# Random Political Thoughts **URL:** \ **Category:** Political Topics\ **Created:** [February 22, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146 "2021-02-22T15:54:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/twig93/32/527_2.png) [@twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/u/twig93)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/405 "2024-03-09T20:55:19Z")
Huh, it’s called a SOTU in Wikipedia but then has a note on the actual page about it not really being a SOTU. But the 1982 one is called his “second” SOTU. > **[State of the Union Speeches by United States Presidents - Wikisource, the...](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Portal:State_of_the_Union_Speeches_by_United_States_Presidents)** ---
**Author:** ![The\_President](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/the_president/32/70075_2.png) [@The\_President](https://community.goactuary.com/u/The_President)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/406 "2024-03-09T22:10:47Z")
Many cities in the south have very high murder rates. In general, the murder rates in “Democrat run cities” in red states are much higher than such cities in blue states. I suspect the reasons why are complex and have little to do with recent policies. I think gun availability, poverty related to historical racial zoning laws, and education are important factors and all a bit intertwined. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jasper07734/32/24056_2.png) [@Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Jasper07734)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/407 "2024-03-13T14:48:46Z")
Yesterday in work town downtown I saw a rickety older pickup truck with a US flag and a Confederate flag up in the back. 😑 Yes, you’re free to make your statement, but I don’t think you’re making the statement that you think you’re making. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Polymath](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/the_polymath/32/83081_2.png) [@The\_Polymath](https://community.goactuary.com/u/The_Polymath)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/408 "2024-03-19T14:43:48Z")
hahaha My wife & I had a good laugh over this one today. Totally deserves it. > [@](#): > > The federal police accused the former president of falsifying his Covid-19 vaccination records. Brazil Police Recommend Criminal Charges Against Bolsonaro [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/world/americas/brazil-bolsonaro-charges-covid.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.d00.SyyV.sbQ\_DOTEb169&smid=nytcore-android-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/world/americas/brazil-bolsonaro-charges-covid.html?unlocked_article_code=1.d00.SyyV.sbQ_DOTEb169&smid=nytcore-android-share) ---
**Author:** ![Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jasper07734/32/24056_2.png) [@Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Jasper07734)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/409 "2024-03-20T13:35:33Z")
What is the point of the so-called “land acknowledgement statement”? It’s not as if the person or organization making the statement is going to ever actually turn over all land and real estate to the nearest local tribal leaders. It just sounds like an empty virtue signal at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Triweasel](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/triweasel/32/159_2.png) [@Triweasel](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Triweasel)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/410 "2024-03-20T14:48:23Z")
We get one of these at the beginning of every big divisional meeting. I guess it’s a nice sentiment, but ultimately an empty gesture. ---
**Author:** ![twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/twig93/32/527_2.png) [@twig93](https://community.goactuary.com/u/twig93)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/411 "2024-03-20T16:20:02Z")
Wait, what? What happens at the beginning of every big divisional meeting? I’m not familiar with these “land acknowledgement statements”. I’m envisioning them saying something along the lines of “We acknowledge that we are holding this meeting on tribal land wrongfully seized from the ABC Nation in the year 189X. But quarterly profits are up 19.7% so you’ll all be getting bonuses in recognition of this fantastic achievement. Hopefully the tribe has used some of their casino profits to purchase stock in our company, otherwise f\*\*\* those people.” Is that the gist of it? ---
**Author:** ![Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jasper07734/32/24056_2.png) [@Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Jasper07734)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/412 "2024-03-20T16:23:28Z")
> [@twig93](#): > > Is that the gist of it? More or less ---
**Author:** ![Triweasel](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/triweasel/32/159_2.png) [@Triweasel](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Triweasel)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/413 "2024-03-20T16:50:01Z")
Mine’s at a public university so not as much talk about profitability. ---
**Author:** ![1695814](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/1695814/32/38506_2.png) [@1695814](https://community.goactuary.com/u/1695814)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/414 "2024-03-24T18:10:50Z")
Isis be like “what’s a terrorist organization got to do to get responsibility for our terror?” > **[ISIS claimed responsibility for Moscow massacre, but Putin points the finger...](https://apple.news/A73aF4segQn20B4FfgZy8gQ)** > > The Russian president suggested that Ukraine had planned to help the alleged attackers escape, a claim dismissed by Kyiv, Washington and others. > **[Will Putin try to use the Moscow massacre for his war in Ukraine?](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-moscow-attack-isis-war-ukraine-crocus-rcna144826)** > > The Russian president suggested that Ukraine had planned to help the alleged attackers escape, a claim dismissed by Kyiv, Washington and others. ---
**Author:** ![Rastiln](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/rastiln/32/77682_2.png) [@Rastiln](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Rastiln)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/415 "2024-03-24T18:23:46Z")
It’s fine, as the second article says, Putin declared total victory over ISIS in 2017. Because Putin is always right and would never lie, ISIS didn’t attack. _“Mission Accomplished”_ ---
**Author:** ![Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jasper07734/32/24056_2.png) [@Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Jasper07734)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/416 "2024-04-02T16:18:22Z")
Drove by a car with a bumper sticker that said “I’m A Proud Boy Scout” (or maybe Parent Of … the post is the same either way). I couldn’t tell if it’s supposed to be proud {boy scout} or {proud boy} scout though. 🤔 (In my town it could be either one.) ---
**Author:** ![dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/dr_t_non-fan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/417 "2024-04-02T16:30:05Z")
A person who scouts for the local Proud Boys?!? ---
**Author:** ![Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jasper07734/32/24056_2.png) [@Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Jasper07734)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/418 "2024-04-02T16:34:04Z")
lol @ local, like chapters of a society … “Proud Boys Council 423 thanks you for your support for the new separate but equal playground facilities!” ---
**Author:** ![Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jasper07734/32/24056_2.png) [@Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Jasper07734)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/419 "2024-04-21T18:50:44Z")
> **[Life Swap: American exchange students trade red, blue states to learn...](https://www.foxnews.com/media/life-swap-american-exchange-students-trade-state-learn-valuable-lesson)** > > American Exchange Project program alumni Brook Roozen and Z.J. Schwartz told Fox News about their positive experiences with traveling to different parts of the nation far from home. omg PLEASE send some blue-state kids to my town so we can expose to a broader audience just how uniquely ridiculous the locals can be here ---
**Author:** ![dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/dr_t_non-fan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/420 "2024-04-29T19:33:40Z")
Here is a scary-as-fuck crazy man with too much money and influence: > **[The Tech Baron Seeking to Purge San Francisco of “Blues”](https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat)** > > If Balaji Srinivasan is any guide, then the Silicon Valley plutocrats are definitely not OK. Here’s one of his great ideas: > Balaji then revealed his shocking ideas for a tech-governed city where citizens loyal to tech companies would form a new political tribe clad in gray t-shirts. “And if you see another Gray on the street … you do the nod,” he said, during a four-hour talk on the Moment of Zen podcast. “You’re a fellow Gray.” > > The Grays’ shirts would feature “Bitcoin or Elon or other kinds of logos … Y Combinator is a good one for the city of San Francisco in particular.” Grays would also receive special ID cards providing access to exclusive, Gray-controlled sectors of the city. In addition, the Grays would make an alliance with the police department, funding weekly “policeman’s banquets” to win them over. > > “Grays should embrace the police, okay? All-in on the police,” said Srinivasan. “What does that mean? That’s, as I said, banquets. That means every policeman’s son, daughter, wife, cousin, you know, sibling, whatever, should get a job at a tech company in security.” Huh, not brown shirts, eh? Too on-point? Oh, and a loyalty quiz: > In exchange for extra food and jobs, cops would pledge loyalty to the Grays. Srinivasan recommends asking officers a series of questions to ascertain their political leanings. For example: “Did you want to take the sign off of Elon’s building?” > Simply put, there is a _ton_ of fascist-chic cosplay involved. Once an officer joins the Grays, they get a special uniform designed by their tech overlords. The Grays will also donate heavily to police charities and “merge the Gray and police social networks.” Then, in a show of force, they’ll march through the city together. Oh, he’s also witty: > “A huge win would be a Gray Pride parade with 50,000 Grays,” said Srinivasan. “That would start to say: ‘Whose streets? Our streets!’ You have the A.I. Flying Spaghetti Monster. You have the Bitcoin parade. You have the drones flying overhead in formation… You have bubbling genetic experiments on beakers.… You have the police at the Gray Pride parade. They’re flying the Anduril drones …” > Everyone would be welcome at the Gray Pride march—everyone, that is, except the Blues. Srinivasan defines the Blue political tribe as the liberal voters he implies are responsible for the city’s problems. Blues will be banned from the Gray-controlled zones, said Balaji, unlike Republicans (“Reds”). > > “Reds should be welcomed there, and people should wear their tribal colors,” said Srinivasan, who compared his color-coded apartheid system to the Bloods vs. Crips gang rivalry. “No Blues should be welcomed there.” “If you’re not with us, you’re against us, and we will destroy you.” ---
**Author:** ![1695814](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/1695814/32/38506_2.png) [@1695814](https://community.goactuary.com/u/1695814)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 7:34pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/421 "2024-04-29T19:34:43Z")
Now, the Star-Bell Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars. ---
**Author:** ![ArthurItas](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/arthuritas/32/63_2.png) [@ArthurItas](https://community.goactuary.com/u/ArthurItas)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 7:42pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/422 "2024-04-29T19:42:13Z")
Do you think the recent university protests have been a boon to outdoor retailers that sell tents? ---
**Author:** ![dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/dr_t_non-fan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/423 "2024-04-29T19:43:24Z")
About his buddy Tan: > “Mission Local besmirches the city with unbalanced coverage that only emboldens Preston, Peskin, Chan,” he wrote in November, name-checking three of the elected officials upon whom he would later wish a “slow death.” > > Amid his drunken tweet scandal, Tan paused such attacks. He hired a public relations consultant, apologized, and ceased sending out caustic tweets—temporarily. Then, on March 29, the _Times_ published a favorable [profile](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/29/business/garry-tan-san-francisco-politics.html) of him. Written by former _Chronicle_ columnist Heather Knight, it characterized him as a “middle-of-the-road” Democrat agitating for “common sense” ideas. Tan came across as contrite and humble, a civic-minded centimillionaire who let his passion for political change get the best of him. “Mr. Tan has tried to learn from his online mess—or says he has,” wrote Knight. “In person, he speaks kindly and calmly and smiles often, frequently bowing to people while making a prayer gesture with his hands.” > What’s stunning, however, is the degree to which coverage of Tan has been quite evenhanded and fair, if not positive. The press has unquestioningly accepted the framing that he represents moderate or “common sense” politics. Not one local story has mentioned his long affiliation with Balaji or the Network State cult that is currently trying to create tech-controlled cities around the globe, and which [maintains a fascination with](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/04/inside-the-new-right-where-peter-thiel-is-placing-his-biggest-bets) an alt-right, neofascist movement known as the “[Dark Enlightenment](https://www.populismstudies.org/Vocabulary/dark-enlightenment/).” **(In 2021, Cade Metz of the _Times_ wrote that Balaji had suggested [targeting journalists](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/13/technology/slate-star-codex-rationalists.html) who mention these connections. “If things get hot, it may be interesting to sic the Dark Enlightenment audience on a single vulnerable hostile reporter to dox them and turn them inside out with hostile reporting sent to _their_ advertisers/friends/contacts,” wrote Balaji in an email viewed by the _Times_ .) In a twisted way, these omissions almost lend credence to claims that mainstream press outlets don’t tell us what’s really going on.** > > In the aftermath of Tan’s death threat tweets, both the _Chronicle_ and the _Standard_ hesitated for at least a day before publishing full stories. For a moment, it seemed unclear whether they would cover it at all. Yet despite the local media’s generally fair approach and the puffy _Times_ glow-up, Tan continues to rage against the press. Nothing less than absolute control and fealty seems acceptable to the Network State types. > > “Do not hire PR,” tweeted Balaji on April 4, days after Tan’s P.R.-wrangled _Times_ profile. “They want to ‘train’ you to talk to journos. But journos hate you! So this is an obsolete model. Instead, just hire influencers. Build your own channel. And go direct.” ---
**Author:** ![Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jasper07734/32/24056_2.png) [@Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Jasper07734)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/424 "2024-04-29T21:07:51Z")
> [@dr\_t\_non-fan](#): > > About his buddy Tan: At first I thought this said “about his Tan buddy” 😬 #thatsracist [Previous page](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146.md?page=20) [Next page](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146.md?page=22)