Thread by @tfine

1/ A lot of people -- especially my dwindling 'normie' followers -- are confused about this account's purpose and about my intentions related to politics and NFTs. So let me explain.

2/ I went to Harvard University and studied Government under Samuel P. Huntington, whom I was an assistant of for almost 3 years. Whatever you want to say about him, he dedicated his life -- with his friends Zbigniew Brzezinski and Henry Kissinger -- to serve the American people.

3/ At a time of scientific positivism+behavioralism in the social sciences, these three thinkers embraced a level of idealism through their teachers Louis Hartz, William Yandell Elliott, and Carl Friedrich. @nfergus

Ideas mattered in the Cold War, as did the attitudes of elites.

4/ After September 11, I was disgusted with the Iraq War, as was Huntington. I was also disgusted as the American government transparently responded by backing an epic bubble in mortgage-backed securities that furthered economic inequality. I resolved not to join the government.

5/ Instead, I wandered in the dark for a few years until I found the writings of Arab-American writer Ameen Rihani (1876-1940), especially his novel The Book of Khalid (1911), in the Rose Reading Room of the New York Public Library (@nypl).

6/ I discovered that Rihani, at another time of great turmoil involving the West and the Middle East, essentially started his own personal foreign policy and diplomacy, through his writings in English and Arabic, and his meeting with Arabian leaders and kings.

7/ Through various efforts--"Project Khalid," "Save Washington Street," the "Washington Street Historical Society," and the "Washington Street Advocacy Group"--I tried to channel Rihani and create vehicles of cross-cultural education+cultural diplomacy.

web.archive.org/web/2013061416…

8/ Most of all I was alarmed at how talk radio and right-wing cable news were often making genocidal statements after September 11, like "we should nuke the Middle East and turn it into glass."

Having Jewish ancestry, I say #NeverAgain!

9/ My goals built on each other: organize a centennial campaign in 2011 for the first Arab-American novel, cultural diplomacy w/ @StateDept in the Gulf, protect the heritage of Little Syria in Manhattan, and install monuments to the Arab writers of NYC.

thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/…

10/ However, I was shocked at how the mayoral administrations of both @MikeBloomberg and @BilldeBlasio failed to take this Arab-American cultural advocacy seriously. 20 years later, Little Syria is not protected and the planned monument for the Mahjar writers remains unbuilt.

11/ Hence my advocacy became more frustrated+aggressive, shifting to criticism of NYC's public art and cultural programs, especially in the area of monuments, as well as the @Sept11Memorial. I have dealt with many concerns, which you can read about here: washingtonstreet.group.

12/ One issue of advocacy is support for artist Kristen Visbal who created Fearless Girl and owns the copyright, yet is being abused by a huge company in @StateStreet and @StateStreetGA. In fact, she is still being abused by the @NYCMayor office and Deputy Mayor @MTorresSpringer.

13/ Ms. Visbal has accumulated $3M dollars fighting an absolutely disgusting company in @StateStreetGA, which is using lobby group @kasirernyc to destroy NYC public art rules in order to harm an artist. I will do anything to help my friend.

hyperallergic.com/704481/new-yor…

14/ One thing she wanted to do was explore NFTs as a way to recoup her legal fees, which have bankrupted her, even after creating an iconic work of art. I am a lifelong hacker and so we went to @NFT_NYC together to explore the scene.

15/ In order to recoup the cost of the expensive ticket, I wrote an article about my NFT experience for NYC-based publication @hyperallergic run by @veken and @hrag:

However, I realized that much more critical writings on NFTs were needed.
hyperallergic.com/745115/crypto-…

16/ I realized though that gonzo journalism, inspired by Hunter S. Thompson and people like @waveninja1, was the only way to understand the degen culture of NFT.

Here is my degen gonzo wallet: 0xb2a6154e899f09c0bd08D10A01E859d16D4BcB3F
etherscan.io/address/0xb2a6…

17/ It became clear to me eventually that the NFT market was largely fake, many people had been harmed by sophisticated scams, and that the culture was very dark and manipulative, even fascist.

Should I need to say anything more than SBF and so-called "Effective Altruism"?

18/ By far the most disgusting thing in NFTs and crypto however is a company called @yugalabs, which sells racist monkey pictures under @BoredApeYC and which is directly named after the fascist concept of Kali Yuga expressed by SS-affiliate Julius Evola:
docs.google.com/document/d/1cw…

19/ I learned that @yugalabs had sued an NYC-artist named @ryder_ripps over his research into the fascist influences and backgrounds of company founders and friends Wylie Aronow, Greg Solano, and Manuel Marrero.

20/ For the last 8 months, I have been tweeting about this matter, arguing that the NFT scene cannot advance until it is put to bed and @yugalabs is shut down. They are facing @SECGov investigations and class action lawsuits, but the NFT scene -- disgustingly -- still funds them.

21/ Hence, a month ago, I pitched the prominent cryptocurrency publication @CoinDesk an article about the @ryder_ripps and @Pauly0x lawsuit, and about the strong credibility of the allegations @yugalabs was influenced by a writer named Julius Evola (1898-1974).

22/ After working with 2 editors for 2 weeks my piece was published on January 31. It did well and there were ZERO complaints about accuracy. Still, @yugalabs threatened to sue @CoinDesk and they cowardly deleted a piece that went through their OWN system: dailydot.com/debug/coindesk…

23/ With "cryptojournalism" a total and corrupt joke (See: "@TheBlock__ and FTX), I knew there was no way to get this piece out again, so, in two angry days, I made my own NFT collection which parodied the disgusting situation called #AntiFascistJokingClub.

24/ For the last three weeks, admittedly, I have been furious, angry at @GaryGensler, @SDNYnews, and @POTUS for not attacking a growing online+web3 fascism fueled by Silicon Valley billionaires like Peter Thiel, Marc Andreesen, and Elon Musk. @SBF_FTX is a sign of deeper problems

25/ I have a lot more to say, but it condenses into this:

Fascism inspired especially by Julius Evola and "BAP" has become a greater threat to the American republic than many assume.

@POTUS needs to act immediately with raids+mass arrests, or the 2024 election could be violent.