CicadaSpectre

I don't mask, but that's largely because the state I live in here in the US is overwhelmingly non-mask. If there were even, idk, a few businesses in the area that did it, I might - but there's not. Me wearing a mask around when nobody else is feels more like virtue signaling than anything. Damn near nobody else is wearing them, so few in fact that I can count the times I've seen them in the past year on one hand. If the idea is to wear the mask to reduce to spread, then it doesn't make any sense because the overwhelming majority aren't doing it.

But your situation is likely different. Perhaps you live in a more sensible state, where politely asking someone to mask isn't met with a tirade about how masks are Nazism.

I had forgotten about that.

I've been noticing the articles are saying he was a chaotic mess, a hindrance to the war in Ukraine, and acted like he was the personal representative of all American volunteers there. Not sure if any of that is true or if they're just trying to distance themselves from him, but I could see it being true.

Doesn't change the fact he's a pro-Ukrainian who tried to assassinate Trump, and failed miserably. Kind of makes me wonder if the first assassin was also pro-Ukraine.

What's funny is that I remember the original conspiracy they're referring to. It was told to me as a funny story, about how a doctor found the best way to convince anti-vaxxers to get vaccinated was by telling an even more ridiculous conspiracy theory.

And then this dipshit immediately admits they'd believe the conspiracy theory, then proceeds to edit it with a dozen other conspiracy theories to justify sinophobia. The lack of self-awareness is astounding.

My understanding is they edited the guy out because he was responsible for excesses driven by personal prejudices, and then he was arrested and executed. That's correct, isn't it? Please excuse my ignorance.

True, but my experience is limited to the US. I'm assuming it's more or less "always the same map".

Ah, so you saw the article, too. Yeah, I have no idea how much that person got paid to write that article, but it was too much.

I saw an article about how the photo doesn't matter anymore and everything has changed, and I thought people somehow finally realized the picture is taken out of context to prop up a conspiracy theory, but... no. It was an article about AI editing and how people can "erase history" and remove "Tank Man" from the photo and people can be "tricked" into thinking it never happened.

Which is stupid as fuck. The pic happened. The video happened. Ironically, they do more to disprove the massacre narrative than support it. The massacre didn't happen, and editing a picture isn't going to erase that myth from a country obsessed with believing it.

I was wondering when they'd try bringing the Uyghur thing back to the foreground. With the ongoing Palestinian genocide, I wasn't sure if they were trying to avoid it so Americans don't oppose Israel more, or if they were eventually going to bring it out to try and project onto China - again. Seems they might be trying the latter.

Omg, that analogy is perfect. I think I'll start using it.

I almost prefer this propaganda to the clearly staged animal wholesomeness ones. I keep seeing posts get circulated of wholesome animal moments "with the army", and immediately recognize them as Ukrainian posts. People share them without even realizing it, and it's very disheartening.

It's not about what power the president has. The president exists for manufactured consent. If Biden gets in and commits genocide and fails to do anything progressive, it's proof "socialism" can't work, that we consented to genocide, and that democracy works because he didn't overstep his authority. But if Trump gets in and ignores his opponents, does whatever he wants, etc., then we consented to that and are fine with the erosion of democracy if it means more fascism.

It's a farce, and personally I think we're being guided towards a fully fascist transition in the figure of Trump. Not because he, as a person, is anything. He's a moron. But because he's the kind of bigot chud that half the country idolizes, and through them the illusion of democracy can be shed and capitalists can take full power. After all, if more than half the voters support a fascist takeover, then isn't that more or less how our failed model of democracy works?