More Resources and Helpful Hints

At The Citizen’s Handbook site there’s a post entitled How to Get Rid of a Dictator.

Both dictatorships and democracies have adopted methods for accommodating marches and protests, and view them as a handy way to let people blow off steam with little or no disruption to the business of the state. (source)

What follows is a listing of 207 methods of nonviolent action and persuasion. These strategies (198 of them anyway) are from Gene Sharp’s book The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Part Two, The Methods of Nonviolent Action.

Marches are nice but I don't see them, on their own, as being especially effective at bringing about change. They feel more like morale boosters for those of us without power or big bucks. In conjunction with other relentless actions though, maybe they're the cherry on top of the resistance sundae?

Check out this informative, helpful post up at Wired—The WIRED Guide to Protecting Yourself From Government Surveillance.

Donald Trump has vowed to deport millions and jail his enemies. To carry out that agenda, his administration will exploit America’s digital surveillance machine. Here are some steps you can take to evade it.
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Ahead of that impending new reality, WIRED asked security and privacy experts for their advice for hardening personal privacy protections and resisting surveillance.

Here are just a few of the their recommendations (which include clear explanations and illumination):

Tulip Sundaes, Wayne Thiebaud

Encrypted Communications
Securing your data starts with securing your communications, and securing your communications means using end-to-end encryption.
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Encrypted Devices
Just as important as encrypting your conversations is strongly encrypting your devices themselves.
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Cloud Storage
Cloud storage has huge advantages—you never run out of hard drive space, and your data won’t be lost forever when an ill-fated Diet Coke spills on your laptop. The trade-off, though, is that storing data in the cloud adds a third party to the mix….

Cloud companies that hold and manage your data can almost always access it, which means they can be compelled to hand it over to governments. US law enforcement gathered evidence about now-convicted former Trump campaign chair Paul Manaforte in part by accessing unencrypted iCloud backups of his WhatsApp chat histories. And in 2020, the FBI got access to a protester’s iCloud account from Apple —including photos, videos, and screenshots—over accusations that he lit police cars on fire in Seattle.

Assata Shakur

There’s more, including a few paragraphs about burner phones and how they can become not so safe and untraceable. 

Go read the whole article. It’s enlightening.

With Trump’s announcements of that ridiculous fraud, Dr. Oz, to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and fellow bag’o’nuts Brainworm Boy to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services, I can easily see that we’re royally fucked. By “we” I mean, all US citizens but especially those of us who aren’t blessed with flawlessly running bods (*cough* ME! *cough*)

Luckily, I live in Massachusetts so I might not be hopelessly, thoroughly, and irremediably screwed. MAYBE, during this administration of idiot asshats and their reign of terror and inevitable obscene errors, I won’t die or go broke.

I’m not really counting on it though.

Copium

How are we going to survive the next four years? Once trump and his disastrous party institute the Project 2025 playbook, how will we weather the monstro shit storm?

I only mention it but, given the Facist Party’s (AKA Republican Party) precedent of rolling over like an ultra submissive dog whenever their orange leader opens his anus mouth, there’s a solid chance it’ll be more than four years. He’s already hinting around about a third term.

Speaking before the House Republican Conference on Wednesday, the 78-year-old soon-to-be forty-seventh president openly joked about running for a third term, telling the crowd that they could “figure something else out.”

“I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say he’s so good we got to figure something else out,” Trump said while laughing, according to the Associated Press’s Farnoush Amiri. (source)

Pres-elect Assface wants to kill the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. He’s promised to leave Social Security and Medicare alone BUT anyone with half a brain knows that his “promises” are worth less than one of his shit filled diapers.

How will those of us who lack bodaciously stellar health (*cough* ME!), major moolah (*cough, cough* MOI!), who need secure affordable housing, help with buying groceries, legal assistance, job training, healthcare assistance, etc. make it?

After the fascists cut taxes for the wealthy, the government agencies will all be hopelessly crippled if they still exist at all. What can we do once he puts the wheels of our demise in motion? WHERE can we find help?

In a quick search I found the website Findhelp

At Findhelp, our mission is to connect all people and the programs that serve them, with dignity and ease.

You type in your zip code and voilà, up comes organizations in your area which may be able to assist. Categories include food, housing, goods, transportation, health, education, work, legal and more. Under “health” I found a page for prescription assistance. This could save my life. I take a dozen pills each morning—one stops my seizures (I take two of those per day), one to forestall tumor growth, two different pills for blood pressure, one for a wonky thyroid, another for my essential tremors, etc., etc., ad nauseam. Without Medicare subsidizing my prescriptions, without other assistance, I'm toast.

Star Jelly

Options—Findhelp provides options. I’m figuring, the more “successful” the fascists are in destroying all but the rich, white and compassion-free, the more these organizations will become overwhelmed. Until then, we have a chance.

Maybe the big box christians could help?(ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Geez, I crack myself up.) 

Joel Osteen's net worth is estimated to be between $40 and $100 million. As of 2024, Kenneth Copeland's net worth is estimated at $300 million. In 2018, Rick Warren had a net worth of $25 million. These people have bucks to burn. Surely they could cough up a few shekels to feed the poor, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, and pay for a brain surgery and meds.

Will they? I wouldn’t bet a nickel on it.