Welcome comrade!

What I've gotten from some peers, other than puzzlement, is at times what I think is malevolent curiosity, oughtright dismissal, or being made fun of (like this one blond shitlib of the overachiever type I know).

I think the best way to deal with these types of people is to shoot them down, one way or another. Dismiss them, bore them to death, or make them embaressed that they even thought of doing what they did.

But that's what we want to do, and sometimes we can't. For now it's best not to let them get to you, so that you can hopefully get back at them.

That is beautiful.

Take your time comrade. mental health is more important than any site.

I feel you. Apparently rule 3 goes out the window when people believe something was created with AI. Like do people not get the implications of how easily serious conversations can be derailed if people can just claim AI and poison the well about whatever was said. It's unprincipled, reactionary behavior. Wrestling with ideas rather than individuals is pragmatism in the context of relative anonymity online, not just about being friendly; we can struggle over an analysis regardless of who or where it came from. If we have to know where it came from in order to do so, internet discussion becomes limited to only discussing information direct from public sources.

That said, people shouldn't take everything they see on the internet at face value, including from public sources. Even liberals would probably agree on that one. But there is also never going to be a magic formula or intuition or vibe check for discerning when you're being deceived. Only careful investigation can consistently and reliably reveal that and it's simply impractical to be thorough with everything posted online, so you have to sort of read in a fixed state of one eyebrow raised without making your head hurt and your tone hostile.

https://maratkhairullin.substack.com/ and https://substack.com/@zinderneufog for regular updates about the situation on the ground

The Greater Eurasia Podcast is pretty good for having lots of expert guests on to talk about it and geopolitics at large, but you do still need to remain a bit critical; Glenn Diesen has lots of different types of guests on and some of them have more to learn from than others lol. Imperfect but I still tune in regularly.

I usually check Alexander Mercouris. He's pretty pro-russian but so is reality. He tries to be evidence based in his assessment. He is british and a liberal but still manages to be a half decent human and not half bad at reporting. But I always listen at 2x speed because he talks so bloody slow.

Military Summit Summary channel on YouTube

I go with most of my news needs to aljazeera. When it's playing on the TV in the background occasionally they usually have quite decent coverage on this.

Nolan Batman movies are textbook examples of gaslighting.

Everyone says they're good but then you sit down and watch one and it's goofball city for 2 hrs.

Saw a recent review roasting The Dark Knight and it was both poignant and funny.

Wow, I just looked up the clip cause it's been so long since I watched that scene and WTF even is that anecdote. Colonizer like, "We tried to bribe this guy into being a comprador and he didn't go for it??? Guess he wants to watch the world burn. He is forcing me to do this. Lights forest on fire."

It also adds a weird dimension to Alfred's character that raises a lot of questions. Was he working for British intelligence back then? Why would he go from that to being a butler for some billionaire?