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String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

sfgate.com

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Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#111

This story happened in my backyard. The shootout was about 40 minutes from me but Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt were reported by a hotel clerk dressed in tactical gear and sporting firearms in a hotel a few blocks from me. Weird to see a community I followed show up so close to home and negatively like this. I always just read LW and appreciated some of the fundamentals that this group seems to have ignored. Stuff li…

What is LW?

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#112

These people? https://nypost.com/2025/01/30/us-news/killing-of-border-patr... Is the appellation in the headline, "radical vegan trans cult," a true description? > Authorities now say the guns used by Youngblut and Bauckholt are owned by a person of interest in other murders — and connected to a mysterious cult of transgender “geniuses” who follow a trans leader named Jack LaSota, also known by the alias “Ziz.” Is al…

[flagged]

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#113

This story happened in my backyard. The shootout was about 40 minutes from me but Youngblut and Felix Bauckholt were reported by a hotel clerk dressed in tactical gear and sporting firearms in a hotel a few blocks from me. Weird to see a community I followed show up so close to home and negatively like this. I always just read LW and appreciated some of the fundamentals that this group seems to have ignored. Stuff li…

What is LW?

Less Wrong

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#116
post #103
post #49

Most of the news coverage I've seen of this story is omitting what some might consider a relevant detail: almost all the members of this group are trans. This is a divisive topic, but failing to mention this makes me worry a story is pushing a particular agenda rather than trying to tell the facts. Here's what the story looks like if the trans activism is considered central to the story: https://thepostmillennial.com…

Marginalized groups seem to be a target / susceptible to this kind of thing. I had a weird encounter on reddit with some users who expressed that "only X people understand how this character in the movie feels". Interestingly, there was no indication that the movie intended this interpenetration. But the idea wasn't unusual or all that out there so I didn't think much of it. But that group showed up again and again a…

I see it mainly as a reaction to a dysfunctional and abusive system/culture, and not necessarily a constructive one.

Fix the world and these problems don't exist.

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#118

These people? https://nypost.com/2025/01/30/us-news/killing-of-border-patr... Is the appellation in the headline, "radical vegan trans cult," a true description? > Authorities now say the guns used by Youngblut and Bauckholt are owned by a person of interest in other murders — and connected to a mysterious cult of transgender “geniuses” who follow a trans leader named Jack LaSota, also known by the alias “Ziz.” Is al…

The NY Post tried to frame them as "radical leftist", but that's a big stretch. I don't think most rationalists would consider themselves leftist. The article also seems to be leaning into the current "trans panic" - pretty typical for the NYP.

Left libertarian would be more likely, I think?

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#119
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The NY Post tried to frame them as "radical leftist", but that's a big stretch. I don't think most rationalists would consider themselves leftist. The article also seems to be leaning into the current "trans panic" - pretty typical for the NYP.

> I don't think most rationalists would consider themselves leftist Yes they do. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5FqX6XBJlfOShMd3U...

liberal is not leftist

Re: String of recent killings linked to Bay Area 'Zizians'

#120
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's so much pushing an agenda, as it is avoiding a thermonuclear hot potato of modern life. If you start talking about gender identity, everyone has STRONG opinions they feel they must share. Worse, a subset of those opinions will be fairly extreme, and you're potentially exposing yourself to harassment or worse. If you sound like you're attacking trans people, that's going to end badly. If you sound l…

> If you sound like you're attacking trans people, that's going to end badly. If you sound like you're supporting them, especially as this new US administration takes off... that's going to end badly. That’s not true: 99% percent of news outlets have absolutely no fear supporting trans activism. It’s trivial to find hundreds of such cases from sfgate with a google search.

No fear yet, that may change instantly, just like it did the other way.
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