First off, lol, min wage isn’t a Republican problem alone. We’ve had 12 of the last 17 years (since 2008s last set of 7.25) be democratic led, so really, they don’t care just as much as Republicans…

Bro, we’ve already “lost” the healthcare war. Nobody gives a shit, or it’d change. If the politicians weren’t bought by pharma, they’d likely change policies for the better. Get it? Right now laws make it possible to fuck us because they’re in big money’s pockets.

Also, school shootings are a parenting problem. They’re not being locked up, which is how a lot of kids get them in the first place. Policymakers can easily do more to assist in reducing the root cause. But it takes time to tackle. Banning guns flat out isn’t the answer and never has been. Sorry.

But nice try turning it to seem so negative. Like I just want the country to suck more?? Honestly, pretty much anyone else could make improvements/do a better job.

I’m going to go against both grains here:

1. There are plenty of older Americans who are “Republican” and don’t care who the candidate is, that’s the party that they feel best aligns with their traditional beliefs and values. They don’t or won’t watch the media because they know most of it is bullshit (true for both sides). So, there are plenty that stay ignorant/naive in a sense.

On the flip side of that coin, I guess I shouldn’t have immediately jumped into this being political, and should really strive to unite both sides bc we all know money buys politics! Aka rich vs everyone else, so it’s a vertical battle, not horizonal!

I don’t care which “side” is which, we need a candidate who’s not bought and paid for!

LMFAO yeah cuz Ford sucks and BYD is bringing the heat across the world (minus the US). Would be nice to get some affordable BEV or hybrids finally

Can I buy one and ship it to the US? Only a small fraction of us actually like Trump. The rest of the numbers are blown up by the media to seem bigger than they are, then another chunk didn’t even vote at all.

I’ve been casually spending weeks deGoogling and deMSFTing my life. I say casually because I’m not rushing to wipe it all out. I’m also not super paranoid about fully self-hosting, I’m using what seems to be a mix of convenience plus privacy.

I deleted all social media a decade ago, I use a generic Google acct for my phone, I use Proton for email (generic as can be info) and a few other services for convenience without feeling like it’s selling/hoarding all my info. I’ve got all family using at least RCS if not Signal.

I also don’t use fingerprint, facial recognition, or any smart speakers with live mics. I have my home network pretty locked down, with most devices segregated that is anything “smart”.

I feel I’ve accomplished quite a bit having done this, but I know there’s so much more I’d like to clear. My biggest downfall is credit cards. Sucked into cash back and perks, but looking to move to prepaid/reloadable debit cards so that I can still buy online as guests with minimal info. I mean, they might have my physical address, but I don’t feel like paying for a PO Box at the moment. “Credit” is such a fucked system. I don’t care if I run my credit closing these accounts, maybe keeping 1 for emergencies. That’ll take time too.

Why isn’t anyone recommending Signal? That’s also using RCS, no? Or maybe just E2EE?

Edit: nvm, it’s its own protocol for E2EE. probably better that way anyway. I’ve got several group chats that all use RCS, but that sounds like it’s TLS encryption and likely not encrypted on the servers where it could still be carrier accessed. I’ll have to look into it more

$98b for a finders fee lol

I mean, technically they asked for a SPAM filter, but in reality, when they’re subscribed to emails and lists they’ve signed up for, they’re marketing emails. Spam would be unsolicited and usually come from their data being sold off. The very fact those notification emails or marketing have the "unsubscribe"button lowers their spam score so they hit the inbox.

So, Proton, for example, claims to not sell off or monetize your data based on strict privacy laws from Switzerland. You don’t have to believe their claims, fine. They’re derived from scientists though, not businessmen. Didn’t seem like they’re prioritizing big money. So keeping spam away, this is a good way to do it. Doesn’t mean all the other companies OP has subscription emails for hasn’t sold their info, so it won’t be a fix-all.

OP sounds like they need to go through their emails occasionally to just unsubscribe to help clean it up lol. Really, using rules to filter key phrases would be easiest. The reason the aliases are suggested to help, bc the emails you really want to prioritize from any friends, family, or services you want to focus on, use the primary address. All others, like shopping for insurance, retail accounts, etc, use a junk one so you’re not bombarded. You’ll get a ton of marketing regardless, so that’s a great way to cut out the “spam” notifications.

I would go one step further and give banks/credit cards their own alias too, to avoid reusing the same address to help cut back on data breach info. I exclusively have a login email address and an alias for everything else. That way no one will ever know my login address to get to my account, unless the hosting company themselves are breached.

Why would they be sus? They’re a Switzerland based company which means really good privacy laws in regards to keeping your data out of the wrong hands. They’re not going to monetize your emails or information, which is a big deal!

Incogni, you’re right, give us your data so we know what to scrub? No thanks lol. Feels like the wrong approach lol

Damn I’ll check that out

Yeah, same. I setup an Orbic with RayHunter exactly for this reason. I took that with me when I’ve gone by protests just to see if there’s one present. Then, if in the clear, shut down my personal devices and attended. I’m paranoid like that I guess…