Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
@nameshiv.bsky.social
87K followers 1.8K following 46K posts
Writer, storyteller. Nebula, Hugo, Ignyte finalist. Work in @strangehorizons, @Slate, @LightspeedMag etc. http://shivramdas.net.
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nameshiv.bsky.social
4 yrs ago today, a family member managed a truly spectacular own goal, splintered his domestic bliss, & in the process, united the world for a day.

On popular request, I shall now recreate the livetweet thread from that day

So gather around children, for this is the tale of The Rice Truck Saga
nameshiv.bsky.social
the real takeaway here is even vance is on national tv saying that its totally fair to ask why trump sucks at making deals
atrupar.com
JD Vance: "We want to make sure that they skyrocketing healthcare costs of the Biden administration start to level off and hopefully come down."
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
aricohn.com
Some weirdo on Twitter has been absolutely melting down for like 36 straight hours because I posted:

When this is over, do not forget what ICE did, and what ICE is. And do not make room for them in society. Make sure they know that they are, and will continue to be, reviled and beneath contempt.
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
donmoyn.bsky.social
The merging of the omniforce is happening via different mechanisms.
First, ICE has become a black hole consuming resources from other agencies. Those agencies are being told to send their people to support ICE. For example, nearly half of FBI field agents work on immigration enforcement.
According to an analysis by the Cato Institute, more than 28,000 law enforcement officials have been sucked into performing ICE’s mission. ICE has trained or is training more than 10,500 state and local police who are part of a task force that allows them to make arrests. In addition, “one in five US marshals (650 of 3,892), one in five FBI agents (2,840 of 13,700), half of DEA agents (2,181 of 4,620), over two-thirds of the ATF (1,778 of 2,572), and nearly 90 percent of Homeland Security Investigations (6,198 of 7,100).”

More recent data suggests that these numbers are increasing, with nearly half of FBI agents in major field offices, and about one-quarter of all FBI agents, now working on immigration enforcement.
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
donmoyn.bsky.social
Military/Paramilitary forces vary in their professionalism. Some, like the FBI and DOD have high professionalism and high commitment to rule of law. Some, like ICE, don't. So Trump is purging DOD/FBI in the hope that leaders will become more like ICE.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/purge-merg...
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
sethcotlar.bsky.social
It's notable that one of the people who was invited to the White House for their "antifa round table" was Nick Sortor, a guy who has literally worked for "InfoWars." The feds are approaching the media aspects of this situation like an unabashed authoritarian state would. bsky.app/profile/opb....
opb.org
OPB @opb.org · 1d
Right-wing media influencers are now being welcomed into the federal government to promote its messages. This kind of media access shows a deepening alliance between the Trump administration and an online world willing to misrepresent facts if it means furthering political goals.
Right-wing influencers shape nation and Trump’s understanding of Portland protests
Social media personalities, conservative media outlets and the Trump administration itself are blending online content to serve the administration’s policies.
www.opb.org
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
dieworkwear.bsky.social
seems like a non-insignificant percentage of rage against the machine's fanbase are young republican men driving SUVs bopping their head to anti-oil, pro-immigrant songs thinking the lyrics are about how they wish their suburban parents would get off their back
Tom Morello tweets: "Fascinating that all those “don’t tread on me” posers and their AR-15’s are nowhere to be seen and government tyranny is instead being opposed by a guy in an inflatable frog suit."

Someone named Manny replies: "@grok
 why do some people say Tom Morello and band mates are RAGE FOR THE MACHINE and not against ?"
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
forevernever.bsky.social
Monkey D Luffy is a Christ-like figure according to the CEO of a tech company that has access to our private data.
sharonk.bsky.social
thiel, man, what the fuck are you talking about

He describes the plot of Watchmen, a 1986 graphic novel involving superheroes grappling with moral questions about humanity against the backdrop of impending nuclear war:

The antihero Ozymandias, the antichrist-type figure, is sort of an early-modern person. He believes this will be a timeless and eternal solution – eternal world peace. Moore is sort of a late-modern. In early modernity, you have ideal solutions, ‘perfect’ solutions to calculus. In late modernity, things are sort of probabilistic. And at some point, he asks Dr Manhattan whether the world government is going to last. And he says that ‘nothing lasts forever.’ So you embrace the antichrist and it still doesn’t work.

Thiel later finds biblical meaning in the manga One Piece, discussing how he believes it represents a future where an antichrist-like one-world government has repressed science. He believes that the hero, Monkey D Luffy, represents a Christlike figure.

In One Piece, you are set in a fantasy world, again sort of an alternate earth, but it’s 800 years into the reign of this one-world state. Which, as the story unfolds, gradually gets darker and darker. You sort of realize, in my interpretation, who runs the world and it’s something like the antichrist. There’s Luffy, a pirate who wears a red straw hat, sort of like Christ’s crown of thorns. And then towards the end of the story, transforms into a figure who resembles Christ in Revelation.

Thiel, along with a researcher and writer at Thiel Capital, explored these ideas at greater length in an essay for the religious journal First Things earlier this month.
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
jessnevins.bsky.social
When it comes to putting everyone who worked for ICE in front of a judge and jury, I think that show trials get a bad name.
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
rev-avocado.bsky.social
This is good, actually. This is the kind of thing we need to build a pro-court expansion majority.
leahlitman.bsky.social
More judges speak to the press (the NYT) about what a disaster the Supreme Court (specifically the shadow docket) has been - “incredibly demoralizing & troubling”; a “judicial crisis”; a “slap in the face to district courts.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...
Excerpts Excerpts
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
shivambhatt.bsky.social
Help a brother out
magic.wizards.com
Get fed AND get the new #MTGxTMNT Unbreakable Formation at our pizza food truck! Get the postcard and then visit our #NYCC booth 2641 to get your promo. (1 per person, while supplies last each day.)
A photo of a hand holding the Unbreakable Formation promo and a #MTGxTMNT post card necessary for redeeming and collecting the promo. These are held in the foreground, in front of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themed pizza food truck.
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
aphclarkson.bsky.social
If this was happening in any other country you'd have journalists and analysts discussing risks of state failure
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
coachfinstock.bsky.social
The Army isn't being paid because the President doesn't want anyone to know about his connections with Jeffrey Epstein and since Trump also dismantled the whole "protect people from fraud" part of the government it seems like this is all entirely his fault and people should write on it and say so
aphclarkson.bsky.social
If this was happening in any other country you'd have journalists and analysts discussing risks of state failure
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
davidcorn.bsky.social
A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.
nameshiv.bsky.social
The King's Singers
quietblkgrl.blacksky.app
What would be the wildest concert for a fight to break out at?
nameshiv.bsky.social
all I know is he looks like Chuck Todd's son and from the moment I saw it I have been unable to unsee it
mr beast grinning chuck todd with the same grin. it's uncanny
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
chadbourn.bsky.social
US beef prices have now reached a record high.
nameshiv.bsky.social
kinda curious to see how she does it though, sounds like something out of Grimm's
nameshiv.bsky.social
I just want to see how she does it, this is some Rumplestilskin shit
nameshiv.bsky.social
what is happening
alexjennings.bsky.social
I just watched a video where a woman shaves her head and weaves her hair into a hat and then just puts it on like she’s proud. I blame EVERYONE for this.
Reposted by Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist
gtconway.bsky.social
Is it just me, or does it seem the press is actually and completely terrified to report about Donald Trump's physical and mental health the way it would have if anyone else were president?