Plotting points to get a picture

We still need agorist mutual defense. We can clearly see this in the cases of people such as Ian Freeman, Roger Ver, Alexey Pertsev, Tigran Gambaryan and so many others.
If before we knew the state was coming for activists who were doing such harmless things as putting quarters in parking meters, taking video of government agents and handing out jury rights pamphlets, now we witness the state coming after us with greater sanctions still as we struggle to achieve more liberty now through cryptocurrency and Web3.
Shield Mutual 1.0
The first version of Shield Mutual was highly centralized and operated by myself. Clients paid an annual fee (usually in BTC) for protection. And, in a few cases, I believe I had a significant impact for clients in trouble. This included the case of Adam Kokesh possessing a firearm in Washington, DC.
However, this model depended solely on me. It had a central point of failure. And the market of libertarian activists for it was quite small.
Feel free to visit the old about page get a deeper dive into this.
Shield Mutual 2.0
The world has changed since I shut down Shield Mutual in 2016. We now have viable Web3 platforms where we can achieve significant decentralization.
We also have a new potential target market for mutual defense services: cryptocurrency and Web3 developers and promoters. And this expands the reach of the demand for this kind of service to the entire globe.
With that in mind, I am thinking the next iteration of Shield Mutual would benefit from these features:

• Web3, i.e. a DAO.
• Mutual defense clause (like NATO).
• A marketplace of providers that can be assembled for campaigns on a moment's notice.
• A governance token and/or NFTs.

Creating a Web3 entity is critical IMHO to ensure the organization is unstoppable, owned by its beneficiaries and resilient to nation-state attacks. There should be no single point of failure.
But I still think the primary way that we can help people is through public relations and public influence campaigns. When large numbers of people reach out to government officials, they are undoubtedly influenced.
The benefit of this approach is that our methods are non-violent and can be deployed from anywhere to anywhere, leveraging social media and legacy media.
Ideas Welcome
I'm just starting to turn these ideas over in my mind and welcome your feedback. I'm not married to any particular approach.

I had a talk with psychiatrist today because I had a drinking problem. I used to get anxiety attacks when i was a teenager and I had a small problem with depression in 2022 because i was genuinely in a bad spot in life, smoking weed all day, drinking beer every night, working a job i hated, had no hobbies and never exercised.
I told him my mom has depression and he pretty much said because of that I should take Pristiq.
I don’t think he fully listened to me because I don’t feel depressed and I don’t have anxiety attacks.
My biggest problem is that I get in arguments that i have a hard time walking away from. I feel like this is semi-normal especially for someone who’s high all day and i’m seeing a therapist for tools to handle it. He said it was a symptom of depression, which i told him i don’t regularly have. My depression isn’t a detrimental sadness, it’s more so laziness and demotivation caused by overuse of weed.
I know he’s a professional but i’ve heard stories about doctors rushing to write scripts.
I drank and smoked weed for 6 years and I understand that the substance abuse could be a symptom of depression but couldn’t it also be the cause?
I will consider taking it if my life is unmanageable but right now I just have a bit of irritability due to getting off abusing substance for years. I really don’t consider myself depressed and I get anxious for job interviews or meetings, mormal things like that. I don’t get random anxiety attacks.
He recommended I use it for two years then stop, I just don’t get the point, seems like it could do more harm than good. I’m just starting out my career in my field and i don’t want to mess up the beginning of my adult life by dealing with side effects and withdrawal.

I have never talked about any of this out loud because I don’t wanna accept it, I’m so tired and I feel like I’m at my breaking point. Every morning I have been waking up and immediately crying. I started college about 4 years ago during the pandemic and immediately knew it wasn’t right for me but I pushed through. I have extreme social anxiety, it is so hard for me to leave the house alone and going to class has been a huge struggle especially because it was originally all online. The worst part is I have gone in extreme debt to pay for this schooling. In some ways the investment has helped me to grow and make new friends but I have also lied to my family about passing certain classes and what my minor is. The truth is I’m in a major that I have no clue what I will do with and I failed most of my classes last semester. This month was supposed to be when I graduated college, but I have two semesters left. My closest friends are also in this situation but quickly registered for summer classes so they can graduate in the fall. My anxiety has been so bad that I’m scared to reach out to my advisor to create a plan and truthfully I want to die so I don’t have to continue down this path. I have got myself into a bad financial situation with credit cards despite working 2 jobs while attending school. I have learned a lot these past few years and made some amazing friends I am just so tired of this anxiety in my chest constantly telling me that everything I need to do is the scariest thing in the world. How will I ever maintain a full time job with this anxiety, that’s simply my version of hell at this point. I haven’t told any of my friends or family about this situation and the constant suicidal thoughts I experience. I have great days all the time but in the back of my mind is still this feeling of emptiness and failure. I know the right answer is just to face my fears and get in contact with my advisor, and while that feels simple in my mind I feel frozen in fear to even attempt it. My perception of reality is so warped that I feel like ending my life is easier than being honest about my problems, how pathetic is that.

I would love any advice from parents who have been in a similar boat to us (I work part time but till now my mom has watched my 2.5 year old daughter while I work. I stay at nana's while I work remotely, so am always available for cuddling or nursing. Recently, mom expressed she was getting overwhelmed, so we found a part time daycare.)
My daughter started attending daycare a couple weeks ago (she goes twice a week from 8-12:30 both days). She started out confident and excited about the playground and kids--she didn't even want to hug me goodbye the first day! But now going into week 3, she seems to really be missing me/home.
We chatted with the teacher yesterday and she mentioned our daughter is good at expressing how she's feeling ("ready for mommy") and asking for a hug because she's sad--and that this is happening about every 30 minutes! This morning as we were getting her ready to go, she started to cry heavily about not wanting to go to school, and as we buckled her into her carseat, she was sobbing so hard that she threw up her breakfast all over her shirt/seat. At this point, I was tearing up too, and I just took her out and said we'd stay home together.
I am wondering if anyone has tips for easing this separation? Thank you in advance!

Hi, as the title says I just wanted to discuss some aspects of the story. I don't have friends who likes to read and the ones that does like it aren't interested so I have come to vent. I'm just starting COI and have no expectations of meting the old cast anytime soon because of Power Creep. Without time skip most of the cast were already demi demis so there is no point in having them at the very beginning ruining all the tension. I have not read the side stories yet tho. I heard that Fors is in COI and I'm hyped because she is one of my favorites characters, she did little but I felt represented with her actions. Overall the story really met my expectations although it is really difficult to read sometimes in the middle of the fights. Yes, the fights once you understand them are really really good but the fact that it gets so confusing that you have to re-read to understand something is still a negative for me.
The first of my questions is why everyone says that the first volume is boring or slow? I found it very entertaining and to this day is my second favorite besides Lightseeker. There wasn't a single chapter that I didn't enjoy. In my opinion Volume two is the worst but it's still a solid 8/10.
The second is about the angel of time. Who??? Like, I can see arguments for both.
Do we see the books Fors wrote about Mr. World personas? My personal theory is that Melisa converted to the Fool faith because Klein was somehow referenced as a believer.
Feel free to ask questions, after all I have come here to have a discussion with someone.

I don’t buy much apparel and when I do I try to get 100% cotton and to buy it locally.
I just want to give a huge shout out to “Bursss” on 4th street! As a man it’s such a challenge finding clothing. I found a great cotton button up short sleeve. I was expecting to see $50 or $60 on the price tag but was pleasantly surprised to see $30!! That beats any competitor selling plastic crap up at the mall!
All in all I will be back when my clothing budget allows. There’s another store that recently opened where the price points are astronomical, so I thought I’d shine some light on an excellent local business that’s been around and started by someone with roots in town, with great product at affordable prices!
I promise I’m not affiliated with the business, you’re all familiar with me here anyways and know that 😊

I had a lot of mental health issues through the years at the uni, and I was at a point where I didn't think I would even pass at all because I could barely even function as a human being properly. The course and other external factors really made the whole thing seem near enough impossible. But in the final year, I tried my best to get through and will get either of the two honours depending on the results of my final exams. I'm not someone who had these elite grad schemes in mind, just looking to have this qualification as something that represented the years of study I did and can at least use it for applying to good decent jobs in the field. I've read 50/50 things on these grades, many saying loads of employers don't specifically look at the grade, some others saying that you might as well not have even gone to university. But I don't understand that? The course was intense, I needed A* in further maths to get in the course in the first place as it was insanely maths heavy, especially at UCL and with that on top of personal things I was going through it hindered me from getting a 1st or a 2:1.
I find it hard to imagine that this degree would become completely useless because of the classification. I would love to know people's thoughts on this, as it makes me question everything I've done.

Every day here we see guys' profiles who say they are getting no matches, myself being one of those. For many of them I can see why in terms of looks (sorry), but increasingly I see ones who I think are seriously good looking with good profiles. Meanwhile women obviously do get plenty of matches (with some of those guys unfortunately being creeps), so there have to be guys out there who do get regular matches. I really just wonder what their profiles look like, particularly in my area and in my age range. I've been asking my female friends if they know any women who have a profile so I can see what their options are, but no luck so far. Do they all look like Ryan Gosling? Do they all have doctor or astronaut as occupation? Are they regular guys but just have a super creative profile that stands out? I've received plenty of advice about my profile and my looks but it's all a bit of a stab in the dark. If I got to see what success looks like I think I could make much more informed decisions (including whether or not to just give up on OLD).
Since y'all are going to ask what my profile looks like: At first I had just a few simple pictures taken within 5 minutes (by my female friend who convinced me to download the app in the first place) and no bio. I got two matches in two weeks and then nothing. I then had a post of mine blow up unexpectedly on tinder which resulted in a lot of kind people giving me advice (the usual: smiling, activities, no selfies) and some not so kind ones. The result was this profile: https://imgur.com/a/h4nuKMO which also had a few women in this subreddit say they liked it and would swipe right. With this, I got zero likes or matches for a month. I also received the advice that my glasses are dragging me down in terms of looks, so I got contacts (which I fucking hate to wear but that's another story). So I'm starting all over again and I do think I look better without glasses. So far I have these two pictures, which have received one like and zero matches. I'm 6'5 by the way.

I got a breast augmentation 3 months ago (Natrelle 330cc responsive moderate profile) and I’m starting to worry that they are just way too big on my frame and it’s been a struggle wearing tank tops without feeling like everyone’s staring at my boobs. Everyone tells me that it takes 6 months to a year to see final results, but I can’t see how they’re going to get any smaller. Anyone that has had a breast augmentation, can you please share your experience between the 3 month mark and the 6+ month mark? If anyone has photos they’re willing to share at 3 months vs 6 months+ , I would appreciate it SO much because right now, I’m at a point where I want to rip them out haha. Thank you in advance!

I struggle to make it through the day without needing a nap and it's started to affect my work and daily life.
I usually sleep around 11-11:30pm and get up by 7-7:30am the next morning. Generally from the time I wake up until around 1pm, I have a decent amount of energy, but by the time 1-3pm hits, I'm barely hanging on a thread to stay awake. That usually results in me going for a walk and find a bench to take a quick nap during work. Luckily I usually just need about 20min to power through the rest of the day, but that's me basically running on fumes.
By the time I get home, I slowly start gaining energy (even without eating) to the point that by the time I go to bed, I sometimes do struggle to fall asleep.
I rarely drink caffeine, but if I do, it's usually green tea in the morning and that's it.
Energy drinks from time to time do help, but if anything, make the afternoon "crash" even worse.
TL;DR: usually get 8hrs of sleep. Wake up somewhat recharged, and by the time 1-3pm comes, my energy levels just tank. Usually stop drinking caffeine around noon, but they sometimes have a reverse effect of making the afternoon "crash" even worse.
Anyone have suggestions on how to stay awake throughout the day?

Hello everyone!
I’m a first year-teacher. I’m completely burnt out. I just had my end of the year post-observation; and I did poorly. All of my observations so far were in the developing/effective stages.
My last observation was in math. I love math. But with these group of kids, it’s so hard to teach it. I’m usually burnt out at this point of the day and I’m just trying to survive. My lesson was marked as “ineffective”. I was inconsistent with my objectives and I did a big whoopsie and made an exit ticket that didn’t correlate with my objective. We were comparing fractions. I made an exit ticket where they were making equivalent fractions.
I was told that “math isn’t your strong teaching point”. I was compared to teachers who are probably good at one subject but not the other. I nodded at this critique but I was hurt inside. I was given a few good pointers.
For math, how do you guys do it? How do you plan for the lesson? I get told so many things and pointed to people who “could help” me but sadly don’t. There were times I need resources for a math lesson and my school resource teacher didn’t have them.
What are your go-to resources? I currently teach 4th grade and we’re using bridges. The teacher guide for these lessons suck ass. There’s rarely any modeling, and if it is, I’m awful at finding them.
Please give a newbie some pointers. I feel like a failure.

I own a small house in a HCOL city. Most people who live here either have very high paying jobs or have multiple roommates. A one bedroom apartment is $2,800. I was lucky enough to buy my house over ten years ago and get a gift from my family to make it possible.
My ex is a teacher. We lived together for three years. She paid half the mortgage, her part was $800 a month, while she was here. During that time we discussed our future and made plans. We also got a rescue dog because she wanted one. I was willing to get one because I loved her at the time. It was always her dog though. It is very difficult to get housing that allows pets so she was overjoyed to be able to have a dog.
Seven months ago I found out she was cheating on me. With another teacher from her school. His wife found out and kicked him out. She asked if he could move in here which is how I found out. I said no. She said she paid rent and had rights. I asked her to show me a signed lease. She didn't have one obviously. I said I would let her sign a lease and let him move in. All it would require was first and last month rent. That would be about $8,000 for 2/3 of a house in my neighborhood. Plus she would start having to pay 2/3 of all utilities and her own groceries. In fact I asked her to sign a lease for market value.
Her boyfriend was still paying at his house for his wife and kids. My ex and him didn't have that kind of money. They ended up moving to a shit hole apartment with a very long commute.
I don't have time for a dog with my job. So I told her she needed to take him. She asked me to please take care of Haley until they found a place that accepts pets. And I did. For six months.
She started coming by less and less to see Haley. I had to take on more responsibility for her dog.
I got one of the neighbor kids to walk the dog for me. She also would dogs it for me when I went out of town. At her house with her parents' permission. The kid always loved the dog.
I told my ex that she needed to come get Haley. She refused. I asked my neighbor if they wanted to take her. They said yes. Haley is an excellent dog. She is well trained and very smart. If I was a dog person I would want a dog like her.
I gave my ex two weeks to arrange for something regarding Haley. She blocked me. That was more than a month ago.
The neighbor kid took the dog two weeks ago to see how she did in their house. Everything went great. Haley likes her more than she likes me. I gave Haley and all her stuff to the the neighbors. We went to the vet and had the chip transferred to them.
My ex called me to beg me to take care of Haley "just a little longer". She had not given me money for dog food or come by to see Haley in a month at this point. So I told her that I had rehomed Haley with someone responsible.
She is telling everyone that I'm an asshole for giving away her dog. I paid for Haley, I paid for all Haley's bills, I was registered with the city and the vet as Haley's owner. Haley was legally mine.
Haley is in a better place now. I see her in the park now and then.
I have no idea how my ex is doing now. After a bunch of our mutual friends said it wasn't my responsibility to take care of Haley she blocked a bunch of us.
I do hope she is okay. I hope she is happy with her new guy. I know it's hard to detect sarcasm in text so I will be clear that I am not being sarcastic. I loved my ex and I am still hurt by what she did. But I don't wish anything bad for her. People grow apart.

As the title says, I was talking to a relatively new coworker about a week ago and she suggested the idea of going to eat at a specific restaurant sometime. We didn't agree to a date at that moment, but it was still a possibility. So, a few days later, I asked when it'd be a good time to go but she responded "What?" in a confused tone like she didn't know what I was talking about. I then reminded her about the previous day we talked and the only reply I got in regard to when we could have the date was "I don't know."
It felt a little rushed since she was about to pick up her ride from work but felt a little bummed out that it didn't get anywhere. I find it a bit difficult to ask her out in person since she's always talking with other coworkers 99% of the time and I took advantage at that moment when there was no one else to listen to the convo. Anyway, should I proceed to ask her again via text/in person or wait for her to make a move? At this point, it doesn't look like she'll go forward with it anymore. Not sure why she even brought up the idea, only for her to forget it on purpose shortly after. And for the record, I'm looking more for a FWB deal with her instead of a serious relationship. She isn't GF material at all.

Hey everyone,
I recently purchased a 2023 Mach E GT in space white, and I absolutely love the car. I've been considering getting an exterior protective coating and ceramic package from a detailing shop, but I'm struggling to decide if it's truly worth it. Here are some points I'm considering:

1. Electric Car Longevity: Since electric cars are still relatively new, I'm not sure if I'll keep this car for more than 3-4 years. The 2025 model will likely have the new NACS plug, and who knows what advancements in battery technology will come in the next few years.
2. White Color Consideration: My Mach E GT is space white, which tends to show less dirt and imperfections compared to darker colors. Does this make a protective coating less beneficial for a white car?
3. Insurance Coverage: I checked with my auto insurance, and they don't cover the protective coating in the event of a claim. So, if someone were to hit my car, I'd need to pay out of pocket to have the coating reapplied.
4. Resale Value: I'm curious if a protective coating adds any real value if I decide to trade in the car in 3-4 years. Does anyone have experience with this?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with protective coatings and ceramic packages, especially on electric vehicles. Is it worth the investment?
Thanks in advance!

I have been a welder since I graduated highschool in 2019, I was always very against college and now that I'm more mature I regret it so much. I'm at a point where I can't necessarily go back to school full time and I have no idea how to get into the corporate world. I'm enrolled in coursera and have been looking at the courses but every job in my area that's related to any of them has 200+ applicants. Not even remote positions just entry level office positions. I don't know what direction to go I don't have a passion I just want to have a career that doesn't make me depressed but also pays the bills. I don't wanna be rich I just want to be able to breathe. Any advice on what direction I could possibly go? Or anyone who's broken out of the blue collar world. God I wish I would've listened to everyone that said go to college, I feel like l'm so behind the curve because my blue collar experience doesn't really directly translate into the corporate world.

I am getting back into Chess after a long time absence and wanting to brush up my skills. I am considering the Air for portability.
At this stage I have watched so many videos but cannot seem to find one that covers this question & I have a load of tabs on my web browser researching this question and my head is spinning!
Currently I am checking out the three big hitters - Lechess, Chess.com & Chessable, at some point I'll get a book from the library too. Currently I am liking Lechess due to the sheer volume of content.
All sites however have their pros and cons - I am trying out the tutorials and puzzles.
Ideally I would like to be able to setup the board and move away from the screen when solving these tutorials and puzzles. I am trying to get my head around to see if this is possible with the Air. I know the EVO board makes it really easy due to the screen but that is quite pricy and probably overkill for me at this time.
I am not sure if this is possible with the default app supplied but I have seen a chrome extension - Chessconnect - https://chessconnect.de Will this do the trick for the above sites??
Does anyone have a clear answer / point me to a video demonstrating this at all?
Edit - I am in the Apple ecosystem - iPad / iPhone / Mac if that helps
Thanks!

I’m gonna graduate next year. But I took 1 honors class throughout highschool. That’s about it. No APs just regualr classes. I didn’t join any clubs or extra cirricular activities due to some personal reasons. Though I do have a high GPA that’s about it. Would I even get any medals or cords. RIP I wish I joined some extra activities but I had personal reasons. I have no true passion in anything. I did at one point have a huge passion for Arch, but not anymore, realizing that was hard and maybe not for me. I feel like if I gotten more help then I would’ve pursed it. So now am I gonna walk the graduation with not medals or cords. RIP I’m cooked

I've made some big strides I feel in the last couple of months, and I did it by playing. I would say my playing to practice ratio has been about 80/20.
1.) I didn't treat playing during my practice sessions casually. I wasn't gambling, but I was playing serious sets. Keeping score is important.
2.) I'm not playing with people I know I can beat. I know it sounds kind of elitist, but if you want to get better then you have to play people that are better than you. It's just the way it works. I'm lucky to have some better players around that will play me seriously, but also impart pool wisdom for free. I guess you could say that developing relationships with other serious players is an extremely important part of getting better. Sometimes just having someone around that is willing to tell you why you missed a shot or lost the cue ball is invaluable.
3.) I use playing-as-practice as a sort of dress rehearsal for league matches and tournaments. It's about adopting the mentality of a match for me. I'm truly practicing my mental game this way. I'm going through my preshot routine, analyzing the table, and constantly monitoring my focus and emotional state.
4.) I am actively looking for problems in my game. Which isn't hard to do most days. Just as an example, I had trouble playing a specific shape where I needed to stun off of a rail with running english. It came up a couple of times during the set, and I performed poorly on all of them. (Couldn't get a feel for the speed of the shot basically.) Now I had an element that I could focus on in my next solo practice session. I was able to address a hole in my game without the harsh penalty of losing a league match or getting knocked out of a tournament.
5.) It's really helped me not burnout and still get my time in at the table doing meaningful things. I actually feel like I'm doing less "ball beating" than I was when I was trying to focus on solo practice.
I think playing CAN BE great practice f you adopt the right mentality about it, but out of all these points I think 2.) is the biggest and most important. The people in my billiards community are the biggest positive factor in helping me improve and also just nurturing my love of playing pool. It truly makes me sad when people describe the toxic environment in either their local league or bapool hall. Maybe I'm just a softy.