Yeah, well, the way Dear Leader is pissing off everyone, including our long time allies, Americans, not just mormons are not welcome or get a cold reception everywhere. My wife is a flight attendant/ Instructor supervisor. When she flies it's always SLC to Paris, London, Amsterdam and now Inchon. Flight crews have taken to putting maple leaf bag tags and stickers on their luggage. I'd hate to be an American missionary in another country right now.

Yes. The decline in American prestige, American influence, American power is universal. It's bad news for the LDS church and for all other organizations and value systems that piggybacked on US global leadership.

This is just the beginning.

Sadly, you're right.

It helps to be fluent in another language. That softens the blow. No one expects a white USA-ian to be fluent in another language.

A tip for US citizens traveling abroad:

Lower your voice, be curious to learn new things, lose 10-20 pounds, and learn how to show some humility.

Do those four things, and no one will ever suspect you’re from the USA.

Works like a charm everytime.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2025 03:42AM by unconventional.

is there a reliable indicator on the strength/value of U.S. dollars?

That would be the exchange rate--or more precisely the trade-weighted exchange rate. That is down about 10% since the beginning of the year, which is the worst performance since 1973.

And we just lost our AAA credit rating. A very bad thing.

But a strong majority of LDS members in the USA wanted this current government, so I’m sure in all their wisdom that they’re playing the long game, and will come out of this smelling like a rose, right?

They are more like football fans watching the rose bowl, waiting for Armageddon to kick off so that Team Jesus can rule over whatever is left.

I see..

I guess the Chinese government tolerates the temple in Hong Kong (is it operating?) but not religion per se;

Does anyone here know the deets?

Hong Kong operates under a different set of rules than Mainland PRC China. And, yes, it's still operating as usual.

stillanon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hong Kong operates under a different set of rules
> than Mainland PRC China. And, yes, it's still
> operating as usual.

not for much longer

GNPE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I guess the Chinese government tolerates the
> temple in Hong Kong (is it operating?) but not
> religion per se;
>
> Does anyone here know the deets?


Hong kong has not been fully absorbed for now but the ChiComms lied about what they would do there

Your point about HK changing under recent PRC law is correct. The imposition of the National Security Law four years ago led to a very sharp crackdown on political dissent, lots of imprisonments, suppression of news coverage, the banning of people who served on the high court for decades, and a quiet searching for exits among Western consultancies, accounting firms, and investment groups.

But why would you add the nonsensical term "ChiComs?" There is nothing "communist" about today's PRC, which anyone could see simply by looking at the GDP growth data for the last 40 years.


https://hongkongfp.com/2025/03/29/explainer-hong-kongs-national-security-crackdown-month-57/

I was serving at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai when that announcement happened. The Consul General at the time was Mormon. I asked him if he was involved in any dialogue leading up to it. He said the announcement was a surprise to him.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/details/shanghai-people%E2%80%99s-republic-of-china-temple?lang=eng

Thus spake Mujun.