I actually really like everything I’ve seen out of Talarico. Hopefully he can give Christians an off ramp from Christian Nationalism, MAGA and the Republican party.

Video from one of his sermons

Hope he can turn Texas blue

That’s like saying the simple solution to global warming is for people to not burn fossil fuels. It ignores the conditions that led to this becoming a problem in the first place; and it ignores the power of entrenched industry to protect their own interest.

What we need is political reform. so that the bodies that are supposed regulate industry and serve the public are empowered to make the necessary reforms. Lina Kahn was doing just that (before Trump got elected again in 2024)

I’m not trying to diminish the importance and role of personal accountability and individual action, but as a solution to affect meaningful change it falls well short.

You can’t just buy one on the dark web because the credential is tied to a private key — you’d need the actual device or key, not just the token.

A government-issued cryptographic credential lets you prove you’re a real adult citizen without revealing your identity. It eliminates bots and foreign actors, protects children, and preserves privacy — because the government only gets involved once at enrollment, and platforms never see who you are, just a yes/no proof.

(I’m not an expert, so if anyone has input please correct)

EDIT:

The one-time government verification moment is a major privacy chokepoint. Who runs it? How is that database secured? History is not encouraging here – government identity databases get breached, misused, or quietly expanded in scope. “The government only gets involved once” is doing a lot of work

Governments need to setup a digital ID using a trustless authenticator.

Government issues a one-time verified credential (tied to real identity verification, like a passport or SSN check). You get a cryptographic token on your device. When a platform needs to know “is this a real adult citizen?”, you present a zero-knowledge proof — yes/no, nothing else. No name, no IP, no persistent identifier the platform can track. The government isn’t contacted. The platform learns nothing except the answer to their question.

I don’t see it as acting “like a teenager”. These eccentricities seem more to me as being representative of a person who knows all the rules (both formal and informal), and has decided which ones are worth breaking – whether it’s for personal comfort or if it’s for a more purposeful reason, that I can’t say.

Complaints about her demeanor remind me of people who complain about nurses with tattoos or dyed hair for being “unprofessional”. They clearly have the resume and skills for the role.

Did Picard or Janeway outlive all their friends family and comrades.

I personally have several issues with the show; but Ake’s posture is certainly not one of them – In fact I kinda like it. She’s giving me Guinan or Dr Who vibes portraying an outward silliness that hides an inner sadness and seriousness.