AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]
- 10 Posts
- 759 Comments
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
·2 years ago(To continue the analogy). It's a rabid one at that. As such, it's destined to die, but it would be better for everyone if it can be put down as quickly as possible. It's not only extremely dangerous, it's infectious.
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
·2 years ago:picard:
I agree with all of this, but my fear is that despite how good and hard-won those positive strides are, backsliding can happen and is happening. There are some obvious recent examples like the overturning of RvW. Racism seems like it's on the rise as well, instead of continuing to wane as I used to assume it would.
I hope that this only shows the efforts of a reactionary but powerful minority as it is facing the inevitability of its death, and that the overall progress you're talking about hasn't been lost, only partially suppressed. But I don't know. It often feels like we're watching as that progress that so many fought and died for is being erased and that there isn't enough will or ability to prevent it. Are the drastic changes for the better that you mentioned now drastically changing again for the worst? In some ways, they obviously are - is that just superficial though, or is it emblematic of a full on slide into mask-off society-wide fascism?
This is not a recommendation, just mentioning that the old factory farming expose vid that did it for me was Meet Your Meat (I believe produced by PETA) back around 1999.
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
·2 years agoHave you looked into the phenomenon of initiation deficit? It tends to be associate with brain injuries but in my personal, anecdotal experience it also turns up a lot in just people who have experienced trauma. I know I have it... really bad. Like to the point that I can't get started on something I've been deeply looking forward to. I get paralyzed. It's difficult to explain to people who don't experience it. It's like a narcolepsy of action. Even a narcolepsy of joy. I don't have any good links on hand (sorry) but here is something that at a glance seems to get into it a little and more importantly, offers some coping mechanisms. I haven't vetted it, so to speak.
u/harajukum mentions "exective dysfunction." This is a very related term (I believe broader in meaning) that is also worth researching. It's come up a few times on hexbear. Hopefully it's searchable now.
Anyway, solidarity to you comrade. I struggle with this shit immensely and I wish I had some solid answers for you.
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
·2 years agoYou are on the path, comrade. Once you are like me, with all my irl relationships long since withered and dead, rotting even in a mass grave of liberalism, then will you know true ppbpeace. Hexbear relationships are all that remains now, for me, as they should for you. But even then I find they hang from the most tenuous of threads... ideological threads... personal threads... or the most egregious: when one is being told the reactionary lie that one needs to... to touch grass.
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
·2 years agoI use Firefox with uBlock Origin exclusively on my desktop. But on mobile android I just ran into problem after problem with Firefox. Slow, buggy, etc. So I went searching and it turns out that AdBlock Plus makes their own Chromium mobile browser and honestly it has worked wonderfully for me. Blocks all ads, not just youtube. This might also be a better option for you, u/CommunistBear, and u/PorkrollPosadist,as it blocks all ads, not just on youtube.
Edit: link
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
I have no idea how you're reading any of that into what I said. I have agreed multiple times that veganism is indeed about animal liberation, but that denying the massive role that food (and hence factory farming) plays in any liberation effort and calling other users "weird" for suggesting vegan recipe posting is just ridiculous. I can't help but suspect it's just contrarianism or something at this point so I am disengaging.
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
If that's the case, I fully agree. As I said in an above comment, veganism is definitely about more than food. To respond to that with "it's not about food." carries the implication that food has almost nothing to do with it when that's just objectively false.
Veganism is first and foremost about animal liberation. But to tell someone they're "weird" for suggesting regular vegan recipe posts "because it's not about food" is unhelpful at best. Imo, it's that sort of dismissive attitude that is weird. Hopefully that clears things up.
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
To deny the large role that food plays in our lives and that it is usually the biggest stumbling block people have with adopting veganism is disingenuous and only makes it harder for those of us trying to promote veganism.
I have nothing specific to add, I just also want to say thanks for this post and I guess raise my hand to be counted as another :im-vegan: .
Ok, I guess I will add that I love this community, I mean hexbear as a whole, and feel like it is truly a sanctuary of sanity in an otherwise insane world. But one of the few remaining things that still irks me on a regular basis here is the casual carnism. I get it, it's the normal reality of everyday life everywhere else too. But coming here and reading some comment from someone I respect and consider a comrade in every other facet casually talking about the steak they had (or whatever carnist bs) still makes me :stalin-stressed:
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
:im-vegan: and nah that wouldn't be weird. Veganism is indeed about a lot more than just food, but that doesn't mean it isn't largely focused on what people choose to eat. I think u/bazingabrain's idea was perfectly fine.
Anyway, yeah, if you're a leftist but not vegan, you have some self crit you need to do.
- AncomCosmonaut [he/him,any]to
Here's the article since it wasn't linked in the above comment.
https://archive.ph/U03hV
spoiler
On Aug. 29 Tucker Carlson of Fox News attacked President Biden’s policy on Ukraine, asserting among other things: “By any actual reality-based measure, Vladimir Putin is not losing the war in Ukraine. He is winning the war in Ukraine.” Carlson went on, by the way, to assert that Biden is supporting Ukraine only because he wants to destroy the West. Carlson’s timing was impeccable. Just a few days later, a large section of the Russian front near Kharkiv was overrun by a Ukrainian attack. It’s important to note that Putin’s forces weren’t just pushed back; they appear to have been routed. As the independent Institute for the Study of War reported, the Russians were driven into a “panicked and disorderly retreat,” leaving behind “large amounts of equipment and supplies that Ukrainian forces can use.” The Russian collapse seemed to validate analyses by defense experts who have been saying for months that Western weapons have been shifting the military balance in Ukraine’s favor, that Putin’s army is desperately short on quality manpower and that it has been degraded by attrition and missile attacks on its rear areas. These analyses suggested that Russian forces might eventually reach a breaking point, although few expected that point to come so soon and so dramatically. To be fair to Carlson and other right-wing cheerleaders for Putin, they aren’t the only people clinging to delusions of Russian success. There’s a whole school of self-styled “realists” who considered Ukrainian resistance to Russia futile and who, despite the failure of Putin’s initial assault, have spent the past six months calling on Ukraine to make big concessions to supposedly superior Russian power. But there’s something special about the MAGA embrace of the mystique of Russian might: a worldview that equates tough-guy swagger with effectiveness. This worldview has warped the right’s perception not just of the Russian Army but also of how to deal with many other issues. And it’s worth asking where it comes from. Many Republicans have admired Putin for a long time — even before Donald Trump took over the G.O.P. Back in 2014, for example, Rudy Giuliani said of Putin, “That’s what you call a leader.” And Trump continued to praise Putin even after he invaded Ukraine. So it’s not hard to see where the MAGA right’s admiration for Putinism comes from. After all, Putin’s Russia is autocratic, brutal and homophobic, with a personality cult built around its ruler. What’s not to like? Yet admiring a regime’s values needn’t mean having faith in its military prowess. As a center-left advocate of a strong social safety net — or, as Republicans would say, a Marxist (which, of course, I’m not) — I think highly of Nordic welfare states like Denmark. But I have no opinion whatsoever about the effectiveness of Denmark’s army (yes, it has one). On the right, however, approval of authoritarian regimes is all bound up with assertions about their military prowess. For example, last year Ted Cruz tweeted about a video comparing scenes of a tough-looking Russian soldier with a shaved head with a U.S. Army recruiting video featuring a female corporal raised by two mothers. “Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea,” opined Cruz. Actually, the U.S. military is sort of woke, in the sense that it is highly diverse and inclusive, encourages independent thinking and initiative on the part of junior officers and is, at the higher levels, quite intellectual. The Russian Army, on the other hand, definitely isn’t woke. Conscripts face brutal hazing. According to Mark Hertling, a former commander of U.S. forces in Europe, it’s riddled with “mafialike” corruption and its officers are terrible. The broader point is that modern wars aren’t won by looking tough. Courage — which the Ukrainians have shown in almost inconceivable abundance — is essential; but it doesn’t have much to do with bulging biceps. And bravery must go hand in hand with being smart and flexible, qualities the Russian Army evidently lacks. Did I mention that women make up more than a fifth of Ukraine’s military? The import of all these factors should be obvious. Modern war is like the modern economy (with an additional element of sheer terror, but still): Success depends more on skill, knowledge and openness to ideas than on muscle power. But the MAGA ethos is all bound up with exaltation of tough talk and denigration of expertise. (Prosecute Anthony Fauci!) The American right needed to see Putin as a leader made powerful by his rejection of liberal values; admitting that Russia has proved that it isn’t a great power would call the whole MAGA philosophy into question. The result is that the war, while it is of course overwhelmingly a fight for Ukrainian freedom, has also, weirdly, become a front in America’s cultural and political wars. There’s growing speculation about what will happen inside Russia if the invasion of Ukraine ends in outright defeat. But you also have to wonder how the U.S. right will handle the revelation that sometimes tough guys finish last.
A couple years ago I wanted some crypto (for reasons I think this site would appreciate, but I'll say no more) and ran into all the KYC bullshit. I was looking into getting some via btc atm's instead but found that actually cashapp did not require any of that. I only had to provide what any regular user of it has to provide like drivers license or something, but I didn't have to jump through any of the hoops that the big exchanges were requiring. I don't mean to shill for fucking cashapp, but unless they changed their policies recently, thats maybe something to look into for easy access to bitcoin. I don't know how they were able to avoid the KYC requirements, but they did. Obviously anyone transferring btc and wanting to be anonymous shouldn't be using a cashapp account to do so, but thats solved by sending it first to an intermediary wallet.
Nangs are not gonna kill you.
I can't believe no one has given you a straight answer yet!
Yeah, it's for sure enjoyable. I don't know if you've done any dissociatives before but if you have, it's like a brief (30 second or so) disso trip. It has its own unique headspace of course, a lot of people experience a "wah-wah" effect where your sense of sound is modulated. Like this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XK7bE6rFM6M.
Some get profound thoughts, like on weed when you think you've found some deeper truth, but with nangs its even more abstract and intense. Some people just get numb lips and space out a bit. It is almost universally enjoyable. If you do it, just practice normal, common sense precaution and you should be good. :stalin-approval:
The problem is that the nitrous oxide inhibits your body's ability to metabolize b12, from my understanding. So you can supplement all you want, but it won't do any good after the fact. However, if you're planning on doing whippets (esp over a several day period) it can be a good idea to supplement on b12 for a few days beforehand.
Weirdly, where I am in northern CA, its been shockingly mild this summer until this last week. Thermometer read 120 degrees today though, so we'll see how it goes until November.
I've had to evacuate due to fire 3 times in the last 5 years of fire seasons. Only one of those times did the place I was living actually burn.
Ben Norton of Multipolarista has talked about how we're already in the early stages of a multipolar world as well as it's inevitability. I don't have any links on hand to that point in particular but I was recently listening to The Deprogram (podcast) episode with him as a guest and he discussed it pretty extensively. It's a good episode in general. Worth a listen.