# Random Political Thoughts **URL:** \ **Category:** Political Topics\ **Created:** [February 22, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146 "2021-02-22T15:54:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 51
**Author:** ![Maphistos\_Sidekick](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/maphistos_sidekick/32/84973_2.png) [@Maphistos\_Sidekick](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Maphistos_Sidekick)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 3:15pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1010 "2025-03-17T15:15:08Z")
One of my pet peeves is people playing audio from their phones in certain public places. So, my wife (who is on a strict news diet for mental health reasons) and I are currently sitting in a medical waiting room, and an elderly gentleman who is apparently hard of hearing just started playing audio of someone ranting about Krasnov being called a Nazi… I was watching my wife’s blood pressure rise and was about to say something when his grandson? finished check-out and scheduling, and escorted him away. ---
**Author:** ![Cooke](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/cooke/32/15467_2.png) [@Cooke](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Cooke)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 4:28am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1011 "2025-03-23T04:28:02Z")
King Charles may offer membership in the Commonwealth to the USA? Wasn’t sure whether to post this here or in the WTF thread. > **[Trump suggests US could be ‘associate member’ of British Commonwealth: ‘I...](https://nypost.com/2025/03/21/us-news/trump-suggests-us-could-be-associate-member-of-british-commonwealth-i-love-king-charles/)** > > Reports in the British press indicate an offer could be made by the monarch when Trump makes a state visit to the UK later this year. ---
**Author:** ![now\_samantha](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/now_samantha/32/24815_2.png) [@now\_samantha](https://community.goactuary.com/u/now_samantha)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1012 "2025-03-23T13:04:41Z")
Not sure where to put this but: If you want to try to get Congress to do something, congressional aides consistently say that phone calls matter. Even for reps in non-swing districts it can change their volume level. Many have said that the priority for a congress critter to listen to you is in office visits \> phone calls \> physical letters \> emails. And they don’t care how eloquent one is in a phone call, just logging which side you are on. [5calls.org](http://5calls.org) has a website and app to identify your local congress critters and help you make some calls on issues you care about. > **[5 Calls](https://5calls.org/)** > > Spend 5 minutes. Make 5 calls. Make your voice heard. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jasper07734/32/24056_2.png) [@Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Jasper07734)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1013 "2025-03-23T16:07:52Z")
uhhh, didn’t we fight a whole war so that there could be a place that was _not_ basically the same thing as Europe? ---
**Author:** ![Cooke](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/cooke/32/15467_2.png) [@Cooke](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Cooke)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1014 "2025-03-23T18:00:07Z")
Yeah but Trump likes kings ---
**Author:** ![now\_samantha](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/now_samantha/32/24815_2.png) [@now\_samantha](https://community.goactuary.com/u/now_samantha)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1015 "2025-03-24T16:18:29Z")
Maybe this belongs under studies with obvious results, but congestion pricing in NYC has worked. Fewer cars, faster busses, more use of mass transit, higher retail foot traffic and sales, etc. > **[Congestion Pricing is a Policy Miracle](https://bettercities.substack.com/p/congestion-pricing-is-a-policy-miracle)** > > Which is exactly why Trump wants to get rid of it ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Actuary](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Fish\_Actuary](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Fish_Actuary)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 4:23pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1016 "2025-03-24T16:23:34Z")
Just saw a story where some cruise lines are banning portable speakers from their private islands. ---
**Author:** ![now\_samantha](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/now_samantha/32/24815_2.png) [@now\_samantha](https://community.goactuary.com/u/now_samantha)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 1:01pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1017 "2025-03-25T13:01:53Z")
I continue to be anti-bribery, and this is clearly a kickback, but probably not a huge one on the greater scale of things: > A [company registered](https://esos.nv.gov/EntitySearch/BusinessInformation) in Nevada named 9 EDR LLC, with Christopher Garcia listed as its managing member, purchased [Vance’s home](https://realestate.alexandriava.gov/detail.php?accountno=14832500) in Alexandria, Virginia on March 14 for $1.9 million—about $170,000 over the [asking price](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9-E-Del-Ray-Ave-Alexandria-VA-22301/192127441_zpid/), according to government records and real estate listings. > > Garcia served as a political appointee in Trump’s Commerce Department from 2017 to 2018—The Washington Post reported at the time that he left after [being denied](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/four-commerce-department-appointees-lose-their-posts-after-problems-in-background-checks/2018/02/27/f96b2666-1bdb-11e8-9de1-147dd2df3829_story.html) a permanent security clearance, a report a spokesperson for Garcia told Forbes was “categorically false.” > > Garcia is now the CEO of Health Supply US, which has received $179 million in [government contracts](https://www.usaspending.gov/search/?hash=7fb1bc878c148a57491ffc6dad105090), primarily from the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security for personal protective equipment. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2025/03/24/jd-vance-house-sale-government-contractor-lobbyist-trump/](https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2025/03/24/jd-vance-house-sale-government-contractor-lobbyist-trump/) ---
**Author:** ![Maphistos\_Sidekick](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/maphistos_sidekick/32/84973_2.png) [@Maphistos\_Sidekick](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Maphistos_Sidekick)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1018 "2025-03-29T12:02:06Z")
If you’re going to a protest that might upset the government or those addicted to government funding, leave your cell phone at home, powered on: > [@](#): > > At the University of Pennsylvania last fall, someone splattered red paint on a statue honoring Benjamin Franklin, the school’s founder. > > Within hours, campus workers washed it off. But the university was eager to find the culprit. > > A pro-Palestinian group had claimed responsibility on social media. The university examined footage and identified a student’s cellphone number using data from the campus Wi-Fi near the statue at the time it was vandalized. Campus police obtained a search warrant for T-Mobile’s call records for the phone, and later a warrant to seize the phone itself. > > On Oct. 18 at 6 a.m., armed campus and city police appeared at the off-campus home of a student believed to be the phone’s owner. A neighbor said they shined lights into her bedroom window, holding guns. Then they entered the student’s apartment and seized his phone, according to a police filing. > > Months later, the student has not been charged with any crime. Gift link: [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/us/universities-students-search-warrants.html?unlocked\_article\_code=1.7k4.cQ2g.KZJUe6q6T-Sv&smid=url-share](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/us/universities-students-search-warrants.html?unlocked_article_code=1.7k4.cQ2g.KZJUe6q6T-Sv&smid=url-share) Also: > [@](#): > > University police have sometimes cited social media posts to justify their warrant requests. But the posts are constitutionally protected speech, said Zach Greenberg, a First Amendment lawyer at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech group. He said the tactics could chill free expression. ---
**Author:** ![jraven](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jraven/32/229_2.png) [@jraven](https://community.goactuary.com/u/jraven)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1019 "2025-03-29T15:00:11Z")
> [@Maphistos\_Sidekick](#): > > University police have sometimes cited social media posts to justify their warrant requests. But the posts are constitutionally protected speech, said Zach Greenberg, a First Amendment lawyer at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech group. He said the tactics could chill free expression. “You can’t prosecute them for a crime based on a public admission of guilt because it might discourage people from using their First Amendment rights to publicly admit guilt in the future.” I think FIRE needs to get itself some better lawyers… ---
**Author:** ![dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dr\_t\_non-fan](https://community.goactuary.com/u/dr_t_non-fan)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1020 "2025-03-29T21:12:19Z")
What guilty action are they stating? ---
**Author:** ![jraven](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jraven/32/229_2.png) [@jraven](https://community.goactuary.com/u/jraven)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1021 "2025-03-29T21:31:05Z")
> [@dr\_t\_non-fan](#): > > What guilty action are they stating? In this case the relevant social media post appears to be: > [@Maphistos\_Sidekick](#): > > At the University of Pennsylvania last fall, someone splattered red paint on a statue honoring Benjamin Franklin, the school’s founder. > … > A pro-Palestinian group had claimed responsibility on social media. I mean, do your thing or don’t do your thing. But if the only way to make your message clear is to subsequently announce “we did it and this is why”, then (1) your protest strategy sucks and (2) you are an idiot. Particularly so if you are then surprised when the cops come after you. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Polymath](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/the_polymath/32/83081_2.png) [@The\_Polymath](https://community.goactuary.com/u/The_Polymath)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1022 "2025-03-31T16:41:49Z")
Fantastic. Score for the good guys. She was a corrosive far right grifter than was very much aligned with Putin & Co. > **[Marine Le Pen attacks ban on French presidency run as a ‘political decision’](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/31/marine-le-pen-barred-from-running-for-french-presidency-in-2027)** > > Far-right leader, who was found guilty of embezzlement of European funds, says conviction is a ‘denial of democracy’ ---
**Author:** ![Cooke](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/cooke/32/15467_2.png) [@Cooke](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Cooke)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1023 "2025-03-31T18:51:37Z")
She may win an appeal. Surprised Trump and Vance haven’t weighed in on this “witch hunt”. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/jasper07734/32/24056_2.png) [@Jasper07734](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Jasper07734)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1024 "2025-04-01T20:07:19Z")
What’s the deal with that latest flavor of conspiracy theorist, the so-called “sovereign citizen”? When did this start being a thing? (well, seems like more of attempted thing, but still) ---
**Author:** ![now\_samantha](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/now_samantha/32/24815_2.png) [@now\_samantha](https://community.goactuary.com/u/now_samantha)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1025 "2025-04-01T20:10:14Z")
I’ve been hearing about it for a few years, I think predating the pandemic. I don’t feel like it ever got real traction, and take it about as seriously as I take flat earthers. ---
**Author:** ![ArthurItas](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/arthuritas/32/63_2.png) [@ArthurItas](https://community.goactuary.com/u/ArthurItas)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:50pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1026 "2025-04-01T20:50:04Z")
It’s been a thing here for a long time ---
**Author:** ![YankeeTripper](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/yankeetripper/32/946_2.png) [@YankeeTripper](https://community.goactuary.com/u/YankeeTripper)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1027 "2025-04-01T20:51:53Z")
So much for the Republican’s being the party of stats rights. ---
**Author:** ![Maphistos\_Sidekick](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/maphistos_sidekick/32/84973_2.png) [@Maphistos\_Sidekick](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Maphistos_Sidekick)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1028 "2025-04-01T21:29:27Z")
> **[No food or bathroom breaks: How Cory Booker is pulling off his Senate...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/01/cory-booker-trump-senate-speech-filibuster/82760608007/)** > > Cory Booker is nearing the record for the longest recorded floor speech in Senate history. > [@](#): > > And he has not left the chamber to go to the bathroom. Do I want to know…? ---
**Author:** ![Maphistos\_Sidekick](https://community.goactuary.com/user_avatar/community.goactuary.com/maphistos_sidekick/32/84973_2.png) [@Maphistos\_Sidekick](https://community.goactuary.com/u/Maphistos_Sidekick)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://community.goactuary.com/t/random-political-thoughts/2146/1029 "2025-04-02T00:14:25Z")
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