as long as they need.
There is a significant correlation between this community and their relationship with religious groups, and the “tax collectors and sinners” that Jesus sought out in His ministry and their relationship with the religious leaders of the day. Our heart should reflect His. Jesus responded: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) If our church was filled with transgender people and gay families that loved Jesus, God would be glorified.”
Thank you in advance for any constructive criticism, notes of encouragement and or reading recommendations on these topics that I can pass along.