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.
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 has a website and app to identify your local congress critters and help you make some calls on issues you care about.
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.
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 in Nevada named 9 EDR LLC, with Christopher Garcia listed as its managing member, purchased Vance’s home in Alexandria, Virginia on March 14 for $1.9 million—about $170,000 over the asking price, 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 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, primarily from the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security for personal protective equipment.
“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…
In this case the relevant social media post appears to be:
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.
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)
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.
