I swear if this godforsaken site has a struggle session over Greg Stoker, I am going to break my monitor I swear

    • LeninWeave [none/use name, any]@hexbear.net
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      2 months ago

      Former US soldier leftist who, unlike many prominent “leftist” veterans, actually seems to regret what he did and work to redress it. I think he’s an anarchist. He’s very active in the pro-Palestine space, he was a participant in the Global Sumud Flotilla. If you saw the photo of the guy smoking at night as an “Israeli” ship moved in the background, that’s him.

      • happybadger [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        2 months ago

        I’ve been watching his youtube podcast, Colonial Outcasts, for a while. He has consistently had good analysis of imperialism and wars. It’s nice as a day-after-something-happened podcast.

        • LeninWeave [none/use name, any]@hexbear.net
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          2 months ago

          Based, I’m talking about people like Graham Platner when I say “leftist”. Edited my comment to say “many prominent” instead of “almost all” to make that more clear.

        • mickey [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          2 months ago

          I hadn’t caught that you were former .mil, have you checked out the YT channel Autonomous Alternative? It’s ran by a woman named Kylie, she’s a trans indigenous woman who claims to have been in 82nd airborne. She doesn’t do a lot of full length videos since 2020 or so - I assume because those take a fuckton of energy to make and she wasn’t getting enough engagement to justify it, but she seems moderately active with shorts and posts. She has some good videos on kit… or I should say they seemed that way to my untrained eye, maybe you’d know better. And fun bonus, she has a 14 part series on building your own backyard aquaponics system lol.

          Edit: And this is what she had to say about Platner

          graham platner for maine senate is lying. hes known for years and years that he had a nazi totenkopf on his chest. he played it off like it was a quirky thing and other shitty people kept his secret for years.

          dont trust anyone vying for power. dont trust any vet whos not crippled by shame and doesnt beat themselves into the dirt for others to make up for their fractured humanity. If hes still blatantly lying about it and claiming ignorance, then what else is a lie…

            • mickey [he/him]@hexbear.net
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              19 days ago

              That is a great point, yeah that kind of extreme negative self talk might be motivating for a second but that is unsustainable. I wasn’t endorsing it just sharing her full post.

              Edit: She has purged her channel a bit of videos she thought were low quality, and is looking healthy and engaging more with her channel now.

          • Tips in no particular order:

            Natural pause at the bottom of your exhale breath, squeeze the trigger then. Do dry fire, a lot. In the Marines we spend about a week of dry firing for several hours a day focusing on breath control, pausing to rest our muscles and not just strong arm it, all before we ever shoot live rounds. A mantis dry fire system is the bees tits for this. For handguns, get some snap caps and blind load your magazines or cylinders with a mix of live ammo and the snap caps - this will train out your flinch response to be after the gun has actually fired. Shoot with a friend who knows their stuff and can coach you. Spring for a pro coach once in a while if you can spare the money.

            For slow fire, make yourself a shooting log book. When the gun fires, pick up a pen and mark in the book where on the target you were aiming the moment it went off, then mark where it actually hit. This can help you iron out the fundamentals, and if you know your weapon you can diagnose if something is wrong.

            Get yourself the tried and true guns (ar-15 in 5.56 NATO and a striker fired 9mm from reputable brands - if you want specific recs, just ask) don’t waste your time on chasing the latest bang wiz or coolest nostalgia trapt. And iron sights are good to train the fundamentals on, there’s nothing wrong with them. I feel as though learning on iron sights can help you build awareness of your muscle control and fundamentals a lot easier.

      • Infamousblt [any]@hexbear.net
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        2 months ago

        Ah he sounds chill then. Not sure what the struggle session would be about. Bad people are allowed to try to be good and make up for their past mistakes, it’s part of being human. We can critically support when good things happen and have nuanced takes on people when it’s required

        • manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          But comrade, he’s talking about healthcare, like I’m team hehe let the settlers die but actually, maybe have some empathy for uh, human beings

          like I dunno, maybe people with ptsd can access help and not kill their families?

          • InexplicableLunchFiend [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            2 months ago

            why would veterans be “first” and why are we using Trumpian “X First” chauvinistic language?

            I actually think the mercenaries who have been given lots of compensation by the US government already are actually last, not first, and already receive preferential treatment despite being murderers. They don’t need MORE preferential treatment in a country that worships them. The slobjob over veterans is for losers.

      • sexywheat [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        2 months ago

        Stoker is a G. His Colonial Outcast podcast on YouTube is outstanding with consistently good takes (not always, but most of the time). He has at least one recurring guest on his show (Elina Xenophontos) who is very clearly a Marxist of some sort and she delivers some of the best geopolitical analysis I’ve heard.

        Greg is a comrade through and through IMO. And like someone else in this thread mentioned, yes we should shame people that join the military, but just like Aaron Bushnell, there’s no shame in leaving it and no reason for it to permanently blackmark you if you do something better with your life.

        RIP Bushnell bushnell

      • dustcommie [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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        2 months ago

        Core Priorities:

        Veterans First

        Those who have served our country deserve our highest support—access to benefits, healthcare, and opportunities to thrive.

        lol of course

        • D61 [any]@hexbear.net
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          2 months ago

          The other three core priorities are …

          Affordable housing, affordable healthcare and no more foreign wars. That doesn’t seem so bad.

          And if I have to play the “lesser of two evils game”, having a lefty type (who openly calls the USA’s military an imperial force for evil in the world) giving the not-so-chudy veterans someone other than the openly fascist Republican party candidate or the not-so-openly fascist Democratic party candidate to vote for… probably not the worst thing in the world.

          • la_tasalana_intissari_mata [comrade/them]@hexbear.netOP
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            2 months ago

            This comment right here is the magnum opus of western leftism, nothing describes it better than “yes he was an American soldier in Afghanistan, who tells everyone about it first thing first, who proudly displays his badges, who was this close to joining the CIA, who is still in contact with active soldiers, but he wants affordable housing and healthcare”.