Third Thoughts
@thirdthoughts.bsky.social
Ex-academic political scientist/theorist.🏳️⚧️ rights are human rights. Nuance > Hot Takes. Youtube vids on political history and philosophy. Em dash user from the Before Times.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThirdThoughtsYT
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThirdThoughtsYT
You can take my hyphens and em dashes from my cold, dead, robotic hands - I've been overusing them since the Before Times and will use them long after the LLMs are gone.
January 18, 2026 at 7:02 PM
You can take my hyphens and em dashes from my cold, dead, robotic hands - I've been overusing them since the Before Times and will use them long after the LLMs are gone.
Reposted by Third Thoughts
The hazards of studying genealogy @norahwoodsey.com
January 18, 2026 at 4:46 PM
The hazards of studying genealogy @norahwoodsey.com
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The median Minneapolis moderate right now is like “GET THESE CRIMINAL GHOULS OUT OF OUR CITY” and working arm-in-arm with DSA. People not from here cannot comprehend the degree of factional rancor that instantly evaporated when the men with masks showed up
January 18, 2026 at 5:09 PM
The median Minneapolis moderate right now is like “GET THESE CRIMINAL GHOULS OUT OF OUR CITY” and working arm-in-arm with DSA. People not from here cannot comprehend the degree of factional rancor that instantly evaporated when the men with masks showed up
Stancil vs. ICE has real Sam Vimes energy. #Discworld #FuckICE
"Because our Will's a damn bottle covey, dear. I know the sort. Any normal person, they crawl off if they get a beating. Or they have the sense to stay down, at least. But sometimes you get one who just won't let go... 1/3
"Because our Will's a damn bottle covey, dear. I know the sort. Any normal person, they crawl off if they get a beating. Or they have the sense to stay down, at least. But sometimes you get one who just won't let go... 1/3
January 18, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Stancil vs. ICE has real Sam Vimes energy. #Discworld #FuckICE
"Because our Will's a damn bottle covey, dear. I know the sort. Any normal person, they crawl off if they get a beating. Or they have the sense to stay down, at least. But sometimes you get one who just won't let go... 1/3
"Because our Will's a damn bottle covey, dear. I know the sort. Any normal person, they crawl off if they get a beating. Or they have the sense to stay down, at least. But sometimes you get one who just won't let go... 1/3
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So much of how the Trump administration acts can be explained by them being weak and servile bullies who cannot understand any human relationship that is not dominance-subservience. E.g., they foolishly invaded Minneapolis because if someone stronger threatened them, they’d cravenly lick his boot.
Before someone replies and points to all of the exceptions and unscrupulous things the US has done, I agree. It was never just idealism and soft power. But that is what differentiated it from prior Empires that depended on coercion. It is what the Trump admin does not understand now.
January 18, 2026 at 3:07 PM
So much of how the Trump administration acts can be explained by them being weak and servile bullies who cannot understand any human relationship that is not dominance-subservience. E.g., they foolishly invaded Minneapolis because if someone stronger threatened them, they’d cravenly lick his boot.
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Perun-o-clock: The Tanker War & Shadow Fleet - U.S. Ship Seizures, Ukrainian Attacks & Russia's Gambit
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux3b...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux3b...
The Tanker War & Shadow Fleet - U.S. Ship Seizures, Ukrainian Attacks & Russia's Gambit
YouTube video by Perun
www.youtube.com
January 18, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Perun-o-clock: The Tanker War & Shadow Fleet - U.S. Ship Seizures, Ukrainian Attacks & Russia's Gambit
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux3b...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux3b...
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The thing is women do write men badly, but in a very different way. Sadly theres no “he stopped to admire his testicles in the mirror” moments
We all know about r/menwritingwomen moments, but can anyone think of an analogous situation for women writing men? Any cases where a female author's portrayal of a male character is similarly bizarre?
January 17, 2026 at 11:59 PM
The thing is women do write men badly, but in a very different way. Sadly theres no “he stopped to admire his testicles in the mirror” moments
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@ziibiing.com made this page, which contains a lot of suggestions for where to donate and provide mutual aid in Minnesota:
crazy that the website that I randomly decided to put together at 10AM yesterday has had over 25k unique visitors in 24 hours.
please keep sharing with your networks.
please keep sharing with your networks.
Stand With Minnesota
A directory of places to give to as Minnesota defends itself from ICE occupation
www.standwithminnesota.com
January 18, 2026 at 2:49 PM
@ziibiing.com made this page, which contains a lot of suggestions for where to donate and provide mutual aid in Minnesota:
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I think an issue people have with "elections do matter" is that we maybe don't process "this action directly affects only the probability distribution; the outcome is still random" kinds of actions very well. Do the thing even if it just makes good more likely or bad less likely
Elections do matter.
This is how it’s done! @abigailspanberger.com’s first act as Governor of Virginia is to repeal Glenn Youngkin’s executive order that mandated state and local law enforcement cooperate with ICE.
More of this please! #LetFreedomRing
More of this please! #LetFreedomRing
January 18, 2026 at 6:04 AM
I think an issue people have with "elections do matter" is that we maybe don't process "this action directly affects only the probability distribution; the outcome is still random" kinds of actions very well. Do the thing even if it just makes good more likely or bad less likely
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Firm disagree. Biden/Harris kept it tighter than basically every other government in the Western hemisphere, which all got rolled in 2024. There's simply times when the tide pulls you under no matter what you do, and it's very dangerous to draw "voter sentiment is dead" from that.
It was a failure of priors, if anything. Biden did a lot of what one would expect to be rewarded under previous political regimes, including popularism. Turns out we didnt live in that world anymore & the "voters will reward you if you pass X or tolerate Y if ppl get more benefits" thesis was wrong
January 17, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Firm disagree. Biden/Harris kept it tighter than basically every other government in the Western hemisphere, which all got rolled in 2024. There's simply times when the tide pulls you under no matter what you do, and it's very dangerous to draw "voter sentiment is dead" from that.
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Here's the deal, @icegov.bsky.social: If observing your operations and alerting people about them is illegal, then you must arrest me. Because I'm doing it many hours each day.
But here's the deal, everyone else: if they DON'T arrest me, they don't have a case, and you should do what I'm doing.
But here's the deal, everyone else: if they DON'T arrest me, they don't have a case, and you should do what I'm doing.
ICE, if you're listening, please arrest Will Stancil, so he can skeet "I've been arrested!" and I can reply, "No you haven't." Look at these charts.
I’m physically following them around using my government name telling them to arrest me and they haven’t bothered to arrest me. Also half the US Attorney’s office here in MN just resigned! They do not have a case and they do not have manpower, but their only tool is trying to be menacing.
January 17, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Here's the deal, @icegov.bsky.social: If observing your operations and alerting people about them is illegal, then you must arrest me. Because I'm doing it many hours each day.
But here's the deal, everyone else: if they DON'T arrest me, they don't have a case, and you should do what I'm doing.
But here's the deal, everyone else: if they DON'T arrest me, they don't have a case, and you should do what I'm doing.
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90% of populist housing discourse is just this
January 17, 2026 at 5:26 PM
90% of populist housing discourse is just this
Its a weird feeling to get randomly jealous of the exercise helping with pain thing. I would never want Nick's condition, but it would be nice if the EDS-POTS-Migraine combo responded well to exercise.
What’s really fun about my hardware is that the work out bug is the only known solution for trigeminal neuralgia pain.
Rolling around on the bed in agony? Face on fire? That’s right! Drive to the gym. Get your ass moving.
Rolling around on the bed in agony? Face on fire? That’s right! Drive to the gym. Get your ass moving.
discovered a pretty critical coding error in The Human Body where sometimes the way to feel better when you feel too bad to work out is to work out. this is suboptimal for user experience of The Human Body
January 17, 2026 at 6:48 AM
Its a weird feeling to get randomly jealous of the exercise helping with pain thing. I would never want Nick's condition, but it would be nice if the EDS-POTS-Migraine combo responded well to exercise.
If you want to actually learn about Jewish history, Aronow's channel is a great place to start. Detailed and also highly approachable.
January 17, 2026 at 6:40 AM
If you want to actually learn about Jewish history, Aronow's channel is a great place to start. Detailed and also highly approachable.
Block the shit out of any "journalists" that'd this crap. There are professional norms and you don't get a pass on them to chase clout.
extremely cool info environment to tweet something and a half hour later once it’s riled everyone up to be like “no haha jk it’s the opposite actually”
January 16, 2026 at 11:48 PM
Block the shit out of any "journalists" that'd this crap. There are professional norms and you don't get a pass on them to chase clout.
Sounds like a skill issue tbh. How did you not notice the bag was heavy and had a big lump in it?
Also this is the most relatable manufacturing error ever. Although also a skill issue for whoever was doing QC that day...
Also this is the most relatable manufacturing error ever. Although also a skill issue for whoever was doing QC that day...
Got my first bag of potato chips in months. Cracked it open. The first chip out of the bag was... soggy?
The second chip was almost fungal.
Baffled, I explored the bag and discovered AN ENTIRE POTATO. Unsliced, brined, like a wad of seasoning juice. It had survived, and now was juicing the chips.
The second chip was almost fungal.
Baffled, I explored the bag and discovered AN ENTIRE POTATO. Unsliced, brined, like a wad of seasoning juice. It had survived, and now was juicing the chips.
January 16, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Sounds like a skill issue tbh. How did you not notice the bag was heavy and had a big lump in it?
Also this is the most relatable manufacturing error ever. Although also a skill issue for whoever was doing QC that day...
Also this is the most relatable manufacturing error ever. Although also a skill issue for whoever was doing QC that day...
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Minneapolis Parks and Recreation has canceled youth sports because ICE is terrorizing our community
January 16, 2026 at 12:53 AM
Minneapolis Parks and Recreation has canceled youth sports because ICE is terrorizing our community
Maybe a hot take, but does anyone else - ideally in the queer community - find a strong insistence on non-standard pronouns to be correlated with unserious and generally annoying people?
It seems like there are a lot of people in that group who pretend to be smol beans but are actually quite toxic.
It seems like there are a lot of people in that group who pretend to be smol beans but are actually quite toxic.
January 16, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Maybe a hot take, but does anyone else - ideally in the queer community - find a strong insistence on non-standard pronouns to be correlated with unserious and generally annoying people?
It seems like there are a lot of people in that group who pretend to be smol beans but are actually quite toxic.
It seems like there are a lot of people in that group who pretend to be smol beans but are actually quite toxic.
This is accurate and any serious military historian will confirm. Same with the good milhistory youtube channels - The Chieftain, for example, harps on the Sherman and both comfort and reliable repairs as key factors in why US tanks outperformed German ones.
the professional managerial class beat the Nazis and I’m tired of pretending we didn’t
January 16, 2026 at 6:37 PM
This is accurate and any serious military historian will confirm. Same with the good milhistory youtube channels - The Chieftain, for example, harps on the Sherman and both comfort and reliable repairs as key factors in why US tanks outperformed German ones.
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Tyranny needs a euphemism, a way for the complicit to pretend they are doing something besides prostrating themselves in terror, and this admin resents that.
January 16, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Tyranny needs a euphemism, a way for the complicit to pretend they are doing something besides prostrating themselves in terror, and this admin resents that.
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ICE is younger than my blog
ICE is younger than my email address
ICE is younger than at least one of my ukuleles
ICE is younger than my email address
ICE is younger than at least one of my ukuleles
I'm just going to point out that ICE is about 23 years old. It was formed as part of the response to 9/11 and was reactionary, performative, and racist from the start.
Its not eternal. This is not a thousand-year Reich.
Its not eternal. This is not a thousand-year Reich.
January 16, 2026 at 3:09 PM
ICE is younger than my blog
ICE is younger than my email address
ICE is younger than at least one of my ukuleles
ICE is younger than my email address
ICE is younger than at least one of my ukuleles
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I'm sorry sir. there is no way to push poll our way out of this one
Remarkable: David Shor's firm is circulating a memo among Dems that finds footage of ICE shooting significantly drives up Trump's disapproval. I obtained the memo here.
It also finds broad support for Dem plans to rein in ICE. If even Shor's firm is finding this...
newrepublic.com/article/2052...
It also finds broad support for Dem plans to rein in ICE. If even Shor's firm is finding this...
newrepublic.com/article/2052...
January 14, 2026 at 7:28 PM
I'm sorry sir. there is no way to push poll our way out of this one
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unsympathetic and illegal are actual criminals it takes actual police work to find, findable and illegal are the people jus trying to make a normal living, unsympathetic and findable often have *some* kind of ambiguous legal status you need to actually take to court. there's no EZ-deport button.
January 15, 2026 at 9:58 PM
unsympathetic and illegal are actual criminals it takes actual police work to find, findable and illegal are the people jus trying to make a normal living, unsympathetic and findable often have *some* kind of ambiguous legal status you need to actually take to court. there's no EZ-deport button.
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is your country descending into lawless authoritarian anarchy? feeling helpless and overwhelmed? make sure to keep your focus on the real enemy: people with slightly different opinions about how the opposition party should word it's messaging.
January 15, 2026 at 11:31 PM
is your country descending into lawless authoritarian anarchy? feeling helpless and overwhelmed? make sure to keep your focus on the real enemy: people with slightly different opinions about how the opposition party should word it's messaging.
I've had this thought, but I think impulsivity and lack of emotional self-regulation are by far the bigger concerns. It might be that women's socialization tends towards better self-regulation, but I'd have to see a really convincing study to be convinced it was significant.
Alternatively, masculinity is the problem but not men.
gotta say, the extremely bad sexual behavior by a number of women in positions of power recently is making me feel somewhat better about the thesis that power is the problem, not masculinity
January 15, 2026 at 9:44 PM
I've had this thought, but I think impulsivity and lack of emotional self-regulation are by far the bigger concerns. It might be that women's socialization tends towards better self-regulation, but I'd have to see a really convincing study to be convinced it was significant.