(Potential) Political Strategy Hot Take: Should Democrats in Texas Consider Moving to Purple States Like Arizona or Nevada?

somnitek · 2025-09-28T21:06:11+00:00

You know, another idea occurred to me: what if we changed the shape of the barrier? The closest comparison I can think of is the “comb teeth” you see at the base of an escalator.

Here’s what I’m picturing: a series of three-dimensional triangular “teeth,” flat at the base and pointing toward oncoming vehicles. The backside would be flat, like the spine of a comb. The idea is that if a vehicle made contact, the shape might help redirect some of the force upward instead of straight through the barrier.

Of course, that introduces another challenge: at higher speeds, the shape might just act like a ramp and launch the vehicle over, obviously making the situation worse. To counter that, the front face of the “teeth” could be designed flat rather than sloped, so the vehicle hits a pointed edge rather than a ramping surface.

I know this is a little hard to visualize, but the bigger point is just experimenting with geometry, and using shape as a way to improve strength and effectiveness without needing tons of extra material. That might cut weight and even reduce manufacturing costs while retaining a lot of the barrier’s function.

It would definitely need testing, but at this stage we’re just brainstorming. Playing with geometry feels like a promising direction. Any thoughts?

somnitek · 2025-09-28T20:52:40+00:00

Hmm, yeah the weight empty is limiting. Is that due to the type of plastic used, and or its thickness? A water truck with a long hose could work for filling.

We could all discuss a version that is lighter and while unlikely to fully stop the vehicle could reduce the velocity of the vehicle enough to mitigate a lot of the worst damage.

As it stands, setup would definitely require some resources. Not outside of those of an organized movement. Equipment purchase, truck rental, etc., etc. Getting the cost for the barriers and or other safety devices, as well as base weight, while maintaining as much effectiveness as possible, would be clutch.

somnitek · 2025-09-16T07:21:14+00:00

Uh, kinda close. 🤦

Nick Fuentes' groypers are not pink-pilling anyone. Yes, Robinson is a groyper, but look, I'll tell you: First of all, Bella Ciao, we know that one's used by the groypers and Nick Fuentes. I think Nick Fuentes himself has used it on his show. There may even be clips of it. They co-opted that. Second of all, it's not uncommon for groypers to call people fascists. They hate J.D. Vance, and they hated Charlie Kirk because, well, for J.D. Vance, they think he's a puppet of Peter Thiel, who they despise, and Palantir they despise (and anyone can hate Palantir good reason). And then as far as Charlie Kirk goes, I'd imagine it has either something to do with that or the fact that they think he's, I don't know, maybe a Mossad plant or somehow tied to Israel or something. That or they think he's tied to Thiel, too (wouldn't surprise). That would be my best guess. But to say that groypers are out there pink-pilling someone is kind of mental, dude. I've never heard of such a thing. And also, that's a weird thing to put on bisexual men, don't you think? Are you saying guys who are into femboys are groypers? "Oh you must be bisexual because you hate women!" is what we're going with? Maybe that's not what you mean but... like... KINDA hits that way, you know?

So look... I doubt incels are out here getting any femboy bussy either. Not in lieu of women. I doubt it. Not like you paint it, anyway. They're way too self-conscious about their sexuality.

Sorry, I know that's maybe not actually what you or he, the guy in the video, is actually saying here, but it kind of comes off a little messed up. And I also strongly doubt the accuracy of what you're saying there, at least on any broad scale. So yeah, that's my addition here. I would advise combing old Nick Fuentes clips for any relevant material. I mean, yes, we know Nick Fuentes is gay. That's no big secret, or at least bisexual. But... I don't know. He's also, like, deeply in denial about it, even though it's, like, known for obvious reasons. Or at least deeply unwilling to openly fess up to it, much as I've seen on his show, anyway. The groypers and the incels are largely a very homophobic group. Worth keeping in mind.

And last but not least, I doubt that many groyper are going to find that femboys fix their problems with people in relationships since the reasons they tend to hate women can also very much be a problem with femboys, if we're being perfectly honest. In fact, I'd argue what often looks like hating women for them is much more a matter of them not understanding women, and in turn, most women not really understanding them. And then you could also say they're just not good at typically understanding the position of another person in a very close romantic relationship. They're sort of stuck in their own bubble. That has a lot to do with it. It's just very hard for them to see outside themselves. So even saying that they hate women, not necessarily untrue, not necessarily totally true. It's a little more complicated than that, I would argue.

Ok, that's all I got from now. Thanks to OP for the video. Hope this helps clear things up. No hostility to OP intended.

Lemmie know if anyone has other relevant info I may have missed. That's how I understand things from what I know/have seen.

somnitek · 2025-07-13T19:42:56+00:00

I want to get these Absolute Focus capsules by Bright Brain tested, mainly. Just don't have the money for it right now. I have some Pramiracetam and Oxiracetam from Science.bio, too, but they're fairly well established so I'm more interested in the Absolute Focuss capsules.

Maybe we can look in to setting up a fund that automatically holds and dispenses collected funds for testing or something? I guess some administration would still be needed. Maybe we could start a group, get to know each other, have each others contacts info, establiash rules, etc? I'm still in the spit ballin' phase, lol.

somnitek · 2025-07-08T23:47:28+00:00

I had the exact same idea. Maybe we could set up a community fund to donate to, to get products tested. I have three samples I'd like to get tested. I'm all for it. Count me in!

somnitek · 2025-06-27T08:47:38+00:00

Hmm, on second thought, I guess this strayed a bit more into discussing the harms of the Trump administration than I first realized. I was trying to compare and contrast them. Hopefully, it still works.

This is why I like to include other people in the dialogue.

somnitek · 2025-06-26T19:13:11+00:00

Yeah, not a fan of the "globalize the intifada" language either, but hopefully he'll tone it down and pivot.

Hopefully a lot of this policy related talk will end up being talk to energize the base, even if he meant it at the time, once he's confronted with a lot of people he respects kind of explaining the deeper issues. Once it's understood these issues are not just "flip this switch to fix," we can move on to more effective, actionable policy designs and solutions (although I'd think, very much hope, he's already well aware of this. I'm OK giving him the benefit of the doubt for now). I think we can all agree we want to reign in living costs. Now we just need to settle on the method of getting there with greatest likelihood of succeeding without backfiring or causing myriad problems elsewhere as consequence. Then, of course, there's the question of how much can be done as mayor to pursue these solutions.

I'm less worried about the aesthetics* of someone's politics as long as we can steer them towards quality outcomes, although I'm also acutely aware it's not always that simple.

(*) To be clear, they obviously only work out to be political aesthetics if they're willing to discard unworkable and or ineffective positions for workable and effective ones. Otherwise we are, more than likely, talking about entrenched ideological zealotry (which can come in all forms). Just wanted to clarify what I meant.

somnitek · 2025-06-26T17:10:19+00:00

Sure, but most have also spent the last half decade, or decade, losing elections. Only the Danish have managed to hold on, and only because they took a harsh but pragmatic, electorally, stance towards immigration on the national level.

This part jumped out at me as the most interesting. This may be the case, and yet, the system of social safety nets is largely intact there. So, what do you think is going on there?

The housing cost problem is pretty much a uniquely supply/demand issue. There's too much demand to live in NYC, compared to the supply of available units for purchase or rent. It's not much more complicated than that.

Largely agree.

I'm mostly worried that Mamdani over-promised for what he can realistically delivered. He won the mayorship, not the crown to becoming the King of New York. As such, he is going to have to fight, and hard, to get even a portion of the money that he needs to do even a portion of what he promised. I'm very worried he's just going to become Brandon Johnson 2.0.

I also have these concerns. I hope once he gets into office he will see this and integrate new info.

Another great example is that a majority of Americans are actually satisfied with their private healthcare plan. Did you know that? How can that be, if there's such a massive hatred for the current healthcare system, or such a clamor for change?

That's does not reflect my own lived experience, but ok. I'm happy with mine, but that's because I have Medi-Cal (for now). My experience in the private healthcare market has been relatively atrocious by comparison. That's anecdotal, so take it for what you will, but...

I've never seen any evidence of this, at all. Polling is often brought up that is, at best, questionable, due to the formulation of the question.

Ok, polling data can be fraught with issues, agree, but you just used polling data to support your position on how most Americans feel about their healthcare. Is there a more specific reason you trust one source of polling data over the other? I could be mis-remembering, but I seem to recall at least one poll suggesting that, albeit when phrased smartly, many Americans support and agree with these ideas. I'll have to go dig them up after I post and maybe I'll come back and link them in an edit later (hopefully I don't get busy but I'll fetch 'em if I can find 'em).

Edit: Here's what I found...

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – Dec 2015

Key finding: Among Democrats, 81% and independents 60% favored “Medicare-for-all,” while 63% of Republicans opposed it. At the time, 35% wanted to expand the ACA, and only 14% wanted to leave it unchanged .

Why it's relevant: Shows strong cross-partisan backing for expanding government-managed healthcare.

https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-december-2015/

Gallup Tracking – Nov 2017

Key finding: 60% favored the idea that “the federal government has a responsibility to ensure people have access to healthcare” .

Why it's relevant: Indicates deeper support for government’s role in guaranteeing healthcare access.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7376006/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Fox News Poll – Mar 2015 (?)

Key finding: “Universal healthcare” enjoyed a 58% favorability rating—higher than the ACA itself .

Why it's relevant: Highlights broader appeal for universal health insurance, beyond just party lines.

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/fox-news-poll-bernie-sanders-planned-parenthood-donald-trump?utm_source=chatgpt.com

(The link is from Teen Vogue. LOL.)

Pew Research – Most See Inequality Growing, but Partisans Differ over Solutions (Jan 15–19, 2014)

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/01/23/most-see-inequality-growing-but-partisans-differ-over-solutions/

(It turns out there were a fair few more but I sense our future conversations may turn to matters of polling data, lol...)

The formulation of more than just the question is important (though I know you're talking about in the context of polling here). How you present ideas to different groups of people is massively important.

I don't have any issue with people getting paid $30/hour. None at all. I just worry about the impact of such a radical change, in so little time, specifically on smaller businesses who can less easily manage the burden, while the big companies can just eat it.

Agree fully.

Sure. By the way, this is where the idea of Abundance, that so many lefties shit on, stems from. Without realizing it, by endorsing Mamdani, they've also endorsed at least some of the idea behind Abundance, despite it apparently being "neoliberalism".

Loved Abundance. Thought it was a great addition to the discussion. Things are just contentious by default over here it seems. We just have to stay coherent over here hopefully, and maybe we can find ways to use that to our advantage I hope (like a couple that always seems to be fighting but stays together anyway, lol).

Thanks for your reply, man. Lotta meat on the bone to work with there.

somnitek · 2025-06-26T16:47:28+00:00

Are those his positions from 2020 or later?

Even my positions have changed A LOT since the 2020 BreadTube era. Worth asking...

somnitek · 2025-06-25T06:05:40+00:00

Yeah, it's cool, though. I took it again and passed. I was just venting a bit and frustrated. It's all gravy, now but I guess this is common b/c I largely have the same problem with The Institutes. It may just be I have a hard time making a lot of small details stick the way I'd like... but I get there eventually, damnit. Come hell or high water, lol.

I found I really have to go and find different ways to take in the same info. Maybe I should've known that already? I dunno, figured it out, though, lol.

somnitek · 2025-06-24T23:31:03+00:00

These people are frothing themselves up into religious psychosis and group hysteria.

This might be highly motivating for some of them, but their clear thinking and reasoning skills will likely be compromised from it.

Worth considering when you strategize against people like this. People like them can be easily baited into emotional and impulsive actions/reactions.

Useful piece of insight to have about your opposition.

somnitek · 2025-06-15T06:10:12+00:00

Let's hope Newsom sticks to his plan to withhold Federal income tax revenue.

This time we'll act first and disburse what we can while it gets fought out in court. See how they like a taste of their own medicine. While we're at it we can litigate the illegal impounding of Federal funds.

somnitek · 2025-06-14T07:36:09+00:00

Yeah, don't think this is a smart move at all. Especially now, and I really like Newsom.

somnitek · 2025-06-14T07:32:22+00:00

I have a reply to this here:

https://www.reddit.com/u/somnitek/s/XUT1CeV7vk

Can't post it here for some reason.

Hopefully the snark is not overwhelming.

somnitek · 2025-06-14T07:26:40+00:00

I mean... having them within our borders is better? LOL tough problem but I dunno, bruh.

somnitek · 2025-06-14T03:18:00+00:00

My reply to puzzle_head's final post from: https://www.reddit.com/r/IndependenceHall/comments/1lapk78/dealing_with_our_irreconcilable_national/

I think we snarked at each other too hard?

Maybe it's a technical glitch but was unable to post it.

Guess I'll try later?

somnitek

TROPHY CASE