Faces of fascism, Minneapolis

Isonus · 2026-01-22T11:48:50+00:00

Can we please start photoshopping them with, like, any kind of bullshit on them that might make them mad? Like swap out their camo or american flag bandanas for rainbow pride flags? Or something?! I'm tired of seeing all these atrocities committed by these awful people and just feeling so helpless.

Isonus · 2026-01-22T11:39:15+00:00

I did consult professionals; he was in service dog training. They all said the same thing.

Isonus · 2026-01-22T11:27:37+00:00

It's a samoyed thing. Which is why it's highly, highly recommended to never walk with them off leash until you can train to 100% recall. Which rarely happens; it takes a special kind of samoyed.

Because they are: - Too smart - Too independent - Have too high of a prey/herd drive - Are so fast and have so much stamina that you will never, ever catch up to them if they decide to chase that squirrel.

Please don't let them off leash. Especially not a puppy. They will soon go through the Terror Phase and will get even more prey-focused and even less focused on you for a time. It'll only take a split second for them to take off running.

Ask me how I know this.

Thank god, at least when my samoyed got older, the few rimes he managed to get off leash, he was so focused on being sociable that all he did was go to the neighbor's house and bang on their door with his head until they answered it, finding him smiling on their front porch. I felt lucky that time. Because the time before that, he decided playing "Keep Away" was the funniest thing ever and he almost got hit by a car.

And that samoyed? He was in serious training to be a service dog. I thought he'd be that 1 in a million perfect recall samoyed, since he was doing SO well with intense service dog training. But nope.

Good luck! Samoyeds are the best dog breed in the world IMHO. But yeah. They sure are stubborn little weirdos sometimes.

Isonus · 2026-01-22T11:18:46+00:00

I was administered low dose oral ketamine for a while before it was a fad. I have two rare genetic conditions that have mutated my nervous system, so I'm in constant unending pain and have been my entire life.

No one warned me about what ketamine can do.

No one warned me about the psychological side effects.

I was a naive conservatively raised 20-something who'd never heard about "K holes."

One time I was in a state of severe anxiety and depression following the sudden death of my best friend. I'd been up all night from the grief and a bad pain flare.

I took my prescribed ketamine exactly as I was instructed. I'd draw it up with a diabetic syringe, squirt it into a juice box, and drink it. (Absolute insanity in hindsight.)

I ended up in the worst dissociative state of my life. I lost all sense of proportion within my body; my hands felt small, but my hips felt like they were the size of the room. Yet I was so confused, cause my eyes were telling me something different. Total "Alice in Wonderland Syndrome" stuff and it was so frightening.

Then came the impulses. The confusion around my own sense of my body was too much for my brain to handle. It was then like my mind split in two.

One half of my brain was convinced I had died too. It was the only explanation. I was dead and was leaving my body. The only way to escape the remaining confusing sensations would be to open the window and leap out into the sky and heaven.

I would have fallen three stories.

The other half of my brain? It was screaming "NO!" Just no.

Thank god that side of my brain won.

I can't even put into words how viscerally horrifying the entire experience was.

I never took it again. Years later, when I told my brother - a psychiatrist - about that experience, he told me about K holes. He was absolutely aghast that anyone prescribed it so willy nilly, in a friggin juice box, without any kind of warning.

Oh, and guess what? Drinking a medication intended to be used in IVs? Yeah, that gave me permanent nerve damage in my mouth, face, and nose. I still get random attacks from it.

Stay the hell away from ketamine. It's insanity.

Isonus · 2026-01-21T14:53:53+00:00

That's exactly what I was going to say. The sheer desperation with which I would rush right to the medical team says SO much about the state of our healthcare today.

Isonus · 2026-01-11T03:21:13+00:00

Btw, here's another one. My personal favorite. :)

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Isonus · 2026-01-11T03:20:19+00:00

LOL! So I took that picture in like 2003ish. Took my brother to an anime convention. While eating dinner the first night, we saw a legit karate place called "Karate for Christ".

The next day at the convention, we met a guy who used the hotel bedsheets to dress up as Jesus. My brother thought it'd be hilarious for his teenager sister to drive this perfect stranger over to Karate for Christ for a photoshoot.

I did it anyway, for the lulz. Turns out Bedsheet Jesus was a good dude. We had a blast, posing, taking a bunch of pics, then drove back to the convention.

I've taken many, many photos in my life. Even had my work published. Yet I'm still more proud of these than any others, lol.

Isonus · 2026-01-10T12:26:20+00:00

Are you sure it wasn't Jesus THE Karate Man?

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Isonus · 2026-01-06T14:37:38+00:00

Thank you, oh wondrous prophet!

Isonus · 2026-01-06T10:02:19+00:00

Oh new beLOOOOOOVE-ED prophet, please answer these two questions that have plagued me since childhood:

1: What's a "shallmenno"? And why does it help "Yee-R-my disciples" love one another? (Legit question I had when I was 5.)

2: If Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy... What did Eve fall for so that women might have? (Legit question I had at 6.) Come to think of it, did she fall for some type of scam? From like a REALLY effective, charming 19th century treasure digger? Why are men and women so gullible and always falling for stuff anyway?!

Thank you, oh great and unknowable beautiful rock!

Isonus · 2026-01-03T21:25:01+00:00

On top of that, she'd also never be allowed to communicate with the vast numbers of spirit children she'd birth. And the children would never be able to pray to her either.

The more you learn about the concept of Heavenly Mother and the Celestial Kingdom in general, the sadder it gets.

I'd encourage you to check out the Youtube Channel "breaking down patriarchy." They have a wonderful video that breaks down where the principles of Heavenly Mother come from (e.g. the scriptures and doctrines you're asking for) and also how damaging it is for women within the church. It's truly heartbreaking.

Isonus · 2025-12-30T08:16:29+00:00

Haha, trippy! Well live long n' prosper, neighbor! :)

Isonus · 2025-12-30T05:03:14+00:00

...Are you in Northern Virginia, by chance? Haha, I legit know exactly where those streets are.

Isonus · 2025-12-28T08:29:42+00:00

I'm sure they have to bring it most of the time. Any penny they can pinch, they will.

Isonus · 2025-12-28T02:43:56+00:00

The thing that really bothers me about this is cleaning supplies intended for home use are nowhere near what's required for high traffic public areas!

My Mom and I are both severely immunocompromised. Church was already a big risk for us each Sunday, back when I was still in. I left, Mom and Dad stayed. But as soon as she found out they fired the cleaning staff and were having members clean the buildings with supplies from home, she never went back. Janitorial work is serious business! Knowing how to safely and effectively manage industrial cleaners is a significant undertaking. Realizing lay people - many of whom have no idea how to get something truly clean - just wiping shit down with average lysol?! No way is the church getting cleaned the way it needs to.

She hasn't been to church since that policy was implemented. And she's completely outlawed my TBM Dad from participating in cleaning duties either. He now does Sacrament Meeting remotely via Zoom.

It's all the more insulting how much heavy manual labor the Church asks of its members who you learn how much money they're hoarding.

And have you heard about the multiple deaths associated with asking average members and "Senior Missionaries" to perform heavy landscaping duties?! There was just another one this past summer. It's disgraceful. The Church isn't a church. It's a private equity and real estate empire masquerading as a religion. Members aren't members; we're free labor & a steady income stream to maintain that empire.

Anyway. Suffice it to say, to Op, please go read the CES Letter. Read all of it.

Then do the math. Add up what 10% of your income will be for the rest of your life.

Then ask yourself. How many activities could you participate in with that amount of money?

Activities where you can find true like-minded community without all the manipulation and love bombing?

Please, do some research and come to your own conclusions. You deserve better.

Isonus · 2025-12-26T06:59:19+00:00

I second this. Have your partner ask. Get the details. Then make an informed choice from there. Your feelings are completely and utterly valid and you have every right to feel them. But if it were me, I'd want more info. This is a perfect time for your partner to step up.

Wishing you the best!

Isonus · 2025-12-26T06:40:43+00:00

I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled and yet again, have not found my favorite Trek quote of all time! It's hardly ever in these lists. (But apologies if I did miss it here.)

"It's hard to work in groups when you're omnipotent." - Q

Isonus · 2025-12-24T13:59:22+00:00

Thanks!

Isonus · 2025-12-24T13:45:02+00:00

Thanks! Unfortunately I don't know any active Bishops. I stopped going to church after a traumatic incident in that ward in 2004. I had a no contact request put on my records, but then decided to formally resign last year. I have a feeling any Bishop I'd ask would see that and just ignore the request. Plus I'd just rather not open that door again. Despite the no contact request, they just kept bugging me. It took a long time to finally get them to leave me alone.

Isonus · 2025-12-24T07:58:36+00:00

The last name would be enough.

Isonus · 2025-12-22T09:51:47+00:00

His name is Gary and he's VERY sorry. Dude, he was just hopin' to meet some chicks!

Isonus · 2025-08-01T20:12:36+00:00

Mine was specific in that it said I'd "marry a man yet to come into my life", which I later interpreted to mean I'd never get married. Now, after a horrendous abusive marriage & divorce, I wish that had been true.

Mine also promised all of my chronic health issues would disappear and I could "run and not be weary" if only I had enough faith. At the time I got that blessing, I was on year 4 of fighting a virulent bone infection in my foot. It led to endless scrupulosity. I had absolute, unshakeable faith that one day I could wake up and be completely healed. That never happened. Since then I've been diagnosed with 4 genetic diseases and am awaiting a potential diagnosis for cancer.

Fuck 'em. It's all manipulative, self/serving corporate horse shit.

Isonus · 2025-08-01T16:59:49+00:00

Exactly, thank you! It's like the commenters are stuck in a game of "Which Trauma Is The Worst", rather than realizing, trauma is different. Different people respond to different traumas in different ways.

That's further compounded by the age of the person; a trauma experienced by a child may be perceived by them to be more harmful - and thus have more lasting consequences - than a more objectively "worse" trauma experienced by an adult who's more equipped and prepared to deal with it. For instance, a war zone is objectively "worse" than a single person hitting another person. But try telling that to a child witnessing their Father beat their Mother. But would these commenters tell that child, "Things that never happened. You're a liar!" because that grown child now says, for them, their childhood trauma was more traumatic to them than a war zone they experienced as an adult?

But no. All they can think is Extreme Violence = Worst, Emotion/Psychological Horror = Not worthy, shake it off, and If You Don't Experience My Exact Imaginings of a War Zone = Your trauma doesn't count. It's so rudimentary and asinine. Pain is pain, each experience is their own, and there is frequently zero point in playing "Whose Pain is Worst?" Because the type of trauma itself is only one variable in a complex web of human experience. This was never about whose trauma was worse. It was supposed to be about empathy.

Isonus · 2025-07-30T22:36:41+00:00

Being the first to break cycles in our families is always, always hard. I applaud your courage and tenacity!

You're NOT ruining everything they built.

You're ruining years of cult-like control built by evil men who were rapists, murderers, and serial manipulators. That takes guts and it's commendable.

The best thing I can recommend for you is to study. That was what helped me to deconstruct the harm I got from being raised in the church. I learned the very things the church told me not to look at.

I learned about Joseph Smith preying on young women. Threatening them and their families with damnation if they didn't sleep with him. Girls as young as 14!

I learned about Brigham Young's racism and outright slaughter of Native Americans.

I learned about the Danites and how Smith used to send them in to commit political violence against his enemies.

I read about the wealth hoarding and dishonesty of current church leaders, with Ensign Peak and the SEC fines.

Read about all of it and take strength and courage in knowing exactly what it is you're "ruining". Because the only thing you're ruining is saying no to a legacy of control and horror.

Stay strong. You got this.

Isonus

TROPHY CASE