A friend of mine just sent this over to me. He's a noob and I'm a noob but in the true spirit of karma whoring for fake internet points I wanted to share and they said it's my funeral. Note we are both total retards, noobs and have no skin in the game cuz we too poor and can only afford plain popcorn, but we desperately want to see WSB succeed and Power to the Players! Do not take this as financial advice or god have mercy on your soul.
Uh guys… so we may see a crash that makes Enron look like a joke. There could be more than a short going on here, and more than firms pulling capital from other companies to cover.
I don’t mean to go all conspiracy theory on you, but hear me out.... I think everything is going so off-the-rails not because of the short, but because Vanguard, Fidelity and BlackRock have sold more stock than exists. This is illegal (duh) but it has happened lots of times in the past. In fact, we didn't have real laws against it until 2008. We may see some bizarre moves if WSB doesn't sell, because some people need to hide some crimes. No joke. Here's why I think this may be the case:
---------- The Background ----------
Read this first to understand how naked shorts work:
https://www.sec.gov/about/offices/ocie/options-trading-risk-alert.pdf
Basically, to short a stock, you must “borrow” the stock from another account, usually something like a margin account. This is something that typically the clearing house does on behest of the fund doing the shorting. Most people don’t even know when their shares are being borrowed by a hedge fund for the purposes of shorting.
A “naked short” is when you short a stock, but don’t confirm that the stock you are borrowing actually exists. This can happen when a clearing house either purposefully or inadvertently (ahem, sure) lends the same stock more than once. This basically clones the stock, just like an item cloning glitch in a video game. There are now two copies of the same stock in existence being actively traded… at least temporarily. Hold that thought.
Naked shorts can be devastating to the company being shorted, as not only do they lose liquidity because of the short, the cloned stocks serve to dilute the value of the real stocks being held by artificially increasing the number of stocks being traded. Especially for small companies doing initial investment rounds, this practically guarantees bankruptcy: the diluted value limits the amount of capital they can raise, as the company never sees the cash from the cloned stock.
Now, after the 2008 crash the SEC in theory made this illegal. Obviously, this practice kills companies if the short succeeds or destroys markets if the short doesn’t succeed. Either way, someone gets hurt.
HOWEVER, there’s a catch: Because hedge funds and clearing houses are permitted to operate behind closed doors, the SEC can only detect a naked short when a “failure to deliver” occurs. When someone calls the short, either because of a buy or because someone withdraws the right to loan their shares, the person shorting then has 3 days to deliver. If they can’t deliver the share (because it doesn’t exist) within 3 days, then this gets reported as a “failure to deliver”. Now, the SEC may look past a few of these because floats do happen, but too many and the SEC is obligated to open an investigation.
But of course, that never happens. The clearinghouse only has to report the net deliveries, not the actual transactions. This means that as long as there is someone buying on the day the failure-to-deliver would occur, the clearinghouse can roll the transaction forward… basically just like floating a check. The non-existent cloned stock is bought with the new buy, and the sell of real shares that should have covered that buy is left open but doesn’t need to be fulfilled for three more days. The clock resets. This is sort of like somebody-I-know used to do by floating checks back and forth between two different bank accounts: keeping the money in the air for several weeks until payday by continually writing checks to cover checks. Super unethical, but does work.
But, this can’t be continued indefinitely. There are SEC rules that make it tough to do this for longer than 21 days. IANAL, I don’t know every loophole, but that’s my understanding.
This is why after 2008 it became so important for the hedge fund to bankrupt the target company. If the company goes bankrupt, then the shares cease to be and the books never resolve. Even some kinds of restructuring can keep the books from resolving. It’s still possible to cover this without bankrupting the company if you can get enough people to sell, but it’s easier to crash the company and just make it all go away while pocketing cash from more shares than were ever real.
---------- The WSB Play ----------
Ok, now read this:
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4370860-gamestop-short-squeeze
This was basically the original WSB plan back from October. Don't worry about the plan... we know what's going on here already. Melvin Capital shorted by 140% which is more than the float. Gamestop had enough cash to cover debt so it seemed unlikely they would fail unless the hedge funds forced it to. Squeeze looks obvious when you lay it out that way.
BUT, there is one chart here that is super important when folks were trying to figure this out: look at the chart for institutional ownership!
https://i.imgur.com/Jh5AI8V.png
The top three names on that chart are Vanguard, Blackrock and Fidelity. As is suggested by the author, there is a strong likelihood that the top holders already loaned out all their shares to Melvin Capital. The shares had to come from somewhere, and this is the only place they could have come.
This is why some people thought this was a good move. Not just because there was a short, but because they could see that all the shares had already been “borrowed” which would force the hedge fund to buy at any price. There were simply no more shares available to option for any other kind of fuckery.
---------- The Expected Response ----------
Okay, so WSB made their move. And predictably Robinhood and a bunch of trading platforms cut the ability to buy GME. Seems obvious enough as a strategy to stem the bleeding, regardless of whether it is coming from Robinhood or, as they claim, the brokerage above them limiting trades for reasons. Whatever. Either way, this is an obvious response.
Likewise, there have been numerous pushes from the hedge funds to either convince WSB the positions are closed, or to convince them to change their position from GME to Silver.
Despite what the news is reporting, no one in WSB appears to be buying silver. Maybe someone is, but it ain’t them. I did a site-wide search for silver, then pulled the post history for all the accounts that made the posts--of which there are shockingly few compared to what the news media is implying. The only accounts promoting this appear to be mostly bots: they became reddit premium within the last week, or they are necro accounts that have no posts for two or three years until suddenly dozens of silver related posts in the last few days. Conversely, there are been numerous long standing accounts warning others that these silver posts are bots.
None of this is unexpected. Bots and media manipulation have been par for the course for political bullshit for the last few years.
Boots on the ground, I have literally no idea where the news media is getting this story other than a change in silver pricing. I am not seeing any such discussion in related communities, and certainly none that pre-dates the news stories! To be fair and avoid conspiracy: I don’t hang out on twitter. There are retail traders outside of Reddit, and perhaps the media is clumping multiple groups together and mistaking Twitter for Reddit. Wouldn’t be the first time. Even on 4chan /b/ is not /pol/ and so on. People make that mistake all the time, so the misrepresentation may be entirely unintentional. I know the internet is a weird weird place and not everyone gets how it works.
The last expected response is the fact that many of the hedge funds bought new short positions, especially assuming that most of Reddit would sell on Friday. (Which they did not) There are additional short positions held that expect WSB to fold within the next week. This coincides with the news reports expecting people to try to collect their profits. Of course, many people don't intend to do that. They aren't worried about the profits they want to see hedge funds go down.
But all this movement leads to an obvious question: If there are no shares available to borrow, then what are they borrowing against for the short??
---------- Clearing Houses are Sus ----------
Okay, soooo…. We expect Wall Street to prevent buying GME, which they have; and to unleash bots to change sentiment, which they have; and to promote news stories to try to change the situation, which they have.
BUT, with all of this, there are two retail trading platforms that are still allowing GME trades: Vanguard and Fidelity. There is also one firm that started buying GameStop themselves five days ago: BlackRock. Sound like a familiar list?????? These are the firms that held the shares that the hedge funds were borrowing against to short.
Now, if all the funds are trying to stop the bleeding, WHY would these firms still allow trading when no one else is… much less start buying themselves?
Unless…. The shares DON’T EXIST.
You can’t float a check between two accounts without writing another check. Someone needs to buy the shares in order to push the failure-to-deliver of the non-existent cloned stock into the future, otherwise the gig is up and the SEC finds out. If Vanguard and Fidelity become the only source for Redditors to buy from, then they can keep moving the doomsday clock forward. BlackRock can do the same thing by buying the stock themselves. Not as good a position, but not a lot of other choice if they need the books to read clean. Ok, someone with more experience than me can surely explain this better as there are some gotchas, but that's the basic gist.
More proof those shares don’t exist? This academic paper from last year gives a clue:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3673531
Even if you own shares, you can’t vote in a shareholder’s meeting if your shares have been loaned out. Less than half of GameStop shareholders were eligible to vote by April of last year, with even fewer by August! There were so many shares borrowed SIX MONTHS AGO that it was affecting GameStop’s ability to hold a quorum among shareholders.
Now the paper was only concerned about how short selling was affecting company’s ability to administer. The idea that these were naked shorts never came up AFAIK. But knowing what we do now, this seems increasingly likely.
Also, for good measure beyond academia, this was in the news from last year:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-investing-giants-gave-away-voting-power-ahead-of-a-shareholder-fight-11591793863
If you look at the volume that WSB has bought since then, and the amount held in options, and the amount of shares that have been borrowed against in the last week or two as hedge funds have placed a second set of shorts… well… it sure looks like there are way more shares on the market THAN EXIST. Of course, without having the records from the clearing houses, AFAIK there's no way to know for sure. Only the SEC can do that.
I don’t mean the bet WSB played… that Marvin had 140% of the FLOAT. I mean that Vanguard, Fidelity and BlackRock have sold more than the TOTAL SHARES that EXIST.
That's a completely different problem and it's punishable by jail time. Not a joke. It's basically counterfeiting stock shares, although that's not the terminology used. If this is true, who knows how many other times they’ve done this. Or maybe it's not true, and they just really like the stock??? If BlackRock started buying five days ago, and the longest they can likely do this is 21 days, then the doomsday clock doesn’t run out until at least February 17th. If Wall Street can get WSB to sell before then, then they won’t get caught and won’t go to jail. But if they don’t…. well, this will make Enron look like chump change.
If enough people hold until the end of February, and this is truly the situation, then there is a chance that major parts of Wall Street are going to IMPLODE.
---------- The Conclusion ----------
Apes need diamond hands until the end of February in order to get the SEC involved, most likely somewhere between Feb 17th - 19th. Whether or not this will happen is anybody's guess, but if it does all heck may break loose!
Wall Street will probably do everything in their power to prevent that. There are too many top players involved. Crazy moves are likely because stock brokers are smooshy and jail is uncomfortable.
This may effect the market. (Duh) Bloomberg may be correct, but not at all for the reasons stated. But, that said, I wouldn't panic if it does. I think it will be fine in the long run, but that's a whole other set of reasoning for another day.
Standard Disclaimer: This is not financial or legal advice. I am a retard and I have no idea what I am talking about. This is entirely speculation. :)
Edit: here is the link to my second attempt to post to WSB, maybe a mod can reverse the removal? The post still shows listed on my end: https://www.reddit.com/wallstreetbets/comments/la9ms9/follow_the_crumbs_gme_exposed_the_meta/
Edit 2: Ok so don't ask me for stock advice. I don't know stocks and neither does my friend. We both think holding is the right move but beyond that we don't know and could even be wrong about that. And furthermore I don't want this to come off like we're accusing these companies of nefarious deeds. We don't know what is going on. The data is sus. The activities are sus. Google is your friend and the post tries to list sources for the research. Do your own research though! For ducks sake this is a rando post on UserSub. I'm happy to see the love but this is a one shot research dump by someone who knows nothing about this topic.
Edit 3: u/traveljg has commented that Blackrock is on the record for selling not buying but I don't know enough about any of this to challenge the idea one way or another and my friend is off on some other crusade at this point so he's worthless for questions. This is why it is SUPER important that you do your own research and not take advice from a rando.
Edit 4: I'm not responding to chat requests. If you have comments make them on the post. What is wrong with you retards?

For Joseph Smith, 1838 was a terrible year. Rumors of immorality, begun that year by Oliver Cowdery, were given credibility because Oliver was the scribe who recorded most of the Book of Mormon text. They are still believed by most Mormon sects, including the LDS church. Cowdery’s insinuations resulted in him being brought before a church court on April 12, 1838 by the Far West High Council. A total of nine charges were brought against Cowdery.
At the time, Cowdery was the Assistant President to the Church and respected as the “second elder” of the church. Cowdery had been one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon and was responsible for selecting and ordaining the first Twelve Apostles. Cowdery’s church trial was perhaps the most significant to be held in the history of the church.
The nine charges against Cowdery included this one: “For seeking to destroy the character of President Joseph Smith Junior by falsely insinuating that he was guilty of adultery etc.” After taking evidence, the High Council ultimately ex-communicated Oliver Cowdery and cleared Joseph of the charge. The minutes of the High Council said they dealt with “the girl business,” meaning Oliver’s allegations against Joseph. Joseph was exonerated. (See Donald Q. Cannon and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., Far West Record: Minutes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1844 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983), 162-163.)
The un-substantiated charge that Joseph was an adulterer has remained with Mormonism, moving from rumor, to widespread accusation, and finally into accepted LDS history. Today, essentially every Mormon sect either reluctantly admits, or vigorously advocates that carnal relations with plural wives originated with Joseph Smith, and therefore Oliver Cowdery was justified in accusing Joseph Smith of adultery. The closer the historical record is examined, however, the less evidence there appears to support Joseph as the instigator of sexual relations with multiple women. That same historical record has more evidence to implicate Brigham Young and consider that he changed what Joseph Smith believed. Joseph denounced adultery, and fathered children with Emma Smith alone. Brigham Young vigorously advocated carnal sexuality in the hear-and-now with multiple women as a religious sacrament.
Unlike Joseph Smith, Brigham Young not only publicly advocated the practice ,but also fathered children with many women. Joseph denounced it publicly and excommunicated those who he found engaged in it, and fathered children only with Emma Smith, his lawful wife. Despite this clear difference, the LDS church claims Brigham Young only practiced publicly what Joseph Smith did privately.
Even if you believe the LDS account of history (which I do not), the differences between the public statements and open conduct of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young could not be more dissimilar. The way the LDS institution has reconciled the great disparity between them is to assert Joseph was a liar, and Brigham Young was not! They cannot be reconciled, and one of them will be damned. (See D&C 76:103-106.)
Oliver Cowdery was not alone in forsaking Mormonism and Joseph Smith in 1838. Many of the most prominent members and leaders of the church likewise abandoned Joseph that year.
David Whitmer, another of the Three Witnesses, resigned his membership in 1838, but was not formally excommunicated. His brother John Whitmer, the church historian, was excommunicated and took the history with him, refusing to return it to Joseph.
Prominent and respected Mormons, Hiram Page (one of the Eight Witnesses) and W.W. Phelps (a member of the high council), also left the church in 1838. So did three members of the twelve, and other church leaders and members.
On July 4, 1838 Sidney Rigdon delivered the infamous “Salt Sermon,” warning that dissenters were worthy of being “trodden, like salt that lost its savor” under the feet of the saints. Because of the talk, formerly close friends and church leaders Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, W.W. Phelps and Lyman E. Johnson were warned to leave Far West or face “a fatal calamity.” They became enemies of Joseph. Mormons were in turmoil. In response to the threats against these men, all but Phelps fled Far West.
Rigdon’s Salt Sermon did not just threaten disaffected Mormons. He also threatened a “war of extermination” against the non-Mormons of Missouri if they did not stop annoying the Mormons. The threats ignited anti-Mormon opposition. Many of the disaffected Mormons changed sides and joined the Missouri mobs attacking Mormon settlements. These former leaders used their credibility as insiders to incite greater anger and hostility toward the church. The animosities soon turned into armed conflict and arson.
Missourians believed Mormons threatened them. Mormons thought they were acting in defense, and justified their own violence as “defending” themselves. Civil order completely broke down. Historians have named the resulting conflict “The Mormon War.” Angry Mormons fought against angry Missourians. Both sides blamed the other for causing the violence.
In October 1838, responding to the outbreak of hostility between Mormons and Missourians, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued an “Extermination Order” directing that Mormons be slain or driven from the State of Missouri. The Order gave violence against Mormons legitimacy and made Mormon responses an act of war against the state.
Many of these former Mormon leaders signed affidavits accusing Joseph Smith and his church organization of criminal and moral wrongdoing. Thomas Marsh, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, signed an affidavit on October 24, 1838 condemning and blaming Joseph for causing all the violence. The Marsh allegations were endorsed by a second affidavit from fellow apostle Orson Hyde. The Marsh affidavit was signed the same day open warfare commenced and stated in part that “Joseph Smith, the Prophet, had preached [at Far West]…that all the Mormons who refused to take up arms, if necessary, in difficulties with the citizens, should be shot, or otherwise put to death[.]” The affidavits identified Joseph Smith as the one responsible for Mormon violence directed at Missouri citizens. After recounting circumstantial evidence of thefts by Mormons that he claimed were supervised by Joseph, the Marsh affidavit stated,
They have among them a company consisting of all that are considered true Mormons, called the Danites, who have taken an oath to support the heads of the Church in all things, that they say or do, whether right or wrong. … On Saturday last, I am informed by the Mormons that they had a meeting at Far West, at which they appointed a company of twelve, by the name of the Destruction Company, for the purpose of burning and destroying; … they passed a decree that no Mormon dissenter should leave Caldwell county alive; and that such as attempted to do it, should be shot down, and sent to tell their tale in eternity. In a conversation between Dr. Avard and other Mormons, said Avard proposed to start a pestilence among the Gentiles, as he called them, by poisoning their corn, fruit, &c., and saying it was the work of the Lord; and said Avard advocated lying for the support of their religion, and said it was no harm to lie for the Lord!! The plan of said Smith, the Prophet, is to take this State; and he professes to his people to intend taking the United States, and ultimately the whole world. This is the belief of the Church, and my own opinion of the Prophet’s plans and intentions. It is my opinion that neither said Joseph Smith, the Prophet, nor any one of the principal men, who is firm in the faith, could be indicted for any offense in the county of Caldwell. The Prophet inculcates the notion, and it is believed by every true Mormon that Smith’s prophecies are superior to the law of the land. I have heard the Prophet say that he should yet tread down his enemies, and walk over their dead bodies; that if he was not let alone, he would be a second Mahomet [Mohammad] to this generation, and that he would make it one gore of blood from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean; that like Mahomet, whose motto, in treating for peace, was “Al Koran or the Sword,” so should it be eventually with us, “Joseph Smith or the Sword.” These last statements were made during the last summer.
In calmer days, both Marsh and Hyde would recant their sworn affidavits. But in 1838 their statements were thought to be entirely truthful, and provided justification for the Missouri political leaders, militia and general population to see Joseph Smith and Mormons as a clear and present danger to them and their property.
The first skirmishes between Mormons and Missourians began in August 1838 at a polling station when Mormons tried to vote. A band of Mormons led by Sampson Avard confronted election judge Adam Black about the failure to protect Mormon voting rights. Joseph Smith was among these Mormons. Judge Black attributed threats of violence to Avard, and said Joseph did not approve and instead possessed no such heart for violence.
In the aftermath of the fight at the polling station, Avard’s authority to direct the Mormon militia was removed by Joseph Smith and Avard was reassigned as a surgeon. The re-assignment was because Joseph did not want violence to be used to resolve conflicts and Avard thought otherwise. Avard testified in November 1838, “I once had a command as an officer, but Joseph Smith, jr., removed me from it, and I asked him the reason, and he assigned that he had another office for me. Afterwards Mr. Rigdon told me I was to fill the office of surgeon, to attend to the sick and wounded.” (Testimony before Judge Austin A. King, 5th District Court of Missouri, November 12, 1838.)
Avard continued to support violence against perceived enemies, and formed a group that came to be known as the “Danites.” Joseph denied that he approved or supported Avard’s group or violent actions. Historians have debated the question of Joseph’s involvement with the Danite organization and activities. Joseph’s denials have been questioned largely because of testimony against Joseph given by Avard in late 1838 before Judge King.
While Avard was acting in the role of a surgeon, the battle of Crooked River was fought on October 24, 1838. The Extermination Order was issued immediately after, on October 27, 1838. Three days later, October 30, 1838 at Haun’s Mill, the Missouri Militia, led by Colonel William Jennings, Sheriff of Livingston County, massacred a group of Mormons. Some even after they surrendered. None of the Missouri Militia were killed. The Mormon dead totaled at least 17, including a 78-year-old Revolutionary War veteran, whose body was decapitated and dismembered after he had surrendered, and two boys, ages 9 and 10.
Joseph Smith was tricked by George Hinkle into surrendering at the city of Far West while it was under siege. He thought he was going to meet with Missouri Militia leaders to negotiate peace. Hinkle lied to Joseph and brought him and other leaders to the militia, to be immediately arrested for treason.
On November 1st Joseph was sentenced to death “at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning in a public square at Far West.” Militia leader Donaphin refused to carry out the order, and Joseph’s life was spared.
In the lead up to his arrest, and then during imprisonment, disaffected Mormons were far more dangerous and threatening to Joseph than the non-Mormons. It was Mormon lies about him that caused the peril.
Joseph’s original arrest at Far West was arranged by an agreement George Hinkle made with the commander of the Missouri Militia. The church leaders were inside Far West, which at the time was fortified and would be difficult for the militia to take without serious loss of life. Hinkle was sent to negotiate with the militia poised outside Far West as the representative for the community.
Hinkle agreed with militia commander Colonel Lucas to surrender church leaders to the militia, but lied to Joseph and the others. He did not disclose they would be arrested, but led them to believe they were going to meet with Col. Lucas to negotiate an end to the conflict. Joseph was surprised when Hinkle led him into the camp as a prisoner. George Hinkle was a traitor.
Joseph Smith wrote several documents while imprisoned in Missouri. Specific dissidents are named and their treachery explained in those documents. The individuals and their wrongdoing are set out below:
From jail Joseph petitioned for habeas corpus. In the petition he mentioned George Hinkle:
“Joseph Smith Jr is now unlawfully confined and restrained of his liberty in Liberty jail Clay County (Mo) that he has been restrained of his liberty near five months your petitioners clame that the whole transaction which has been the cause of his confinement was (is) unlawfull from the first to the Last he was taken from his home by a fraude being practised upon him by a man by the name of George M Hinkle…” (JSP, Documents Vol. 6, p. 344; as in original.)
Hinkle is mentioned in another letter, along with John Corrill, Reed Peck, David Whitmer and WW Phelps:
“Look at Mr [George M.] Hinkle. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Look at his brother John Corrill Look at the beloved brother Reed Peck who aided him in leading us, as the savior was led, into the camp as a lamb prepared for the slaughter and a sheep dumb before his shearer so we opened not our mouth But these men like Balaam being greedy for a reward sold us into the hands of those who loved them, for the world loves his own. I would remember W[illiam] W. Phelps who comes up before us as one of Job’s comforters. God suffered such kind of beings to afflict Job, but it never entered into their hearts that Job would get out of it all. This poor man who professes to be much of a prophet has no other dumb ass to ride but David Whitmer to forbid his madness when he goes up to curse Israel, and this ass not being of the same kind of Balaams therefore the angel notwithstanding appeared unto him yet he could not penetrate his understanding sufficiently so but what he brays out cursings instead of blessings.” (JSP, Documents Vol. 6, p. 300-301; as in original.)
Sampson Avard led the Danites, a secret Mormon, quasi-military organization that terrorized Missourians and exacted revenge against them. They burned houses and engaged in assaults to retaliate against the local non-Mormons. Avard was responsible for Joseph, Hyrum and others being held on the charge of treason. Without Avard’s testimony it was unlikely for enough evidence to be shown for probable cause to hold them on the charge of treason. Joseph wrote from jail about Avard the following:
We have learned also since we have been in prison that many false and pernicious things which were calculated to lead the saints far astray and to do great injury (have been taught by Dr. [Sampson] Avard) as coming from the Presidency taught by Dr Avard and we have reason to fear (that) many (other things) designing and corrupt characters like unto himself (have been teaching many things) which the presidency never knew of being taught in the church by anybody untill after they were made prisoners, which if they had known of, they would have spurned them and their authors from them as they would the gates of hell. Thus we find that there has been frauds and secret abominations and evil works of darkness going on leading the minds of the weak and unwary into confusion and distraction, and palming it all the time upon the presidency while meantime the presidency were ignorant as well as innocent of these things, which were practicing in the church in their name[.]” (JSP, Documents Vol. 6, p. 306)
Joseph wrote about the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon (David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris) along with William McLellin, John Whitmer, Thomas Marsh and Orson Hyde. All of these were identified in the following condemnation written by Joseph in Liberty Jail:
Such characters as [William E.] McLellin, John Whitmer, O[liver] Cowdery, Martin Harris, who are too mean to mention and we had liked to have forgotten them. [Thomas B.] Marsh & [Orson] Hyde whose hearts are full of corruption, whose cloak of hypocrisy was not sufficient to shield them or to hold them up in the hour of trouble, who after having escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of God and become again entangled and overcome the latter end is worse than the first. But it has happened unto them according to the words of the savior, the dog has returned to his vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. Again if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking (for) of judgement and firey indignation to come which shall devour these adversaries. For he who despiseth Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much more severe punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath sold his brother and denied the new and everlasting covenant[.]” (JSP Documents Vol. 6, pp. 307-308.)
WW Phelps was another Mormon dissenter who was removed from leadership and then excommunicated in June 1838. He was one of the witnesses who testified against Joseph Smith in the Missouri treason hearings and accused him of being responsible for violence and treason. Phelps may have been motivated to testify against Joseph Smith to protect himself from criminal charges. He had been seen by Patrick Lynch, the clerk in Stolling’s grocery store, as one of the Mormon mob that robbed the store and then burned it. (JSP Documents Vol. 6, pp. 417-419.)
Joseph was not fooled by these men. He recognized they were traitors and liars. But he revealed to his wife his own spirit of forgiveness about them. Writing from jail to his wife, after 5 months and 5 days of imprisonment, Joseph counseled Emma “neither harber [sic] a spirit of revenge.” (JSP, Documents Vol. 6, p. 405.) Joseph’s advice to his wife contrasts sharply with the revealed word from the Lord to Joseph.
Early in 1839, after nearly a half-year of imprisonment, Joseph Smith wrote a letter from Liberty Jail to the saints. The letter included several revelations. One revelation declared these words:
[C]ursed are all those that shall lift up the heal against mine anointed saith the Lord and cry they have sin[n]ed when they have not sined before me saith the Lord but have done that which was meat in mine eyes and which I commanded them but those who cry transgresion do it becaus they are the servants of sin and are the children of disobediance themselvs and those who swear false against my servants that they might bring them unto bondage and death. Wo unto them because they have offended my little ones they shall be severed from the ordinances of mine house their basket shall not be full their houses and their barnes shall famish and they themselvs shall be dispised by those that flattered them they shall not have right to the priesthood nor their posterity after them from generation to generation it had been better for them that a millstone had been hanged about their necks and they having drownd in the depth of the see…” (JSP, Documents Vol. 6, p. 366; all as in original.)
It was the Lord who said those men who bore false witness against Joseph “shall not have right to the priesthood nor their posterity after them from generation to generation[.]” Even as late as the 1830s it was possible for men to so offend God that He will curse both them and their posterity from any right to the priesthood.
Such heavy cursing raises two questions: First, upon whom was this curse imposed? Second, what did they do to merit such a heavy burden?
The probable candidates who earned this cursing are those Joseph identified in his letters describing the lies and false testimony against him. They were: George Hinkle, John Corrill, Reed Peck, Sampson Avard, William McLellin, John Whitmer, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, Thomas Marsh, Orson Hyde and WW Phelps. Each of these men and their wrongdoings are mentioned by Joseph Smith in his correspondence from jail in Missouri.
The three witnesses to the Book of Mormon are in almost every priesthood line of authority throughout Mormonism. Think of the irony of that for a moment. They were cursed and “shall not have right to the priesthood nor their posterity after them from generation to generation” yet Mormons point to them as the source through which the priesthood authority has descended until today.
This loss was because God sent a messenger, Joseph Smith, to say what God gave him to speak as God’s message to that generation. But these men rejected the messenger and fought against him. They accused Joseph of wrongdoing and sin when there was none.
What are the implications today for those historians and institutions who, like Oliver Cowdery, say Joseph Smith was an adulterer and a liar? Are they any different from those who testified against him in 1838 and 1839? It calls to mind another revelation God declared while Joseph remained in Liberty Jail:
“fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee; While the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand. And thy people shall never be turned against thee by the testimony of traitors.” (D&C 122:1-3.)
Are fools who hold Joseph Smith in derision today any less accountable?
I DO NOT believe Joseph Smith was an adulterer. He was not a liar, nor a hypocrite. But almost every Mormon institution, and certainly the largest ones, either proclaim or admit Joseph was all these things. I do not. I think he was pure in heart, noble, and virtuous. Must a person themselves be pure in heart, wise, noble, and virtuous before they qualify to seek worthy counsel, authority and blessings through Joseph Smith’s legacy?
One of the most ghastly legacies still happening as a result of Brigham Young’s openly adulterous version of Mormonism is best understood in a recent article in a December 28th Salt Lake Tribune article: After polygamist leaders used underage girls for sex, lawsuit says, one teen was forced to be a scribe for the rituals. The article describes the allegations in a newly filed lawsuit against the FLDS leaders. Among other things it relates the following:
Starting when she was 8 years old, the woman [victim] says, she would be taken from her home, wearing a bag over her head, to an unknown location — typically an FLDS temple in the Colorado City, Ariz., area or other church- or trust-owned properties — where she would be assigned a number for a religious ritual, according to the lawsuit.
There, she was reportedly sexually assaulted by the Jeffses, Nielsen or other church members and leaders. When the men weren’t assaulting her, she says, they watched.
While these are unproven allegations at present, the lawsuit will be based on these and other horrific allegations. These contemptible deviant sexual practices are an outgrowth of the legacy bequeathed to the LDS by Brigham Young. Carol Lynn Pearson’s recent book, The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy, recounts how plural wivery continues to invade and haunt the thinking of LDS Mormon women. Though the LDS church finally abandoned the practice in 1904 this cancer originated with it. I do not believe the deviant sexual legacy is Joseph’s, who denounced adultery, but is Brigham’s, who celebrated sexual access to multiple women as a religious sacrament.
How many descendants of George Hinkle, John Corrill, Reed Peck, Sampson Avard, William McLellin, John Whitmer, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, Thomas Marsh, Orson Hyde and WW Phelps today think they hold priesthood, when God said they were cursed as part of these men’s posterity? It would be interesting to know how many men today are cursed and have forfeited any right to priesthood because they, like those who were responsible for Joseph’s imprisonment, foolishly hold Joseph in derision.
As for myself, I believe Joseph when a sermon of his on May 26, 1844 is quoted in DHC 6:411: “What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can find only one.” He made this comment in response to the false accusations contained in the Nauvoo Expositor.
I believe Joseph when he, referring to the 1835 D&C, CI, affirmed it was his belief that: “Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy; we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.” I believe Joseph Smith was truthful when, as editor of the Times and Seasons, he disavowed polygamy and stated the foregoing verse was “the only rule allowed by the church.” (Times and Seasons, vol. 3, p. 909 (1842).) He repeated that same position again at Times and Seasons, vol. 3, p. 939 (1842).
In 1844 Joseph and Hyrum Smith announced the ex-communication of Hiram Brown for “preaching Polygamy, and other false and corrupt doctrines, in the county of Lapeer, state of Michigan.” (Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 423 (1844).)
Hyrum Smith, with Joseph’s approval, published a statement denying plural wives or polygamy, explaining all such teaching is false doctrine: “… some of your elders say, that a man having a certain priesthood, may have as many wives as he pleases, and that doctrine is taught here: I say unto you that that man teaches false doctrine, for there is no such doctrine taught here; neither is there any such thing practiced here.” (Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 474 (March 1844).)
God identified those who deride Joseph and Hyrum Smith as “fools.” Writing histories and teaching as doctrine that Joseph and Hyrum were liars is, to any reasonable mind, “derision” of them. Like those condemned in 1839, should all who deride Joseph as a liar today question their claim to hold priesthood authority? Has God continued to curse both them and their posterity from any right to the priesthood?
Priesthood is a fellowship. Joseph Smith was clearly in fellowship with God and angels, and therefore one whose priesthood included the ministering of angels, the Son of God, and God the Father. He held priesthood.

First of all, This is a serious DD, not some Dogecoin shitpost.
I know Airswap (AST) isn’t a real moonshot because it has a $30M marketcap. But just hear me out, it has a lot of potential, which I will explain in this long post! It will probably start of a bit confusing, but it will all make sense in the end.
TL;DR at the bottom for you lazy retards. But I do recommend you read the whole post.
AirSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) which was created by Fluidity. It was originally made for large companies to trade OTC and without an orderbook to avoid frontrunning.
In May 2020, Fluidity (the team behind AirSwap) was acquired by ConsenSys[1]. This is a BIG deal. ConsenSys was founded in 2014 by Joseph Lubin. Joseph is also a co-founder of Ethereum. The company has now more than 500 employees. ConsenSys is also the company behind MetaMask, which is the most popular Ethereum wallet and Web3 browser. In August 2020, ConsenSys acquired Quorum from JPMorgan Chase & Co. Which is an enterprise blockchain platform developed by JPMorgan Chase. Additionally, JPMorgan has made an undisclosed strategic investment in ConsenSys[2].
As you see, ConsenSys is a BIG deal.
Now back to AirSwap.
In October 2020, Airswap launched ‘Airswap Improvement Proposals’ (AIPs). Community members can now propose what they want to change. The community can then vote with their AST tokens. There have been around ten votes so far, but AIP 7 is by far the most interesting one. It was unanimously accepted by the community, which says enough if you ask me. It proposes that you can stake your AST and get rewarded with transaction fees and governance. Coming 9th of February.
Also in October 2020, ConsenSys introduced MetaMask Swaps. Which brings the feature to swap tokens directly within MetaMask. MetaMask checks the price of tokens with multiple decentralized exchanges, and gives you the best deal. Here’s the catch, MetaMask asks a 0.875% fee. AirSwap helped MetaMask with creating the contract behind MetaMask Swaps. The funny thing is, Airswap gets more than $2M of volume each day through MetaMask Swaps. And MetaMask Swaps isn’t even available on their mobile app as of yet!
AIP 7 proposes that there will be a pool for stakeholders to receive transaction fees. A co-founder of AirSwap, Don Mosites, said in Discord that the transaction fee from MetaMask will be split. Will it be split evenly or not?
Let’s do the math!
When AirSwap gets 0.25% (they will probably get more). This will go 100% to the stakeholders pool. This means: $2M * 365 days * 0.25% = $1.83M each year will be deposited to the pool. When looking at the earlier AIPs, we saw around 10M AST who voted. Keep in mind that this number will probably be lower. Because AIP 7 proposed that you can only unstake 10% each 7 days. Voting for AIP’s does not require staking as of yet. But let’s go with 10M AST for now. 1.83M / 10M = $0.183. That means for every AST staked, you get $0.183 annually. AST currently trades around $0.22. This is 83% APY! Anybody would easily pay at least $0.60 for these returns. And that’s almost worst case scenario! It will be much higher if:

1. Less stakeholders than 10M AST.
   
2. MetaMask splits the fees with AirSwap or gives them a higher percentage.
   
3. Volume gets higher on MetaMask Swaps, meaning more transaction fees.
   

All of the above is not to unimaginable. The time to unstake takes a few weeks because you can only unstake 10% each 7 days. If I would have to guess, I think the amount staked will be much lower than 10M AST. MetaMask and AirSwap are owned by the same company, ConsenSys. So it won’t be strange if they split the transaction fees evenly amongst the two parties, or hell give AirSwap even more. The volume traded on MetaMask Swaps will no doubt be higher the coming months. Imagine if they release it on their mobile app, I’m sure it will skyrocket.
Lastly, AirSwap is already being traded on Binance. No more sketchy exchanges! You can buy this straight from Binance!
Join the subreddit at AirSwap and definitely join the Discord to talk with fellow ASTronauts about the token!
Please DYOR, I’m just here to have an open discussion. And of course not financial advice. I just really like the stock token
TL;DR: AirSwap has some great fundamentals. With upcoming staking, it will be inevitable for the price to make a huge jump. Otherwise you would have a huge APY! If this got your interest, please read my post, it will cost you 5 minutes max. Your wife’s boyfriend will thank you for it.

First of all, This is a serious DD, not some Dogecoin shitpost.
I know Airswap (AST) isn’t a real moonshot because it has a $30M marketcap. But just hear me out, it has a lot of potential, which I will explain in this long post! It will probably start of a bit confusing, but it will all make sense in the end.
TL;DR at the bottom for you lazy retards. But I do recommend you read the whole post.
AirSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) which was created by Fluidity. It was originally made for large companies to trade OTC and without an orderbook to avoid frontrunning.
In May 2020, Fluidity (the team behind AirSwap) was acquired by ConsenSys[1]. This is a BIG deal. ConsenSys was founded in 2014 by Joseph Lubin. Joseph is also a co-founder of Ethereum. The company has now more than 500 employees. ConsenSys is also the company behind MetaMask, which is the most popular Ethereum wallet and Web3 browser. In August 2020, ConsenSys acquired Quorum from JPMorgan Chase & Co. Which is an enterprise blockchain platform developed by JPMorgan Chase. Additionally, JPMorgan has made an undisclosed strategic investment in ConsenSys[2].
As you see, ConsenSys is a BIG deal.
Now back to AirSwap.
In October 2020, Airswap launched ‘Airswap Improvement Proposals’ (AIPs). Community members can now propose what they want to change. The community can then vote with their AST tokens. There have been around ten votes so far, but AIP 7 is by far the most interesting one. It was unanimously accepted by the community, which says enough if you ask me. It proposes that you can stake your AST and get rewarded with transaction fees and governance. Coming 9th of February.
Also in October 2020, ConsenSys introduced MetaMask Swaps. Which brings the feature to swap tokens directly within MetaMask. MetaMask checks the price of tokens with multiple decentralized exchanges, and gives you the best deal. Here’s the catch, MetaMask asks a 0.875% fee. AirSwap helped MetaMask with creating the contract behind MetaMask Swaps. The funny thing is, Airswap gets more than $2M of volume each day through MetaMask Swaps. And MetaMask Swaps isn’t even available on their mobile app as of yet!
AIP 7 proposes that there will be a pool for stakeholders to receive transaction fees. A co-founder of AirSwap, Don Mosites, said in Discord that the transaction fee from MetaMask will be split. Will it be split evenly or not?
Let’s do the math!
When AirSwap gets 0.25% (they will probably get more). This will go 100% to the stakeholders pool. This means: $2M * 365 days * 0.25% = $1.83M each year will be deposited to the pool. When looking at the earlier AIPs, we saw around 10M AST who voted. Keep in mind that this number will probably be lower. Because AIP 7 proposed that you can only unstake 10% each 7 days. Voting for AIP’s does not require staking as of yet. But let’s go with 10M AST for now. 1.83M / 10M = $0.183. That means for every AST staked, you get $0.183 annually. AST currently trades around $0.22. This is 83% APY! Anybody would easily pay at least $0.60 for these returns. And that’s almost worst case scenario! It will be much higher if:

1. Less stakeholders than 10M AST.
   
2. MetaMask splits the fees with AirSwap or gives them a higher percentage.
   
3. Volume gets higher on MetaMask Swaps, meaning more transaction fees.
   

All of the above is not to unimaginable. The time to unstake takes a few weeks because you can only unstake 10% each 7 days. If I would have to guess, I think the amount staked will be much lower than 10M AST. MetaMask and AirSwap are owned by the same company, ConsenSys. So it won’t be strange if they split the transaction fees evenly amongst the two parties, or hell give AirSwap even more. The volume traded on MetaMask Swaps will no doubt be higher the coming months. Imagine if they release it on their mobile app, I’m sure it will skyrocket.
Lastly, AirSwap is already being traded on Binance. No more sketchy exchanges! You can buy this straight from Binance!
Join the subreddit at AirSwap and definitely join the Discord to talk with fellow ASTronauts about the token!
Please DYOR, I’m just here to have an open discussion. And of course not financial advice. I just really like the stock token
TL;DR: AirSwap has some great fundamentals. With upcoming staking, it will be inevitable for the price to make a huge jump. Otherwise you would have a huge APY! If this got your interest, please read my post, it will cost you 5 minutes max. Your wife’s boyfriend will thank you for it.

I propose that it would be superior to fix the currency system and replace it with something honest. Open-source rules that are clear and simple and available to all for viewing.
While some people have proposed eliminating currency altogether, I think that completely eliminating currency would result in:
1) a lot of problems in the transition period
2) a lot of human behavior problems in the post-scarcity period
3) How does one eliminate currency without slipping into communism, which doesn't work?
I propose that fixing the currency system is easier to implement than eliminating it entirely. Currency is nothing but tokens, representations of value. An honest currency system has not been tried in our lifetime! We have no frame of reference for what it would be like to earn a little bit of money and have it keep its value forever.
The major problems with currency are like this:

DEBT BASED CURRENCY:

All "money" currently in circulation is debt. Federal Reserve Notes (FRN) are purchased by the government from a private bank called the federal reserve. The supreme court (united states vs gonzalez) decided that the federal reserve is a privately owned bank in 1983. So when the govt needs to enter more money into circulation, even though they have the legal authority to issue it (scrip) straight out of the treasury, or to mint it through the bureau of printing and engraving, instead they go to this private bank and take out a loan. The loan has interest attached to it. That money enters circulation, and the debt runs.
This is problematic for several reasons. First of all, it's unnecessary debt. The govt gave away their power to print money to someone else (they are authorized to print money but not to give the power away) and then they go into debt to receive something that they gave away in the first place.
Second of all, that means that whatever value enters circulation, then that means an equal amount of debt plus interest. (.6%)
What does this mean?
It means the US govt owes more money than is in circulation. They owe over 100% of the money in circulation. This is why it is said that the currency of the USA is "DEBT BASED CURRENCY"

FRACTIONAL RESERVE LENDING:

The above is bad enough. But now hear this: You give bank $100. They have $100 on the books now. Under fractional reserve lending, they are legally able to CREATE money out of nothing based on their holdings.
If a new person comes in and wants a loan, they are able to create new money (debt) at a 9:1 ratio. This is confusing, but it means from the original $100, they are able to lend out $90 of it, earning interest on that 90$, while at the same time telling the original investor that their entire 100$ is still in the bank.
If that guy who took the loan for 90$ goes and puts it in another bank, that bank can also make more loans at the same 9:1 ratio. Meaning they can loan out $81 dollars while still telling the guy they have the original $90 still on the books. If the guy who took out the loan for $81 dollars wants to put that in a new bank, the new bank can loan $73 while still telling him they have the original $81 on the books.
If you continue these loans until the amount is too low to loan, then from that original $100 dollar investment, the bankers can spawn almost $1,000 in new currency. The problem is, all of this new currency is in the form of a loan to a bank. It's $900 of new debt entering the economy on a $100 real money investment. They loaned out money they never had and are collecting interest on it!
And this is separate from the fact that ALL the currency is backed by debt, as shown in the first section. These two issues COMPOUND each other.

FIAT CURRENCY

Fiat is latin for "Let it be" and "Fiat Lux" means "Let there be light". In the world of currency, Fiat currency is called such because it is designated currency by an authority, not because it has an intrinsic value. When items have an intrinsic value, they are not a FIAT currency. Fiat currencies are entered into circulation by an authority, not by nature.
Fiat currencies are not always bad, but they have the potential to become bad, because they are synthetic and made by man. Therefore the rules which govern them are obviously subject to the appetites of man. You can make any rule you want and add it to a fiat currency.
In the USA, the constitution requires the government to use gold and silver. However, the government of previous generations (before any of us were alive) didn't follow this and created a situation where the economy was inflated with fiat scrip. Due to the presence of so much scrip, the economy can probably never go back to the way it used to be. It has been artificially inflated way too high and the correction would be egregious.
Most modern thinkers agree that the best way to handle the fiat currency situation is not to enforce the old ways, but learn the lessons from them instead. Study the Tallystick system, perhaps the most famous currency system of the ancient world, wherein the King took boughs of wood and carved unique lines into them. Then, he split the bough in half and kept one side in his castle while entering the opposing side into circulation among the people. Pretty good so far, right?
The final step was to make the king's taxes payable in the tallystick. You could discharge your monetary duty to the king by simply giving him a stick (which had originated with him). This instantly made the sticks very valuable and people accepted them as currency overnight. No gold necessary - just a stick. The tallystick system flourished for over 700 years.

SOLUTIONS

1) Obviously the biggest problem is that the federal reserve met on christmas eve 1913 without a quorum present in senate and passed their unlawful charter. Since then americans have not owned their money, but instead they borrow it from a private bank and they pay interest for the privilege of using currency. Seeing as how the Divine Creator as well as the United States Constitution allows for the government of the people to handle this themselves, there is really no reason to rely on a "for profit" bank to provide this service.
2) The second biggest problem is that the currency doesn't hold its value and is debt-based. This is by design. It's annoying, because, let's say you work 8 hours and you can buy 8 sandwiches as a result. However, you stick that money under your mattress for 6 months, and suddenly you can only buy 7 sandwiches with that money. If you wait years, you might only be able to buy 4 sandwiches instead of the original 8. That's pretty jacked up, because the number of hours you worked to earn that purchasing power didn't change. You worked the number of hours necessary to purchase 8 sandwiches! You don't get your time back when inflation strikes...
It's actually really easy to keep a currency at the same value. Silver has kept identical purchasing power for the last 100 years. You could buy the same amount of sandwiches with a silver quarter in 1925 as you can today. The only thing that changes is the value of silver in FRNs. The value of silver is not changing - the value of the FRN is. Crazy, right?
I don't recommend going to a global standard of metals for exchange, but the lessons that can be learned there are invaluable. They prove it's possible to keep purchasing power identical for 100+ years.
And the currency needs to go back into the hands of the people's government. Eliminate the private banks from government entirely.
3) Eliminate Usury from the issuance of currency entirely. THIS ALONE WOULD BE LIKE GIVING THE WORLD TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS
There is a lot more but this post is getting a bit long. Basically the problem is not money, but the fact that the money has been completely corrupted and used as a weapon.
As you can see here, the entire currency system is set up from top to bottom to steal from people.
Fixing the inherent theft is the superior path.

How can I learn more?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2i6uftJhB8
Here's a great documentary that explains the situation in a clear factual manner that you can rely on. It is phrased in such a way where you could explain to a banker, using his own terms, why the system is dishonest.

Get educated and may God bless each and every one of you.

Hey everyone! I've actually been meaning to do this for a while now. I'm new to reddit, I literally just made my account so I apologize if I don't fully understand how this works. Anyways, I've been looking at posts and reading comments on this page for about two months or so. I stumbled upon this place by accident. But, like I said I've been reading lots of different posts and comments on here, to be completely honest I spend about two hours a day on here reading things you guys posts.
Anyways, I'm not entirely sure where I stand at the moment with the church and the gospel. For instance some of the things people list that broke their shelves I was taught about at a young age. For example, Joseph Smith and the hat, Brigham Young doing shrooms (my seminary teacher taught me that), blacks not having the priesthood, Joseph Smith and many other prophets having married young girls, the masonry in the temple, etc. I was taught about this at a young age, so when I got on here I was shocked to see that so many people didn't know this. It seems like most people in my ward knew about all of this stuff and was regularly taught in our homes.
But yeah, I'm 22 years old, a male, I'm recently married. I'm a traditional LDS member, ya know the usual, got his Eagle Scout, finished his Duty to God, went on a mission but came home early (more on that in a later post), Elders Quorum teacher and Ward Mission Leader. I was Deacons and Teachers Quorum President. Like I said I lived a pretty normal LDS life.
I see peoples stories on here about their bad bishops, mission stories, being PIMO, and this all interests me. I'm completely sucked into to your guys' stories. I'm kind of in a weird spot with the church right now, mainly because the things you guys are talking about I assumed was common knowledge. My mother and I both pride ourselves in knowing "Deep Doctrine." So most of what is breaking shelves I've been taught at a young age. I want to learn more from you guys, I've already began reading the CES Letter, and have "Letter to my Wife," bookmarked for later.
Like I said, I'm excited to be here. I sorta feel like I've been reading your guys' stories in the shadows, so I'm here to finally introduce myself. Later on I'd also like to talk about my mission experiences and dealing with Bishop Roulette, (I think my recently released bishop is leaving too, my new one also hinted to me that he doesn't believe in everything).
This is all very new and exciting to me. I read what you guys post on here all the time. But yeah, for those of you who made it this far thank you. I didn't realize it would be this long. Thanks again guys, I'm excited to meet you all!

With the current EXTREME consumer consumptions of bioflims, especially in the USA and China— who is also the largest producer and polluter in the world and no one really cares about the people there, or anywhere else on this Earth for that matter. I see you and hear you all loud and clear! I heard Europe was banning plastic straws of any kind! A step in the right direction and I applaud 👏 but still not enough...
If I hypothetically had the executive decision over any corporation around the world, then I would say, Immediately cease production of biofilms, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and nuclear productions (including Corona discharge aka low temperature plasma, produced as a byproduct through electricity usage...,which I wonder if the radioactive byproduct could be neutralized if the electricity was run through water?), but I realize this is not possible over night for all categories for obvious reasons, so I would say start by banning ALL plastic straws and plastic bottles of ANY kind world wide immediately!!! 🔱⚠️⚜️ Use glass bottles or other safe alternatives that may be available on the market that haven’t gotten the recognition it deserves.
Americans must now produce their own products instead of having them ”Made in China.” This should reduce the carbon due to transportation of products around the world. EVERY country worry about YOU and YOUR people and collectively as Nations we will successfully clean up the mess we have created together!
Failure to comply will result in Military to take control over the general public to help create order through disciplinary action, so humans may begin cleaning. WE DO NOT HAVE TIME TO WAIT UNTIL EVERYONE IS READY! That point will never come, you must be “harsh” about it...even if not everyone understands why this must happen.
I figured everyone would want to know that Staphylococcus aureus (“a Gram-positive, round-shaped bacterium”) is the “ball part” of the corona virus. Now let’s find out what’s responsible for the “spikes” I believe it has something to do with 43895OR—(mutated E. Coli—Staphylococcus aureus also falls under the “E-coli” category...) like I keep saying the microbiodome in the gut of living things control life and diseases itself and needs to be balanced again... (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staphylococcus_aureus)
“A biofilm comprises any syntrophic consortium of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other and often also to a surface.
The cells within the biofilm produce the EPS components, which are typically a polymeric conglomeration of extracellular polysaccharides, proteins, lipids and DNA.
Because they have three-dimensional structure and represent a community lifestyle for microorganisms, they have been metaphorically described as "cities for microbes".
Biofilms may form on living or non-living surfaces and can be prevalent in natural, industrial, and hospital settings.
The Biofilms can form on the teeth of most animals as dental plaque, where they may cause tooth decay and gum disease.
A biofilm may also be considered a hydrogel, which is a complex polymer that contains many times its dry weight in water. Biofilms are not just bacterial slime layers but biological systems; the bacteria organize themselves into a coordinated functional community.
Biofilms can attach to a surface such as a tooth, rock, or surface, and may include a single species or a diverse group of microorganisms. The biofilm bacteria can share nutrients and are sheltered from harmful factors in the environment, such as desiccation, antibiotics, and a host body's immune system. A biofilm usually begins to form when a free-swimming bacterium attaches to a surface.
(Soap and water gets rid of them...hence the emphasis on hand-washing to prevent corona!!!)
Biofilms are hypothesised to have arisen during primitive Earth as a defence mechanism for prokaryotes, as the conditions at that time were too harsh for their survival. Biofilms protect prokaryotic cells by providing them with homeostasis, encouraging the development of complex interactions between the cells in the biofilm.
The development of a biofilm may allow for an aggregate cell colony (or colonies) to be increasingly tolerant or resistant to antibiotics.
Cell-cell communication or quorum sensing has been shown to be involved in the formation of biofilm in several bacterial species.
Biofilms have been found to be involved in a wide variety of microbial infections in the body, by one estimate 80% of all infections.
Infectious processes in which biofilms have been implicated include common problems such as bacterial vaginosis, urinary tract infections, catheter infections, middle-ear infections, formation of dental plaque, gingivitis, coating contact lenses, and less common but more lethal processes such as endocarditis, infections in cystic fibrosis, and infections of permanent indwelling devices such as joint prostheses, heart valves, and intervertebral disc.
The species of bacteria from intraoperative cultures did not correspond to the bacteria species in the biofilm on the respective patient's tissue. In other words, the cultures were negative though the bacteria were present.
Research has shown that sub-therapeutic levels of β-lactam antibiotics induce biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus.
This sub-therapeutic level of antibiotic may result from the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in agriculture, or during the normal course of antibiotic therapy. The biofilm formation induced by low-level methicillin was inhibited by DNase, suggesting that the sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotic also induce extracellular DNA release.
Moreover, from an evolutionary point of view, the creation of the tragedy of the commons in pathogenic microbes may provide advanced therapeutic ways for chronic infections caused by biofilms via genetically engineered invasive cheaters who can invade wild-types ‘cooperators’ of pathogenic bacteria until cooperator populations go to extinction or overall population ‘cooperators and cheaters ’ go to extinction. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilm)
“Microbes in Beijing’s Smog Streptococcus pneumoniae, one of the pathogenic microbes found in the Beijing smog.” (http://www.biology-bytes.com/microbes-smog/)
“D06M10/025 Corona discharge or low temperature plasma” I am also highly concerned about the electricity harnessing and usage levels we are currently producing and using as electricity worldwide. Regular electricity (like in power lines) also has a byproduct called corona discharge that naturally occurs when electricity is flowing... Corona Discharge is Isotopic meaning it is radioactive and is also a major contributor to creating this toxic biofilm world and making the living things and the whole environment sick. I would suggest running electricity through water, for now, to neutralize the effects of corona discharge created!!! Hello Elon Musk!!! (https://patents.google.com/patent/US7923388B2/en)

Hi, everyone!
I recently did an interview with John Prince bwv549 which was very enlightening for me and received a positive reaction here.
I just want to briefly introduce myself and my podcast.
I am a native Estonian and I started the podcast in the Summer of 2020 with a couple of episodes in Estonian. Last four have been in English. The latest one was an interview with Ryan Booth, a former fellow missionary who has since embraced his identity as a gay person and has left the Church.
In this epic 4.5-hour conversation Ryan sheds light on:

• growing up and serving a mission
• realizing he was gay
• working at Google
• the shame/struggle/conflict of executing a google ads campaign that helped pass Prop 8
• a traumatic experience with a predatory Elder’s Quorum President
• suicide attempt
• leaving the Church
• experiences with psychedelics

You can view this interview here: https://youtu.be/MwSsHsKwxAk
I myself joined the LDS Church at age 20 and was a TBM for about 20 years, which included all conceivable local leadership positions. Last couple of years has been a time of transition.
I am grateful for the many wonderful blessings the LDS Church brought to my life. It gave me a lot of meaning, purpose, structure, skills and self-confidence at a time when I was considering the meaning of life etc, having been brought up in a non-religious family (most Soviet families were) and in a domestic environment which included a level of emotional turmoil (related to alcohol consumption etc).
My transition was not triggered by problems with Church history and doctrine. I have studied the "hard topics" from the apologetic materials for years. My transition has been a slow, incremental process of learning and observing "how the world works" - studying psychology, sociology, other religions, science etc and also noticing what kind of positive and negative impacts the Church has had on myself. I have in the last year or so started to study Church history more broadly.
While I am no longer fully "active" in the Church or its devout adherent, I am spiritually inclined and appreciative towards the Church. I try to keep a sympathetic tone in my podcasts, both to the interviewee and to the Church.
I hope you enjoy the podcasts. I started the podcast with the goal of broadening the perspectives of Church members who only speak Estonian. Since then, I have just wanted to talk to guests who can contribute to my own faith journey, regardless if they speak Estonian or not. In the future, I will probably have episodes both in Estonian and in English. I put the description "in English" in the title, when the episode is in English.
Doing the podcast is not my full-time job, of course. I try to do one episode a month or in two months. My full time job is in corporate finance.

Wow, is it time for the Year in Review already? It seems like only a couple decades have passed since January 1, 2020 -- a year some experts are now saying lasted a full double dog year, 14 human years, or about three stake conferences in length.
Although TSCC's shenanigans were overshadowed this year by outrageously insane behavior from every corner, TSCC nevertheless made its own valuable contributions to the insanity pile -- the icing on the cake, if you will, or perhaps more accurately, the dry heave on top of the stomach-emptying vomit.
But now, as 2020 comes to a close, let us sit back, reflect on the past year, and wonder what the hell was everyone smoking? Yet somehow, despite everything getting turned upside down this year, 2020 still began with . . .
January
Foreshadowing the year to come, 2020 attacks right from the start and scorches Australia with massive wildfires. Also foreshadowing the year to come, TBMs offer to help by skipping a couple of meals and donating the value of those meals to the church, which then used the donated money to pay the cable bill for Brother Richards in your ward. The logic behind this series of transactions is still somehow one of the least confusing aspects of the year to come.
Despite the Book of Mormon literally saying the Lamanites were cursed with dark skin, TSCC claims it was an "error" in the Come Follow Me manual that described the Lamanites' dark skin as a curse. Clarifying the clarification, Pres. Newsroom stressed that it wasn't the dark skin that was the curse, the curse was having to still defend the racist passages in the Book of Mormon in 20 freaking 20.
Finally in January, controversy erupts at BYU over, of all things, ballroom dancing, when BYU announced it would prohibit same sex couples from competing in the US Nationals Amateur Dancesport Championships it was hosting, despite national organization guidelines which allowed same sex couples to compete. Several prominent dancers announced they would boycott the BYU-hosted competition, but BYU stuck to its principles despite this withering pressure from super-intimidating ballroom dancers. Ha ha! But seriously though -- BYU predictably caved and allowed same sex couples to dance in the competition. Pres. Newsroom later defended BYU's changing stance, claiming the university had not sold its values for a mess of pottage but had done so for the glory of ballroom dance, which was a different matter altogether.
February
Two years after Ballard emphatically declared that church leaders weren't hiding anything, church leaders admit in a Wall Street Journal article that they've been hiding 100 billion dollars out of fear members would stop paying tithing if they knew about it. Following the example of shining role model, Enron, TSCC used more than a dozen shell companies to hide their investment portfolio from members. Shocked by this brazen deception, TBMs vigorously protest by continuing to pay a full tithe, keeping their mouths shut, and pretending this is all fine.
In an unusual move, BYU deletes the section prohibiting homosexual behavior from its honor code, leaving the impression that comparable hetero behaviors such as dating and kissing would now be permitted for homosexual students, with BYU's own Honor Code office privately telling students homosexual couples would now be held to the same morality standards as unmarried heterosexual couples. After a photo of two female students kissing outside the honor code office goes viral, BYU spokesperson Carrie Jenkins backpedaled and claimed there had been a "miscommunication", but refuses to say what the school's policy is. After much confusion, the matter is finally cleared up when Mormon church president Nelson issues a statement demanding the media stop referring to him as "Mormon church president Nelson" and insists the media instead refer to him as "brilliantly gifted heart surgeon Nelson".
A man wielding a knife is shot and killed by police after caught trespassing inside the MTC in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Afterward, police claimed the man was clearly suffering from mental illness, noting that he willingly entered a location known to be crawling with Mormon missionaries.
March
In March, absolutely nothing happened, so we can move on to April -- unless you consider the beginning of the apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it, and the imminent return of Jesus to be worth mentioning.
But first, in March: in the midst of continued confusion over the BYU honor code change, Ballard offers hope to the LGBT community when he delivers a BYU devotional speech condemning marginalizing anyone based on sexual orientation, calling it "evil and horrifying". Gay BYU students barely have time to applaud Ballard's speech when, the very next day, BYU -- which aspires to the level of evil and horrifying -- marginalizes LGBT students by issuing a formal letter stating that no, they are still not allowed any form of romantic expression because such behaviors still violate the "principles", if not the actual language, of the honor code. Clarifying the matter further, BYU spokesperson Carrie Jenkins said LGBT students should have known all along the honor code changes were meant for the Big 12 Conference and not for them.
TSCC gets pummeled from all sides in March, with God hitting Salt Lake City with a 5.7 earthquake that breaks the angel Moroni statue on top of the temple, and Covid forcing TSCC to cancel church services, close its temples, recall missionaries from overseas missions, close the MTCs, and cancel all BYU sports, just as the basketball team looked to have its best showing in the NCAA tournament in years. Summing up the disastrous month, Pres. Newsroom said TSCC hasn't taken a beating that bad since the last BYU-Utah football game.
April
In a historic first, TSCC cancels the live audience for general conference. The precaution was necessary, Pres. Newsroom said, to prevent panicky Mormons from stealing all the toilet paper in the Conference Center.
Recalling that last October Nelson promised a conference unlike any other, TBMs feverishly share wild rumors in the run-up to April conference, ranging from Jesus Christ personally appearing at conference to the prophet solemnly ordering members to pack up and move to Missouri. Realizing the conference had been a deep disappointment compared to expectations, Nelson tried to spin the narrative by insisting the conference had achieved a historic first: for the first time ever, not a single live audience member had fallen asleep during a session.
In the midst of a global pandemic, economic collapse, apocalyptic rumors, and widespread unemployment, TSCC demonstrates how keenly they are in touch with members' needs when they . . . rollout a new church logo. Dubbed "Snow Globe Jesus", the new logo design barely won out over top contenders Bobblehead Jesus and 70s Playgirl Centerfold Jesus.
Having failed in their first fasting attempt to eradicate Coronavirus, Nelson announces a second, more powerful fast to be held on Good Friday, for an extra spiritual power-up. Cases in Utah -- which averaged 100 positive cases per day prior to the fast -- promptly doubled, then tripled, then increased 5x, then increased 10x, then increased 20x, then increased 30x . . . Alarmed at the exponential increase in cases, Utah lawmakers hurriedly pass legislation preventing Mormons from conducting a third fast.
May
TSCC -- long accused of being a money-seeking corporation masquerading as a religion --releases plans for the Tooele Utah temple, including a master planned community of high-priced homes surrounding the temple which will be developed, and profited by, TSCC. When asked about the comparison to Jesus driving the money changers at the temple, Pres. Newsroom happily cited the prepositional loophole of "at" vs. "around" to justify TSCC's money changing behavior. When informed that the same Hebrew preposition means "at, in, by, or near" in English and therefore the church is technically still in violation of Jesus's injunction, Pres. Newsroom claimed his religious freedom was under attack from linguistics.
In the midst of a global pandemic, economic collapse, apocalyptic rumors, and widespread unemployment, TSCC again demonstrates how keenly they are in touch with members' needs when they . . . proudly release updated standards for the artwork permitted in church foyers. Although Caucasian Jesus predictably won the coveted approval, Pres. Newsroom let it be known there was stiff competition from top contenders Catholic Sacred Heart Jesus and Fat Buddha.
In what many observers regarded as a somewhat controversial move, two BYU students, Jeff and Steve, are disciplined by the honor code office for failing to say "no homo" after engaging in a handshake that lingered a bit too long.
June
In the midst of a global pandemic, economic collapse, apocalyptic rumors, and widespread unemployment, TSCC again demonstrates how keenly they are in touch with members' needs when Rebrand Rusty makes a fashion update to that most recognizable symbol of Mormonism, the missionary in the white shirt. Although missionaries may now wear blue shirts, over-zealous elders quorum presidents everywhere want you to know you will still be looked down upon if you wear a blue shirt to quorum meeting.
Three months after Ballard condemned persecution of the LGBT community as "evil and horrifying", TSCC files an amicus brief in a Supreme Court case, arguing in favor of the right to fire LGBT employees simply for being LGBT and not for any job violation. When asked whether the church was now "evil and horrifying" or whether Ballard had been wrong in his devotional address, Pres. Newsroom wondered aloud how difficult it would be to find another job in this weak economy.
In the face (ha ha!) of rising anti-mask sentiment, a coalition of Utah religious leaders sign a joint statement urging Utahns to wear face masks. TSCC is represented in the coalition by a counselor in the Utah area presidency, who ranks on the Mormon authority meter somewhere around the assistant secretary of the Beehive class.
In a fiery online speech, Bednar complains about the loss of religious freedom during the pandemic, claiming that governments had forced TSCC to shut down. When pointed out to him that other churches adapted by conducting online services, and that Alma 32:10 specifically says that meeting in a church is not required, Bednar doubled-down on his complaint, insisting that his religious freedom to sit on the stand and be adored by the congregation each week had most definitely been infringed.
July
In an all-out attack on exmos, the July Ensign boldly claims that truth will never be found on exmormon sites. Exmos quickly compiled a list of truths hidden by TSCC that were revealed on exmo sites, such as the $100 billion Ensign Peak investment, general authority pay, the seer stone translation method, the LGBT policy of exclusion, the multiple versions of the first vision, and church tithing money being invested in City Creek. When confronted by this list, the Ensign published a follow-up article claiming its religious freedom to lie about its religion was under attack.
Looking to send a stronger signal on the mask mandate, the full Utah area presidency now issues an official statement to members, urging them to wear masks in public. This upgraded authoritative mandate now ranks on the Mormon power meter somewhere around a ward PEC meeting with half the attendees asleep.
Finally in July, Utah County Mormons make national news when, in the midst of the pandemic, they crowd into a packed Utah County Commission meeting, purposefully not wearing masks, to demand that area schools reopen without requiring students to wear masks, because -- given the size of their excessively large families -- the least the school district could do is help them trim the number back a bit.
August
In the midst of a global pandemic, economic collapse, apocalyptic rumors, and widespread unemployment, TSCC again demonstrates how keenly they are in touch with members' needs when Rebrand Rusty renames the church magazines. The Ensign will be rebranded as The Liahona and The New Era will now be called For the Strength of Youth, because "New Era" simply wasn't weird enough. TSCC also dropped the old fashioned term "garments", now calling its special underwear For The Strength of Your Loins.
Colleges across the country begin to reopen, but with modified sports schedules, leaving independent football school BYU scrambling to fill its schedule at the last minute. Announcing its modified schedule, BYU noted that the 200,000 U.S. Covid deaths, while tragic, were a small price to pay to guarantee that BYU would not lose to Utah in football again this year.
And August wraps up with the First Presidency issuing a letter forbidding bishops and stake presidents from testifying in court cases, because the last people TSCC wants on the stand are leaders who have pledged to be honest in all their dealings.
September
Always striving to use the full name of the church and emphasize the name of Jesus Christ, Rebrand Rusty renames LDS Business College to Ensign College, after the itself recently rebranded Ensign magazine, with neither rebranding using the full name of the church or of Jesus Christ. This series of name changes is still, somehow, one of the least confusing aspects of 2020.
With the Covid epidemic worsening by the day, TBMs plead with God in fervent prayer to please let them die of Covid before they have to eat the 40 year old buckets of wheat in the basement.
October
Feeling like 2020 hasn't kicked enough people while they are down, Christofferson attacks a vulnerable group in his general conference talk by insulting single women who choose to have their baby rather than have an abortion, calling their children "bitter fruit." When asked about his choice of words, Christofferson defended himself, saying that he couldn't very well call them "bastards" over the conference center pulpit, now could he?
Two years after gaslighting church youth about polygamy at a Face 2 Face broadcast in Nauvoo, Master Gaslighter Cook uses his general conference address to gaslight the entire church over slavery and Native American relations. Boldly claiming the church was always against slavery and had great relations with the Native Americans, Cook spun a beautiful but demonstrably false narrative. It was somewhat surprising then, when independent fact checkers awarded Cook's talk the exact same credibility level as the other conference addresses.
The Book of Mormon becomes the surprise publishing hit of the Fall, with copies flying off the shelves, after Mormon Senator Mike Lee compares serial adulterer, porn-star banging, own-daughter-lusting Donald Trump to Book of Mormon fictional character Captain Moroni. Publishing experts scrambled to proclaim the Book of Mormon the next big hit in the popular billionaire porn genre, adding that a powerful, shirtless military captain in the early Americas breathed new life into the somewhat tired genre. Negative reviews soon killed book sales, however, with reviewers slamming Captain Moroni as "even more vanilla than my parents", with one reviewer tartly noting that even if all the "coming to passes" were replaced with "coming with lasses", the book would still be boring beyond belief.
November
With a contested US election, rumors and accusations flying on all sides, and the Constitution hanging by a thread, Mormon Senator Mitt Romney fulfills the long-awaited "White Horse" prophecy by saving the Constitution and the election by acknowledging that Trump lost the election and there is no legal path to overturn it. TBMs rejoice in the prophecy's fulfillment and delight in their role at preserving the US Constitution in such a critical moment. Ha ha! No. TBMs start a petition calling for Romney's impeachment, continue to call for overthrowing the election result, and demand that God himself reissue the white horse prophecy, with the "right" side winning this time. For his part, God answered the prayers of the right-wing petitioners in exactly the same way he answered Joseph Smith's prayer in 1820.
With the Covid epidemic worsening by the day, Nelson addresses the full church and kind of, sort of hints that members should maybe follow medical advice and wear masks. TBMs, who only last March were waxing poetic about God calling a doctor -- a doctor! -- to be president of the church during a pandemic, promptly ignore Nelson's counsel and turn to the real experts: some anonymous guy on Youtube and Aunt Phyllis on Facebook.
In what many observers regarded as a somewhat controversial move, BYU roommates Emma and Madison are disciplined by the honor code office for sitting too close together on the couch while watching a romcom on Netflix.
December
December opens with the traditional First Presidency Christmas devotional, but with the unusual sight this year of the first presidency seated in a socially distant arrangement. Noting the seating change, Nelson likened the social distancing to the Savior himself, who -- as in all things -- had led by example by socially distancing himself from the church for 200 years now.
In a final effort stressing the importance of masks, Elder Renlund -- himself a Covid survivor -- releases a video unambiguously instructing members to wear masks, calling it a sign of Christlike love. TBMs, many of whom opposed mask-wearing, thoughtfully ponder this clear counsel from one of God's chosen mouthpieces and reflect how to bring their lives in harmony with . . . Ha ha! No. TBMs excoriate Renlund for being too political and grumble that if everyone wears a mask, they might have to start going back to church soon, and no one wants that.
Fairmormon -- already sufficiently embarrassing thanks to its own tortured apologetics -- sinks to a new level of shame by releasing clownish videos attacking the CES letter on a Youtube show called This Is The Show, or TITS for short. As if that weren't juvenile enough, show host Kwaku El, in a fit of bravado, threatens to kill John Dehlin -- which even stiff-necked exmos know violates at least one of the commandments. Fairmormon's behavior is so appalling that even Tapir Dan Peterson, former Fairmormon shill and staunch defender, distances himself from the group and resigns from its board. Fairmormon's antics -- disturbing as they are -- somehow still provide a comforting assurance that even in 2020, when everything is upside down, some things still remain the same: the best weapon against the church isn't the CES letter, it's a passionate Mormon believer with a microphone.
And now, fellow exmos, as 2020 -- finally! -- comes to a close, let us gather our families together in the fallout bunkers where we are hiding, and wish each other a better and brighter 2021. It can't get any worse, can it?
No, really -- can it?
Happy New Year, exmos.

My shelf broke a few months back. Ever since then I have been trying to figure out how I feel towards the leaders of the church (meaning the quorum of the 12 and 1st presidency).
I would go back and forth. On the one hand they have been lying to members for years by not telling the true narrative. But I would also think, if they truly believe all of this than could they possibly be justified because they don’t want to harm members testimonies and salvation?
For me it wasn’t a simple answer. I don’t think most of then are out to get rich and lie to our faces. I am sure most of them take their job seriously and care about the members.
That being said I don’t think they can be justified because there has been no informed consent. A true testimony can’t be built on lies and having people make commitments based on lies is just wrong.
I also think a lot of church leaders have been left with a mess to fix. The lies have been going on for generations and that makes it difficult to come out and switch to the truth all at once. We have seen the church slowly move to being more honest at least about history and I am happy about that.
That being said they are hypocrites. They tell us standards about honesty and truth but they don’t live by them. They are above their own laws.
For me the right thing for them to do is to come out to the members and apologize for the years of deception and become completely transparent. I know it would never happen and would cause a major fall out in the church but for me that is the RIGHT thing to do.
I can’t judge the church leaders and say they are evil or aren’t trying. But I can say that they are in the wrong in continuing lies and trying to manipulate the members.
Realizing the leaders weren’t being honest was a huge shock. I always had so much respect and thought they were the best of the best. Turns out they are as imperfect as I am.
What are your thoughts/feelings about the leaders and why? Do you see things differently?

First of all, This is a serious DD, not some Dogecoin shitpost.
I know Airswap (AST) isn’t a real moonshot because it has a $30M marketcap. But just hear me out, it has a lot of potential, which I will explain in this long post! It will probably start of a bit confusing, but it will all make sense in the end.
TL;DR at the bottom for you lazy retards. But I do recommend you read the whole post.
AirSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) which was created by Fluidity. It was originally made for large companies to trade OTC and without an orderbook to avoid frontrunning.
In May 2020, Fluidity (the team behind AirSwap) was acquired by ConsenSys[1]. This is a BIG deal. ConsenSys was founded in 2014 by Joseph Lubin. Joseph is also a co-founder of Ethereum. The company has now more than 500 employees. ConsenSys is also the company behind MetaMask, which is the most popular Ethereum wallet and Web3 browser. In August 2020, ConsenSys acquired Quorum from JPMorgan Chase & Co. Which is an enterprise blockchain platform developed by JPMorgan Chase. Additionally, JPMorgan has made an undisclosed strategic investment in ConsenSys[2].
As you see, ConsenSys is a BIG deal.
Now back to AirSwap.
In October 2020, Airswap launched ‘Airswap Improvement Proposals’ (AIPs). Community members can now propose what they want to change. The community can then vote with their AST tokens. There have been around ten votes so far, but AIP 7 is by far the most interesting one. It was unanimously accepted by the community, which says enough if you ask me. It proposes that you can stake your AST and get rewarded with transaction fees and governance. Coming 9th of February.
Also in October 2020, ConsenSys introduced MetaMask Swaps. Which brings the feature to swap tokens directly within MetaMask. MetaMask checks the price of tokens with multiple decentralized exchanges, and gives you the best deal. Here’s the catch, MetaMask asks a 0.875% fee. AirSwap helped MetaMask with creating the contract behind MetaMask Swaps. The funny thing is, Airswap gets more than $2M of volume each day through MetaMask Swaps. And MetaMask Swaps isn’t even available on their mobile app as of yet!
AIP 7 proposes that there will be a pool for stakeholders to receive transaction fees. A co-founder of AirSwap, Don Mosites, said in Discord that the transaction fee from MetaMask will be split. Will it be split evenly or not?
Let’s do the math!
When AirSwap gets 0.25% (they will probably get more). This will go 100% to the stakeholders pool. This means: $2M * 365 days * 0.25% = $1.83M each year will be deposited to the pool. When looking at the earlier AIPs, we saw around 10M AST who voted. Keep in mind that this number will probably be lower. Because AIP 7 proposed that you can only unstake 10% each 7 days. Voting for AIP’s does not require staking as of yet. But let’s go with 10M AST for now. 1.83M / 10M = $0.183. That means for every AST staked, you get $0.183 annually. AST currently trades around $0.22. This is 83% APY! Anybody would easily pay at least $0.60 for these returns. And that’s almost worst case scenario! It will be much higher if:

1. Less stakeholders than 10M AST.
   
2. MetaMask splits the fees with AirSwap or gives them a higher percentage.
   
3. Volume gets higher on MetaMask Swaps, meaning more transaction fees.
   

All of the above is not to unimaginable. The time to unstake takes a few weeks because you can only unstake 10% each 7 days. If I would have to guess, I think the amount staked will be much lower than 10M AST. MetaMask and AirSwap are owned by the same company, ConsenSys. So it won’t be strange if they split the transaction fees evenly amongst the two parties, or hell give AirSwap even more. The volume traded on MetaMask Swaps will no doubt be higher the coming months. Imagine if they release it on their mobile app, I’m sure it will skyrocket.
Lastly, AirSwap is already being traded on Binance. No more sketchy exchanges! You can buy this straight from Binance!
Join the subreddit at AirSwap and definitely join the Discord to talk with fellow ASTronauts about the token!
Please DYOR, I’m just here to have an open discussion. And of course not financial advice. I just really like the stock token
TL;DR: AirSwap has some great fundamentals. With upcoming staking, it will be inevitable for the price to make a huge jump. Otherwise you would have a huge APY! If this got your interest, please read my post, it will cost you 5 minutes max. Your wife’s boyfriend will thank you for it.

Beginning | Previous
Premier Valast laid on his side atop his Patriarch's cushion, idly tapping on his datapad as Minister Gorman droned on in the background. Apparently, the Trade Minister was very put out by the disappearance of a worm projector, and had expected to be informed of the transaction with the Amalgans, as if is approval were in some way important to a decision of that magnitude. Were it not for the fact that the Premier was intensely bored, he would have long ago dispensed with Gorman and sent him off to deal with the problems he had been delegated to address.
Valast's perked up when there was a pause in Gorman's litany of complaints. He took the opportunity to pounce. "Trade Minister Gorman, perhaps you think there is a surplus of options available to us. Tell me, do you believe our position would be enhanced by allowed the Evangi and their Human co-conspirators to go free?"
Gorman flapped his ears once, his whiskers twitching as the momentum in the conversations shifted immediately to Valast. Clearly, the Minister had mistook Valast's silence for agreement rather than indifference."N-no, Premier. I am merely trying to provide you with some insight into the ramifications the loss of a worm projector--"
"Gorman," Valast spat out, "I'm the one who told you how to plot the routes in the first place. Do you think I'm not aware of ever aspect of the Combine's logistical situation? Perhaps you believe I should come running to you each and every time I am to make a decision. You long for my pillow, but I do not think you are prepared to sit upon it." Valast sneered, one hind claw idly plucking at the pillow's fine fabric.
"That was not my intention at all, Premier. It's just that...well, they'll starve," Gorman averted his eyes at the last few words, a tremor entering in.
Valast could only look upon him in disgust. The weakness of the male was incredible. Unsurprisingly, but still incredible. As usual, Valast was called upon to set the context, to explain what must be done in order to survive. To remind his lessers of the stakes and the obstacles he faced on a daily basis. "Of course they'll starve, Gorman. That's the galaxy the Evangi have built for us. How they kept us all at their beck and call. They hid behind their Combine Compact, tried to make it all seem civilized, but they always kept their hands at our throats." Valast pulled himself to a perching position, warming to the subject. "Do as we say or die! Follow our rules or get cut off. That's always been their way. That's why they always kept control over the wormkeys, and that's why they stole the encryption key the moment they thought they couldn't keep us under their heel. They want us to come back begging."
Valast hopped off the cushion and jabbed a paw in Gorman's direction. "Well, perhaps you're the begging sort, Gorman, your warren has bowed and scraped its way this far, why should it be any different now? But I have a responsibility to the Combine, one that transcends the petty interests you so quickly succumb to. It is my duty to rid us of these parasites and secure the future of this galaxy. I won't be the one who blinks. I will do what is necessary. If a few outer planets populated by fringe races must be sacrificed for the greater good, then that is a price I am willing to pay and I will make sure the Evangi and their filthy Human pets pay the price for it." Valast waved a paw in the air, "A worm projector is pittance to secure that future."
Gorman bowed deeply, his ears drooping to his sides, "Yes, of course, Premier, I am just informing you--"
"I don't want you to inform me of your problems. I want you tell me of your solutions. I want you to use the power I have granted to you to carry out the responsibilities I have delegated to you. If I want to spend my time in pointless debate, I'll go speak with the Council. You are here to save me time, not waste it."
Gorman eyes flicked up at the mention of the Council, seeing the opportunity to change the conversation. "I heard that you recalled the Council...did they do as you asked?"
"I did not ask them anything. I told them what their responsibilities were and they, after considerable idiocy, made the only decision that would allow them to continue their worthless existence." Valast huffed out. "They played their little games, raising procedural concerns and running about in circles, but the Evangi are out. Expunged. Purged. Removed. Members of the Combine no longer."
Gorman exhaled noisily, a hiss emitting as the wind blew past needle sharp teeth. "Truly? I was uncertain...the session was long."
"Yes, well, as I said, they raised numerous concerns. At first they protested a lack of quorum, seeking refuge behind their fallen colleagues, lost in the flight from Halcyon. I resolved that issue by emergency appointments. Then there was a traitorous effort to seek reconciliation with our former masters, which I was forced to put down by threatening to declare their homeworlds in rebellion and withdraw projector access." Valast rolled his eyes, rolling his paw forward in a circular motion in front of him, "And so one and so forth. Eventually, there was a vote and the Evangi were expunged, and now the Amalgans may execute upon the Evangi Cleanse Contract."
"Are they capable of that? We know very little about the Overse--the traitors."
"They are experts in their craft, I suspect they are better prepared than any other possibility." Valast plopped back down atop his cushion, settling himself and smoothing out the fabric with his paws. "And does it matter? If they are incapable, then I would rather it be them than us."
Gorman nodded his head, "Truly." He glanced toward Valast's datapad, "When are they proceed?"
"Very soon. The delay has been on our side, not theirs. I deemed it unwise to begin the attack without both contracts being in effect. There was also the matter of the transfer of the worm projector and any number of other incidental aspects." Valast gave Gorman a look of cool disdain. "These matters were but a fraction of the items I am called upon to perform at any given moment. All of which I undertake without complaint because it is my duty to do so."
The Trade Minister bowed his head down again, his ears returning to their drooped posture. "It is an inspiring example, Premier. I shall strive to reach it, but recognize you as the superior in all regards."
"Very good. I eagerly await your update on the resolution of the reroutes to the trade network. Protect what you can, and sacrifice what you must. Our allies and the Legacy races must be granted preferential treatment wherever possible. We cannot risk instability with those who direct access to Mus." Many of the Legacy races benefited from keyed vessels with direct access to Mus, part of the direct trade deals the Mus had erected during their rise to prominence in the Combine. He was disinclined to give them reason for aggression. Even a trading vessel, if loaded with malcontents, could cause substantial harm in this fragile situation.
"Yes, Premier. I will see to it immediately."
Valast waved a paw, dismissing Gorman. The Trade Minister bowed, retreated a few paces, bowed again, and then turned and scurried away. Valast waited until the door to his chamber had resealed before turning his attention back to his datapad. He opened up the files detailing the Amalgan's strategic plan. The first phase called for a survey of the Sol system, both to determine the location of Human assets and to ascertain the nature of the restricted zone itself. Following the survey, there would be an initial assault designed to test Human defenses. If the results were promising, the cleanse would commence in earnest. If not, there were a variety of contingency plans based upon what was discovered.
With a few taps, Valast exited the more detailed logistical files and opened the Cleanse Contract Overview, which provided a statement of the terms and a basic assessment of outcome. A warmth kindled in Valast's core as he scanned the overview. The Amalgans were quite confident.
Cleanse Contract Overview - Humanity
Species Classification: War Oriented Neophyte Spacefarer (WONS).
Location: Single Known System - Sol Project.
Technology: Humanity displays a basic grasp of the fundamentals of in-system space travel with rudimentary weapons. Despite their low level of technology, they have exhibited creativity and dangerously erratic application of the tools at their disposal.

• Example: Humanity has avoided wormhole restrictions via the usage of dangerous warp bubbles.
• Example: Humanity utilizes rogue programs that bear a resemblance to artificients.
• Example: Humanity utilizes mass acceleration weaponry.

Assignment: Total Annihilation

• The Cleanse Contract will be considered complete upon the eradication of all known elements of Humanity. Should Humanity resurface at a future point, the Sclinter Amalgans will be obligated to remove them and compensate any species that incurred losses as a result of Humanity's resurfacing.
  • Exception: Preservation of the Human vessel known as Alcubierre is to be captured if possible.

Methods: No restrictions.

• Deviance: Due to the unique nature of Divinity Angelysian Restricted Zones, efforts to preserve the Sol Project are to be undertaken where practicable. This extends to planetary habitats and local flora and fauna that are not Humanity. Practicable in this instance does not require the Sclinter Amalgans to suffer substantial loss of material or life in the pursuit of this objective. It is understood that success in this regard will entitle the Sclinter Amalgans to a sliding scale of benefits as described in Schedule A.

Expected Outcome: Success.

• Confidence: 99.8%
• Basis: The Sclinter Amalgans have eliminated 9,871 WONS species and is highly proficient at the exercise. The confidence interval is not higher due to the extenuating circumstances with respect to Humanity. This confidence interval is subject to change depending on the results of the survey in Phase 1 (Phases described in Schedule B), though current models suggest a confidence interval above 80% in even the most unfavorable circumstances.
  • Extenuating Circumstance: Unorthodox application of technology.
  • Extenuating Circumstance: Alliance with Peace Oriented Galactic Superspecies (POGS) - Evangi.
  • Extenuating Circumstance: Presence in Divinity Angelysian Restricted Zone.

Failure Option: None. The Sclinter Amalgans are obligated to continue attacks upon Humanity until successful or until an amendment to the Cleanse Contract is agreed upon. This requires the Sclinter Amalgans to dedicate all available resources until the completion of the contract or the demise of the Sclinter Amalgans.
Payment: One Worm Projector. Paid in advance.
Commencement: Upon reception of payment.
The information the Combine had provided them had given the Amalgans little cause for concern. The Humans were eccentric, both in terms of their use of mass acceleration and their apparent ability to leverage rogue programs -- the Amalgans were also suspicious of the claims of Human's ability to create artificients -- but found them otherwise quite typical of newly interstellar species. They were barbarians with a few insane tactics, nothing more.
Of course there was some chance that the extenuating circumstances would complicate matters, but the Amalgans believed they would be capable of success even in the face of the appearance of the Evangi. It was comforting and oddly discomforting. Valast very much liked the certainty that his enemies would be removed but he was suspicious about the depth of the Amalgan's capabilities. Were he to think on it long, he might very well be unnerved about the Amalgan's treating the Evangi as no more than an "extenuating circumstance."
He elected to not think on it long. The alternatives were unattractive the Sclinter Amalgans had always adhered to their contracts. There was no reason to suspect their motives now. They were a tool of the Combine, and he was now the Combine.
He gave that tool a purpose, and it was soon to be deployed at his behest.
It was simply a matter of time.
A very short amount of time now.
Valast fell back onto his cushion, legs propped up in the air as he wiggled about, fantasizing about the destruction to come. His only regret was not being there to witness the horror on the Humans' faces as it happened.
---
Bo'Bakka'Gah had lost their carriage.
It was a traumatic and momentous event. An event that should never be possible without their express intention. But the carriage had done as it willed, uncaring of Bo'Bakka'Gah's attempts to countermand the separation process.
Once it was complete, the carriage had departed and not returned, leaving their housing orb discarded to the side. Without the carriage, they had lost their ability to interact with the world around them. The carriage was the conduit by which information beyond their housing orb was absorbed and the means by which their will was carried out. Without it, they could see very little. Could understand very little. Could impact very little. All they could sense was the dim light from the world beyond their orb.
This was poor substance to build understanding upon. Without their carriage, the Grast was returned to their natural state. They were once again a species that traded only in light, that perceived the world from that single frame of reference. In their home habitat upon Grast, this frame of reference was not limiting, it was instead the only way to survive. The most successful species were those that could parse a world entirely saturated in hues, that exploded in vibrancy from every direction. The Grast had reached the pinnacle of this ecosystem by bending the light to their will, by harnessing it to their desires. Upon their planet, the Grast were the Light Masters. They were in command. In control.
Halcyon was not Grast. Halcyon was the same as the rest of the galaxy: dark. Devoid of brilliance. A place of hostile, unending emptiness. Many had mourned when Bo'Bakka'Gah's tri-fold mind had formed. There could be no other response than grief when a Path led a Grast into the abyss beyond their homeworld. That the Path was necessary was little solace. The Grast would spend its existence in darkness interacting with species that could never possibly comprehend the joys of the light. It was miserable exile. An impossibly onerous sacrifice.
To walk this Path was to be alone.
But the Three had agreed. This was their Path, and they must follow it. They were a strong tri-fold mind, their lights were pure, bright and compatible. Regardless of the void around them, they should shine forth.
They had the will.
They also had the carriage gifted to them upon their departure.
Their only protection would be in their resilience to survive and the carriage gifted to them upon their departure. The apex of Grast innovation. The vehicle that would enable their journey.
Without it, the Path was lost.
Bo'Bakka'Gah sat in their orb. Alone in the dark.
Bo was growing increasingly erratic, their thoughts coming in flits and flashes. Bo had long looked upon the world beyond their orb with suspicion, had been most sensitive to the dangers that had lurked in the dark. It had been Bo that had understood Valast best, seeing the Premier as a kindred but distasteful counterpart. Valast was a survivor. Bo was as well. Now those suspicions and fears were being realized. They had been captured by a being and incapacitated.
Gah agreed that the present circumstances were intolerable, and considered their treatment unjust and cruel. There was little reason to toy with them as the artificient seemed to be doing. If the artificient wished them dead, then it should carry out that wish. There was little to be gained by placing them in their present situation. If the purpose was torture, then the artificient did not understand the nature of the tri-fold mind. There was no force an external entity could deploy to break them. They could only break themselves. This was a pointless and inefficient exercise.
Bakka continued to ruminate on the information that had been gathered. Bo had been correct to be wary of coming here, but Bakka was not sure their present circumstances were a validation of all of those fears. Similarly, Bakka agreed with Gah's assessment that their current treatment was pointless and cruel. Bakka disagreed that pointless cruelty was the intent of the action. Increasingly, Bakka suspected that their present state, which had persisted for some time, was simply a misunderstanding.
Bakka shared these thoughts. Bo and Gah found them suspect, but prodded Bakka for more. Given that there was little else to do, Bakka was quite happy to oblige. Bakka raised the peculiar responses to the First Contact Protocol, where TRUE had responded not to the questions, but to the underlying code. TRUE had interacted on a program basis, providing answers that maximized outcomes but appeared to be nonsensical. As far as Bo'Bakka'Gah was aware, such a thing had never been done before. Such a thing should not have even been possible.
The same could be said for the carriage. Through means unknown, the artificient had taken control of the machine, co-opting it for its own purposes. Then they had been taken closer to the artificient's core and absorbed into the wall before being separated and discarded without further interaction. Bakka posited that TRUE's interest in them was not actually in them, but in their machine.
When Bakka considered all of the data, the only instances where TRUE interacted with organic species was in response to a stimulus. If a force was exerted upon it, it would respond. Either by reinforcing the wall in Sana's case or by destroying the attacking Peacekeeper ships. In the absence of a force that required a response, it seemed to content to consolidate power locally and ignore everything else.
This explained TRUE's willingness to allow the flight of the ships from Halcyon. This explained TRUE not moving beyond its portion of Halcyon. This explained why TRUE did not pursue the eradication of the Humans once they were placed in the long tunnel and sealed off.
Bo and Gah considered this, and Bo quickly arrived at the question that Bakka had not found a suitable answer for. If all of this were to be accurate and true, then why had TRUE sought to obtain their carriage?
Gah provided an answer. The carriage was novel. It was the only machine of its type in Halcyon and possessed a variety of abilities not present elsewhere. The value of these technologies to an artificient were difficult to understand. The carriage served as an interface between their orb and the environment around them. What benefit was that to an artificient of presumably infinite capabilities?
The Three debated the matter thoroughly. They did not discard the possibility that the actions of the artificient were indeed intentionally cruel, but that viewpoint seemed increasingly less credible given all of the available evidence. Bo suggested that TRUE simply required the raw material, but the interaction suggested otherwise. The carriage was intentionally preserved rather than dismantled. It was co-opted, not destroyed, at least from what they had witnessed.
Time progressed. Without the carriage, it was difficult to determine precisely how long. It was not a brief period as Bo'Bakka'Gah began to experience a decline in mental acuity due to a lack of sustenance. They fed infrequently compared to other species, often eating once for every thirty or forty of the others' meals, but hunger was as debilitating for them as any others. The Three's lights began to grow dim, their movements lethargic. They continued the best they could, turning over the debate in their mind in hopes of finding some answer to the puzzle.
Their efforts yielded little. Additional time just calcified the thought process and turned them in circles. They were unable to solve the riddle of TRUE's actions. It was in the haze of desperation that Bakka re-framed the debate. Perhaps the reasons did not matter. They had no agency even if the reasons did matter. All that mattered was a stimulus that created a response. They had assumed they were incapable of that in their present state, but was that true?
True.
Communicate. How?
Light.
Bo'Bakka'Gah began to pulse red, blue and yellow light. Pouring the last of their energy into the dull flickering amidst the dark of Halcyon.
Bo began to flicker binary addition and substraction.
Gah flicked binary multiplication and division.
Bakka's message more simple.
A single pulse.
A pause.
A single pulse.
A pause.
A single pulse.
One.
One.
One.
True. True. True.
Next.
---------
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I propose that it would be superior to fix the currency system and replace it with something honest. Open-source rules that are clear and simple and available to all for viewing.
While some people have proposed eliminating currency altogether, I think that completely eliminating currency would result in:
1) a lot of problems in the transition period
2) a lot of human behavior problems in the post-scarcity period
3) How does one eliminate currency without slipping into communism, which doesn't work?
I propose that fixing the currency system is easier to implement than eliminating it entirely. Currency is nothing but tokens, representations of value. An honest currency system has not been tried in our lifetime! We have no frame of reference for what it would be like to earn a little bit of money and have it keep its value forever.
The major problems with currency are like this:

DEBT BASED CURRENCY:

All "money" currently in circulation is debt. Federal Reserve Notes (FRN) are purchased by the government from a private bank called the federal reserve. The supreme court (united states vs gonzalez) decided that the federal reserve is a privately owned bank in 1983. So when the govt needs to enter more money into circulation, even though they have the legal authority to issue it (scrip) straight out of the treasury, or to mint it through the bureau of printing and engraving, instead they go to this private bank and take out a loan. The loan has interest attached to it. That money enters circulation, and the debt runs.
This is problematic for several reasons. First of all, it's unnecessary debt. The govt gave away their power to print money to someone else (they are authorized to print money but not to give the power away) and then they go into debt to receive something that they gave away in the first place.
Second of all, that means that whatever value enters circulation, then that means an equal amount of debt plus interest. (.6%)
What does this mean?
It means the US govt owes more money than is in circulation. They owe over 100% of the money in circulation. This is why it is said that the currency of the USA is "DEBT BASED CURRENCY"

FRACTIONAL RESERVE LENDING:

The above is bad enough. But now hear this: You give bank $100. They have $100 on the books now. Under fractional reserve lending, they are legally able to CREATE money out of nothing based on their holdings.
If a new person comes in and wants a loan, they are able to create new money (debt) at a 9:1 ratio. This is confusing, but it means from the original $100, they are able to lend out $90 of it, earning interest on that 90$, while at the same time telling the original investor that their entire 100$ is still in the bank.
If that guy who took the loan for 90$ goes and puts it in another bank, that bank can also make more loans at the same 9:1 ratio. Meaning they can loan out $81 dollars while still telling the guy they have the original $90 still on the books. If the guy who took out the loan for $81 dollars wants to put that in a new bank, the new bank can loan $73 while still telling him they have the original $81 on the books.
If you continue these loans until the amount is too low to loan, then from that original $100 dollar investment, the bankers can spawn almost $1,000 in new currency. The problem is, all of this new currency is in the form of a loan to a bank. It's $900 of new debt entering the economy on a $100 real money investment. They loaned out money they never had and are collecting interest on it!
And this is separate from the fact that ALL the currency is backed by debt, as shown in the first section. These two issues COMPOUND each other.

FIAT CURRENCY

Fiat is latin for "Let it be" and "Fiat Lux" means "Let there be light". In the world of currency, Fiat currency is called such because it is designated currency by an authority, not because it has an intrinsic value. When items have an intrinsic value, they are not a FIAT currency. Fiat currencies are entered into circulation by an authority, not by nature.
Fiat currencies are not always bad, but they have the potential to become bad, because they are synthetic and made by man. Therefore the rules which govern them are obviously subject to the appetites of man. You can make any rule you want and add it to a fiat currency.
In the USA, the constitution requires the government to use gold and silver. However, the government of previous generations (before any of us were alive) didn't follow this and created a situation where the economy was inflated with fiat scrip. Due to the presence of so much scrip, the economy can probably never go back to the way it used to be. It has been artificially inflated way too high and the correction would be egregious.
Most modern thinkers agree that the best way to handle the fiat currency situation is not to enforce the old ways, but learn the lessons from them instead. Study the Tallystick system, perhaps the most famous currency system of the ancient world, wherein the King took boughs of wood and carved unique lines into them. Then, he split the bough in half and kept one side in his castle while entering the opposing side into circulation among the people. Pretty good so far, right?
The final step was to make the king's taxes payable in the tallystick. You could discharge your monetary duty to the king by simply giving him a stick (which had originated with him). This instantly made the sticks very valuable and people accepted them as currency overnight. No gold necessary - just a stick. The tallystick system flourished for over 700 years.

SOLUTIONS

1) Obviously the biggest problem is that the federal reserve met on christmas eve 1913 without a quorum present in senate and passed their unlawful charter. Since then americans have not owned their money, but instead they borrow it from a private bank and they pay interest for the privilege of using currency. Seeing as how the Divine Creator as well as the United States Constitution allows for the government of the people to handle this themselves, there is really no reason to rely on a "for profit" bank to provide this service.
2) The second biggest problem is that the currency doesn't hold its value and is debt-based. This is by design. It's annoying, because, let's say you work 8 hours and you can buy 8 sandwiches as a result. However, you stick that money under your mattress for 6 months, and suddenly you can only buy 7 sandwiches with that money. If you wait years, you might only be able to buy 4 sandwiches instead of the original 8. That's pretty jacked up, because the number of hours you worked to earn that purchasing power didn't change. You worked the number of hours necessary to purchase 8 sandwiches! You don't get your time back when inflation strikes...
It's actually really easy to keep a currency at the same value. Silver has kept identical purchasing power for the last 100 years. You could buy the same amount of sandwiches with a silver quarter in 1925 as you can today. The only thing that changes is the value of silver in FRNs. The value of silver is not changing - the value of the FRN is. Crazy, right?
I don't recommend going to a global standard of metals for exchange, but the lessons that can be learned there are invaluable. They prove it's possible to keep purchasing power identical for 100+ years.
And the currency needs to go back into the hands of the people's government. Eliminate the private banks from government entirely.
3) Eliminate Usury from the issuance of currency entirely. THIS ALONE WOULD BE LIKE GIVING THE WORLD TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS
There is a lot more but this post is getting a bit long. Basically the problem is not money, but the fact that the money has been completely corrupted and used as a weapon.
As you can see here, the entire currency system is set up from top to bottom to steal from people.
Fixing the inherent theft is the superior path.

How can I learn more?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2i6uftJhB8
Here's a great documentary that explains the situation in a clear factual manner that you can rely on. It is phrased in such a way where you could explain to a banker, using his own terms, why the system is dishonest.

Get educated and may God bless each and every one of you.

Wall of text. TLDR? All good. How my spirituality changed.
I haven’t truly, deeply tried to access my own spirituality and put my spiritual experience into written word; to bare my soul so to say. I have also always wanted to be liked and can be a bit of a pushover. I don't like to be the guy who holds things up or makes things more difficult or causes a delay. I don’t want to stand out so we take care of a specific need I have. I tend to buckle in an argument or negotiate my way around differences. Because of this tendency to worry about other’s needs before my own it's hard for me to quit something I've started because I don’t want to disappoint anyone or inconvenience them by leaving them in a jam. It's just who I am and what I do. This essay is about the internal struggles of waking up from a lifelong social tradition. You could say it’s about betrayal or treason but the situation is so common and yet so unique I can’t think of the appropriate word to describe it. I changed but the world I was cocooned in did not, let’s say I found things better outside the hive. Some ground rules:
I am not actively against anything except cruelty. If you're hurting someone for enjoyment I am not your friend or ally.
I am happy with who I am, I like me, more so now than ever before.
I believe in God, in Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
I believe that being a vibrant, active, believing adherent of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can get you into heaven as can being a Buddhist, Catholic, Agnostic or Evangelical. God is no respecter of persons and he’s worried about your heart not your wrapper. Think of yourself as bread; God doesn’t worry about what brand of oven you’re baked in as long as he gets to knead the dough. I do not intend to change your mind, heart or habit. I am not trying to pry you from your faith tradition or create disdain or dislike of another.
I was an active, sometimes confused member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I am no longer a member. If you are familiar with LDS traditions you should know this: I did not go a two year mission. I have served as Young Men’s President, Elders Quorum President and Counselor in the Bishopric. I have taught adult Sunday School (Gospel Doctrine, all curriculum except OT) and have been in the Sunday School Presidency as well as the High Priests Group Leadership. I am what some evangelicals call a “Temple Mormon” meaning I was endowed and sealed in the Temple. My worth is not defined by those titles, positions or affiliations; they describe what I have done, but not who I am. I am a child of God, he wants me to live with him forever and sent his only son to make sure I can and that alone is enough to let me know my worth. God loves us all and there’s nothing we can do to change that. I have always had trouble with LDS theology and culture that teaches a “conditional worth.” Conditional worth is the idea that “God loves you if you’re (insert behavior here)” which is more clearly stated “God doesn’t love if you (insert behavioaffiliation/cologne here).” I disagree. God loves you regardless of whom or what you are. You’re his child. He loves you even when you smear poop on the walls or don’t tithe, or you cuss, or if you’re a Ford guy or a Chevy guy. In the construction of this essay I realized that unless you’ve been immersed in LDS culture you might not understand that there are “Official” church doctrines and “Social/Cultural” church doctrines. This represents the difference between theory and application. Official doctrine is that sort of thing you can go to www.lds.org and say, “There it is, right there.” Social (or cultural) doctrine is a slipperier beast, these are the doctrines as they are applied in LDS society. One of the greatest examples ever was the idea that Mormons couldn’t drink caffeinated beverages. I believe the root of this is that coffee has caffeine and if you combine a desire to know why you don’t drink coffee with a powerful urge to comply with ecclesiastic law regular folks jumped the shark to ditching all caffeinated products. If you don’t think this is an issue check out: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/state-and-regional/lds- church-clarifies-stance-on-caffeine/article_e4e357d0-ba5d-5a6c-8e78-dd1e791a34b2.html
Often Latter-day Saints don’t know why they do what they do or even clearly understand the doctrines they “believe”. It can be tough to find a common ground with Mormons on what a doctrine really is. Case in point: does the Church discourage interracial marriage? I believe the answer is yes. Maybe. Sorta. They use codewords like Cultural Differences. Look here (with an eye to the “quotation/discussion” section): https://www.lds.org/manual/aaronic-priesthood-manual-3/lesson-31-choosing-an-eternal- companion?lang=eng where it says:
“We recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally, and of somewhat the same economic and social and education background (some of those are not an absolute necessity but preferred), and above all, the same religious background, without question”. (“Marriage and Divorce,” in 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1977], p. 144).
That’s all good advice…I guess. I would have left out the “racial background generally” bit but I’m not writing this stuff. Can you see how people from different generations can cherry pick that to support their own prejudices? In this essay I will try differentiate between “Official” doctrine and “Social/Cultural” doctrine by putting in links like the one above to highlight official doctrine. If you’re reading this and saying, “Fetch, the church isn’t like that!” I’m not going to fight you because members carry personal and regional bias as well as economic and social and education bias. Yes, a broad brush is dangerous, appropriate and tricky to use. My cultural experience may be different than yours. The world isn’t homogenous, every ward is different and unique just like all the rest. In the spirit of honesty I’ll give you a glimpse of how my religious train got derailed. Growing up Mormon I was taught some very clear “facts” about the LDS Church, its beginnings, doctrines and history. Church history was taught to me during Primary (children’s organization), Mutual (Youth group) and Seminary (semi-required daily instruction of all LDS in high school). Those “facts” taught were undoubtedly “true”. In fact, the common way of expressing belief in the church is to start or finish a statement with “I know these things are true”. As I grew older I began to investigate church history and found odd and troubling things. When I mentioned them to folks at church I was assured they were lies told by outsiders who were trying to destroy the work of God. The recommended course of action was stop looking around and no more questions.
Fast forward thirty years and every single one of those “lies” I first asked about is now taught as official church history. That is a little freaky if you know what I mean. Part of this is due to the internet and the ability for any person, anywhere to access a complete church history that hasn’t been spun to help it or hurt it—the academic historical version is available. One of the ways the church is taught is that it is “all or nothing”. It’s either all true or all false. In missionary work this line of reasoning is simple: If you pray and receive a witness that the Book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith is as prophet and the church and all teachings are as well. Unfortunately the backside of this is a single verifiable fact can create a situation where belief is a house of cards and can fall with one card removed. For example I have been taught all my life to test the church on one axiom: if Joseph Smith (founder) is a prophet then everything is true—you have to believe it all. The unspoken converse being if he isn’t a prophet then by default it’s all false. Latter-day Saints have always been accused of worshiping Joseph Smith, which they don’t, at least not in the religious sense of the word. There is a cult of personality that surrounds Joseph that feeds his “all or nothing” status and creates an environment in which he can bear no blemish.
Given the famous LDS catch phrase: “Joseph Smith has done more for the salvation of mankind save Jesus Christ himself” is there any wonder that his image must remain pure? Due to his position Joseph’s character is in an untenable place because he needs to be perfect to support the weight of the church. Joseph wasn’t perfect. He was an intricate and unique person who was incredibly interesting, charismatic and apparently a very nice guy. That said, Joseph had his quirks and was entirely human complete with all the associated faults. One piece of history antagonists seize on is the matter of “The First Vision” where God first appeared to Joseph. There are widely varying accounts of this event given by Joseph himself. The Church now acknowledges this (https://www.lds.org/topics/first-vision- accounts?lang=eng) due to the availability of those accounts. Opponents use these variances to debunk Joseph but I think it plays again to the problem of his humanity. He might not have remembered it well and, although this can be offensive to Latter-day Saints, doesn’t every story get just a little better with each telling? We tailor to our audience or realize that we need to extend the second act in order to make a bigger splash with our punch line.
I have no problem with changing accounts of the First Vision, I’m a storyteller too. I get adjusting the script. What did me in was polyandry. Joseph married other men’s wives. Some call these “spiritual marriages” but the evidence is clear they were wives in every sense of the word. Most Latter-day Saints don’t even know Joseph was a polygamist. He was. If you’re LDS and thinking I’m lying, look it up! There’s a Family Search record:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/SP6X-Q65 (remember Joseph died in 1844, this is one of 33 or so brides).
I didn’t know Joseph was a polygamist. My father had taught me that Joseph had posthumously been sealed to several women and that was misrepresented by anti-mormon factions to discredit Joseph. As mentioned the dates on Joseph’s own LDS church record prove that point false. My heart was further broken when I learned that some men willingly gave their spouses to Joseph and others were coerced with threats to their family’s eternal salvation, still others were sent on missions and their wives married Joseph while their husbands were away. God would not do that, ask that, nor would he approve it. In conversation once a wonderful, knowledgeable gentleman for whom I have the greatest respect put forward the idea that “This may have been a test, like Abraham and Isaac.” To which I immediately replied, “Where was the ram in the bramble?” The idea that the Lord could require me to give my wife to another is more than I can bear. The idea of Joseph demanding sexual access to another man’s wife or daughter is, to me, proof positive that, in this at least, Joseph himself was clearly not following the Lord’s instruction.
The fact that men willingly gave their wives up completes a circle of evil I do not want to be a part of. I cannot fathom a God who would in any way encourage such a thing. The very foundations of my belief structure crumbled. How could this be? I cannot express you in words the feeling that tore into my soul. I was crushed, repulsed and angry both at the lies and by the truths. Part of me tried to hold tight to the immaculate Joseph or integrate a fallen Joseph into my system of belief. But if Joseph is a fallen prophet the question then becomes when did that happen and is everything before his fall still true and can post-fall doctrines be true? Compounding my problem is the fact that the church is constantly evolving in doctrine and scripture. Church doctrine has gone from Book of Mormon peoples being the “primary ancestors” of Native Americans to their being “small and isolated populations”. https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of- mormon-and-dna-studies?lang=eng
Millions of people are now a few, all of those ruins in Mesoamerica suddenly are not Nephite or Lamanite but just plain old ruins and the context of the Book of Mormon is utterly devastated. In some ways worse, the translation of the book is no longer word for word but done by Joseph using a “peepstone” while burying his head in his hat. It was “inspired translation” and he never actually “read” from the plates, they sat on a table covered in a linen cloth. This is now LDS doctrine. As a kid I was taught it was a word for word translation done with the Urim and Thumin. No more, “inspired translation” is the term used. While not “automatic writing” it does seem a tad like “channeling”. Look at the church’s official website:
https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of- mormon-translation
these were “horrible lies” but are now accepted, confirmed truths. It was, to put it lightly, a serious mind hump when all the “lies” turned out to be true and truth now flowed the other way. God’s truth, as taught by his chosen and anointed, changed. All those folks who lied about things just to hurt the church were in fact telling the truth it turns out. Even the actual text of the Book of Mormonwas changed to reflect a less racist God and then, Brigham Young went under the bus as “The Racist” and all racist doctrines were laid on him.
https://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood
Placing the “Racist” mantle on Brigham really messes with the ‘If the Prophet were to lead the church astray he would be removed from his position’ as the President of the Church. The backside of being removed if you stray places the Prophet in a unique position of infallibility. For more see:
https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-the-living-prophets-student-manual/chapter-2-the- living-prophet-the-president-of-the-church?lang=eng
Latter-day Saints don’t like to admit it but our lives are much easier with an infallible prophet and a factual faith. That’s how we “know”. We believe as we believe that George Washington crossed the Delaware. You could say that with the destruction of the “facts” that held up my belief my personal religious gravity was broken, the world simply dropped away and I was anchorless and floating on the winds of confusion.
This essay is my attempt to explain how I deal with distancing myself from a rigorous religious tradition that claims absolute truth and is led by an infallible leader. I’ve found in my wanderings about the internet that there are a fair amount of really angry, bitter ex-Mormons as well as ex-Catholics, ex- vangelicals and every other “ex“-flavor folk. Religion often asks for such a complete immersion that leaving can be very painful and a bit like trying to extract yourself from a tar pit; you will lose some skin and take some tar with you. Some feel like they’ve been taken advantage of and lied to and that makes for some strong feelings. I am not one of those. I understand anger at being lied to, I get the frustration of investing years of effort and trust into a system that can’t withstand rigorous inspection. I get it.
I have empathy. But my anger faded quickly, I didn’t indulge it, or feed it, or nurse it to keep it alive. I got over it and I got over it fairly quickly, that’s not to say there aren’t emotional echoes out there. Often in these sorts of situations anger can be a choice. I choose to be like Christ. On the third day he didn’t rise and say, “Where’s that Roman dude with the hammer?” Jesus let it go without a fight. I also did not lose the entirety of my faith. I am still a Jesus guy. I believe in a benevolent, active and loving God. Perhaps that helps, perhps not. All I have to offer is some simple rules that help me with my everyday life. I choose not to be paranoid. I choose not to indulge my desire to wreak vengeance on innocent bystanders or destroy their faith. I choose to live and let live. If any of the this helps you I’m happy; if it doesn’t then I’m sorry I could not be of more service. Either way we have the ability to choose what to do with our emotions. I choose to push to the positive and always assume good intent, from both organizations and people.
It is what Jesus wants me to do.