Perhaps you can find inspiration from Daryl Davis, who convinced 200 Klansmen to give up their robes.

https://www.npr.org/2017/08/20/544861933/how-one-man-convinced-200-ku-klux-klan-members-to-give-up-their-robes

I heard something on a radio show during Covid on how to talk to people who have “gone down the rabbit hole”. It was discussing MAGA as a cult. The guest on the show was a woman who was raised in a cult in the 70’s and she “got out” and spent her time talking with others in the cult to help them to break free. I can’t find a reference to the show, but I think it was Carrie Miller hosting.

My takeaway was that you can’t come at people and tell them that everything they know is wrong and you will show them the way. They’ll fight you. You need to deprogram them similarly to how they were programmed into the cult. Small bits, here and there to slowly guide them to questioning their beliefs. Once that happens, show them how to research and seek out information and let them know that they will be safe.

If someone found a link to the podcast/radio show, I’d be super happy.

I think what we’re dealing with, in part, is a collective action problem. There’s a lot of people who want to do something but either don’t know what to do or don’t agree on what to do. It’s one way that a minority population can stay in power.

What an individual can do is miniscule compared to a crowd. Also, some people are willing to break laws to make change and others are not.

I scrolled way too far to find exercise. Not that you’re going to fall asleep within 5 minutes of returning from a run, but it really does work. Among other things, aerobic exercise will help with stress, sleep, some back and joint problems, helps you to eat less and burn more calories.

On another note, I heard something in a podcast or radio show that said that a special type of breathing exercise is as good as exercise for many of these things and will fool your body. Obviously, it won’t build muscle, but it may help with sleep and stress.

I was surprised to hear that a coworker suscribes to one of the streaming services to stream shows from PBS. First of all, it’s free OTA. Second, I think they have an app.

This is only partially true in the situation the poster named. What if your secrets are from the government or governmental organization? What if you live under a repressive regime where the law firms are either corrupt or that the law is not in your favor?

That being said, I have a will and a bank safe deposit box. It is filed with the state that I have a will and the will is (also) in the safe deposit box along with stuff that I’d prefer not be released until my death. There’s also a clause in the will that says something to the effect that if somebody sues to invalidate the will, they are automatically excluded from any benefit (or responsibilities). Also, if an individual is found to be somehow responsible or had an intentional involvement in my death, then they are also excluded.

It’s not air tight, but works for my needs. By the way, I don’t have any company or government secrets, it’s just normal family drama, so please don’t kill me.

You look at your weekly pill container to know what day of the week it is.

This is getting off topic from the original post, but I did hear an interview on NPR of a few ways to lift the 2 party system. The only one that I can remember now is that each state would need to pass a law to allow the state to split theIR electoral votes. IIRC, Maine and Oklahoma(?) do this. The result is that if a state has 5 electoral votes, they would split the electoral votes amongst the candidates. If I remember the example right, Maine sent 2 votes for Trump, 2 for Harris and 1for someone else.

Initially, this would weaken the state’s country-wide impact, but as more states vote in such a system, it would allow independent candidates to secure a foothold. I imagine that if all states did this, the net effect would be to have the 2 parties that we currently have soften their stance on things in order to secure votes that would normally have been lost to the independent.

I very much enjoy online shopping and am not nostalgic for driving all over town to find a part or thing only to settle for something that’s a partial match for what I want and much more than I wanted to spend. If a local retailer happens to have what I am looking for, I’m more than happy to purchase it in store, but almost always know exactly where it is in the store and how many are in stock.

If by “no, not even now”, you’re referring to how the incPliny US administration is basically Ronald 2.0, I’m right there with you.

• Let’s Make America Great Again
• star wars
• even the assassination attempts

I didn’t realize how badly I want to do this until you said (wrote) it.

Regularly assess the goals that you had when starting the endeavor and decide if you’d start the initiative then if you had the information you have now. What investment is lost if you stop now?

If this is about relationships, that’s another story.

I used to be an IT consultant.

🤔

Aging helps. I’m not sure how or why, but these days, I couldnl’t care less about what strangers think of me.

I think your comment is the key. Many others tell what to do, but yours addresses the core in that you won’t be happy unless you decide or allow yourself to be happy (perception).

I used to mock those people who would say things like “smile in the mirror and tell yourself that it’s going to be a great day”. Later in life, I figured out that that’s what they needed to do, so good for them. For me, it’s something else. I need to be around nature to ground my feelings. Other times, it’s physical cardiac exertion, like a bike ride.

Medication can help if there’s a real medical problem, like depression. Self medicating can be dangerous.

I’ve done this same thing. My dad lived on the other side of the country and it was a way for me to “take him out to eat” at a restaurant that he loved but was too expe dive for his tastes. Another time, I bought him a round of golf at a nice golf course that he would not treat himself to. He did not “believe” in gift cards wither, but on both occasions he mentioned that it was as if I took him to eat/golf and it was a nice gift for the guy who has everything.

Similarly, I have a cuckoo clock. I could watch the internal mechanism for hours.

Given my skill with 3d model creation, i’d be more likely to create something that would hurt me than inflicting harm on someone else. Mostly when I take that razor sharp tool to remove anything from the build plate, but also just my awful measurements and tolerances.

How long before power is available on the job site? I have been involved in building houses and the power panel is the first wall to be built so that power is available to the crew. Could you strap the device to a tree and power off of a car battery until the on site power is available?

Using a large external power source with a power on/off timer, running only during daylight hours could save lots of watts.

I’ve looked into solar for a bird house camera and it was not a trivial project when you get to the short winter days and potentially cloudy skies.