I take ads as a personal attack on my psyche. I turn my toothpaste around so I’m not looking at the logo. I pirate any shows I want to watch, and I use uBlock Origin in my browser.

I don’t really disagree, but as time goes by, those old ones show their age more and more. I’m using the same one as you for work, and I got a T580 off eBay for personal (replaces my T430s). I don’t know what I’d get if not for used Thinkpads though. One day maybe I can afford/justify one of those boutique Linux laptops.

Edit: I briefly had a T480 and it had problems with the display… apparently widespread.

Newest you can afford. T and P models, or X if you can.

You write well, and you got B’s and C’s in school. This tells me that you’re smarter than you think, but abuse and/or lack of proper support has had an effect on your development and self esteem (which isn’t surprising). You are still at a very young age, when a lot of people are still trying to find their way. I’m not saying any of this to minimize your struggles, but to give you at least a bit of perspective. A lot can change in a year or two when you’re only 23!

For specific advice on resources available to you, it would help people to know at least which country you are in.

Do you understand who is president right now?

Open-source laundry folding tool when?

Fascism is capitalism in crisis. People are overwhelmingly disillusioned with the neoliberal status quo (for good reason). The problem is that neoliberalism always keeps the fascist monsters on the leash, while smothering anticapitalist movements entirely. In times of crisis like now, people look for an alternative to the same bullshit politics that got us here, and the only viable alternative is fascism. Lot’s of people want the liberal parties to be a real alternative, but they are wholly beholden to capital, and thus unable/unwilling to represent a more humane radicalism as an alternative.

Every blunt rotation in Humboldt /s

I hadn’t looked at FOSS image album software in awhile, but I recently installed Immich on my home Yunohost server. I am very happy with it so far. It is miles better than Nextcloud photos, and I’m honestly blown away by how well the facial recognition works. I’m also enjoying the “x years ago today” highlighting feature, after seeing proprietary platforms have that for so long.

Get active. The absolute worst thing you can do is “nothing”. You will feel so much better getting out there and doing good work with your neighbors. Looking for local mutual aid orgs in your area is a good start. If you can’t find any, start one yourself! Another commenter here goes into greater detail, but you can start very small! Or arrange some meetups around skill-sharing. You probably have a useful skill or knowledge that others could benefit from, and I’m sure there’s things you’d like to learn as well. Doing things like this builds community bonds, and strengthens us all. Don’t wallow, get involved!

One day at a time. Every time you want a cigarette but don’t give in, you have built strength. Use that strength to better resist the next urge. Really internalize that what you are doing is strong and powerful. Each victory accumulates and supports those to come.

I don’t think you mean me specifically, but the only reason I’m awake right now is that I went to an impromptu meeting in a park with like 40 people to begin strategizing. We talked about how we felt, our goals, our needs and what we could offer. In the end, we started some new group chats around specific topics. It really fucking helps with anxiety and doomerism to talk with like minded folks and design actions for dealing with a world that is a bit more fucked up today than yesterday.

The thing about moral principles is that they are inflexible. Think about it like the draft during Vietnam. Some people refused to go fight because of moral principle. A common argument against them was “if you don’t go, someone else will go in your place”. Soldiers still go, and the immoral war continues whether you participate or not. I would not go to fight in an immoral war, and I will not politically support a genocide. I know it will happen anyway, but you cannot make me participate. I refuse.

Get organized. Nobody ever won their rights by voting, they won by getting together with their neighbors and coworkers and standing up to capital. Unions used to be a major political player in the US, but capital has almost completely destroyed them, with the help of the dems and the repubs. The working class has been hypnotized by trinkets into ceding all political power. We need to claw it back.

Hey, chasing republican votes didn’t work this time, but I’m sure it will next time. Definitely don’t try appealing to the left.

Stop remaking movies and sequels nobody asked for! Fucking hell, pay writers for original material.

In authoritarian countries, you can be arrested for protesting against genocide.

There’s a couple different aspects, and a variety of techniques. First part is to create a habit of something. Previous poster seems to be using a coin flip. For me, I like to make a habit of pinching my nose closed and trying to inhale through it. Obviously, this doesn’t work when you are awake, but will work if you are dreaming. It may take weeks of developing this habit (do it every time you think of it), before the habit makes it into your dream.

Realizing that you are dreaming may wake you up the first few times, but eventually, you will be able to stay asleep while aware you are dreaming: aka lucid dreaming.

The other part, aside from developing that habit, is prepping yourself before sleep. Again, you’ll find different techniques, but here’s the one I favor. Lay on your back in bed, eyes closed. Focus on your legs, for 10 breaths, then your arms for 10 breaths, then your sense of hearing for 10 breaths, then sight (eyes still closed) for 10 breaths, sense of touch for 10 breaths, etc. Keep cycling through until you fall asleep. This primes you to be “located” in your body once you fall asleep. If you’re lucky, you’ll perform your “habit”, realize you’re asleep, and have full control of your body! Good luck :)

Axis of evil.

This comes off as pretty intense projection.