Copyright & Misc. Info.

© 2026 by Earth's Temporary Solution. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission; except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Without limiting the exclusive rights of any author or publisher of this publication, any unauthorized use of this publication to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is expressly prohibited. Earth's Temporary Solution also exercises its right under Article 4(3) of the Digital Single Market Directive 2019/790 and expressly exempts this publication from the text and data mining exception.

This book is made available for free and will remain free in perpetuity, except where we were required to set a price. In those instances, the minimum available price was selected.

A free .pdf and .mp3 copy of this book can be obtained by contacting the publisher, Earth's Temporary Solution, at P.O. Box 5, 996 Route 17 Stop 2, Arden, New York 10910 or by emailing BJ Mendelson at bjmendelson@duck.com.

First edition.

Designed by Rodolpho Martinez and the Shooting Star Press.

This book was written and edited while listening to Pink Floyd's Pulse.

Nostalgia is dangerous in high doses.

It's a drug fascists and weirdos use to distort reality. Creating myths of a golden age that never was.

One only they can restore. Or so they claim.

Nostalgia is Earth's most dangerous narcotic, which is why this tactic is so effective.

But. Nostalgia in limited doses—like a double live album—is never a bad thing.

Especially when the world around you is burning, and you feel like there's nothing you can do about it.

When you feel that way, take comfort in the things you enjoy.

And in the days ahead, take as much time for yourself as you need.

Just do us a favor.

When it comes to anything that makes you feel too nostalgic...

Don't let the past blind you to the promise of the future.

—BJ Mendelson and Amanda King

Dedication

We dedicate this book to Jonathan Edward Bintz.

Jonathan is one of 1.1 million Americans who died during the pandemic. If you lost a family member to COVID-19, please visit MarkedByCOVID.com. When there, tap or click on "Memorial" to submit a remembrance.

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

—Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and author of Man's Search for Meaning.

A book everyone should read to navigate the rupture.

Introduction

Our goal is to train five percent of Americans to be one percent better at protecting themselves from fascists and weirdos. If you follow only the checklist at the end of this chapter, you will help us accomplish that goal. We seek this goal because America finds itself amid a rupture. We've had two political parties going back to the 1790s. Today that's no longer the case. One party no longer exists in any meaningful form; what remains is a cult made up of fascists and weirdos. The other has been hijacked by the people who fund those fascists and weirdos. And neither party wants to solve the problem that creates fascists and weirdos in the first place: the money. Who has it: the oligarchs. And who does not: 99.9 percent of us. A Gallup poll in January of 2026 reported that a record number of Americans, forty-five percent, do not affiliate themselves with either political party. That means there are around 154 million people, right now, who do not like the way things are going. If they were counted as an independent nation, those people would find themselves between the eighth and ninth most populous nations on Earth. So. We want you to understand something. Mobilized is what you see at a protest. Organized is what you see at a general strike. Like the one planned by the United Automotive Workers for May 1, 2028. Now imagine what just five percent of those politically unaffiliated people could do—if they got organized—and demand the passage of the Second Bill of Rights. Something we'll discuss at the end of this book.

As long as our system of government remains captured by oligarchs, we're in danger from the fascists and weirdos they fund. This is because the closer we get to sealing the rupture, the more money the oligarchs will spend to protect it. That's because they helped create the rupture with their greed. There is no negotiation to be had with the oligarchs. You cannot appease them. They will not willingly give back the money that they stole, using mechanisms like tax shelters, intentionally vague and obtuse tax laws that they got to write themselves, and financing almost every politician. This includes most of your choices in the primaries, for both parties, and the two left standing for the general election. Nothing changes until we take that money back. And until we do, our own money will be spent on sowing discord among us. If we are too busy fighting with each other, we can't see tax dollars being stolen from public schools to pay for luxury yachts.

Fascists and weirdos spent $215 million in the 2024 presidential election on bigoted national television ads. All targeting trans people. These ads riled up the kind of fascists and weirdos who like to examine the genitals of children. You know, to "protect" them from the mathematical phantom menace of trans athletes. Not to be outdone, after narrowly losing that election, the other party claimed defending the civil rights of trans people was a huge reason why they lost. And not, as extensively reported—and analyzed in Norman Solomon's The Blue Road to Hell: How Corporate Democrats Paved the Way for Autocracy—their repeated failure to stop the genocide in Gaza. Something millions of voters told that party they wanted during the canvassing for the election. The refusal to listen to their voters, in order not to displease oligarchs, resulted in millions of voters staying home. And because those voters stayed home, the fascists and weirdos eked out a victory. So. We hope everyone learned a valuable lesson. You always vote. Always. Even if you're stuck choosing between the lesser of two evils. Even if there's a bunch of fascists and weirdos waiting for you at the polls. Say to those people, "Fuck you. Move." Or if you prefer something more eloquent, we'll refer you to The Amazing Spider-Man #537, written by J. Michael Straczynski, where Captain America says, "[...]This nation was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the cost. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world--'No, you move.'"

We all must vote. And if your job doesn't give you the day off, you organize and make them give you Election Day off. There are people who helped us fight in Afghanistan. People who have lived in this country for years without incident. Allies in our longest, and now second dumbest war, that we rounded up and then abandoned in places like the Central African Republic. A place so dangerous that the US Department of State encourages all people visiting to make a will. Why is this happening? Because fascists and weirdos decided to spend your money to make these people suffer. Instead of fixing the roads. Investing in sustainable energy to lower utility prices. And breaking up the food and grocery store monopolies that are jacking up your grocery bill.

Ethics & Disclosures

To reach our goal, we searched for products that are secure enough and simple enough for most to use. That doesn't mean they're the most secure. Nor does it mean they have beautiful and intuitive user interfaces. It just means that for most people, in most cases, these are the best options available at this time. Soulseek, for example, is a free file-sharing network that you can use to share music with your friends as an alternative to Spotify. It's free of spyware and advertising. But the user interface sucks. The same is true with FreeFileSync, which we recommend later. We provide links to all the resources we mention throughout this book in the endnotes. If you are listening to the audio edition of this book, all of these resources can be found in the free .PDF version. If we mention something that is too expensive for you to purchase, don't worry about it. If you don't have time to do an exercise, don't worry about that either. Do the best you can with what you have, and worry about the rest later. Forgive yourself for the things that you can't do. That's not just useful advice here—it's good life advice too. In the future, better options may become available. If so, the following organizations will let you know: the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Fight for the Future, Consumer Reports, the AARP, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Each is worthy of your time, attention, and contributions. Your support makes projects like the EFF's Privacy Badger possible. If you want to immediately help anyone who isn't tech-savvy protect themselves, you can install Privacy Badger for them. This browser extension will block tracking attempts while they're using the internet.

This book was funded by DuckDuckGo. One of the few American tech companies that we trust. But we want you to know they did not exercise any editorial control over this book. The opinions expressed in this book are our own. This arrangement made it possible for BJ, his co-producer on Stupid Sexy Privacy, Andrew VanVoorhis, and our host Rosie Tran to bring you a year's worth of new episodes. All of which can be heard on this very website.

When we suggest anything in this book that's not related to DuckDuckGo, we have no relationship to it or its products. Maybe this will change in the future. If it does, we'll let you know. That's our obligation to you: full transparency. And in the interest of full transparency, you should know we would have recommended DuckDuckGo's products without their participation. That's because we don't recommend anything that we don't use ourselves. As one example, we use, and we recommend you use, noai.duckduckgo.com whenever you want to search for something. As Google continues to ruin the search experience with slop, noai.duckduckgo.com is a nice throwback to the golden era of search. It's a simple, clean interface that turns off all AI results and features. (If you don't want to do this, all we can say is: Never rely on any AI summaries. Anywhere. For any reason. And always go right to the source.)

For another example: This book was conceived, planned, and written by humans. But. BJ has some minor dyslexia. This causes trouble when it comes to reversing words and missing grammatical errors. So a combination of Duck.AI and Claude 4.5 Haiku was used to proofread this manuscript after it was completed. Claude was not permitted to change, add, or alter any wording during this process. It was prompted to only identify errors. Sometimes it did. Sometimes it didn't. If you spot an error, please let BJ know by email at bjmendelson[at]duck[dot]com or on Signal at bjmendelson.32. You may request a free .PDF and .MP3 of this book at any time by contacting him. Questions, comments, and pictures of you dressed like Wonder Woman are appreciated.

We used Duck.AI to prevent Claude from stealing this manuscript. We feel using Duck.AI is the safest way to access any of the popular large language models. BJ's previous book, Social Media Is Bullshit, was stolen by Anthropic, the makers of Claude. So our concern is not unfounded. BJ received a settlement check from Anthropic as part of the Bartz v. Anthropic case. It wasn't even close to what St. Martin's Press paid him to write that book. Meanwhile, the Anthropic IPO could value the company at a trillion dollars. Or around the entire proposed 2027 budget for the Pentagon. You can hear the CEO of the Author's Guild, Mary Rasenberger, speak with BJ about the Bartz v. Anthropic case in Stupid Sexy Privacy Season 2, episode 4.

We don't trust many other American tech companies. Most are giving our information to the federal government, often without notifying us. Something that former executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Cindy Cohn, documents in her book Privacy's Defender and on Stupid Sexy Privacy Season 1, episode #35. Government requests occur in the European Union as well, but EU privacy laws are stricter. For that reason, we recommend choosing non-U.S.-based tech products when possible. For those who prefer a non-U.S. browser that's not DuckDuckGo or Firefox, you can try Vivaldi, which is based in Norway. LibreOffice is a solid substitute for Microsoft Office and Google Docs. It is based in Germany. Element is safer, better, and more secure than Slack and Microsoft Teams. It is based in the United Kingdom. Proton's VPN and Proton Mail are based in Switzerland. We recommend everyone get themselves a free Proton account. We also prefer Deezer over Apple Music and PeerTube over YouTube. Both Deezer and Framasoft—which developed PeerTube—are based in France. The less you use American tech, the more money you save. Most of the software mentioned in this book is available for free. Not to mention, the less we use these products, the less American tech companies have a grip on the world. Using these programs instead of their American counterparts—or switching to a secure Linux operating system like System76's Pop!_OS—is a radical act. And it's a million small radical acts, many people will never see or know about, that add up to defeat for fascists, weirdos, and the people who fund them.

Do This First

If you are not yet registered to vote, you can use vote.org to help you do so. Don't wait to do this. And bookmark that site to check your registration status every six months. Fascists and weirdos don't want you to vote. They'll use every trick to kick you off the voter rolls. By keeping an eye on your voter registration, you'll notice if they try to pull a fast one on you.

Next, we want you to get a passport book and a passport card. Due to the Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court decision—that passport card may be the only way you can vote in the future. When you cross the border, go to a protest, or film ICE, the only ID you should have on you is your Passport card. So, if you can, get both: acquire a passport book and give it to a trusted friend or family member, while keeping the passport card on you at all times.

This is especially important for our non-white brothers and sisters, because of what's called the "Kavanaugh Stop." This is where law enforcement can stop and question someone based solely on the color of their skin and their chosen language. If that makes you as furious as we hope, that's good. Anger can be useful to recruit and organize people, and good organizers know how to turn that anger into action. You do this by offering positive solutions that benefit everyone with concrete steps each person can take. We'll discuss some of these steps at the end of the book. For now, we'll remind you here that Congress can expand the Supreme Court, create an ethics code with severe penalties for impropriety, and implement term limits. The Supreme Court will, of course, then have to rule on the constitutionality of Congress's changes. That is totally fine. We'd rather force the issue than sit around and debate ourselves to death. When in doubt, pass the law and let the courts figure it out. When fighting fascists and weirdos, always try something over nothing. You may get lucky.

If you are crossing the border, first we want to say good luck. It's not a great time to fly, unless you're going to Toronto from Buffalo to see the Raptors play. Crossing into or out of Canada by car, like in that example, will be no less screwy, but still safer than getting inside a Boeing. We are old enough to remember our friends traveling abroad during the early Iraq years. Back when they identified themselves as Canadian and placed Canadian flag pins on their backpacks. You can try that, but be warned, if you do, you may be quizzed on your Québécois. So, for what it's worth, we recommend wearing a Montreal Canadiens hat and knowing a thing or two about the team. When we mention wearing a hat throughout this book, we want you to picture a Montreal Canadiens hat. Another thing we recommend is that, if you're crossing any border, upload anything you need for your phone and laptop to Proton Drive. Then wipe both your devices. You can restore everything after you've crossed the border. (Of course, this assumes you back up your hard drive using Apple's Time Machine or similar software. This is something you should do once a week.)

Before crossing the border to re-enter the United States, make sure you repeat these steps. Both your phone and your laptop should be completely powered down when crossing the border. If you are wealthy enough to afford it, you can skip this process by using a clean computer and clean phone that you only use when traveling. If you forget to do any of these steps, and you're at a border crossing, at the very least, make sure you delete your Signal app, your social media apps, your email app, and your browser app from the phone ASAP. Get into the habit of regularly deleting the Signal app on your phone and laptop. If you are detained, your legal rights vary based on your citizenship. For example, if you're an American citizen, you do not have to answer questions about your culture or religion. If they seize your device, ask for all the documentation involving that seizure. You will need this later to get your stuff back. If you feel like you are being harassed, ask to speak to a supervisor. This is a great opportunity to embrace your inner Karen.

Not a lot of Americans can afford a passport. Less than half of us have one, partly because of the expense. This is where mutual aid networks will be needed. It's up to all of us to ensure that every American who wants a passport can get one. You can start this process by providing mutual aid locally within your Signal group. We will discuss how to set those up later in this book.

Do This Next

We believe everyone should use a VPN, and the best VPN for most people is DuckDuckGo's VPN. That's why we partnered with them for this book. Their browser is privacy-focused and simple to use, with the VPN built right in. That means people don't have to take any extra steps. After spending hundreds of hours teaching people about VPNs and how to protect themselves from fascists and weirdos, we learned that simple works. Every time. But recommending DuckDuckGo's VPN also means recommending their browser. So we have a few thoughts to share. One of which is technical, so hang with us as we explain, and we'll return to the subject of VPNs at the end of this book.

1. If you're using DuckDuckGo's VPN, you may need to turn it off when accessing certain government websites—such as the Social Security Administration or the Internal Revenue Service—or your bank account. These websites have security features that make accessing them with a VPN difficult. When that happens, simply turn off DuckDuckGo's VPN. When you're done, you can turn it back on. (To access super-sensitive information like your bank account and health insurance, we recommend using the Tor browser instead. It's very slow, but it's also the most secure way to view this information. Just an FYI about Tor though: while it's considered the most secure browser, you should never download anything while using it.)
2. Avoid using Apple's Safari and Google Chrome. If you need more advanced threat protection, use Firefox instead of DuckDuckGo. Mozilla's Firefox is customizable to meet your privacy and security needs. It also includes a built-in VPN. Now, this is where we're going to get technical for a minute. If you feel lost or confused, just read the following paragraph slowly: If you're using Firefox, go to Settings, and then select Privacy and Security. There, set your browser tracking protection to "Strict." Then select "clear your browsing history when you close Firefox." Next, turn on "HTTPS Only for all windows." Finally, turn on "Max Protection" for "Enable DNS over HTTPS." With us so far? Okay, good. Next you'll see a custom field available. Here you'll want to enter a link provided by NextDNS. In order to do that, you'll need to set up a free NextDNS account at my.nextdns.io/signup. Once you've done so, you'll see a link that says "DNS over HTTPS." You're going to copy that link. Now, go back into Firefox's settings. Back over to Privacy and Security. Then down to "Enable DNS over HTTPS." And there you'll see that box again that says "custom." That box is where you'll drop your NextDNS over HTTPS link. Other configuration options are available for NextDNS, but they go beyond the scope of this book. Also keep in mind that certain websites may not work under this Firefox configuration. You may need to add exceptions, or adjust these settings, depending on your specific needs.
3. If you use Firefox over DuckDuckGo, we recommend the following add-ons: Your password manager — we recommend Bitwarden or KeePassXC. Block Party, ClearURLs, Facebook Container, Firefox Multi-Account Containers, and either Privacy Badger or uBlock Origin. Facebook Container locks down Facebook to that specific tab. This keeps Meta from tracking anything you do outside of it. Multi-Account Containers can do the same thing for various websites that you use. This Firefox extension is helpful if you're particularly fond of visiting Shannon Elizabeth's OnlyFans page. ClearURLs removes tracking elements from URLs, and Privacy Badger or uBlock Origin will keep you from being stalked by advertising and other elements. uBlock Origin is more powerful than Privacy Badger, but more complicated to use. It also breaks websites. But. uBlock Origin may be a way to get around media paywalls. If it's the news outlets we recommend, subscribe or donate to them. If it's not ... Well, we can't tell you what to do with this information.

We wanted to give you one other reason to try out DuckDuckGo's VPN: Considering Netflix charges about $108 a year for their basic plan with commercials at the time of publication — you can use DuckDuckGo's VPN to stream some great shows and movies instead. All available on services you can't access in the US. Such as Canada's Crave and the CBC's Gem, and the UK's BritBox. Later in this book, you'll hear us recommend the CBC as an alternative source for news over American cable news channels. You can access CBC News via Gem. For those looking to save money, DuckDuckGo's Privacy Plus plan, which is required to use the VPN, may be a better deal than Netflix. Especially given Netflix's track record of frequent price increases. Something that will likely continue until they and all the other media monopolies are broken up.

Do This As You Can

"All of our stuff is out there, so why bother?" We hear this a lot. And we get that feeling. Most of us are burnt out, working multiple jobs, and taking care of kids or elderly parents. Or both. If you're part of our generation — the millennials — the odds are pretty good you also feel to-do-listed to death. Your entire childhood may have felt like doing prison time. At least in the sense of being told where to be, how to be, and for how long, before being moved on to the next assigned task. Life for children today isn't much better. It isn't about living anymore. It's about preparing them for jobs that probably won't exist when they graduate. So yeah. Managing our information can feel like one more thing on that list. The good news is, managing your privacy, anonymity, and security is not an all-or-nothing thing. (In this book we use privacy as a catch-all for all three.) You can do a little at a time, and still take back control of your life. Don't let privacy nihilism be an excuse to leave yourself vulnerable to fascists and weirdos.

Privacy is a fundamental human right. You are not a "Privacy Karen" for being concerned about your privacy. That's because the act of being observed — by anyone — robs you of who you could have been, had you not been observed in that moment. As people, we need time alone. We need time where we feel safe to be ourselves and explore who we might want to become. Fascists and weirdos try to shape our behavior through constant observation and censorship. So if you care about privacy, you care about other people. That makes you the opposite of a Karen.

So, as you have time, this is everything you need to do to be 1% better at protecting yourselves from fascists and weirdos. Some of these items we will return to throughout this book. And as a reminder, many of these and other resources mentioned throughout the book can be found in our endnotes.

• Don't use biometrics to unlock any of your devices.
• Always use a VPN.
• Always use Signal over regular texting. SMS is now completely compromised thanks to both our government and the Chinese government.
• Always use a password manager like Bitwarden or KeePassXC. KeePassXC is free.
• Always use passphrases instead of passwords. Try "BatmanPenGoldenRetriever" instead of P00dleF@n23
• Always use 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) with an authenticator app. Or better yet, a physical security key like a YubiKey. Do not use your phone number and email address as methods of Two-Factor Authentication when possible. The physical key is the safest method, followed by authenticator apps such as 2FAS. If you can, secure your bank account and email account using two physical security keys. Always get two. The odds are good you're going to lose one.
• Always keep your software up to date on your modem, laptop, car, and any other devices connected to the Internet. Turn your phone off at least once a day, so that it can get the latest security updates.
• Regardless of what operating system you use, get an anti-virus program. We recommend BitDefender.
• Delete the trash on your laptop before shutting down for the day.
• Whenever you install an app, limit the permissions of it to only what is necessary.
• Don't take pictures with your fingertips exposed. The image quality is so good now on most cameras that your prints could be lifted from photos.
• If you're streaming, make sure your background is obscured and that your home can't be identified from the outside.
• Consider poisoning the photos you upload to stop AI companies from stealing them. Nightshade is a program that can help you do that.
• Use a sticky note or tape on any internet-connected camera in your home. We recommend Silent's reusable stickers for this. On your phone, you don't need to cover up all the cameras. Just the front-facing camera when not in use.
• Emails sent between Proton users are encrypted except for their subject lines. If you send an email from Proton to a non-Proton customer, you will need to take additional steps to send an encrypted email.
• If you're using a Mac, turn on the firewall they provide you and FileVault. If you're using Windows, switch to Ubuntu. Nothing you do on Windows will keep you safe.
• Also for Mac customers, we recommend KnockKnock and Task Explorer to help scan and keep your computer free of malware. We also recommend LuLu. LuLu helps monitor outgoing connections made from your device. All are free, and offered through the Objective-See Foundation, a not-for-profit focused on Mac security. Run KnockKnock and Task Explorer at least once a week. Setting up LuLu can be a little confusing, but it's worth doing. If you choose to use LuLu, take some time to read the documentation available about how to appropriately use it. Once LuLu is all set up, you don't need to think about it again.
• Back up your files on an external hard drive instead of the cloud. Make sure you have a third backup option in addition to that external drive and your laptop. This third backup should include your most important documents. Give this to a trusted friend or family member on a flash drive. If no friends or family are available, put this info on a flash drive and keep it in a safe.
• Any time you're asked to accept cookies, reject them if you can. If you can't, select only the necessary ones.
• Watch out for LinkedIn connections. If you don't know who someone is on LinkedIn, don't connect with them. Remove any followers you do not know on the social media platform(s) you use. Fascists and weirdos will try to find everything they can to attack and discredit you. LinkedIn is usually where they start.
• Run Block Party, which can delete your older posts on many popular social media platforms and tighten up your security settings.
• If you work at home, don't forget to disable your cameras and microphones. Talk to your human resources department about what information the company collects, what they do with it, and if you can opt out. They will probably say no, but it's a conversation worth having regardless. And if they say no, this is when you unionize and make them say yes.
• Speaking of opt-outs, many doctors' offices and hospitals now use software like MyChart and Phressia. Phressia allows you to opt out of any data sharing if you email them. Epic, the company behind MyChart, did not respond to our requests to clarify whether or not you can opt out of data sharing. You can speak to your doctor's office management to share your privacy concerns. HIPAA does not protect your medical information at all. So always be aware of what medical data is being collected by what apps and devices you use.
• If you are the victim of a scam, visit victimconnect.org or call them 1-855-4VICTIM (855-484-2846). As they describe the service, "The Victim Connect Resource Center is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, anonymous and confidential hotline where victims and survivors of crime can receive support, information and referral options confidentially and compassionately."
• If you are the victim of a romance scam, blackmail, or identity theft, you are not alone. Tell your friends and family and ask them for help.
• Report scams whenever you can, and if these scams lead to identity theft, report it to the FTC ASAP at identitytheft.gov. Follow the FTC's suggestions on what to do next. You'll also need that FTC report to bring to the police for filing an official report. So don't lose it.
• Don't open random links. If you question whether a link is legit, run it through: virustotal.com/gui/home/url
• Don't buy gift cards at the store. Buy gift cards online directly from the company. If someone gives you one as a gift, change the PIN after checking the balance on that gift card.
• Get an identity protection PIN from the IRS. This PIN will prevent someone from using your Social Security number to file taxes. Given the alleged actions of DOGE employees, we have to assume every Social Security number — as well as information tied to those numbers — is compromised.
• For that same reason, get a copy of your tax transcript and look it over for any irregularities.
• Visit optoutprescreen.com to stop getting random offers for credit cards.
• Stalkerware is a major problem getting little media attention. If you think someone has installed tracking software on your phone or laptop, visit the Coalition Against Stalkerware at stopstalkerware.org. There you can find steps to remove the stalkerware without alerting the person who placed it on your device. This process varies by device and situation, which prevented us from going into detail on how to generally deal with stalkerware in this book.
• Freeze your credit with Experian, TransUnion, Equifax, and Innovis. You can call these credit agencies and turn that freeze off if and when you need to open a new credit-based account.
• Make sure you check your credit report every year by getting a free one at annualcreditreport.com. Report any issues to the credit bureaus as soon as you spot them.
• We feel credit cards are traps. If you ever need one, get one you can fund yourself.
• Get rid of credit card debt by paying the bill with the highest balance first. Don't close the account when you're done. Leave it open and, every 90 days or so, buy something that's $5 and then pay that $5 off the card immediately. This process, in the Before Times, was how you built good credit. It can also be how you support non-profit media outlets such as Mother Jones with an annual subscription.
• If it's too good to be true, it probably is. This may seem redundant, until you learn that AI deepfakes will get so convincing that you may not know if the person you're chatting with is who they say they are. So as a pro tip: If it's a celebrity that wants to video chat with you, it's probably not that celebrity. Unless of course you paid for that privilege through something like OnlyFans or Cameo.
• If sharing a link, delete everything after the ?. There are some exceptions like a YouTube video and Zoom, but you should not be using Zoom. You should be using Signal for your video calls. You can use linkcleaner.app to help you share links without any tracking info.
• To spot phishing emails, always look at the sender's email address for sketchy domain names. An email from your friends at stupidsexyprivacy.com won't be sent to you from stupidsAxyprivacy.com.
• If you get something weird, either by email or text, block the sender. If it's through email, report the message as spam. If it's a weird link from a company you do business with, call that company and ask if that was them reaching out. If you're not sure if something is "weird" or not, send it to scamwise.com to review.

And now, we'd like to present ... How to Protect Yourself From Fascists & Weirdos.

The full book will be online at the end of June!

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The full book will be online at the end of June!

As soon as the .pdf and .mp3 are ready we will link to them here on this page along with the full text of the book below.

The Endnotes have turned out to be a huge undertaking, so they will be posted last, also on this page.

-BJ