two videos to capture the moment

The USA is falling apart, but I still have to go to work. I suspect I won't have the attention this evening after work to post properly, so here's a quick note instead.

This first video comes from Mastodon. It doesn't offer any details, but someone local recognized the location, so it's definitely in the Twin Cities. My best guess is the intersection of Portland and Snelling on the far west side of St. Paul. Somebody posts in a reply to the original that they notice Bongino in the background, which maybe is why they were extra brutal, as performance for the boss. It's not clear if the abused person is conscious or alive, given how limp they are. This video clip is only about a minute long.

In more peaceful presentation, the Federal Reserve Chair who basically controls our economy posted this unusual video on YouTube. It's basically a 2-minute declaration that this Republican administration has corrupted the USA government, if you read between the proverbial lines like a Russian resident of a corrupt government.

As a text story bonus, Kristi Noem forbids oversight. Another classic fascist move, trying to ensure blindness to atrocities, demanding that people believe only what they tell everyone to believe. Exactly as those historians called out specifically in that video I linked yesterday.

Now, I have to go earn some of those soon-to-be-devalued dollars, so I can keep the electricity and water running in my house. And pay for whisky.

Update: I can't confirm this info (be aware of AI-generated fake media as a possibility for everything), but the U.S. Postal Service has apparently sent a notice to their employees about potential martial law.

secure email

I finally retrieved access to my very old Proton mailbox. It was unused for so long that they deleted all prior content. I am, however, still grandfathered for a "@protonmail.ch" email domain. Here in the USA, however, it's easier to tell someone "@protonmail.com".

Anyway, I generally approve of this review of their security features. While subject lines could still be uncovered by a government, the text body of an email sent from a Proton account to another Proton account should not be available to anyone but the Swiss government, and even then only if you have broken Swiss law. At least, according to Proton's own privacy report on this topic. Other email providers are listed here as additional options.

Anyway, if you ever need to send me a fully-private message, then you're welcome to message me at:

mellowtigger@protonmail.com

Additionally, someone sent me information about a new tech called Reticulum MeshChat. (Sorry, Dreamwidth tells me that I'm unable to message you back directly.) I'm still looking into it for messaging even when mainstream internet is down, using other local people to create a mini-net. I've seen articles and pages (like this recommendation) about various kinds of this stuff, which I think crossed everyone's mind back during Occupy. I'll look deeper into this solution when I have more mental bandwidth. It looks potentially useful at first glance.