TROM Social | Sasha @ TROM Social

Sasha

bigworldsmallsasha@social.trom.tf

https://www.bigworldsmallsasha.com/

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

So maybe the situation is not as dire as I felt it to be for the past few days. We submitted some paperwork so that I can try to get residency/working rights in Spain through Tio’s family. This might not work but it’s worth a shot. If I get super lucky, I could (theoretically) get the papers in the next 1-3 months and then I’ll still be able to make some money this summer. If I get denied then I’ll have to wait until next February to get the papers via a contract with a job…
The plus side is that it seems to be super easy to find a job here on Costa Brava (as long as you have “documents” that is), so once I get these papers, I think making a bit of money to support our projects should not be that difficult.

Another thing I am happy about is that we (@Tio and I) don’t need much. We don’t need fancy food, clothes, gadgets, subscriptions to any services, or anything, really, but some basic supermarket-bought food and a roof o

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@Tio

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

Our Society is Retarded and Fucked Up.

Look at this stupid situation:

We (humans) waste like crazy and are causing a billion global problems for ourselves and other species on this planet. Climate change, pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and a ton more.

Why? Because of the way we (8 billion humans) organize ourselves.

How’s that? Well, to get almost anything we need or want- including our basic needs- we have to participate in a rat race. We have to sell something, someone, or ourselves. We have to convince others that they should buy more shit. Shit that they don’t need. Shit that doesn’t make them happy (though we’ll try to convince them that it would, though it won’t). Shit that will contribute to more waste, more pollution, further climate change, and more destruction.

That’s the only way to get our basic needs met in this society- through trading (trading resources, trading our own time and energy, etc.). Meanwhile we trash close to 50% of the food we produce, we throw away more clothes than everybody could wear, we have more empty hous

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Look at this stupid situation:

We (humans) waste like crazy and are causing a billion global problems for ourselves and other species on this planet. Climate change, pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and a ton more.

Why? Because of the way we (8 billion humans) organize ourselves.

How’s that? Well, to get almost anything we need or want- including our basic needs- we have to participate in a rat race. We have to sell something, someone, or ourselves. We have to convince others that they should buy more shit. Shit that they don’t need. Shit that doesn’t make them happy (though we’ll try to convince them that it would, though it won’t). Shit that will contribute to more waste, more pollution, further climate change, and more destruction.

That’s the only way to get our basic needs met in this society- through trading (trading resources, trading our own time and energy, etc.). Meanwhile we trash close to 50% of the food we produce, we throw away more clothes than everybody could wear, we have more empty houses than homeless people, etc.

Let me repeat: we, humans, waste like crazy, yet we force each other to sell more and more shit- just to get our basic needs met.

And we call ourselves “civilized.” Ha ha ha.

Now here’s my personal stupid situation:

I haven’t had a “job” in years. Instead, I’ve been busy working on a book, helping with some projects, going out in nature, things like that. I have NOT been consuming/buying anything except food/very few basic things.

In the past, I had savings. Now, I am completely out of money. Long story short, I need to make some money so I can contribute to things like food and rent (just the basic needs!).

So now I am ready to work! I am ready and willing to go back to the job game, however awful it may be.
And imagine this- I even have a few job offers. I am a certified divemaster, and a scuba diving shop offered me a full-time contract which would pay 1,400 euros a month for the next three months! -They want me to work there, they said I can start now, they can even make me a contract. Woo hoo!
And another place- a bar/restaurant- said they have work for me! They desperately need staff- and they’d love to hire someone like me who has years of bartending experience! They want to hire me now!

Oh but no… No no no. I am not “allowed” to work here in Europe. That’s what the authorities say. It doesn’t matter that this dive shop and this bar desperately need staff and they really really want to hire me, no that doesn’t matter- because I don’t have the right papers. You see, I was not born in Europe, therefore I cannot work here.

But wait! There’s a solution, right? Didn’t I “marry” Tio two years ago precisely for this reason? So we could live legally in one place together. Shouldn’t those “marriage documents” give me the right to live and work in Europe? I mean, if my “husband” is European, doesn’t that give me some rights here?!

Um, no, not if he’s poor, it turns out. If my “husband” doesn’t make at least 1,000 euros a month, then I have no rights. I cannot get residency just like that and I cannot legally get a job. Imagine that! If my “husband” doesn’t make enough money then I also cannot work! Who’s brilliant idea was this?!?!

And to put the icing on the cake- I also cannot leave Europe and go make money somewhere else- because now I am like an illegal immigrant with an “irregular” status, so the lawyer that we cannot afford to pay told us that we ought to sort out this paperwork or else the cops could stop me at the border and deport me or who knows…

So to sum it up:
- We live in a retarded society that wastes like crazy
- We force each other to trade even for our basic needs
- I am willing to play the trade game
- I am not allowed to play the trade game in my current location (EU)
- I should be allowed to play the trade game here because I am “married” to an EU citizen
- I am not allowed to play the trade game here because my “husband” doesn’t play it well enough himself
- I am not allowed to leave the place that I am not allowed to play the trade game in and where my “husband” doesn’t play it well enough- or else I could get in trouble.

And, btw, when we were going through that awful bullshit “marriage” procedure we didn’t know about any of this. We understood that after getting “married,” we just had to come back to Spain and register at the international police and then I could get the right to live with my “husband” and work here. But no, it turns out, not unless he’s rich.

What’s that about “equality” and “human rights” EU????? What? what??
Go suck a possum.

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Rokosun

in reply to Sasha • 3 years ago • •

Its infuriating how poor people have to go through all this BS in our society.

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

I haven’t made an update about my book in a little while, mostly because I’ve been working on it for so long that at this point I’m embarrassed to even mention it :D I have been working on it this entire time though! Actually I kind of drove myself crazy with it.

Over the past few months I’ve gone over the entire thing again, this time keeping an eye on writing technique (“show, don’t tell,” use strong verbs rather than adjectives, omit needless words, use active voice, etc.). This was useful because there were a few parts of the book that I wasn’t 100% satisfied with, and these writing techniques helped me see how I could improve those parts.

For example-
Before:
“It was very dark when I arrived. It felt salty and slightly humid.”

After:
“I couldn’t make out the beach in the dark, but I could hear the waves breaking in the distance. The air felt salty and slightly humid, though I could sense that I was in the desert.”

- But- when I edited those two sentences, for example

... show more

I haven’t made an update about my book in a little while, mostly because I’ve been working on it for so long that at this point I’m embarrassed to even mention it :D I have been working on it this entire time though! Actually I kind of drove myself crazy with it.

Over the past few months I’ve gone over the entire thing again, this time keeping an eye on writing technique (“show, don’t tell,” use strong verbs rather than adjectives, omit needless words, use active voice, etc.). This was useful because there were a few parts of the book that I wasn’t 100% satisfied with, and these writing techniques helped me see how I could improve those parts.

For example-
Before:
“It was very dark when I arrived. It felt salty and slightly humid.”

After:
“I couldn’t make out the beach in the dark, but I could hear the waves breaking in the distance. The air felt salty and slightly humid, though I could sense that I was in the desert.”

- But- when I edited those two sentences, for example, I also had to do some research and check if what I wrote was accurate… Where was I exactly, and was that coastline considered to be a desert? -Yes, it turns out that a coastal desert is one of four types of deserts! (Not Desserts!! -also gotta check the spelling/grammar…) :)

So over the past few months I’ve basically gone over every word of every sentence in the book and changed little things. This didn’t come to me naturally, so sometimes I would struggle with one or two sentences (or even one word) for hours, or even days. Sometimes I gave up and reverted back to what I had before. This wasn’t good for my mental health (or for some people around me), but I’m done with that now and I think in the end I have a better book.

Yesterday I sent my book to two wonderful people for proofreading, so if they have time to give me feedback that would be fantastic, if not that’s fine as well (I’ve gone over it like fifty billion times already so it really shouldn’t have any obvious mistakes).

Either way, I will put the book on hold for the next few months to deal with our money situation. I feel really awful that I’ve been living with @Tio and his family for so long and I haven’t contributed anything because I’ve been so trapped in this book and I ran out of money. I was always planning to pay them back for their amazing hospitality though, so if the book never sells, I will go back to the job game, somewhere, somehow. Hopefully soon.

There is an added layer to the bullshit we have to deal with though… Tio and I got “married” in 2020 so that I could stay with him in Europe. But getting “married” is not enough to have legal status. In order to stay and work here legally, I need to get a “family member card.” But I cannot get this card if my “husband” doesn’t have a job which pays him over 1,000 euros/month- so imagine that, they’re saying that if you’re poor, your partner doesn’t deserve “legal status”- and also cannot work here to help you with your “being poor” problem… That is discrimination written in the law.

So we’ll try to get this card another way, but it may not be possible for a while. And imagine this- the only way to sort this shit out is to pay a lawyer! (Which of course we cannot afford, but it seems that there is no other option.)

And since I’m here with an “irregular status,” this also means that I shouldn’t leave Europe until we get this sorted (or else I can get deported or who knows…)- and that means that I can’t just go back to Hawaii or something and play the job game there…

Anyway, we’ll see how that goes!

bigworldsmallsasha.com/book

Book

I came up with the idea to write a book when I got fed up with people saying things like, “Oh Sasha, I wish I could live like you, but I don’t have enough money!” I wanted to explain that I barely ever had much money and that traveling around the wor…

^{Big World | Small Sasha}

@Tio

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

#tromlive

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

2022-04-28 11:47:52

friendica - Link to source

Diversity is not created by "capitalism"

Many people believe a fat myth of today's world, that capitalism (this trade-based system) is creating diversity. Look at how many chocolates there are, cars, gadgets, software, etc.. But this is a myth. The diversity is in the package/wrapper and not the product itself. Most phones are the same, nothing new for "new releases". Cars brought almost no advantage to transportation overall for the past decades. Products in the supermarket taste quite the same between brands, and clothes are recycled fashion trends. Movies and books are remakes or copy cats of whatever sells best. And so on.
Anyway, here is a search engine we made to showcase how 175 companies own pretty much everything in this world https://www.tromsite.com/tbf/
But I want to focus on 1 particular domain: software.
Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, VK, and maybe 3-4 more, are the ones that are the most used in the world. They do not communicate with each other and are very limited in terms of functionality. It means you choose one or another, or a bunch of them and manage them separately. They are trade-based platforms (you trade your data, currency, attention to them). Full of ads, full of censorship, full of crap overall.
On the other hand the Fediverse is a network of such platforms: Friendica, Mastodon, Peertube, Pixelfed, Funkwhale, and so forth. Look at the diversity here https://fediverse.party/en/miscellaneous/ - these are made by different organizations and enabled by different people. A ton of diversity in terms of options.

These are video platforms, blog platforms, photo sharing platforms, platforms for musicians, live streaming, events, you name it. And all communicate with each other. If some organization has an account with Peertube (video platform) I can follow and interact with them from my social platform Friendica. How amazing! If I have a Peertube account and a Friendica one, I can easily setup so that when I post on Peertube a video, it goes on my Friendica too, as a post. The options are very diverse.
This "fediverse" is created not to be traded but to be shared. You will not find ads on these platforms (at least not on the vast majority of them), or data collection or any of that crap.
The MacOS and Windows vs Linux is yet another example of how diversity is actually achieved when humans do not sell their stuff and themselves, when you have a community of people who share their work and ideas. Linux comes in so many flavors for so many needs and wants. Look at this:

So if you look at software overall, the "capitalism" world, which is the trade-based world in which people make software to trade it (for data, attention, currency, etc.) is like a handful of options. But when the software is created for the sake of creating it and is shared and anyone can copy these, modify, redistribute, as trade-free, then real diversity is created and a better environment emerges overall.
We should take the software example and try to provide other goods/services in the same manner. But to do that we have to decouple humans from the trade-based society. At least when it comes to their basic needs. Else no one can have the time to engage in such things. Software is easy to create and maintain from the comfort of your home and in your space time, but is difficult when it comes to food or other goods and services. In any case there is still and abundance of such trade-free goods/services out there as we showcase here directory.trade-free.org/. But this is not enough.
So. If we want to create a wonderful society, we first have to decouple humans from this trade-based society by at least providing them with their basic needs as trade-free. That creates a good soil for the emergence of lots of trade-free goods/services, in a positive feedback loop. Imagine how much good we can create in this world. Imagine how much real diversity. Imagine how wonderful this could be.
#tromlive

#tromlive

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

Great new video by Tio and Dima-

2022-04-12 18:17:01

friendica - Link to source

Life is a Monopoly Game https://link.trom.tf/Smx6Tsft
"Tio from TROM explains concept of our trade-based society using Monopoly Game as an example."
Video made by @Dima
Subscribe to his Peertube here link.trom.tf/KQPVbxaL and Youtube here link.trom.tf/DkNzDW6e
Big thanks to Dima for the video! #tromlive
Life is a Monopoly Game

Life is a Monopoly Game
Tio from TROM explains concept of our trade-based society using Monopoly Game as an example. To find more about the TROM visit - https://www.tromsite.com/
^{videos.trom.tf}

#tromlive @Dima

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

Our latest TROM-Cast- videos.trom.tf/w/8nzjwMPpyvVDF…
-talking about the situation in Ukraine and war in general.

tromsite.com/videos/

72. War

Us talking about the situation in Ukraine and war in general.

^{videos.trom.tf}

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

As someone who traveled around the world for many years, I do not consider myself to be “Russian” or “American” or Asian or European or whatever. I like to think of myself as a human being. Just that. Just like you.

I love different people and different cultures all over the world, but I hate politics, politicians, and patriotism. Politicians lie, cheat, and hurt people- all over the world. Politics and patriotism divide people.

Some people have been asking me, “as a ‘Russian’ and ‘American’”, what I think about the war in Ukraine.

I don’t have much to say other than it’s an atrocity.
I think war, in general, is an atrocity.

War is the absolute most wasteful use of human lives and resources- ever. It shows that we, humans, are incapable of solving problems on a global scale. It shows that we resort to t

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As someone who traveled around the world for many years, I do not consider myself to be “Russian” or “American” or Asian or European or whatever. I like to think of myself as a human being. Just that. Just like you.

I love different people and different cultures all over the world, but I hate politics, politicians, and patriotism. Politicians lie, cheat, and hurt people- all over the world. Politics and patriotism divide people.

Some people have been asking me, “as a ‘Russian’ and ‘American’”, what I think about the war in Ukraine.

I don’t have much to say other than it’s an atrocity.
I think war, in general, is an atrocity.

War is the absolute most wasteful use of human lives and resources- ever. It shows that we, humans, are incapable of solving problems on a global scale. It shows that we resort to the most primitive measures: fighting. Exactly what we teach our children not to do.

So far, here are a few things that piss me off about this war:

• Thousands of humans have been killed.
• Millions of humans have been displaced; their cities, homes, and lives have been ruined.
• Bombs continue to be thrown in residential areas, even at hospitals, schools, theaters, airports, and places where civilians are seeking shelter.
• As always, normal people that gain absolutely nothing from this power struggle are the ones who suffer the most. Those who gain anything (-if there is anything to gain from this) will hardly suffer at all.
• Men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine- this should be as much a human rights violation as throwing bombs at civilians. No one should ever be forced to risk their own lives to fight for this or that nation. If they choose to fight, fine. If not, let them leave.
• Speaking of that, in Russia, 18-year-old boys are forced to serve in the army- forced against their own will. And now they are forced to kill and die for some douchebag politicians.
• People in Russia are getting arrested for protesting against the war.
• People in Russia are getting arrested just for saying “war” or for holding a blank sign that says nothing.
• Russia does not even call this a war, but a “special military intervention” and its media shows no pictures of the reality of this war, almost nothing about the millions of refugees that have fled Ukraine, and almost nothing about the death and destruction they’ve caused. Russian media and schools have been banned from referring to the war as an “invasion”, “attack”, or “war” and those who spread “fake news” about the war can get up to 15 years in prison.
• People in Russia are fleeing because they are scared of their own government.
• People in Ukraine are terrified because they are getting bombed.
• Poor people around the world will suffer because of this war. Many developing countries depend on Russia and Ukraine for wheat imports (among other imports). Rising prices of food, fuel, and fertilizer can devastate countries that are already struggling.

This is the reality of war. It is barbaric and inhumane. It is the most inefficient and stupid way to solve problems.
No sane ordinary humans want war. Not Ukrainians, nor the Russians. The only people that ever benefit from wars are the few rich and powerful motherfuckers at the top. And that’s what ordinary people die for.

To me, that is a sure sign of a flawed system.

War, I’d say, is a consequence of the structure of our society. Billions of humans are divided into many different tribes and are taught that they are different from one another; some tribes are friends, some are enemies. They are also taught that they should aim to get more and more- more stuff, more money, more power. This trade-based society gives a handful of powerful people the means to do that. They gain more and more wealth and power, then they exploit this power, using ordinary people as pawns to get what they want.

This trade-based society also pushes people to create and sell more weapons, rather than to look for a peaceful solution to problem solving. As a species, we should be ashamed that we have enough nuclear weapons to bring our own selves to extinction. What an idiocracy…

If we ever want a peaceful, intelligent society, we have to see ourselves as one human species. We have to organize ourselves in a way that puts humans (all humans) and the environment first. Not profit, not selling weapons, not taking territories, not trading this for that, not gaining power.

I know that we’ll probably never get there, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it.

Photos from aljazeera.com/

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Rokosun

in reply to Sasha • 3 years ago • •

Wow, that is an amazing article you just wrote. This is the true reality of war, you explained it very well.

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Sasha

in reply to Rokosun • 3 years ago •

thanks :)

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

2022-03-04 22:50:05

friendica - Link to source

The Media War

These days I kept an eye on the current war, from 4-5 sources. DW (germany), Aljazeera (qatar), BBC (uk), Rt.com (Russia Today), and TASS (tass.com - russian news agency). So 2 are from Europe, 1 from Asia, 2 from Russia.

I was curious to see how they report it and how the information is presented.
What I've seen:
Aljazeera, DW, and BBC (ADB) kinda present the same things, the same story line. BBC seems to be more jumpy with the facts, as in presenting more information that even they say could not be verified. More politicized I felt. Also they add a lot of opinions from their editors. You kinda sense it is "Let's beat Russia now! Fuck them.". But seem to try to also be balanced in regards to "he said that, she said that" sort of thing.
So ADB showcases a lot of the horror in Ukraine and how Russia is doing a lot of bad things. They show footage and photos from the conflict, with the victims, with the refugees, with the people sheltering.
The Russian Media (RM) doesn't even call it a war, and their main pages are quite voided of any photos or videos of the horror of the war. Almost as if those dead people, sheltered, the refugees are not even existent. You can clearly see a bias in this regards. Their websites are full of "diplomatic" photos with the politicians that discuss these events.
Here are the ADB front-pages, in order:

And RM:

Clearly ADB is like "WTF people are dying, Russia is at war, Europe is at war". While RM is like "Russia is doing a special intervention to free up Ukraine. Calm down." Although ADB may exaggerate things and make them too bloody explosive, and they are for sure biased too, RM is clearly biased and being a jerk for not highlighting the human suffering.
As for what they are saying, ADB tells us that Putin is a lunatic and has no reason to invade Ukraine or fear NATO. Putin may start a WW3. They do not tell me why he fears NATO or how we came to this point very much. They tell me that what Ukrainians say is probably true and that Ukrainians are heroes defending their land. It feels like a clear fight between the good (ukraine and the world) and the evil (putin and russia).

ADB tells me that Russia is full of lies and Putin is a dictator basically. They say RM is full of propaganda.

RM tells me that this is not a war, but a "special intervention" and that Russia only attacks the Ukrainian military and not civilians. RM tells me that there are Nazis in Ukraine, but ADB seem to not talk much about it. Is it true and to what extent? Who knows for sure, but RM sounds like some 1930s Germany Nazi propaganda in my head - the irony...
So overall RM tells me that Russia had no choice, it got scared of NATO and NATO broke its promises + NATO is a bad bad guy. Tells me the USA is a monster and a snake. Does not seem to at all criticize Putin and Russia's actions. They do however present criticism (as quotes) coming from some politicians and such. But not criticism from their editors. They say that the other media is full of propaganda and lies.
So that's what it is...a bunch of things.
ADB: NATO good, USA good, EU good, sanctions good. Russia and Putin bad. Putin crazy, a criminal. Russia needs to be destroyed via sanctions.
RM: NATO bad, USA bad, EU a puppet of those, sanctions don't matter much. Putin has reasonable motives to do the "special operation" and all is going to plan.
My thoughts?
Very likely RM is full of shit. They may post some truths about NATO and the USA, but to not report much on the war itself and not even call it a war? The dead? The refugees? The crisis? Unacceptable. Where are the horror photos of the injured and destruction? So fuck off RM. You are a prostitute.
ADB should also be a lot more balanced and less emotional. Aljazeera seems to be doing better. But they seem to not address much the reasons why the invasion has happened and make it seem like Ukraine and the people there are saints and heroes and woke up one day with Putin and his army in their country.

Overall it can become a confusing mess if you want to stay up to date with the current situation.
What I am sure of is that:
Currently millions of people are suffering because of Russia's invasion. Some dead, some scared, some have no home, or food, and so forth. That's awful
Media is biased but the level of it makes the big difference; picking your sides should be a variety of a few from different parts of the world. I still think RM is a lot more biased to the point of fully propaganda. But they do point towards some things that the others do not talk much about and are true: how USA invaded other countries under a false pretext and killed and destroyed a lot without being sanctioned and such; but I feel they use these as distractions from whatever Russia is doing.
Speaking of that, Russia is doing awful things, but is nothing that unique; USA and EU tribes, and others, have done atrocities too in the past and all are snakes and charlatans.
Ukraine is not a saint.
Ukraine does not deserve to be destroyed.
It is all politicized and tribes + politicians take advantage of this. USA is like "OMG Russia is doing war crimes!". Fuck off USA, you are still doing these and more. And Russia pointing to that....Fuck off Russia, don't divert the attention from the crimes you are doing!
Lots of money are made by arms dealers nowadays.
Ordinary people who did not start this or fuel this, are going to suffer more than the ones who started and fuel this conflict.
What else? I don't know...but these are my thoughts for now.

We are thinking to do a TROMcast and invite some people from Russia and Ukraine to discuss the situation. Will see....
#tromlive

#tromlive

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

I was interviewed for a mini-documentary + article about Couchsurfing. You can see it here:
lx.com/entertainment/is-the-co…

It’s a nice video with a positive message in the end. The only thing it’s missing, I’d say, is a mention of some alternative couchsurfing platforms like trustroots.org/ and bewelcome.org/ – those that haven’t morphed into an evil profit-driven company :D

I explained the whole Couchsurfing story in more detail here- bigworldsmallsasha.com/2020/05…
That’s why I’m in this mini-doc :)

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Rokosun

in reply to Sasha • 3 years ago • •

I've never heard of couchsurfing before, this looks very interesting. See, now I'm more excited for your book, haha 😀

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Sasha

in reply to Rokosun • 3 years ago •

haha :) It was a really nice project for a few years, and a really great idea that allowed people to connect all over the world. Hopefully it will still live on through different projects in a more decentralized way :)

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

New blog:
bigworldsmallsasha.com/2022/03…

There’s an extraordinary fact about Earthlings- and all Earth things- that I suspect many people are not aware of.

It’s a story- an incredible story that we, humans, have discovered fairly recently. A story about you, and me, every Russian and Ukrainian, every Mexican, and every Lithuanian.

It’s a story that should connect us all, making us feel both large and extra small.

The story:

Once upon a time, there was a bang− a big bang. From this, a universe was born. At first, the universe was unimaginably hot, dense, and small. It was much smaller, in fact, than the tip of your smallest fingernail. But it expanded rapidly, and then it cooled. And as

... show more

New blog:
bigworldsmallsasha.com/2022/03…

There’s an extraordinary fact about Earthlings- and all Earth things- that I suspect many people are not aware of.

It’s a story- an incredible story that we, humans, have discovered fairly recently. A story about you, and me, every Russian and Ukrainian, every Mexican, and every Lithuanian.

It’s a story that should connect us all, making us feel both large and extra small.

The story:

Once upon a time, there was a bang− a big bang. From this, a universe was born. At first, the universe was unimaginably hot, dense, and small. It was much smaller, in fact, than the tip of your smallest fingernail. But it expanded rapidly, and then it cooled. And as it cooled, it created something incredible: the first atom− hydrogen. Made of just one proton and one electron.

With time, giant clouds of early atoms coalesced through gravity and formed something extraordinary: stars.

Inside these stars, there was an incredible amount of heat and density, so much that it caused the hydrogen atoms to fuse together and create a different element: helium, which has two protons. Then, as the star became even hotter and even denser, it caused helium atoms to fuse together and create yet another element: carbon (with six protons), and then oxygen (with eight protons). Eventually, the star began to run out of fuel and collapse in on itself. As it collapsed, it created an even hotter, denser environment which caused carbon atoms to fuse together and form bigger, heavier elements; then bigger, heavier elements fused together to form even heavier elements; until eventually, the star created iron− and then it exploded. As it exploded, it created even more heavy elements − and then, it seeded the universe with all the ingredients it needed for new suns, planets, moons, oceans, mountains, and life.

That is where we truly come from − the elements of our bodies were crafted in the center of dying stars. In this sense, Earth and everything on it truly is star dust. And we, humans, are recycled Earth stuff.

About 4.5 billion years ago, elements −which came from the cores of stars− coalesced and formed our planet. As they merged, they mingled, assembled and reacted with each other, dancing a dance that we call chemistry.

Then, perhaps half a billion years later, another extraordinary event happened− chemistry transformed into biology. Bundles of atoms that were once lifeless now began to store information and replicate themselves. We don’t know exactly how life arose, but we do know that it began with tiny simple organisms. These organisms were able to undergo changes in little bits of their stored information, and pass on those changes to future generations. As billions of years passed, the organisms evolved, they became more and more complex, and more diverse. And eventually, one of those species of organisms evolved into thinking beings. Beings that could gaze up at the stars, the moon and the sun, and wonder, ponder and investigate their presence. That being is you.

You are the universe pondering about its own existence.

–

Isn’t it mind-boggling that every human has the capacity to understand this story, yet most pay no attention to it? Instead, they listen to the stories of business people, “countries,” and psychotic politicians. Instead of working together to discover the cosmos, and solve global problems (like climate change, poverty, and so many others)− humans divide themselves, marking the Earth with imaginary lines, fighting for territories and wasting their minds. They build weapons of mass destruction− powerful enough to bring their own selves to extinction. And they fight, they wage war, and they kill their own kind.

What a shame.

What a waste.

What a failure.

What are we doing, humans, really?

Do You Know Where You Come From?

There’s an extraordinary fact about Earthlings- and all Earth things- that I suspect many people are not aware of. It’s a story- an incredible story that we, humans, have discovered fairly recently.

^{Big World | Small Sasha}

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

#tromlive

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

Thank you to Merwin for a $4 donation :)
My website got a bunch of attention these days because the Dodo channel published a video about my octopus "friends" and it seems to have gone viral. Unfortunately they only posted it on Facebook but here it is- facebook.com/watch/?v=61674537…
They titled it as "Octopus Leads Her Human Best Friend To Her Den" haha :D It was true tho :)

And here is the video that Dima made about the same octopuses- videos.trom.tf/w/svf9xeAmkEzgz…

the dodo - octopus becomes friends with this woman and...

Octopus becomes friends with this woman and pulls her all the way to her den 🐙💙

^{The Dodo (Facebook Watch)}

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

Big thank you to John Moua for a $30 donation with the message “We support you girl. keep up with your journey and especially your book.” - That is super nice of you! :)

I’m becoming more and more confident that I’d like to self-publish my book without even trying to send it to any agents or publishing companies. That’s mostly because I think I’ll blow my head off if I have to edit it anymore (and I would have to edit it a lot more if a publishing company accepted it). I’d also like to have control over it- no editing out controversial subjects, no changing the title, no .99 prices, and nobody telling me that I can’t give it away for free.

Let’s see. For now I am still editing and editing...

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

If you would like to get a notification when I (finally) publish my book, you can subscribe here: bigworldsmallsasha.com/book
You will receive just one email from me.

I'm done with the 5th draft of parts 1 and 2 now. That's about 1/3 of the way there! (The 5th draft will have to be the final one :D )

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

A massive thank you to Jocelyn for a €264 donation. That is extremely kind of you and helps a ton!
And also a massive thank you to Uwe and Benjamin, who still support me on Patreon. I haven’t made much new content for a while because I am still focusing on my book and this has been a huge challenge for me. I made an update about my struggle here a few days ago- bigworldsmallsasha.com/book

Basically, I’m still working on the 5th draft, which (I know I’ve said this before) I hope will be the last and final one :)

For now, Tio and I have enough money to survive for another 4 months or so thanks to a number of very kind people who help us out. Thank you so much to you all.

Book

I came up with the idea to write a book at the end of 2017, when I got fed up with people telling me that they wished they could live like me, but they “didn’t have enough money.

^{Big World | Small Sasha}

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Sasha

3 years ago •

Sasha
3 years ago •

2022-01-08 23:52:43

friendica - Link to source

Brain Health.

This may be overwhelming but take it easy. Step by step. Get used to it. You'll see the benefits for sure!
You see, people think that we should dream about a Resource Based Economy, follow TVP or the like. Let's build a new society, a city, a community...
Ok, go about doing those, although they seem quite unachievable. Society doesn't change like that, it evolves, and emerges. We have to focus on what the problem is, not what the solution is, because solutions follow problems. And they are multiple.
In any case, if we do not take care of people's brains then we go nowhere. If most people spend their time on facebook, twitter, youtube, netflix, and the like, consuming like consumers, trading their attention and overall brain for nonsense content, then we cannot build anything. We cannot even start a discussion about creating a different society.
So here's where TROM comes in and helps. Since the human brains are mostly exposed to the online world, we are building a different online world for these brains.
Listen! Here's how you can take care of your brain and your friends' brain.
1. Start with your device. If you use a mobile phone then we can't help you for now, but maybe in the near future. For now you can replace your computer operating system with TROMjaro. https://www.tromjaro.com/ . This operating system is fast, easy to use, customizable, stable, and removes all of the bullshit. No more ads, trackers, no more trades. It comes with a plethora of useful tools and features out of the box. It is the basis of your digital world, the foundation.

Use our library of trade-free apps if you are searching for a particular app tromjaro.com/apps/. Click install. That's all!
2. Read our books. They are well sourced and a direct attack to and a dissection of this society. tromsite.com/books/ . Click and read. You can also download them in PDF.

3. Watch our videos. We put a ton of effort into these and are on the same par with our books. tromsite.com/videos/ . Click any and play.
4. Stay informed with sane news. tromnews.com/ - we put a lot of effort into this one to bring you nonstop news from all around the world. No political bullshit. There are several sections there so you can also watch a ton of curated educational videos, amazing photos of our world, and more. Use TROMnews as your daily brain food.

5. Give up movies and switch to documentaries. If you think this is irrelevant, stupid, or boring, then you do not understand how important it is to fill your brain with real and awesome information. Documentaries are not boring if you watch the right ones. Reality is unbelievable. And important. Via videoneat.com/ we make thousands of such materials available as trade-free. We have documentaries and courses. Give them a try. We hand curate them.

We even have a Smart TV that takes these materials and streams them nonstop. See videoneat.com/tv/
6. Give up these ad-platforms that call themselves as "social networks" like facebook, twitter, youtube, and the like. If you want to create posts and share with friends, keep in touch with them and all that, use our social platform social.trom.tf/ . No ads no bullshit. You are in control. Learn more about it here trom.tf/social/. And if you want to upload your science/technology/activism videos use our video platform videos.trom.tf/ . Again, no ads no bullshit. No trades. The more you spend your time on those ad-networks, the more mush your brain becomes, thirsty for consumerism, lacking awareness, not understanding what is happening in the world, and wanting more nonsense content. Don't let that happen! This move can seem hard, but do it! Else you'll become like the rest.
7. Give up the basic internet tools you are using that are consuming yourself. Slack, Google services, search engines, etc. See our trom.tf/ where we have a ton of such alternatives that work great. Also see our Trade-Free Directory directory.trade-free.org/ where you can search for more such tools. From messengers to search engines, you name it!
You TZM, TVP, and the like people, use the TROM decentralized chat chat.trom.tf/ instead of the BS Discord, use our Files files.trom.tf/ for your documents and collaborations, use our Send to send files send.trom.tf/, and so forth. We built these tools for you and everyone else.
Ok.
We do a massive amount of work to create a different world for the brain. One that's realistic, honest, smart, sharp, alert, and one that can see the world for its amazingness, and the society for its awfulness.
If you do not get why this is important, then you don't get it. We run this entire alternative digital universe with some 200 Euros a month...so if you can help us keep it, please also consider a donation - tromsite.com/donate/
We work on a new big documentary and more tools.
Help yourself! #tromlive

#tromlive

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Sasha

4 years ago •

Sasha
4 years ago •

I made a lot of progress polishing up my book these days. Got through almost the entire huge list of grammar questions/problems that I had (-and that was a huuge pain). Now I have a few more edits to do before I go through it all again - hopefully the last time (though I seem to say that every time :D).

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Sasha

4 years ago •

Sasha
4 years ago •

@Dima made a cool video about my octopus experience :D -

videos.trom.tf/w/svf9xeAmkEzgz…

Here I explain the story of how I met and started interacting with these octopuses :)
See my blog for more details: bigworldsmallsasha.com/2021/04…

These days the water temperature is about 14-15 degrees, but I'm still going in there to interact with these octopuses :D Yesterday I found a very friendly one who chased me around the bay. I'll see if I can film him :)

Big thanks to Dima for the video :)

My Octopus Friend

Ever since I watched the film My Octopus Teacher, I’ve been dreaming of meeting an octopus. Then, it finally happened- in a beautiful rocky bay in Northern Spain. An octopus grabbed my foot, then I

^{videos.trom.tf}

@Dima

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Tio

in reply to Sasha • 4 years ago •

Great video, awesome story! :)

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Sasha

4 years ago •

Sasha
4 years ago •

Yesterday I got to preview the first part of TROM II documentary and I must say that it’s really really awesome :) I may be biased (since I’m in it :)) but sometimes it gave me the chills. And it also reminds me a bit of Adam Curtis’ documentaries. Overall I think @Tio did a fantastic job so far, and I can’t wait to see what will come next!
#tromlive

#tromlive @Tio

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friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Tio

in reply to Sasha • 4 years ago •

You are too nice :)

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Georgi

in reply to Tio • 4 years ago •

Oh I cant wait to watch it :D

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