For anyone who used to be a lefty but has since left that camp, what caused that change? What "redpilled" you/caused you to wake up and distance yourself from the left? My story is kind of funny. It was Lily Tino (the trans-identifying male influencer who would abuse waitstaff for misgendering him) claiming that Kurt Cobain was trans. I'm curious other people's stories. Where are you at on the political spectrum(s) now?

I notice that there's a lot of conspiracy thinking nowadays, and that that also affects how people see the Iran situation. I see such people also in the open calls. I want to raise this topic to sharpen my thinking, as I am seeing more and more how there are things that may poison someone's thinking, someone's worldview, etc. There is a lot of attention that we should have the right facts, but I think just as important is that we look through the right lens, as much as possible a clear lens without biases. And I think that is very hard for a human being, so we should always be critical of our own assumptions. I think that is one of the keys to fall less into this trap - or to be able to get out of it if you find yourself in a conspiracy rabbit hole. What I also noticed is that conspiracy thinkers claim to be 'anti-war', they are often critical about Israel and America, they are often pro-Russia, and they have a bunch of topics they like such as Kennedy assassination, chemtrails, etc. In this they talk (in Dutch) about what is behind the Iran war. They start 'strong' by talking about how the moon landing didn't happen. They mention that Alexander Dugin is an interesting figure. They say notice the "Samson" strategy, meaning that the Jews may blow up the world in a nuclear war if they do not win. It's a pretty wild conversation and my conspiracy bingo card was full after just 20 minutes! (note that this is a fringe channel in the Netherlands, these people do not represent us). I am curious how you see conspiracy thinking? How do you recognize it? Is it sometimes legitimate? What errors do these people make? Do you think that these people are affected by (foreign) propaganda? And how does this work? If you reply you can answer one or a few of my questions, no need for one person to answer them all! And perhaps that is one way to avoid sloppy thinking - not to feel obliged to know or have an opinion about everything 😉

2 - Aug. 9, 2026 Aditya Raghunath, Mon, August 3, 2026 at 6:17 PM EDT, from The Street Chevron is looking at a way to move oil out of the Middle East without ever touching the Strait of Hormuz. CEO Mike Wirth confirmed the energy behemoth is studying a cross-border pipeline concept that would carry crude north through Iraq, then on to either Syria or Turkey, before reaching the Mediterranean Sea. The idea shows how seriously the industry is treating a chokepoint that has rattled global energy markets for most of 2026. The plan surfaced during Chevron's (CVX) second-quarter earnings call on July 31, when Wirth answered a question about the company's growing footprint in Iraq. It builds on comments Wirth made weeks earlier at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, where he laid out just how exposed the world's oil supply is to a single waterway. Strait of Hormuz key for Chevron stock The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important shipping lanes on the planet. Roughly 20% of the world's oil and 20% of its liquefied natural gas typically pass through it. "The world uses in round numbers about 100 million barrels of oil a day," said Wirth, explaining the math in blunt terms at the Bernstein conference in May. "Twenty percent of that typically flows through the Strait of Hormuz," he added. When conflict disrupted the region earlier this year, that flow did not stop completely. Some barrels moved around it through the Red Sea or the port of Fujairah. But the world still lost an estimated 12 million to 13 million barrels a day of supply, according to Wirth. That kind of disruption is precisely what a new pipeline route would help avoid. The Iraq pipeline concept, explained Chevron has been deepening its relationship with Iraq's government this year. The company is advancing toward operating West Qurna 2 and Nasiriyah, two fields with massive resource potential that LUKOIL stepped away from. On the July earnings call, Wirth described a pipeline framework tied to that entry.

Another horrific act of trans violence has taken place. A 7-year-old boy named William Evans was tortured to death in Cincinnati. Beaten. Burned. Choked underwater. Bound with duct tape and left in a closet. His mother, Kaitlin Evans, and two trans-identifying males, Nessa Keaney and Kirby Rankin, lived together and acted as his “co-parents.” All three have been charged with murder. As we all know too well by now, this is not an isolated horror. Time and again we see the same pattern: males who identify as women involved in extreme violence, especially against the most vulnerable. William never stood a chance. May his sweet soul rest in peace. X: Gays Against Groomers https://x.com/againstgrmrs/status/2086615133099352257

https://youtube.com/shorts/Yabx72GTtPE?is=9v538kqdMSX9OhA9