A Promising Career: Part 2
 

While I accumulated enough knowledge to create this brand new perspective on what was occurring, I came to another realization that was ultimately as simple as it was profound. Today’s

By now, my situation had become so entirely unbelievable that I began looking like I was insane myself, as I tried to communicate what was really going on to the good people of the community. That also just became another insidious way to marginalize me, and the label of mentally illness was simply added to my now bountiful list of character flaws. I tried working within the “system”, but I was continually forced to deal with the idiocy of people who were too prostituted, too incredulous, or too cowardly to do anything to help, which only added to my frustration. It also only hurt me more because some of these people were stooges of this religion. Consequently, it became crystal clear during this period of time that I would have to continue to face my ordeal alone, and resolve this problem by myself if it was ever going to get resolved. Even thought I lived in America, the land of the free, it really seemed like I was living in 1934 Germany during the prelude to the Nazi’s “Night of the Long knives” as the unsuspecting good citizens of German simply stood by and watched Hitler assume control of their government without so much as a “peep”. Meanwhile, my tormentors continued spreading rumors that I was technically incompetent, gay, disrespected women, mentally unstable, or anything else that could marginalize me or get me fired from work.

Unfortunately, I was still living in 1991, and I’d have to slog through 9-more years of this insanity before I finally realizing I’d have to end this nightmare myself because not a sole other than myself, outside of the Mormon religion, even knew what was going on. The eastern establishment, in their infinite wisdom, banished the Mormons to the western hinterlands in 1844, and now the whole Mormon “thing” was pretty much a west-coast phenomenon. Meanwhile, the Mormons had re-invented themselves for 100-years by cutting their beards, wearing suits and acting holier than thou, and the east-coasters pretty much forgot about them, and went on with their lives. But, here in the west, Mormonism found a way to spread. Mormons “bought” non-Mormons who were in positions to help them, they recruited the “popular kids” in high school to “spread the good news about Mormonism”, they infiltrated and took-over gentile companies, which they believed had been consecrated unto the people of Israel and began destroying anybody who might be able to oppose them. It was especially easy now that they had “purchased” their new moniker of being “mainstream”. Now, anybody with the audacity to speak out could even be branded a bigot. And now their tentacles ran deep into the “gentile” world around them, not unlike how a cancer invades the healthy tissue around it.

By 1992, I had been fired by the Mormons in Los Angeles, I was living in Phoenix and was working for another Big-4 CPA firm and I was attending a brand-new Presbyterian Church in Phoenix. I had been attending my new church for about a year when I received an “odd” letter from my old “Mormon” Presbyterian minister in Los Angeles, which simply asked where my “church records” should be forwarded to. And, in that same year, I had already developed a cordial relationship with the two co-ministers of my new church, who also happened to be married; I had even been invited to their house. But, almost immediately after I responding to this letter, one of my new ministers began chastising me about how I was a control freak and began implying I was a philandering man-whore. He even had the nerve to walk up to me at Church one day and tell me he knew I was basically a philandering man-whore, and suggested I “confess” to him. But, Presbyterians don’t even have confession, and I had nothing to confess in that regard anyway. Consequently, it became immediately clear that whatever “records” were sent by my old “Mormon” Presbyterian minister in LA, had also severely damaged whatever standing I had in my new church. Even stranger, the whole “records” stalking thing is a technique the Mormon religion uses. The Presbyterian Church doesn’t even keep records and track people the way Mormons do. And, just after this happened, this Phoenix minister began selling “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” at church, a book that mirrors the ethos of the Mormon religion, and whose author is Mormon.

I had only been living in Phoenix for about a year, and I had already been horribly sabotaged at the Big-4 CPA firm I worked for, and my new Presbyterian Church. And, there was absolutely no question about who was behind these acts of sabotage, although I was the only one who knew it. Going to the CPA firm’s human resources department where I worked was the last thing I ever considered doing, too. The thought seemed almost ridiculous, I imagined marching in to HR and announcing indignantly that I was being sabotaged and explaining, “the Mormons are sabotaging me”. I’m almost positive this would have only made things worse, and that’s assuming I even found somebody in HR who wasn’t a Mormon stooge. Amazingly, at a weekend house-party I attended just after “leaving” the firm, which was attended by both current and ex-members of the firm, an individual I had never even met and who hadn’t even worked at the firm for 2-years, came up to me and said lightheartedly, “You don’t even know what happened to you do you?” then he explained, “The ex-managing partner was bought and paid for by the Mormons and only hired students from BYU; you were supposed to have been brought in as a manager, but he vetoed that in order to make you prove yourself; you never had a chance”. He wasn’t being facetious either; he was just letting me know what he had heard about me. For the record, the ex-managing partner he was talking about was the same partner who told me in my interview, “We’ll bring you back to Phoenix, but I don’t think you’re going to do very well in this office”.

Although I was now an expert at recognizing and understanding the modes and patterns of activity that were the trademarks of Mormon harassment, I was still powerless to do anything about this entire phenomenon. It would still be 8-more years before I finally decided to re-prove what I originally found in 1977, began to understand the underlying theology of the Mormon religion and finally gained a broad enough perspective to understand the full scope of what was happening and why. And, I didn’t even begin this new research project until the year 2000. So, even with things as bad as they were, the only thing I could do was continue on with the dirge that my life had become; this was truly a dark time. My constitutional rights were routinely violated and the federal EEOC regulations were routinely violated at work and seemed to carry as much weight as the writings in a comic book. Ironically, I was being persecuted by the same religion who claims to have suffered terrible persecution at the hands of the “gentile”, but who had secretly been trying to destroy them since 1830. All of this had also trickled down into my personal life, and I was becoming a pariah. But, I wasn’t going to give up. I thought surely, there must someone out there who could understand my plight. If only I could communicate what was going on to the right person, maybe they would know what to do. Knowing this as well, the Mormons continued their relentless and methodical attacks, even as they tried coercing me back to their religion.

After leaving the last CPA firm I was with, I obtained a position as Controller of a public company in Phoenix, which I amazingly held for 5-years. There were plenty of “suspicious activities” that occurred during my tenure there, but the real fireworks occurred near the end of my tenure, when Company executives began sabotaging me because I refused to close my eyes to certain “financial irregularities” that had occurred under their watch. And, during my entire tenure with this company, my immediate subordinate was a Mormon whose hobby it was to visit the Company’s other departments at lunch, chat with fellow employees and pass out cassette tapes he kept handy at work. It turns out he had two 8-volume sets of cassettes you could choose from; you could take your pick of “the lessons” and convert to Mormonism, or choose “income taxes” and learn how to evade income taxes because, the cassettes taught, income taxes were unconstitutional. If you grew up in Arizona or anywhere else where there are an abundance of Mormons, I think you’ll understand when I say they have “libertarian” and “far right leaning” tendencies. It didn’t even seem to matter that all this was going on at work either. The HR department never did anything at all, and my subordinate did this for months before the people in my own department finally began complaining, and I had to ask him to stop. And, even though this guy was an HR disaster and was always bad-mouthing me behind my back, I was continually denied any authority to “get rid of him”.

Ultimately, I “left” this company because we had not one, but multiple financial re-statements. And, anybody with an accounting background that knows this is the kiss of death, especially if you’re an SEC reporting entity and the entire fiasco becomes a matter of public record. As Controller, I did everything in my power to mitigate these “financial issues”. But, unbeknownst to me, certain members of the executive management team were actually behind these shenanigans, including my boss who was the VP-Finance. But, he was ultimately promoted to VP of Acquisitions, and I was eventually terminated. After the final restatement, they kept me around for six more months because they needed me to “close the year out” while they searched for a new VP-Finance, which was a position that under any other circumstances would have been mine. I can’t really say I was too surprised when I learned the new person they hired was a Mormon, either. And, as we worked together, he routinely called me into his office and said, "Lyle, I know something happened to you while you were in college, and the Mormons were involved. Tell me the story, OK." He did this almost daily because he really wanted to know the story. I think the woman he married had actually been in my class at the Mormon “Institute”. But, I never did tell him “The story”. All of this must have been a great joke for him too, because he’d also taunt me and say, "Lyle, you don't remember me do you. I went to school with you; you just don't remember me do you?” What an ass!

Again, I couldn’t go to HR because the VP of HR went to high school with the Company CEO, which probably explains why she didn’t have a college degree, had no prior HR experience and spent an inordinate amount of “personal” time with the CEO, if you know what I mean. It also turns out that the VP of HR had previously been good friends with another lady who was ultimately fired, and who was now suing the company for discrimination. But, prior to that lady being fired, every time she saw me, she fawned all over me and said creepily, “You’re the kind of guy I like to go out with!” One time she saw me in the hallway, and even asked me if I wanted to kiss her. Fortunately, I had witnesses that time and so I went to HR and reported the incident. But, this lady was never fired for sexual harassment; she was eventually fired months later for something entirely different, but I don’t know what it was. And, just before I “left” the Company, the VP of HR actually had the audacity to claim I had an affair with this creepy lady, which she went on to explain, was why the creepy lady was really suing the company. But, at the same time, the HR lady comforted me and said, “Lyle, you have nothing to worry about, our legal council is going to defend you”. Later, as I was giving a deposition about what happened, I discovered our Company’s legal counsel was a Mormon. Strangely, after getting my own attorney because I didn’t trust them, the entire matter was mysteriously dropped.

During the exact same time that all of that was happening, the ex-managing partner of my old CPA firm “just happened” to call and ask how things were going, and we certainly weren’t friends. This was the same partner who had been demoted for only hiring BYU graduates, and who told me in my interview, “We’ll bring you back to Phoenix, but I don’t think you’re going to do very well here”. He was also on the board of the Arizona Board of Accountancy, which is charged with regulating the CPA profession in the State. During his call, he made it sound like we were old buddies and asked if I remembered the old head of the audit department from my CPA firm in Los Angeles. “I don’t know if you heard“, he said, “He moved to Phoenix and now he’s the new PIC of their Phoenix office. He was also appointed to the board State Board, and now we work together too. We should go out to lunch sometime and you can give me a tour of your office”, he said sarcastically. That was how I learned the old Head of Audit from my old firm in Los Angeles, who said “Gotcha” to me was now in Phoenix, was a board member of the Arizona Board of Accountancy and was allied with my old Phoenix firm’s partner who also sabotaged me. Working in unison, these two seriously damage my career.

After leaving the Company I was the Controller of, I began working as a financial consultant. And, what are the chances that every single consulting engagement I obtained during the next 2-years would be with Mormon controlled companies? It didn’t seem feasible that Mormons could dominate every single work environment I was ever associated with, either. At that time, Mormons only comprised about 4% of Arizona’s entire population, which was about 5 million people. But, that’s exactly what happened. My first engagement was with a large well-known plumbing contractor based in Mesa, which was a town that had originally been founded by Mormons as an escape rout into Mexico. I was responsible for re-implementing an ERP system that hadn’t been properly implemented in the first place. Initially, I didn’t even know I was at a “Mormon” company either, it took me about 2-weeks to figure out that everybody worked with was Mormon. Thankfully the whole assignment only took about two months to complete. One day I even heard the President and founder of the Company talking about me as I walked out to my car to go to lunch. He was standing out in the parking lot, surrounded by a group of about 10 people who worked for him. And, as I walked by I saw him point over at me and exclaim to the people around him, "See that guy over there, He's the one who hates Mormons". I had been close enough to hear him, but I think he wanted me to hear him.

Next, I was referred to a lady who was starting her own wellness center, and needed assistance setting up an accounting system. I was engaged by her company for about 3-months, and during that time I tried not to give the whole Mormon thing much thought. However, I couldn’t help but notice that her biggest client was a well-known Mormon company that had an international footprint, and had been founded by a well-known Mormon as well. But, she talked a lot about eastern religions and didn’t provide much of a clue that she might be Mormon herself. This lady also had a degree in clinical psychology and had a small psychology practice as well. I never really mistrusted her until near the end of my engagement when she made a rather disturbing comment to me. She also knew I’d be leaving in the next couple of weeks when she made this comment. Out of the blue one day she said, “Lyle, please tell me about the conspiracy theory you have that somebody is trying to overthrow America, and let me provide counseling for you?” While I found her offer very thoughtful, there was one major problem. I had never voiced any such theory to anyone, much less her. And, the only thing I really knew or cared about at this point in my life was that my career was being destroyed. And, that was fact not theory. I certainly didn’t trust her after that, nor did I ever allow her to provide any “psychological counseling” for me either.

After that, I project-managed an extremely complex ERP implementation for a well-known public company in Internet and catalogue sales. The Company had been founded by a Mormon, and most of its employees were Mormon as well. Further, even the software vendor that had sold the ERP system to this Company was a Mormon company. Consequently, once again, everybody I worked with on this engagement was Mormon as well. During just the second week of the engagement, one of the employee’s of the software vendor approached me and said, “Lyle, we’ve heard a lot about you, we really like you and we think you'd make a fine Mormon." I couldn’t believe this guy was recruiting me at work, I couldn’t really even believe this guy was recruiting me at all. But, God did give this guy some payback. He was 22-years old, had only been married for about a year, had just moved into new home and his wife was just about to give birth. And, when he arrived at work every morning all he could talk about was how he was going to convert one of his two remaining bedrooms into an office for himself. Then, suddenly one day he simply stopped coming to work. About a week later, his co-worker informed me that he and his wife had gone in for ultrasound, and learned they were pregnant with sextuplets. Shortly thereafter, she delivered 6 healthy babies, and now he seemed to be dealing with “personal issues”. There goes that office, I thought. By the way, the same co-worker also liked to tell me that among all of his other friends and co-workers, I was referred to as his "funny gentile friend".

By now it was the year 2000, and in addition to trying to work, I was also caring for my Grandmother who had the onset of dementia and whose health was fading fast. I loved her dearly, and she had been a great friend my entire life. Caring for her was also a real blessing in my life because it provided an aspect of humanity that was sorely missing from it. In 1952, she was the campaign chairman for then Arizona Governor Howard Pyle’s successful re-election campaign, and years later she was honored by the Arizona Federation of Business and Professional Women by being named to their list of Who’s Who of Arizona Women. Just after Governor Pyle was re-elected however, he led what is widely recognized today as the politically disastrous raid on the polygamous Mormon town of Short Creek, Arizona, in 1953. Short Creek, which is situated on Arizona’s northern border with Utah, changed its name to Colorado City in 1960 after highway access into this remote area was greatly improved. The fact that this name change probably helped mitigate any lingering negativity from the 1953 raid probably wasn’t a bad thing either. In 2004, these same Colorado City Mormons were in the news again after their prophet, Warren Jeffs, began migrating his flock to his new “Yearn for Zion” ranch in Texas. And in 2008, Texas authorities undertook a raid that is very reminiscent of the 1953 Arizona raid that ruined Governor Pyle’s political career. Interestingly enough, the mainstream Utah Mormon’s were quick to disavow any connection to the Colorado City Mormons during the 2008 Texas raid, even though the two religions are bound by the same pedigree and even shared the same Salt Lake City law firm.

Not surprisingly, the real history of Colorado City can be traced back to the earliest days of the Mormon Church, and Presidents Brigham Young and John Taylor. The area originally began being settled by Mormons after Jacob Hamblin found Pipe Springs around 1856. Hamblin was the Indian emissary for the Mormon nation of Deseret, and recognized immediately that the surrounding grasslands would be great for raising cattle. And, around 1857 Brigham Young who was traveling east from St. George, Utah to inspect the Pipe Springs area is said to have proclaimed, “This will someday be the head and not the tail of the Church. These will be the granaries of the Saints”. The area also soon became the headquarters of the Church’s cattle ranching operations, known as “the church heard” and by 1870 a fort was erected to protect the location. Pipe Springs, Arizona is located about 15 miles southeast of Colorado City, and about 60 miles west of Lee’s Ferry, Arizona. The area was also known for being desolate and hard to get to, which is why Brigham Young is said to have sent his adopted son John D. Lee to this area after the September 11, 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre. Lee was the only Mormon ever to have been prosecuted for the massacre, and it is said that Young purposely sent Lee to this area because he thought Lee would have a better chance of evading the Federal authorities who were searching for him.

Lee, an avowed polygamist, was also commissioned by Young to oversee the church’s strategic ferry operations on the Colorado River, which became known as Lee’s Ferry. Lee’s Ferry was the only location between Moab, Utah and Needles, California, a stretch of approximately 500 miles, where the Colorado River could be crossed to gain access into the Mormon Kingdom of Zion. And, situated about 5-miles from the strategic crossing point of Lee’s Ferry, was the polygamous town of Lee’s Ferry. In fact, it is said that so many polygamous brides made the trek from Lee’s Ferry to get “sealed” in polygamous marriages in Utah that the road from Lee’s Ferry became known as the “Honeymoon Trail”. There’s also a legend that the Lee’s Ferry polygamists can actually trace their ancestry back to a secret group of polygamists that was “sent out” by President John Taylor he had a prophecy in 1884, which revealed to him that polygamy would be kept alive in places that were hidden and protected by God. And, it was these same “Lee’s Ferry polygamists” that originally began populating the town of Short Creek, Arizona. But, Short Creek didn’t actually become known as a polygamous stronghold until the 1930’s, after large groups of polygamists began relocating there from Utah, because of the prior presence of the “Lee’s Ferry polygamists”. What also isn’t widely known is that polygamy in Short-Creek had been an ongoing “issue”, and anti-polygamy raids had already been conducted there previously in 1935 and 1944.

Around this same time, in September of 1939, an anti-polygamy raid was made in New Harmony, Utah. This was one of only just a few anti-polygamy raids, if not the only one, that was made in Utah after President Wilford Woodruff issued the “1890 Manifesto” that banned polygamy outright in the Utah Territory. At the time the “1890 Manifesto” was issued, the Mormon nation of Deseret was slowly being carved-up as Congress granted statehood to other territories, and ceded them the lands that were being claimed by the Mormon nation of Deseret. Because of this, the Mormons were becoming desperate to have their own state, which they knew they would need in order to maintian any semblance of autonomy. Consequently, the “1890 manifesto” was largely just a public relations campaign designed to lobby Congress into granting them their own state. And, the Utah Mormons have been cognizant of creating the appropriate image ever since, in fact the only support for the 1953 Short Creek raid came out of Salt Lake. Those arrested in the 1939 New Harmony, Utah raid were Fred Jessop, age 74, Richard Jessop, age 75 and Grover Cleveland LeBaron. Interestingly enough, all of these men were family members of the Colorado City, Arizona polygamists. Richard Jessop, who was arrested after police found two pregnant women in his home, complained, ”We believe in living the laws of God. The laws of man are manmade laws. We believe in living according to the laws of God". He also claimed that his people were being persecuted for living religious laws.

The west was embroiled in “polygamy issues” from its earliest days and not surprisingly, they all seemed to emminate from the Mormon settlements in Utah. Miraculously, by 1990 the entire polygamy issue even morphed into a warm media embrace after The Salt Lake Tribune began touting the 1990s as, "…something of a golden era for Colorado City and polygamists in general", a New York Times writer who also wrote about Colorado City said, "... they have begun a virtual public relations campaign to achieve tolerance, respect, a greater following, and ultimately legal protection. They are speaking at university forums, granting interviews to reporters and forming alliances with groups they once condemned". In 1991, the Mormon owned Deseret News reported, "…for the most part, polygamists are a law-abiding, quiet lot who don't flaunt their violation of state law and so aren't bothered by legal authorities.” HBO’s “Big Love”, about polygamist families, was also on cable TV, and there was even a discussion in Utah about removing Utah's ban on plural marriages, which had originally been mandated into Utah’s Constitution as a condition for Utah’s statehood in 1896. In 2006, when Warren Jeffs who was the polygamous head of the FLDS was arrested, an article in the Phoenix Republic commented on how the very survival of Colorado City’s polygamist culture and its “united order” system of socialism into the modern era was a living testament to Joseph Smith’s divine vision.

After Governor Pyle was re-elected in 1952, he rewarded my Grandmother’s hard work and success with a choice job in his State Government. But, unfortunately for Pyle, the raid became a political albatross that severely damaged his political career. It didn’t seem to matter that polygamy was an ongoing issue there for decades and two other raids had been made prior to that to enforce Federal anti-polygamy laws. The media’s portrayal of the 1953 raid caused an outpouring of sentiment towards the children and families of Colorado City, and created the impression that families were being broken-up by a persecutory government. This also alienated the Arizona voters, and caused Pyle to lose his third bid for the Governorship, in 1954. This also seemed to affect my Grandmother’s career at the State of Arizona as well. I remember talking to her about her life and career, which she was quite proud of, but when she got to the part about Pyle, the Short Creek Raid and the position she was rewarded with at the State of Arizona, she became vague and rhetorical. All she would say was that she always seemed to be embroiled in controversy and began having problems at work after that. And, as I look back and analyze these stories, I can’t help but compare her plight to mine. And, in another irony, all of her “closest” friends during her final years were the same Mormons who she had worked with at the State of Arizona and who ultimately persuaded she and my Grandfather to convert to Mormonism in 1970.

Like I said, I loved my Grandmother dearly, and caring for her was a blessing because it provided an aspect of humanity that was sorely missing from my life. But, because she converted to the Mormon religion in 1970, the vast majority of people who came to visit her were members of this religion, which caused problems for me because they consisted primarily of her ward bishop, other members of the church sent by him to visit her and her two “close Mormon friends” who had been her co-workers at the State of Arizona. Consequently, I now had a third battlefront, which included my battlefronts at work, and at church. I happened to be at the house on one occasion when her ward bishop came to visit her and his wife was with him. I had never met this woman before, and I greeted her with respect out of deference to my Grandmother. She responded back snidely, “Oh, you must be the boy who lives in the back and isn’t married”. What else needs to be said, I think this pretty much epitomizes what these people are all about. One of my Grandmother’s two close Mormon friends was a woman I have a great deal respect for; and was a good woman. But, the other “friend” was the leader of “ward relief society”, and was not a decent woman by any means. My Grandmother also told me that this lady constantly disparaged me behind my back whenever she came to visit. I know my Grandmother didn’t really like her very much either, she just seemed to tolerate her.

Caring for my Grandmother was a lot of hard work, and during her final years nurses came in and out of the house 14-hours a day. During this time, I also got to know and become friends with most of them. At one point, my Grandmother fell ill and had to go into the hospital for a few days. Thankfully, it was nothing serious. But, during the few days she was in the hospital, the evil “ward relief society” lady visited her often, which I was thankful for even though I had no respect for her. I knew it was good for my Grandmother to be surrounded with friends and family. Fortunately, my Grandmother’s primary nurse and I were good friends as well. This same nurse had already been my Grandmother’s nurse now for about 2-years by this time. Prior to my Grandmother’s release from the hospital, her nurse came to the house to prepare for my Grandmother’s eminent return home. And, while she was there, she pulled me aside and indicated she needed to talk to me. It turns out that the evil “ward relief society” friend who I didn’t like pulled her aside at the hospital and began explaining that I was the real reason my Grandmother had fallen ill. She was also told that the reason she had become ill was because I was gay. Consequently, I had the nurse write a letter to document this.

January 8, 2002

Dear Lyle,

Per your request, I am writing this letter to document a comment made to me by XXXX XXXXX, who was one of you Grandmother’s Mormon friends. This occurred while I was working for your Grandmother, Cleo Slaughter, as a nurse in 1998. The details of the events leading up to the comment are listed below:

I had been working as Cleo's in-house nurse during the period from 1994 through 1999. In approximately May of 1998, my supervisor, XXXXX XXXXXX, home health supervisor for XXXXXXXX Care, contacted me to ask if Lyle had been causing any problems for Cleo. I indicated that Lyle, to my knowledge, had never caused any problems for Cleo. As we continued to speak, XXXXX indicated that she had met with XXXX XXXXX on one occasion during her home visit with Cleo. XXXX happened to have been visiting Cleo that day. It turns out that XXXXX's concerns about Lyle were based on comments made to her by XXXX XXXXX during that chance meeting. During our conversation, XXXXX asked me if Lyle was gay. I replied, "No, I don't believe that Lyle is gay".

About three months later in August of 1998, Cleo became ill and was hospitalized for a short period at Phoenix XXXXXXX Hospital. Lyle asked me to attend to Cleo's needs while she was at the hospital and on one occasion when I went to go visit her XXXX XXXXX happened to be in the room as well. XXXX began commenting to me about Lyle's lifestyle. She said, "Lyle's lifestyle is causing Cleo's sickness". I replied, "How would Lyle's lifestyle impact Cleo's illness". XXXX replied, "Lyle is going to hell because he is gay". At that point I asked XXXX, "How do you know Lyle is gay?" XXXX replied, "I can tell that Lyle is gay because he is "anti-Mormon", he does not attend the Mormon Church and because he does not believe in anything that Cleo believes in from a religions standpoint. She also said, "Lyle is very cold and does not have a soul".

Sincerely,

XXX XXXXXXXXXXX