Vrubel

That makes him complicit. In the eyes of the US government that's revealing classified information. That's what wikileaks is about. Johny steals an embarrassing photo from you and gives it to Becky who shows it to the entire class. How are you going to feel about Becky? That's awful but also shows how serious this kind of shit is. The leaks had serious consequences on the US government, defense, diplomacy, homeland etc. It's a function of state to keep security, defense and diplomatically sensitive/harmful/scrutinizing information classified. What Assange did is indeed a function of journalism, which is transparency, noble and brave as this is this doesn't clear him for the offense of leaking classified information. It's a clash of forces between governmental/organizational classification and journalistic transparency. The question is of course what is for the current situation/context the proper balance. I think Assange is brave for what he did (and I am grateful to him for revealing some truths) but he did set himself up against the US government.

@Space Doing psychedelics is like riding a rollercoaster, so a healthy heart is definitely a prerequisite. Having said that I don't know the severity and exact nature of your heart issues. Assuming it's something light, it might go away on its own after a time. You said that an extreme heart rate is not a trigger for the pains so that's a good sign. If it's just weird sensations and "tolerable" pains that's one thing but if it really messes with your systems and can lead to some kind of attack then I would definitely hold off.

This cannot be healthy What's the point, why take the extra risk? When the effect has worn off

It was my first time and to begin with, I did 1 full scoop of 5 meo malt (+-10 mg ). In the come-up, there was a brief moment of fear and then it cleared up very quickly after a few minutes. After the come-up phase, I did feel the ungroundedness of a psychedelic trip yet other than that I can barely call it a trip. Even on microdoses of LSD I have experienced more beauty, sensitivity, holiness and godliness than now. The most notable change was in the way my body became heavier/weaker/slower and my mind more stable and slower though not particularly creative or zen. Like I had zero profound spiritual thoughts. I was mostly groggy and grumpy. The "bodyload" was not particularly unpleasant but I would imagine that on a proper dose I would not be able to move or function if it already has such an effect. I am not giving up yet and will try two scoops next time.

Let me start by saying that I fully support Ukraine in this war. (Mainly because they were a peaceful nation that was just brutally invaded). And my heart goes first and foremost out to the people suffering. I am for Ukraine and I am rooting for them to give the Russians a proper kicking. But I also have Russian roots and I do have some kind of love for Russia. Like I do feel sorry for them, and I strangely feel sorry for Putin that he was so delusional/misinformed about the reality and strength of Ukraine (and the West). I am sure he calculated it to be a conflict of a few days whereafter the world would have quickly forgotten about the whole thing. To be honest that's what I thought too, like c'mon we're talking RUSSIA vs little corrupt Ukraine. I guess it's a dictator's fate to be slapped by reality, after getting so far removed from it by your own ceaseless propaganda. The reason I say I feel cringed out is because of what it has done to Russia's reputation. It is after all the country that defeated Hitler. Russia's military strength was always its main pillar for pride and identity. Because when all else sucked they could at least say that we are strong. But now they are not even that. Like their dogged strategy of overrunning the enemy with mass without placing value on the lives of their soldiers had some merit during ww2, But now? after the billions of investment and modernizing? Also, the rape and massacres were somewhat excusable/understandable during ww2 given how much the Russians have suffered. But man... still the same shit? C'mon man. Russia is making me cringe.

This was basically everyone at the beginning of the war. Everybody thought they would catch Zelensky, and when the first footage/information appeared of Russian soldiers being incompetent. Most people including myself just took that for temporary or distorted Ukrainian propaganda. Like only after a full month I could say with full certainty that they are making a mess of it. Even though this became already clear in the first few weeks.

@Leo Gura Stage blue does not equal Hitler. Abraham Lincoln, MLK and Nelson Mandela were overwhelmingly blue as well. The people defending their home in Ukraine from a Russian invasion are blue as well. Are they all loving angels? of course not. So what? Should I cite Hitler to them?

That was not my claim What you do is the inverse of romanticization

It's hard to generalize about such a thing but can you imagine the intensity of love and selflessness a man needs to have to be perfectly willing to pick up a musket, stand in a long exposed row and basically function as cannon fodder. That's the essence of stage blue.

Generally speaking, I would argue that there is an intense experience of love Inherit to stage blue, more so than to stage orange and maybe even green and yellow. As you progress spirally the scope of your love increases but the intensity of your experienced love decreases. I think this has to do because at stage blue it is very clear what you love and as you progress it gets more conceptual, vague and really outside of your day-to-day lived reality.

@OBEler Not yet but will do so in the coming weeks, I'll let you know.

@FlyingLotus @Vincent S Thank you so much!

Do you mean he rambled too much (as always) or did he really try to warn everybody in a conscientious way?

@T_i_m According to what sources?

He was a Putin suck-up. There was nothing particularly intelligent about his politics. What good did he contribute?

I accidentally came across this while searching information on pebble rocks(:

@Leo Gura this and your solipsism purge post remind me so much of this brilliant scene in Pirates of the Caribbean. In my head, I even read the post in the same upper-class English as the announcer in the scene. Just to share, I think your decisions are reasonable. Also props for the self-reflection.

This will bring a whole new escalation with a nuclear threat. If Putin is cornered and losing he lashes out. This much is proven. Nukes are definitely one of his possibilities. What's more, even if the two nuclear powers go to war without launching nukes. This will set a future precedent where it's no longer taboo for nuclear powers to fight it out. I think Nato/US is right in withholding from the fight.

@ZenAlex I feel much the same, except I do have a need for sex and intimacy with a girl. But I just cannot care less about having friends or socializing. To don't have those needs is very powerful! especially if you're into spirituality. but it also has drawbacks. Having friends and connections have practical benefits like for example providing work/business opportunities but also security. for example, my family is taking in fleeing Ukrainians because they are our friends. The main connections that I have are my direct family. Apart from the love, which is, of course, the main thing, there are also immeasurable survival benefits that come with having a loving family. I really don't take them for granted. So even though I don't have the need to make friends. I still need to make connections for my work and to get girls and there lies a weakness of mine.

Is there a chance of Russia ultimately just integrating with the west? Like the people in Belarus want it more and more, so many young Russians as well, think Navalny and the whole opposition movement. Putin is old and can't live forever, who knows what will happen after.

Yeah, but that's mostly typical stage green hyperbolism. It's of course also very dehumanizing and wrong. But not the same as what Putin is doing. Well, if you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth. I think many Russians genuinely believe that Ukraine is full of Neo-nazi's or "banderevtsi" supporting Hitler and hating everything Russian. Of course, Ukraine does have a history of nazi collaboration. And the nationalist-collaborator Stepan Bandera is still celebrated as a hero mostly in the west of the country. But even that history is complicated and nuanced. And again, it justifies nothing. Most of the country was pretty chill and not particularly "tribal" or extreme right-wing.

Regardless, "neo-nazi" is dehumanizing as shit. And the regions that Putin is brutally invading are the chill parts where Russians and Ukrainians lived peacefully side by side. Ukraine's nationalist heartland is in the west. But even they are just regular stage blue nationalists just like Russians, Poles, Lithuanians etc.

@Leo Gura If putin’s position is so understandable and reasonable why all that ridiculous propaganda with neo nazi’s etc. ? even Russians will discover that they have been lied to

Last week I got flaked on by a girl, now this week as well by another girl. In both cases, the date was planned and set, and they just both kinda forgot and couldn't give a shit. Even though I know very clearly these girls are attracted to me. With the first girl, I already had a date with (almost a half year back) and the other girl has a history of flaking on me, but lately kept posting Instagram stories, especially for me so I would reengage her. With the first girl, I had to send "...?" to why she stopped replying when I was sending her the meeting details. She then replied late in the evening that it was not possible for her the next day because she is then going home from a trip and needed to rest. (Why do you plan on that day to begin with, I thought to myself). But this other girl was even worse in a sense. On the morning of the date-day, I sent her a meeting detail. In the late afternoon, she replied that she had totally forgotten. I was the whole day in nervous anticipation, preparing the reservations and just in case cleaning the house, changing my bedsheets, and shaving (down under). She did say sorry and also said that I should plan next time on the same day because her schedule was chaotic. But I felt kinda hurt that she could forget it like that and when I reminded her in the morning she didn't reply till the late afternoon. Also, I could intuit myself asking "oke is today good: no. and today: no etc. etc." So I just said that I need to plan it properly and that I am "kinda giving up". She still hasn't replied after a day. The thing that bothers me the most is just the lack of respect and basic human decency in communicating. In real life they are both sweet girls, they are also both hot girls so they probably feel very entitled and have crazy abundance. But still, we are not total strangers, in both cases we have a history together and I know that with both girls we click exceptionally well. men... pick-up is so brutal! I know it's possible and I've done it before, but is so hard! It's so devilishly brutal it has a stark beauty to it.

Yeah, but isn't there a limit in how much Putin can crush. Will he start opening up gulags and go back to the Stalin era? 44 million Ukrainians can do a lot of damage. Without Stalinesque repressions, Putin will be fighting a perpetual war, like in Afghanistan. The West will rain down money and stingers on Ukrainian fighters. Then there is also the issue of Russian economic ruin. The Russian people (even oligarchs) are also feeling the effects of this war, which only increases discontent. This is yet another giant threat for Putin to deal with. Russia will either 1. at some point flee away from the Ukraine (much like from Afghanistan) or 2. Lay waste to Ukraine. (much like Chechnya but on a more horrid scale)