Why I wrote it now: It started with the idea of bringing up things in your daily conversations you have that help make the world better which takes very little of your time but can spur good ideas and help advance good causes. Then I as I was thinking about what are some things one can say one of the things I realized is it’s important to ask everyone you know (who will care) about voting because Republicans are continuing to attack voting rights so we need to defend against that now by perhaps preparing documentation to pass whatever new legislation gets enacted. It’s a preemptive measure. Also I didn’t have an account here before the election. Of course if I had a time machine I would do everything I could to spread this message but I must focus on the future.

Also this for sure won’t be the last time I mention this. As local elections get closer I will try to bring this up again. I hope you’ll join me in reminding as many people as possible everywhere that it’s important to vote and to be prepared to vote ahead of time.

Are you sure? https://web.archive.org/web/20220216105516/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EZ202WNUwAAR7YS.jpg

No.

I just read an argument today about not focusing on every little thing Trump says and instead coming in when there’s going to be real negative repercussions. The reason why is because when journalists repeat the lies of Trump, people even those who are clearly against Trump may accidentally internalize one of his lies through no fault of their own.

Reading that makes me very happy! I try tell people this whenever I can: there’s hope everywhere in America, no matter how red a state is now it can become blue one day. I was a Trump supporter myself and changed, other people can too! Think about all the people in Alabama who bought that shirt. If they banded together they could change Alabama for the better. Things won’t be instant but perhaps they get a better mayor elected, then a better state representative then send someone better to the House, then one day a better Senator. If we try and work together it can happen!

When I was a Republican I saw this talking point come up a lot and sadly I used to buy into it. Basically GOPers attack RATM by claiming they are actually part of the machine and justify their argument by saying other people such as outspoken actors in Hollywood have the same politics and that they charge high ticket prices and use services such as Ticketmaster, perform at large venues and associated with Sony Music (through Epic Records).

Reflecting on this it’s not a good argument. In life things are not perfect so while they may be doing things like using Ticketmaster they are still doing a lot of good things and working towards a more fair and equitable society, perhaps one day in part due to their music motivating and encouraging people to elect more progressive people Ticketmaster will be regulated or broken up.

It’s surprising to me to see the same talking points I’m familiar with come not from the right but come from the left because you and RATM likely have a lot in common when it comes to political stances. For example I’m sure you and RATM are both against police brutality. Even if Sony manufactures RATM’s CDs isn’t it a lot better that someone has RATM playing in their car instead of whatever right wing talk show trash is playing on Clear Channel-owned stations (now called iheartmedia)?

I know right! The band didn’t start getting political until 1991.

The 2025 version of will you shut up, man.

It was Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic that got me started questing things, the rise of the anti-vax among his supporters and the violence that happened after the election. Then over the four years I started to change my mind about more and more things and repeatably realized I was wrong.

Did you read the article closely? She was paid Clarence Thomas style to go to Syria for a trip.

This is a fantastic article! Today we saw how powerful #8 is when Mariann Edgar Budde asked Trump to be a decent human being.

8. Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

I’m a former Trump supporter. I will never support Republicans or MAGA ever again after all they’ve done. So I’ve aged but I’ve become more progressive and open minded, not more conservative.

You can be a coffee achiever
You can sit around the house and watch Leave It to Beaver
The future's up to you
So what you gonna do?
Dare to be stupid, dare to be stupid

Yes, and automatically follow JD Vance and Trump. Totally a bug /s

There’s a typo in his post. He said “say up” instead of “stay up”.

That’s a really important point! I didn’t think of that but I know Snopes does that. I updated the post to mention your suggestion.

So I’m an American and we have lots and lots of problems with money in politics but when I read this I was shocked:

The Reform UK party, a 2021 rename of the Brexit Party,[207] is a limited company (Reform UK Party Limited)[208] with fifteen shares. Farage owned 53% of the shares in the company, giving him a controlling majority. The other shareholders were Tice, who holds about a third, and Chief Executive Paul Oakden and Party Treasurer Mehrtash A’Zami who each held less than one percent.[209] In August 2024 Paul Oakden was removed and Farage took over his shares, giving him 60% ownership.[210] Reform UK is unusual in that British political parties are usually not corporate entities, but unincorporated associations comprising a leadership and a membership; Reform’s paying supporters have no voting powers.[208]

I guess at-least they are honest it’s a grift whereas here in the US the organizations are registered as non-profits. So does Farage directly make money from his corporation?

Yes, it’s DARVO (deny, attack, and reverse victim & offender): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARVO

It’s not just because the car doesn’t know where you’re going. It’s an intentional lie that Elon Musk specifically ordered. From the article:

The directive to present the optimistic range estimates came from Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, this person said.

“Elon wanted to show good range numbers when fully charged,” the person said, adding: “When you buy a car off the lot seeing 350-mile, 400-mile range, it makes you feel good.”

Tesla’s intentional inflation of in-dash range-meter projections and the creation of its range-complaints diversion team have not been previously reported.

It will reduce demand for new Teslas. The people who sell their Teslas will buy a different brand and some people who still for whatever reason want to buy a Tesla will buy a used one instead of a new one.