Oh god, it looks like it’s about to sing.

Nah, I imagine whatever demon got ownership of Donny would win the jackpot. Trump isn’t the first of his kind, he’s barely special at all when lined up next to other self-indulgent, hate-filled dictators who had amassed power throughout human history. Hell would have plenty of experience with his kind, and thus would know exactly what to do with Donny.

Each of those former-rulers had legions of people who absolutely detested them. There’d probably be a celebration when a massive shitbag like that finally passes the gates of Hell. A creative demon would probably recognize and exploit that energy somehow, maybe by offering people a break from being tortured, and instead getting a chance to torture such an individual for a set amount of time. (Probably charging the people for the opportunity, too, since I assume Hell would be capitalist. But I disgress.) Point is, a demon would have a lot of options with a ward like Donny.

Did you date my former coworker? I used to use a chartreuse coathanger because it was the only one of that color, which made it easy for me to spot. One day, as I was putting my coat away, this coworker started talking as if we were already mid-way through an argument. “It’s so green. I don’t know why you said it’s yellow.” Huh? I had no idea what he was talking about at first. I asked if he meant my coathanger, and I responded that I didn’t know what color it was. (I didn’t know what “chartreuse” meant yet.) He ranted on, claiming we fought about it once before, even though this was the first time he’d even talked about my coathanger. It was bizarre.

I think that guy had something psychologically troubling going on. I’d also seen him: ask a question, make up an answer for that question, then immediately proceed to believe the answer he made up with 100% certainty. The question? “How do those Magic Eraser cleaning sponges work?” His answer? “They use paint.” I asked how it could possibly match the color of every surface it’s used on, but he insisted his answer must be right. Truly magical thinking.

I also saw him watch an ad for a random product, then promptly declare that he needed that product. I had always thought of ads as something to tune out, but he legit followed them as if they were friends giving advice. I had never seen anything like that.

It’s kinda… squishy? I can hear my cerebral spinal fluid when I go for walks in quiet places. It sounds like it’s coming from the back/bottom of your head, and it’s like a light rushing fluid sound, swishing with each step.

I can’t remove accountability from these women for making the choice to marry guys like this in a relatively short time frame. It is, in a way, misogynistic and infantalizing to paint women as helpless victims without agency in this type of situation.

Were you raised to not speak up for yourself? Were you socially conditioned to be held responsible for the emotions of others? Have you ever been like that, and were manipulated by a partner?

I was, for all three of those. Thankfully, I was able to get away from the guy that led me 1000 miles away, using charm and lies. But I was a grown adult, in my 20s, and maybe at the time, I would’ve agreed with you - not only would I not have realized he was deliberately pulling my strings, but I probably would’ve been upset at the suggestion that I wasn’t making my own decisions. But looking back, I can see how little control I really had. Someone can’t give informed consent to a situation that they’re being tricked into, regardless of gender.

The guy in this article used “aliases, manipulations, and love-bombing tactics.” Such psychological manipulation can mess with decision making, especially if paired with pre-existing issues with self-esteem or confidence. I know the power of that manipulation is real because I, and many people (mostly women) that I know, have lived through similar experiences. It’s pretty shitty to tell a former victim that admitting to not having control when being abused is “infantalizing women” and that acKshUally I had agency all along. So many people struggle with feelings of responsibility after abuse, unable to accept that they were misled, unable to believe that they fell for an abusive charmer. To finally come to terms with having been powerless is a huge step and it takes a lot of humility.

So please, just listen to my experience and believe my words. I’m not trying to argue with anyone. I can’t expect anyone who hasn’t been psychologically manipulated to fully understand what it’s like, but it’s important to know that being in that state interferes with rational thinking. The closest thing I can compare it to is highly effective propaganda - the kind that is so good at convincing a person of something, that they don’t realize they’ve been subject to propaganda at all.

I’m saying these women were manipulated and it’s not fair to assume desperation, or any motive really. I don’t know them, I don’t know their situations, but I was a young woman once and I know what it’s like to be victimized by an abuser, then subsequently blamed for it.

I’ve seen a lot of guys on Lemmy say they don’t see misogyny on here. But when misogyny gets pointed out, it gets dismissed and whatever comment points it out gets buried under downvotes. Guys. This is an example of misogyny, even if it wasn’t intentional. If you don’t see it, let me ask you one thing: why are we accepting the assumption that the victims (women) had a motive and that the abuser (man) was just really good in bed? Do you see how that narrative denies the power dynamic at play, and in fact compliments the man who took advantage of three different women?

Did you see his eyes? He’s a black guy with astonishingly green eyes. That’s enough to make a guy stand out, without his “dick game” even factoring in.

It’s important not to discount that he used charm and love-bombing to manipulate these women. That isn’t a matter of “desperation” - these women were unwilling victims of a con man.

Please don’t insult muppets like that. Trump’s a puppet, absolutely, but he lacks the warmth to be a Jim Henson creation.

It’s time to play America’s favorite game, “Find Something Made in the U.S.A.”! Check the clothing in your closets, check the produce in your fridge, check the toys in your child’s toybox!

The first person to find five different items labeled “Made in the U.S.A.” wins the game!

I recently bought a small generator that charges via solar panel. With weather events getting more severe each year, and my boyfriend needing a sleep apnea machine, it seemed a good idea to get a portable source of power that’s completely off the grid.

I don’t know what’s going to be happening in the near future, but I figured I’d rather have it and not need it, than need it and be unable to get it due to scarcity and potentially-dramatic price increases.

If someone asked the latter question, I’d think they’re concerned for my well-being.

If somebody asked the former question, I’d think they’re stalking me.

In this context, DV probably means “domestic violence.”

That’s supposed to be a patty?! Goddamn, I thought they put a slice of beef jerky in it or something.

I have no idea what I’m looking at here.

May Day is the perfect day to educate one’s self about the history of union suppression. If you think you see a pattern, you’re right, but the reasons for the pattern have nothing to do with the workers’ abilities and everything to do with powerful people using everything in their arsenal to prevent collective action.

Wish I could just be lazy and have the troubles go away, but that isn’t how it works.

I feel this so hard. I’ve been more active this year than ever, and it takes so much out of me to socialize. But I’ve been giving talks, canvassing, and attending protests because we really don’t have a choice anymore. This government sure as hell isn’t interested in helping anyone, so it’s all on us.

Any advice on getting your money converted to Euros? I’ve been trying to figure that out, but online searches for information are complete garbage now.

You make great points, especially the fact that people are often pushing some kind of bias. However, there definitely is a skill to determining the reliability of a source, it’s called Information Literacy. You’re also right that each person has to develop this skill for themselves.

For those who truly want to strengthen their Information Literacy, I’d recommend starting by learning to recognize various common cognitive biases and logical fallacies. Simply being familiar with how these things work gives you a leg up on identifying nonsense, even if you can’t recall the exact name of the bias or fallacy that may be occurring.

Skepticism will get you far in determining accurate from inaccurate, and it’s important to apply it universally - question everything - instead of simply applying skepticism toward things you don’t like. Similarly, be open to changing your mind when presented with new information, because the more you learn how to see through the misinformation, the more you may find the world around you is different from what you’d been told.

It is amazing to witness a nation learning from another nation’s mistake. It’s such a smart, sensible thing to do. Voters in Canada were able to identify a pattern, imagine the consequences happening to themselves, and make a decision to not do the same failed thing as the U.S.

That’s gotta be a crucial distinction between Canada and the U.S.

Here in the U.S., people ignore and downplay patterns (especially if the patterns hurt their feelings.) When pressed to explain an identical set of patterns, we’re more likely to blame whoever is experiencing the patterns for causing them than to critically analyze the cause and effect surrounding them. [Examples I’ve heard through my life: “Poor people suffer because they’re drug addicts.” “Women don’t get paid as much as men do because women are worse workers than men.” “Black people live in violent neighborhoods because they’re inherently violent.”]

Too many of us are entrenched in the propaganda-sphere; we are too arrogant, vocal, and either unwilling or unable to engage in critical thought against our zeitgeist. I imagine that if the situation were flipped and Canada had been the first to fall to fascism, the U.S. would still follow. After all, if another country messed up, it’s because they did it wrong. But we’re too special, too important, Too Big to Fail™, so we could do the exact same thing and be confident that [consequence] could never happen to us.

Lotsa shocked Pikachu faces going around these days…

“Tapping me along” made me imagine someone tapping a golf ball. Nudging it, but not making a big swing, it could be indicative of a subtle influence.

Trump may not know a lot about a lot, but he spends enough time golfing to potentially use a metaphor from it. On the other hand, I’ve never golfed (except the mini kind), so I could be way off.