Pornography is used in sex education in some countries. Not very widely, and usually at the later stages and ages, but still used.

I’m not an expert in sex education, so I’ll refer you to this article as a jumping off point: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/03/teaching-porn-literacy

You might also be interested in catching up on Nina Hartley, a retired porn actress, who is also a communist and a feminist, and now an activist for sex literacy: https://thehumanist.com/magazine/september-october-2010/features/atheism-ethics-and-pornography-an-interview-with-nina-hartley/

EDIT: Just so we are clear, since I saw your edit after answering, sex education isn’t just about practicing safe sex. It’s also about dealing with sexuality emotionally. Including being able to assess sexual content (in regards to consent, morality, etc), body positivity, avoiding feelings of guilt regarding sex, sexual orientation, sexual preferences and sexual content, and identifying signs of bad sexual tendencies and helping to overcome them (e.g. linking violence and sex). In that regard, sometimes letting kids view certain porn can help to reinforce these lessons. Especially in regards to sexual orientation and preferences.

What does a safe environment mean? And why let kids experience that kind of content?

They will experience it eventually, at some point in their lives, whether as kids or as adults. Giving them a controlled way to experience these things can help them fortify themselves better against their worst consequences. It’s the same approach taken by many parents regarding cigarettes and alcohol. Warn the child against it, but if they are determined to try it, it’s better that they try it together with the parent, than alone or with friends, where they can binge, get carried away, be harmed by it, etc.

The mystique and the thrill of doing something forbidden plays a huge role in driving kids towards these things. And the adrenaline of having done something forbidden can actually reinforce the behavior and make it even more addictive. However, if there’s the option of doing whatever in a safe manner and supervised, then kids tend to not consider it so attractive anymore. It’s something to experience, sure, but there’s no longer a strong urge to over-indulge. And whoever is supervising them gets the chance to help them through certain emotions about the experience, rather than let them deal with it alone, whether it’s porn, horror, gore, violence, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.

I’m not saying let the kids experience anything willy-nilly, just because it’s futile to stop them. I’m saying let them have an option to experience it safely, with someone who is going to be able to help them comprehend its consequences. For example, with porn, it’d be helpful if they are informed about how exploitative sex work can be, how certain porn is not made with consent, or even used as sex education.

They are right in that teens will always be looking for porn, even just out of curiosity. They’ll find ways to access it, even if heavily regulated and secured. Working at a school, I can tell you I’ve seen some pretty explicit stuff on some kids’ devices. No matter what you do, you can’t prevent it, short of completely disabling access to electronics, and posting security at every venue that makes these things available.

That doesn’t mean one should be making it publicly available. Not everyone is ready for that kind of stuff.

And it’s a particularly vile argument if they are talking about pedophiliac content (depicting underage people).

But they are also not wrong when they say that it’s better to let kids experience this kind of content in a safe environment. Ideally, that should fall under parenting though. I think that when kids go about it in secrecy, they end up harming themselves emotionally and mentally.

“Imperialism: the highest stage of capitalism” by Lenin

I find it important and, for me, it was a very good first read.

But it has sections that are filled with economic data for various countries at the time (Germany, France, Britain, Russia mostly) and it can become quite heavy and involved. I could see someone, who’s not used to reading that kind of book, being put off by the sheer volume of data drops that Lenin uses. When I recommend it, I usually tell people to skip the data analysis if they aren’t interested.

I’ve heard of arrangements like this in my country. They have a legal framework however. And usually they allow the home-dweller to pay an extra fee on top (like regular rent), which goes towards buying the house at a pre-agreed price. So at the end, they end up buying the house but paying for it in doses.

I can see how it could be abused by either party though. The home-owner could take advantage of the home-dweller, and the home-dweller could avoid paying the full fees agreed, ending up screwing the home-owner who is liable for things like property tax and minimum maintenance laws. It definitely would take effort and trust to make it work.

Having a contract drawn up for this sort of thing would be ideal, but that depends on the legal framework where OP’s inherited house would be.

If you want to find a compromise between your morality and having to live under capitalism, then there’s 3 possible avenues, from easiest to most effort:

a) Keep it. As long as you aren’t landlording it’s fine. You might need it in the future for yourself or your children. You live under capitalism, you need to survive according to capitalism’s rules.

b) Sell it at a low price to someone/a family that needs it as a first home

c) Rent it to someone, but without renting it. Basically, let them stay there as long as they take care of the utility bills, taxes, maintenance, etc. You could even arrange something a bit more formal with a local charity organization that helps people in need.

Yeah, it annoys me to no end as well. I just ignore those posts but it can get grating.

DD Geopolitics, but be careful of their opinion pieces. Frequent updates. Good sources. Usually reports things earlier than others. Middle East and Ukraine-Russia.

Ukraine Watch. Measured and doesn’t exaggerate usually. Won’t post minute by minute stuff, but is good for summaries of important events each day. Ukraine-Russia, and Middle East only for important news.

Intel Slava, but also be careful of their opinion pieces. They mostly repost things from other channels, so they are good as a summary channel, but they don’t give credit usually. Frequent updates. Ukraine-Russia, but also Middle East when things heat up or makes summaries.

Rybar (English), good for regular overviews on Ukraine, opinion pieces vary in quality. Very few posts, but always accompanied with high-quality graphics showing troop movements, deployments, etc. Mostly Ukraine-Russia. Sometimes Middle East or other places.

The Simurgh - Excellent for Middle East, gathers information from other channels very well, decent opinion pieces, usually the only one who fully translates Arabic press releases (e.g. Hezbollah announcements, etc). Exclusively Middle East

Fortros Resistance - Iranian-based. Often reports how things are for them on the ground. Posting frequency varies. Exclusively Middle East and usually specifically Iran.

Generally, avoid channels that tend to advertise a lot or beg for money constantly. Those will usually also try to sensationalize as much as possible for views. Channels with low subscriber counts can be surprisingly excellent, compared to more popular ones. Don’t be afraid to test channels out and then leave.

Also, mute every channel you join. Some channels can post upwards of 100 posts per day. You don’t want 100 x “channels you’ve subscribed” notifications on your phone. That way, you also protect yourself from engagement addiction. Just go see updates when YOU want to.

Even the Lebanese army refuses to obey the government to go and disarm Hezbollah.

When Beirut’s neighborhoods were being bombed recently, the prime minister or the president (don’t remember who) came out and said that Israel is bombing military targets. While the ministry of health was frantically asking for help in clearing the rubble, and was reporting 250 civilian deaths and 1300 civilian injuries in just half a day of Israel bombing apartment complexes with bunker busters.

This is a group of traitors, imposed on Lebanon by Israel. It is a matter of time before they are overthrown.

Amazon workers have been trying to unionize, strike and pressure the company into providing more humane conditions for over 10 years now. A week of warehouse fires and they are announcing “new workplace safety measures”. Pacifism totally works comrades!

Orban is playing both sides, just like Erdogan. He doesn’t condemn Russia along with the rest of Europe, because much of Hungary’s economy still depends on Russia, and also lately on China. At the same time he provides Ukraine with fuel and electricity, while NATO bases in Hungary are used as resupplying stations for Ukrainians, and Orban himself has agreed every single European policy regarding the war in Ukraine. He regularly catches headlines as being opposed to the EU, because he always wants something in exchange for his consent. He regularly forms coalitions around Hungary that veto nearly all European policies, and then uses those vetoes as bargaining chips to negotiate himself into a better position within the EU.

He’s also a far-right anti-immigration anti-gay anti-“liberal” devout Pentecostal Christian (which plays really well with American Pentecostals), and he was one of the few non-US politicians who supported Trump’s election both times. It is very likely that he provided Trump with intelligence on how the Europeans were attempting to turn the tide for Biden/Kamala in the latest elections. It is also very likely that the US is using Orban as a Trojan horse to further weaken the EU, either by influencing/buying his vote in the EU, or by just publicly supporting him and making the other Europeans suspicious.

Also, don’t forget that Orban’s government is supported by the descendants of Nazi collaborators and also those who organized the Hungarian Uprising. Ultimately, they deeply hate the Russians, and their goal is to see an independent Hungary out of the EU, or in a very much weakened EU. Right now they are prioritizing the EU front, as they see that as a threat to sovereignty and source of immigration.

Plus release of mass in this way would cause the spacecraft to spin or veer off course. Unless multiple astronauts would poop simultaneously, in equal volumes and at equal fart thrusts, on a symmetrical axis around the hull. Due to American over-reliance on technology, I find it hard to believe that NASA would have trained for this eventuality.

A few years ago, this guy was taking part in orchestrating chemical attacks against civilians, putting women in cages hoisted over city streets, and chopping people’s heads off for disagreeing with his religious madness, all done under the blessings and protections of the West. But NOW we are going to call the international community to assume its responsibilities.

There’s reports that maybe 2 more helicopters got heavily damaged or downed. A refueling aircraft also got hit and was flashing its emergency signal. Another F15 or F16 was flying over Saudi Arabia flashing its emergency signal, then went silent. Maybe they just turned off their transponder, or they crashed.

At this point, all he wants is for a win that will make Iran stop shooting and let him declare victory in retreat.

I’m sorry I don’t have the time to make a more nuanced and sourced post, but here’s some factors:

During Soviet times:

1. The Baltic states were historically very rich and developed areas compared to their neighbours, ever since the 1600s. The major Baltic cities were heavily subsidized and developed for centuries by German and Polish-Lithuanian settlers even before they achieved prosperity. They were all built in very strategic geographic locations that enabled them to act as important centers of commerce for the whole area, linking Russia and Eastern Europe with Scandinavia and Northern Europe.

2. As a result, before their incorporation into the Soviet Union, these states had an already largely educated and specialized workforce, developed industry and established infrastructure for a more advanced economy. It was only natural that the Soviet Union leaned into these strengths. It’s also natural that further investments in such an environment would be much different in cost and effect compared to investments in a more rural and backwards states. This is an unequal reality dictated by material conditions that developed through centuries of history. I think on this point, it’s a bit unfair to judge the Soviet Union by just looking at the costs of investments, as it’s like comparing the price of building a computer with the price of building a desk. Investing in complex manufacturing industry vs investing in agricultural development are two very different things. There’s also no telling how the Soviet Union would change its policies in the future, as other areas caught up to the development of the Baltics.

3. The Baltic states were constantly exhibiting signs of secession. They had been given independence from the Russian Empire after the Revolution. Then they turned fascist before World War 2. Then they were incorporated back into the Soviet Union. Then the Soviet Union spent 10 years trying to put down various CIA-funded guerilla groups (akin to what was going on in Ukraine with the Banderite remnants). Then they started grumblings again in the 80s. There is a sense that the Soviet Union was also attempting to bribe the Baltic states into submission. This is a much fairer point to criticize the Soviet Union on, but there’s no clear indications it was actually the intention here, up until Perestroika occurred.

During dissolution:

1. The Baltic states were the first SSRs, together with Poland to start shifting to a capitalist model, even before the dissolution. They asked help from the Americans, and the Americans gave it amply and honestly. They designed functional economical instruments to facilitate the shift and they were given massive subsidies to jumpstart the free market economy.

2. Due to their small size and small population, the cost to the West for helping the Baltics was miniscule. There’s also an argument to be made that the Baltic peoples were seen as brother Europeans (don’t forget their Germanic settler roots), compared to most other former SSRs. Probably even more so than states like Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

3. This is the critical point: The West probably helped the Baltics so much as a lure for the rest of the Soviet Union. Remember that at this time, the dissolution hadn’t started yet. As is described by Jeffrey Sachs (the main economic guru brought in to facilitate shifting to capitalism in the Baltics, and later on in Russia), a year after working with the Baltics, Russia came along and asked for the same help. But this time, the US was adamantly withholding much of the resources and aid given to the Baltics, with the clear intention of causing newly-found Russia to flounder and fail as a state.

4. Also, by aiding the Baltics so much, the West gained them as loyal lapdogs for any future aggressive action against their former compatriots, especially the Russians. A similar aid was given for example to Poland and Romania, who bordered Russia. But Bulgaria and Moldova were left largely to their own devices, as their geographic location did not make them as important players against Russia as the others.

What do you mean by “less exploited”?

He’s one giant confirmation bias crossed with a scam artist. He picks the minority side on the most controversial topics and makes up a bunch of sophistries to support it. So if you are looking for someone you want to agree with, you stumble on this guy. He knows how to pace his insanity to make it sound convincing. He’ll start off grounded and sounding like a normal academic, and as time goes by he’ll start getting more and more into the bullshit. But he worked on your defenses early on, and so now you just find yourself keep agreeing with him.

I’ve sat through one of his interviews recently, out of curiosity mostly. It was an incredible ride to say the least:

• Started with how the US is getting beat by Iran

• Went on to talk about corruption in US politics

• Talked about AI being used as a tool to accelerate global warming and control the population/gather data.

• Predicted that in 5 years everyone will die as we run out of food since everybody works on AI jobs instead of farming.

• Started saying how Epstein was just a member of a larger cabal of cultists intend on bringing the end of the world because that will make them profits

• Talked about Zionist and Christian eschatology and how the rich and powerful are all in a cult, taking part in satanic rituals and corruption to create a sense of community among themselves

• We are not going to die after all, because people will rise up in revolt and countries will either turn into theocracies, or fascist ethnostates, or ultranationalist peace lovers. Somehow this will save the world because it’s the only way to care about humanity and make enough food.

I’m fully expecting Trump’s “world” mission to be composed of naval hegemons such as Kosovo, Equador and Fiji.

No Cuba, don’t talk to the beast. That’s how it enters your home.