8TB external hard drive ($160) + old laptop + "H265 sources" = way cheaper than a bunch of streaming services

I've begun my switch over to Mint from Windows. Its kinda wild to suggest normal users to switch to Arch of all things. Netflix (and streaming apps in general) straight to Jellyfin is also a stretch because there are... extra steps

Or they'll just build a backdoor into it (it probably already exists) and never talk about it again.

I put Google cameras on my house years ago out of convenience and this is it, I'm spending the money on a PoE system where my footage stays on my own hardware.

I'm conflicted on this because if you block enough of people opposed to you, you end up lacking any insight into what they are actually doing.

My own personal mental health has taken a hit because I feel a need to bear witness. And its all... a lot

There's sort of one in the US city I live in. The city manages it and as far as I know they don't care if you go pick a few apples. It is part of a public park that used to be a farm/orchard, then turned into a small golf course, then was partially sold off for housing development and the core farm/orchard area was either given to or bought by the city. It also has a community garden which always has a waitlist for new plots.

That's the weird thing about the US: we do actually have nice things, and communities that want to improve things. We also have suburbia hellscape.

My US city has a few parks with apple trees, herb gardens, and other edibles. I don't think there's any law or rule against people going out and harvesting small individual use amounts as long as you don't damage the plant. They do send out volunteer crews at harvest time (for the apples at least) and donate the harvest to food banks.

I don't buy rosemary because there's a bunch of parks around with rosemary bushes.

They're all made of concrete which means I don't have to hear my upstairs neighbor stomping around at every hour of the day

She's 40 and doesn't even look like this, plus the fingers are weird and the clothing exactly matches the couch.

I live in a rich suburb of a big city and as far as I can tell the city actually has control of the police, the police union isn't run by a bunch of comic book villains, and the non-MAGA "good cops" actually want to work here, and do. Hop over to the big city and their police union acts as a 4th arm of government run by truly evil people.

Local PD can't do anything because the second they do, Insurrection Act.

Minnesota has "permit to carry", so you need a permit to legally have a firearm in public. Other states have banned open carry at protests. There are legal barriers.

With everything that is happening I'm questioning my state's assault weapon ban. The feds are unhinged.

No, and if there were, it would likely give actual legal grounds for the federal government to invoke the Insurrection Act which would allow domestic deployment of the US military - not National Guard, full military. Local PD isn't doing much for the same reason.