John Pettus
@johngpettus.bsky.social
Social venture entrepreneur. San Francisco native. Iraq veteran. Economics-trained, MBA liberal. Both more liberal and more conservative than you, in some ways. Working on improving public discourse and teaching & measuring critical thinking at scale.
Pinned
Reposted by John Pettus
Reposted by John Pettus
Wonderful obituary of Tom Stoppard by a colleague (of mine and his)
www.economist.com/obituary/202...
www.economist.com/obituary/202...
Tom Stoppard was an inexhaustible fountain of ideas
Britain’s most challenging playwright died on November 29th, aged 88
www.economist.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Wonderful obituary of Tom Stoppard by a colleague (of mine and his)
www.economist.com/obituary/202...
www.economist.com/obituary/202...
Reposted by John Pettus
"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm."
~ Aldous Huxley
The Tow Path at Argenteuil
🎨 Claude Monet (1875)
~ Aldous Huxley
The Tow Path at Argenteuil
🎨 Claude Monet (1875)
December 4, 2025 at 1:15 PM
"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm."
~ Aldous Huxley
The Tow Path at Argenteuil
🎨 Claude Monet (1875)
~ Aldous Huxley
The Tow Path at Argenteuil
🎨 Claude Monet (1875)
Reposted by John Pettus
every one of those men (mostly men) who stood around trump while he spouted off xenophobic awfulness must be asked repeatedly: do you share trump's racist views? they cannot be let off the hook. silence = complicity.
December 3, 2025 at 11:10 PM
every one of those men (mostly men) who stood around trump while he spouted off xenophobic awfulness must be asked repeatedly: do you share trump's racist views? they cannot be let off the hook. silence = complicity.
Reposted by John Pettus
Idk if this is the quintessential Onion headline but I've thought of this at least once a week for almost a decade
December 3, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Idk if this is the quintessential Onion headline but I've thought of this at least once a week for almost a decade
Reposted by John Pettus
Nailed. It.
This is the kind of man you want leading your country.
This is the kind of man you want leading your country.
December 3, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Nailed. It.
This is the kind of man you want leading your country.
This is the kind of man you want leading your country.
Reposted by John Pettus
All I want for Christmas is…..
December 4, 2025 at 3:44 AM
All I want for Christmas is…..
Reposted by John Pettus
This makes my blood run cold.
December 3, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This makes my blood run cold.
Reposted by John Pettus
The OKC Thunder already has more wins than these teams combined 🫨
December 3, 2025 at 11:01 AM
The OKC Thunder already has more wins than these teams combined 🫨
Reposted by John Pettus
In sixth grade I used the word "stolid" in a paper and my teacher marked it as a spelling error, then accused me of cheating when I tried to argue, so I like to put it into each of my books as a cute little fuck you to that lady.
December 4, 2025 at 1:41 AM
In sixth grade I used the word "stolid" in a paper and my teacher marked it as a spelling error, then accused me of cheating when I tried to argue, so I like to put it into each of my books as a cute little fuck you to that lady.
Reposted by John Pettus
Reposted by John Pettus
A new video captures masked ICE agents in unmarked vehicles swarming the mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew before hauling her away. There’s no way this was random.
December 3, 2025 at 8:47 PM
A new video captures masked ICE agents in unmarked vehicles swarming the mother of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew before hauling her away. There’s no way this was random.
Reposted by John Pettus
This is the head of the company that CNN just partnered with, insisting that prediction markets are a great way to cut through the noise and determine what’s true and what isn’t.
No, really, listen to him. It’s actually that stupid.
No, really, listen to him. It’s actually that stupid.
The co-founder of Kalshi says: " The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion."
December 3, 2025 at 11:26 PM
This is the head of the company that CNN just partnered with, insisting that prediction markets are a great way to cut through the noise and determine what’s true and what isn’t.
No, really, listen to him. It’s actually that stupid.
No, really, listen to him. It’s actually that stupid.
Reposted by John Pettus
Reposted by John Pettus
"A military that trades the Constitution for personal loyalty ceases to be American."
Pete Hegseth, Moral Failure, and the Erosion of Military Legitimacy
Congress needs to find out if any laws were broken and who is responsible.
lnk.thebulwark.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:30 AM
"A military that trades the Constitution for personal loyalty ceases to be American."
Reposted by John Pettus
*whispers*
Hey, writers.
Come here.
No, closer.
Okay, here’s a thing I always try to remember:
You can write 24 utterly straightforward words and some people will read only 18 of them, and in the wrong order.
And nothing on earth you ever do will fix that.
Hey, writers.
Come here.
No, closer.
Okay, here’s a thing I always try to remember:
You can write 24 utterly straightforward words and some people will read only 18 of them, and in the wrong order.
And nothing on earth you ever do will fix that.
December 3, 2025 at 9:30 PM
*whispers*
Hey, writers.
Come here.
No, closer.
Okay, here’s a thing I always try to remember:
You can write 24 utterly straightforward words and some people will read only 18 of them, and in the wrong order.
And nothing on earth you ever do will fix that.
Hey, writers.
Come here.
No, closer.
Okay, here’s a thing I always try to remember:
You can write 24 utterly straightforward words and some people will read only 18 of them, and in the wrong order.
And nothing on earth you ever do will fix that.
Some of these people 100% know better and very consciously choose evil.
Hegseth is definitely one of those.
Hegseth is definitely one of those.
BREAKING: WELL, WELL, WELL! Newly unearthed footage shows Pete Hegseth saying EXACTLY what the six Democrats said in their video that prompted Trump and Hegseth to hysterically smear them as traitors!
You must refuse illegal orders.
You must refuse illegal orders.
December 4, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Some of these people 100% know better and very consciously choose evil.
Hegseth is definitely one of those.
Hegseth is definitely one of those.
Reposted by John Pettus
BREAKING: WELL, WELL, WELL! Newly unearthed footage shows Pete Hegseth saying EXACTLY what the six Democrats said in their video that prompted Trump and Hegseth to hysterically smear them as traitors!
You must refuse illegal orders.
You must refuse illegal orders.
December 3, 2025 at 6:39 PM
BREAKING: WELL, WELL, WELL! Newly unearthed footage shows Pete Hegseth saying EXACTLY what the six Democrats said in their video that prompted Trump and Hegseth to hysterically smear them as traitors!
You must refuse illegal orders.
You must refuse illegal orders.
Reposted by John Pettus
This is an image taken in the North Cascades National Park this past summer. Miss that weather! #Photography #NationalPark #Washington #Nature 📷
December 4, 2025 at 3:51 AM
This is an image taken in the North Cascades National Park this past summer. Miss that weather! #Photography #NationalPark #Washington #Nature 📷
Reposted by John Pettus
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
December 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
Reposted by John Pettus
Hey America, if you were a Christian nation, you’d be feeding the poor, not yelling at them for using food stamps.
December 4, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Hey America, if you were a Christian nation, you’d be feeding the poor, not yelling at them for using food stamps.
Reposted by John Pettus
If after we blow your boat up you still float, you are a witch, so we can kill you. If you drown you are not a witch.
December 4, 2025 at 2:39 AM
If after we blow your boat up you still float, you are a witch, so we can kill you. If you drown you are not a witch.
This is literally a domestic terror organization
Commander Greg Bovino led a group of Border Patrol agents on walk around the French Quarter in New Orleans this afternoon.
December 4, 2025 at 9:26 AM
This is literally a domestic terror organization
Reposted by John Pettus
🧵 THE THREE LYING FACES OF FASCISM
How authoritarian regimes use “catechisms” to shape the mind — from Mussolini to the USSR to today’s Russia.
Authoritarian systems all teach the same lesson:
Obedience is virtue.
Doubt is betrayal.
The State is sacred.
How authoritarian regimes use “catechisms” to shape the mind — from Mussolini to the USSR to today’s Russia.
Authoritarian systems all teach the same lesson:
Obedience is virtue.
Doubt is betrayal.
The State is sacred.
December 4, 2025 at 9:11 AM
🧵 THE THREE LYING FACES OF FASCISM
How authoritarian regimes use “catechisms” to shape the mind — from Mussolini to the USSR to today’s Russia.
Authoritarian systems all teach the same lesson:
Obedience is virtue.
Doubt is betrayal.
The State is sacred.
How authoritarian regimes use “catechisms” to shape the mind — from Mussolini to the USSR to today’s Russia.
Authoritarian systems all teach the same lesson:
Obedience is virtue.
Doubt is betrayal.
The State is sacred.
Reposted by John Pettus
One of the most striking things about these ICE/BP raids is not that they’re all kitted out for war while going after people who didn’t do anything wrong and don’t pose a threat, but that they always bring a camera crew.
Commander Greg Bovino led a group of Border Patrol agents on walk around the French Quarter in New Orleans this afternoon.
December 4, 2025 at 2:32 AM
One of the most striking things about these ICE/BP raids is not that they’re all kitted out for war while going after people who didn’t do anything wrong and don’t pose a threat, but that they always bring a camera crew.