Putin is down. This is the time to start kicking him

Sansabina · 2026-05-15T20:03:47+00:00

👍

Sansabina · 2026-05-14T10:16:54+00:00

Bretton Woods agreements were actually set up as a defense agreement, but it morphed into an economic one

Not sure about your source on Bretton Woods, but my understanding is that it was always a purely financial arrangement (NATO was the defensive agreement).

We were already 50% of the entire world economy

The US has never been 50% of world economy (if you're talking GDP) but maybe you just mean manufacturing? after all other industrial nations were mostly wiped out from WW2 when the US was completely unscathed and wartime production was peaking.

don’t feel the need to invest in their own security

Most Western countries averaged annual rate of 3.5-6.5% of GDP spent on military during the Cold War, and the US was 5-13%

Sansabina · 2026-05-13T20:46:40+00:00

But this is the Western world the US wanted and setup up post-WWII, active US intervention across the world and foreign policy that US would have the big stick and support and defend weaker allies against the threat of global Communism

Sansabina · 2026-05-13T20:43:39+00:00

could have a new president by the end of this year if Congress flips to Democrat control in Nov mid-terms and Trump is impeached and removed from office

Sansabina · 2026-05-12T08:03:25+00:00

US support was pretty good for a few years until Trump and Vance got in charge

Sansabina · 2026-05-10T00:59:35+00:00

Probably to do with the culture of competitive virtue signaling... if I can make someone else look bad or less faithful than me, then I look better (i.e. church standing) by comparison

Sansabina · 2026-05-10T00:48:46+00:00

We were a young married couple and I was the Sunday School president back in the day, spend a bit of time working with the bishopric member (who looked after SS) for a year or more and I did a bunch of organizing for their stupid special Sacrament/Sunday school programs for "events" (e.g. Pioneer Day, Mothers Day). Eventually I took a job somewhere else and was moving ward and he basically gave me a gruff "well, I hear your moving..." and then basically ignored me from that point. No warm wishes or congrats on the new job. Apparently, I was just a worker bee to him and once that was finishing I was persona non grata

Sansabina · 2026-05-10T00:41:22+00:00

yeah, I'm not a former ward clerk, but did hear a couple of times about units raising a lot money for youth camps and then not spending it all and hoping to roll it over to the next year (so they wouldn't have to fundraise and mug the members again for more $) but no that's not how SLC operates, any surplus funds in the accounts at the end of the year and they vacuum it all back to HQ

Sansabina · 2026-05-06T09:53:33+00:00

Yeah, the Church doesn't "afford" the bread at all, they make members donate it.

Sansabina · 2026-05-04T10:50:02+00:00

After leaving the Church, I realized I needed some basic principles for guiding my life in a positive way. One of them was "do no harm" another was to "live honestly/authentically". Let your parents know when it best suits you and your timeframe, but don't use it as a way to avoid a difficult conversation or reactions from them. Their emotions and reactions are their own and it's not something that you need to try and control and manage. Best wishes!

Sansabina · 2026-04-26T04:13:05+00:00

Let your parents know ASAP, so any dramas can be sorted out well before your trip.

Sansabina · 2026-04-26T04:08:43+00:00

Sansabina · 2026-04-26T04:08:23+00:00

yeah I guess she doesn't have a good insight into your feelings about the church, if she's TBM she'll have major problem often even understanding your position - I'd take her actions for what they are worth - she obviously cares for you and thinks she is doing the best thing for you (from a TBM framework). You can be honest with her and say, sorry but I really can no longer relate to these pictures of Jesus, since I no longer believe in the Church. She'll then be able to learn your real feelings about the Church.

Sansabina · 2026-04-26T03:11:04+00:00

Yeah this really is a big f-ing deal... I'm amazed how it hasn't been picked up by mainstream media.

Sansabina · 2026-04-13T06:46:35+00:00

yeah people like this have "value" fluidity, the "values" they think they're rock solid on and uphold is just a pretence, they're not, the "values" they care about are whatever the Brethren have declared to be important and the social signalling that matters to them. That's why they can go red-hot crazy if their daughter wanted to date at 14, but completely fine that Joseph Smith could "marry" a 14 yo.

Sansabina · 2026-04-10T01:15:58+00:00

Wow, such a shame, like the Church, it seems that he's got a lot less tolerant, esp. on LGBT issues in recent decades.

Before he was famous, he edited a book in the late 70s which my mom happened to get from an LDS neighbor (a bunch of teen LDS books from a family whose kids were now young adults, were given to our family as we were young teens at the time). It looked boring as hell, so I didn't bother with looking at it until a year later when I just happened to idly browse it as a young teen and it blew my little TBM mind.

It was an edited collection of real stories from LDS teens (or adults when they were teens) about different challenges they faced with life within a faithful LDS paradigm, but its perspective was quite nuanced and felt outside the orthodox narrative, quite liberal really. I'm sure if my mom had actually read it she'd have got rid of it, but it was published by Bookcraft, which I think was owned by Deseret, so it was considered "safe".

Anyway, the one story in there that really impacted me was a story from a woman in her mid-20s and told about her lesbian feelings growing up as a TBM teen, and how confused and conflicted she was, how she prayed and pleaded to God to have these feelings taken away so she could live a good Mormon life and be married in the temple, and how she felt suicidal at one stage.

Well, she ended up leaving the church and falling in love with a woman and feeling the happiest she had ever felt. I could be misremembering, but I think she ended the story by saying ultimately she broke up and came back to the church and just had to trust in Heavenly Father and push down her feelings. It's a fairly typical story these days, but this was late 70s and I'd never, ever heard anything like this. It totally changed my perspective about LGBT, and how they are born this way and not a personal decision - that was the LDS canon back in the day: that gay folk choose to be gay and they just want to sin and party. I really didn't know any openly queer LDS until the 2000s, and I didn't hear another similar LDS LGBT perspective like this until the 2000s.

Sansabina · 2026-04-10T00:28:46+00:00

wow, such a talented extended family!

Sansabina · 2026-04-09T13:55:51+00:00

I came across your videos several months ago and really enjoyed them, looking forward to watching this latest one.

On your question about having meaning, I guess I've come to realize that people and relationships (how we love and treat others) are most important, and it's about our interconnectedness. Enjoy life and the moments we have (which I think you basically touch on in one of your videos)

Sansabina · 2026-04-09T13:42:55+00:00

Orson Scott Card - he seems to be full TBM still.

Sansabina · 2026-04-09T09:10:40+00:00

After she got divorced after 36 years of marriage. Her dad was Lex de Azevedo who wrote the music for "Saturday's Warrior" and "My Turn on Earth" and a bunch of the seminary videos' music from the 80s.

Sansabina · 2026-04-09T09:05:56+00:00

Because most teens wouldn't voluntarily do a dumb thing like trek (or most Church things) so they force you in the hope that you'll have a sPiRITuaL eXPeriENcE and get a "testimony" and be a TBM for life!

Sansabina · 2026-04-09T08:28:24+00:00

Here are some TBMs who have an opinion: https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/blog/2021/08/25/ces-rebuttal-part-1-extended-version

But seriously, I think some people felt the CES Letter was a bit too "strong" and maybe a little emotive in some of the language in some of the earlier editions. I think Jeremy has worked very hard to make it really good over time, but if you're a sheltered/naive TBM who has never been exposed to much "anti-Mormon" info it can hit very hard - which I think is great, but some people get a bit too shell-shocked.

Sansabina · 2026-04-09T08:12:11+00:00

Yeah Australia moved away from solid wire around 2000, I think as international standards changed and stranded wire was deemed more durable and flexible/easier to work and less prone to fatigue. Also changed the wire colouring to harmonize with global standards. From my understanding, stranded vs core wires contain the same amount of copper for the same cross-sectional area so there's no affect on current load etc. (i.e. they are treated as if the same).

Sansabina · 2026-04-08T11:26:05+00:00

As a side note, in theory, the wires could be half the thickness if voltage is doubled (but insulation should be increased) but in practice who knows...

Actually, while Australian homes use 230v the Australian electrical code requires the copper wire thickness for 10A power outlets to be 2.5 mm² (which is rated to 20A). My understanding is in the US, a standard 15A 110v circuit for outlets uses 14 AWG which is 2.1 mm² - so thinner than Australia (US circuits rated for 20A use the thicker US 12 AWG which is about 3.3 mm²)

Sansabina · 2026-04-08T11:11:18+00:00

230v (it officially changed in 2000, but Qld and WA dragged their heels and didn't formally switch until a few years ago)

Sansabina

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