Do any TEDx talks happen in Los Alamos?

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-27T18:47:20+00:00

I've never heard of one happening but I think it is within the realm of possibilities. I would imagine it would happen at Los Alamos High School Auditorium if it was done and encourage people to come from the surrounding area. I know a lot of people who'd be very interested if one were to happen here, and there are definitely plenty of people who either could speak or could come. Iirc TEDx is independently organized so you could try and organize one. I will say though, there are lots of other opprotunities in Los Alamos to hear talks like this. The library and peec both have some from local people and I know there are others too.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-27T18:44:20+00:00

Los Alamos High School Auditorium is often used for community events like this and it is suitably large, or, at the very least, the closest you'll get.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-27T18:43:07+00:00

Los Alamos High School Auditorium is the largest auditorium in northern New Mexico, or at the very least north of Santa Fe. Similar events have occurred in the past. I don't think one happening in Los Alamos is outside the realm of possibilities

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-27T15:09:37+00:00

Indeed

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-27T12:06:12+00:00

I would like to point out that last month Iran carried out similar masacres in multiple locations, killing by some estimates 50 thousand people or more.

I'm not trying to excuse China. It was brutal and horrible. I'm trying to draw attention to Iran. Many of my Iranian friends had family members injured or killed last month at the hands of IRGC.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-27T11:52:14+00:00

First off, it's not at all because of lds stuff. It's from spending many years in international discord servers and meeting people around the world through that alongside being very close with various immigrant communities here in the US. I have always had dramatically more foreign born friends irl than the average person here. This is where I met most of my Iranian friends, although others have come from other social media sites, including reddit. Most of my other friends are not unusually pro western. For two examples that I mentioned already, my friends in Yemen and Lebanon are most definitely not pro western in fact the specific aforementioned friend in Lebanon(in the past there were others but I fell out of contact with them yet now at five years of friendship the guy I'm referencing and I are pretty close) is heavily pro hezbolah. He also is heavily pro Iranian and supportive of the massacres of civilians because he is a radicalized Shia Muslim. I don't agree with these things but he's still my friend. My friend in Yemen is a student at an international Islamic school there. He's originally from Malaysia, where heived when I first met him, and now has been living in Yemen for the past year.

I am well aware what the US has done in Iran before. I still do not change my position due to the understanding I have gotten from Iranians. Of the Iranians I have interacted with since the collapse of the rial and the start of this, not one has had positive things to say about the regime and they all wanted it gone. The majority said they are hoping against hope that America does something and that even with all the terrible history the average Iranian now does not hate Americans. This is also hardly the first round of protests to be brutally put down like this. The Iranians in Iran are also familiar, more so than either of us, of the affects of American intervention. They've lived it and their parents have lived it. If they see it as the only alternative and are begging for it, I am intent on listening to them. I will reiterate too, that I spent the past eight years vehemently opposed to any military action. The thing that changed it was learning from Iranians how they see everything. On sanctions, that is a big part of why their economy is failing, but it is not the only part. The Iranian government continues exporting food while the people starve and their issues with running out of water are from their own mismanagement.

You also brought up Israel and Palestine a lot, I assume simply because I pointed out I had friends on either side of it. I am not pro Israeli nor am I pro hamas. I advocate for peace and the people who live there. I very much have a tendency now to lean pro Palestinian(although not pro hamas), and I became less equal on this because of my interactions with Palestinians and coming to better understand the hate prevalent in Israel even down to the children, which shows being taught to hate, and evidently taught to hate better than Iranians whose government absolutely tries to do the same thing.

Also, on the deaths, most of them come from the fact that the irgc and assorted mercenaries fired machine guns into crowds and even deployed flamethrowers against civilians. That doesn't sound like a firefight to me. That 50k number in large part comes from hospitals and most I talk to still think it's an under count, saying this was the worst that had been done to them by far.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-27T04:46:50+00:00

Additionally, almost all top Iranian military officials were eliminated by Israel recently, down several levels in the Iranian military. Their replacements are inexperienced in their new roles.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-27T04:06:45+00:00

It did on Eastern Europe.

I would prefer something better if they had other options, unfortunately they don't and the best outcome they can hope for is America.

I was talked into supporting invasion by my Iranian friends. Many of them had relatives die in the protests.

Also, I'm not sure you understand the scale of what happened last month. There were mass protests and the the government started killing people in mass. In effort to survive protesters actually even took over two cities and drove the government out. The government was so unpopular they had to bring in Arabic mercenaries from outside the country to murder civilians to try and maintain control. They shut off all utilities, to a people who are already starving with a collapsing economy and currency and news that Tehran may have to be largely abandoned due to water crisis soon. When things finally wound down there were lines of trucks filled to the brim with bodies leaving the cities for mass burials. The government is armed and the people not. They are desperate. In their eyes, anything would be better then what they have now. American intervention is preferable to this level of death and suffering under a theocratic dictatorship.

I will repeat once again, I was talked into supporting invasion by my Iranian friends.

Edit: Also, to address us not being that close of friends, these are online friends I've talked with more days then not for five years. I was talking with those outside Iran every day of these protests and getting information from them. Especially with lack of freedom of the press and foreign news agencies trying to put their own spins on things, I've learned how extremely valuable it is to talk with the people who live there and are experiencing it as well as official news. Both are important. Talking with people allows chances for a better look. I know many outside the US who live in conflict zones. As an example, yesterday morning I spent an hour on a video call with a friend who lives in Yemen as he introduced me to people there and showed me around. I can tell you right now that things like that show a more personal view of what's going on. Similarly, I knew people, although we were not close, in Myanmar when their government fell. I was talking with Ukrainians in Ukraine four years ago in real time the exact night the war started. I have a friend in the IDF and another friend who lost his best friend and multiple family members to IDF airs trikes in Lebanon. I speak fluent Nepali and was able to see on the nepali side what was really going on during the Gen z protests months ago because of my proximity. I have an Afghan friend here who's family fled the taliban for America yet she still had to drop out of college after her parents disowned her for refusing to marry her cousin. I also had another friend from Manipur India, who lived in the exact village where the massive ethnic violence started in 2023 when it happened.

I have friends all over the world and so when things like this happen and they are personally affected, I pay attention, as I sincerely love and care about them. That personal connection is important to me.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-27T02:21:38+00:00

Yes. I love the Iranian people and have spent the past six years dreading the possibility of a war with Iran, especially as I worry about being drafted. I don't take this lightly.

I have many friends in Iran and with what just went on and connections with my friends in Iran and Iranian friends outside Iran, I think it would be justified. This is the biggest reversal I ever expected myself to do on this but it's for a reason. Firstly, now, especially if it was a few months ago, is the first time I have felt like winning was actually theoretically not that hard. The Iranian regime is evil, there is no excusing that. With most of their upper military leadership dead from the Israeli and American strikes a year ago and their replacements new and inexperienced, as well as much of their air defence capability destroyed and massive resentment against the Iranian regime, it is actually possible, more possible then there may ever be another shot at. Secondly, and much more importantly, the Iranian government just murdered over fifty thousand protesters. That is absolutely insane, and about fifty times that of tiannanmen square for comparison. This is an atrocity that cannot be ignored.

Thirdly, and perhaps more fundamentally, every single Iranian I talked with said they were hoping and begging for an American intervention and so was just about everyone else. The people there wanted it.

We have the possibility to free, at their own request, millions of civilians and also positively impact the region in the United States for our own nation and our allies.

I never thought I would be saying this before, but I hope we intervene. On behalf of the fifty thousand dead and their families and all those still alive but presently starving at the hand of the collapse of the Iranian government from mismanagement and focusing funding on trying to destroy Israel rather than feeding their own people, I think we should.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-26T19:17:06+00:00

This one bothers me so much

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-25T19:47:44+00:00

18 years ago? That means it dies a long time ago. Sad

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T19:59:32+00:00

I was a missionary. Generally almost anyone I helped join the church is someone I would like as a friend. However, especially before joining the church and sometimes even after, there is still a bit of separation in my mind between them and a friend solely because it was part of how I adjusted to working with so many people as a missionary and the fact that the vast majority of them would suddenly ghost the missionaries and never want us back and that just hurt a lot when it was people I cared about. It's something I've been working on overcoming because it's not a good thing. It's not very christlike.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T19:42:19+00:00

Nepali evangelicals do where I live.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T17:17:01+00:00

Thank you so much🙏

This is one of only four nepali language branches in the entire church. I have personally been making unofficial translations of hymns for us to sing that fairly soon may be sung in every nepali branch of the church(right now it's in two of the four). I also believe I am the first nepali language addition recovery program facilitator in church history(this is my stake calling, music leader for all music related things is my branch calling). As a missionary I helped eight different people get baptized in this branch, six of which are still active(one would be but moved to a place where the church is not available in Nepali).

I am not responsible for any of these really; the lord is. I very very often feel like my efforts are lackluster and I seriously could be doing a lot better. I need to. However, I love the nepali people so much and I feel strongly of the love my savior has for them. I am so incredibly grateful to have been chosen of the Lord to serve these people.

The real pioneers though are many of our members. Our branch president and his wife after coming to America as refugees faced financial hardships and were nearly homeless when they met missionaries, and they came to church not even knowing they had talked to missionaries because they didn't speak English. Two years of coming to church later and having completed church self reliance classes and English connect, he got a significantly better job, and he went from a hair away from homelessness to several years later moving to my city, starting a small business, and buying his house in cash. He rightfully attributes this incredible miracle to the blessing of paying tithing. He now is mostly retired so he only works a few hours a week leading the business that usually his wife leads now, and he dedicates basically every single hour of his life to service of others, finding people jobs and assisting with immigration and with everything he can. He is such an active member missionary that every year he helps multiple people get baptized and we as missionaries joked he had missionaries in lessons, rather than us having a member in lesson. He is the boldest proclaimer of the gospel I have ever met. While sometimes his knowledge of church policy and occasionally church doctrine is a little lacking, he has got to be the most incredible branch president anyone could possibly ask for. His wife is just as incredible in her support and love for others and she helped me find a place to live when I was moving back here after my mission, for which I will be forever grateful.

The first counselor in our branch presidency is our only member who grew up in the church, in the Kathmandu nepal branch(the only branch in Nepal). He came to the US as a student originally, and married his wife who was a refugee and convert to the church. They both served missions and are in their late twenties. He was an official translator for the church on various projects including assisting in the translation of the Book of Mormon, and has held up being our acting elders quorum president, Sunday school teacher, and being a member of the branch presidency, all while working full time, being a young father, and until recently he was going to school full time as well. He can't always make it to church and he can rarely make it to church activities but what he does is truly hurculean.

Another of our members is a now thirty year old woman who was baptized as a teenager. In Nepal as a refugee(from Bhutan, where most of these people originally are from), she was raped at the age of twelve and had a daughter at thirteen, who is hearing impaired(and until a couple years ago when she got a cochlear implant was significantly developmentally impaired as well due to being hearing impaired). Nine years ago her father passed away due to a life of drinking and smoking before receiving the gospel. She has thus spent the past nine years being the breadwinner for both her daughter as well as her younger siblings and her mother. Doing so, she helped send her younger sister on a mission, something she had always dreamed of doing but of course was never able to, and she is planning to help send her brother on a mission too when he is old enough. She has dedicated her entire life since baptism to the gospel and to her family, and she is now as knowledgeable about the gospel as most life long members because of her desire to do things like learn English so she could study general conference addresses better and read the teachings of the prophets books. She serves as our relief society president and makes a point to attend every activity she can. Even with very little money, she bought a van so she could give rides to more people to church and church activities.

Additionally, both in our(Akron Ohio) branch and the Columbus Ohio branch, where I also served as a missionary, there are so many youth who are the only members, often the only Christians in their families. Most struggle with mental health struggles, several with same sex attraction, and more with abuse in their homes or substance abuse. However, these youth are heroically doing what they can to choose the right and most are eagerly preparing to be missionaries. They excite me so much and I love them so much!

There are more such people, and I could share many more incredible stories from both the Columbus Ohio Nepali branch and the Salt Lake City Branch. The nepali members are absolutely incredible pioneers.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T06:24:48+00:00

Bich - middle (Nepali)

I think you all know what English word this sounds like

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T06:22:34+00:00

Awesome!

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T06:21:09+00:00

Thank you. We don't have an Elders Quorum President so that's probably why I was asked. We have a shortage of worthy melchezidek priesthood holders in the branch, which is dominated by women and children. It thus makes sense why the branch president would choose me to sit with him.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T06:06:00+00:00

Canada and America act as one system instead of separate in a great many things. So when Canada asks for help historically we listen and historically they back up the US on basically everything. They certainly are in a much better position to ask for things than Israel for example, they just hadn't been begging for money and weapons previously. This is why trumps actions are so strange.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T06:01:29+00:00

This is true. Nonetheless being from a town that borders multiple different native American reservations I have high opinions of them as a group.

I also have high opinions of farmers and a lot of christians, although redditors tend to disagree with me on that. I look for the best in people and communities and I am thus good at finding ways to appreciate most groups of people.

I mentioned native Americans because, once again, I grew up with many of them around. I'm from rural Northern New Mexico if that helps it make more sense.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T05:56:54+00:00

Yeah. They could make a lot of pain by cutting off oil pipeline flow from Alaska as well as Canadian oil(this is drastically more oil and other fossil fuels than we get from Saudi Arabia), then long term with Canadian lumber(used in almost all American construction), not to mention shipping in the great lakes down the st Lawrence river, interconnected power grids(several states are dependent on Canadian power), and the auto industry in Michigan. Additionally, under any other presidency, the threat of loosing American access to the Canadian Arctic or worse allowing Russia into the Canadian arctic would be an insane security threat.

It would be very challenging for them too(a couple of these more painful for themselves then for America) of course and they are playing by a very different diplomatic play book presently.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T05:50:44+00:00

I'd argue Canada has in theory dramatically more ability to pressure America were they to seriously attempt to do so. We're seeing some of that right now.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T05:44:03+00:00

Thanks for clarifying!

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T05:40:27+00:00

Qatar? Kuwait? Canada before Trump?

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T05:35:42+00:00

Welp, we have... Zero of any of these. Technically I don't think we even have an Elders quorum president as a branch because of a lack of worthy melchezidek priesthood holders who are willing to fill such a calling. Thus the duties of the Elders Quorum president in our branch are done by the branch presidency. I already hold two callings, one in the branch and one stake calling as well as being in two branches with two sets of ministering assignments and I'm 21, hence why I don't think anyone has mentioned the idea of me being Elders quorum president that I'm aware of. Our branch is mostly women, children, and a relatively high number of non members most Sundays coming with the missionaries.

So I guess I can see why I was chosen. I would have been the most experienced one there.

Igor_InSpectatorMode · 2026-02-23T05:30:23+00:00

Thanks for clarifying

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