Disclaimer: this can be very dangerous. Please make sure you are going to enter safe situations where people are not going to harm you if you follow this advice.
Moving Out From an Abusive Parent: A Crash Course For Minors
\*The legal information provided in this only applies to minors living in the United States. I am not a legal professional, and any legal information should be researched independently by the reader.*** **Each state has their own laws about when a minor can move out of their parent’s. Research these laws. I’m not promoting minors breaking the law.**
Money
Moving out is a lot more expensive then it seems. Even if you have a place to stay (a friend, shelter, relative), there will be bumps in the road that will take a good chunk of your savings. Luckily, I had managed to save a few hundred dollars before I myself moved out
Try to get a job to save money before leaving
Try and plan this about 6-12 months before leaving, so if you change jobs they will be able to give you a good recommendation
If you can’t get a job, you can make money online.
Sadly, I have no real marketable skills, but if you’re good at drawing, writing, editing, translating, programming, tutoring, or web design, this might be the gig for you.
Websites like Fiverr or Chegg are good websites to make money online.
If you want to keep your job secret, you can make a PayPal account. They can be set up with a Visa gift card if you don’t have a bank account.
Avoid putting any of your money in your parent’s name. Your parents may drain any joint accounts or limit your access to them.
Note- Online jobs do not withhold income tax, so reserve some to pay income tax, as even work online must be taxed. However, PayPal only reports accounts that receive either $20,000 or 200 or more payments a year to the IRS (Hint hint, wink wink).
Legally, your parents are allowed to take your check from your work. However, they cannot cash it without you signing it over to them. The only way they can do this is by illegally forging your signature. To prevent your parents from taking your check, you may want to change where you work. If you want to avoid needing a work permit, try starting a job over the summer, as they are usually not required.
I highly suggest buying a Visa gift card if you don’t have a bank account (or have lost access to it). I use the Visa Vanilla gift card. It can hold up to $500 dollars, can be used to direct deposit work checks, and can make electronic payments like a debit card. I used mine to order my birth certificate and send AP scores to my college.
Documents
The worst mistake I made when I moved out was not getting my birth certificate or social security card before leaving.
Try and get a hold of your birth certificate and social security card before leaving. It will make life 100% easier. However, like in my situation, this isn’t always possible.
Birth certificates can be ordered online, in person, or by mail. Your state’s Department of Health and Human Services website will have information on this. They usually cost about $50-$60 to order.
Social Security cards can’t be ordered until you’re 18. However, you should at least know your social security number. If you work, it will be on your W2s. Your school will also have your social security number on file.
Get a State ID as soon as possible. These require your birth certificate and social security card (or W2 if you’ve filed taxes), so it’s best to try and get one before leaving.
If you’re still in school, talk to your counselor about your situation as soon as you move out. Unless you tell them abuse is occurring, they will not contact CPS.Research your state’s laws on runaway minors beforehand, as your counselor may lie and tell you that you have to go home (like mine did, even though minors that are 17 do not have to return home in Michigan).
Counselors are required to provide homeless students with resources under the McKinney-Vento law. You counselor will ask about your living arrangement and file a McKinney-Vento form. Ask for copies of this form, and try to get it as soon as possible. You do not have to answer all of the counselor’s questions (I told my counselor I was staying at a friend’s, but did not provide an address or phone number. My counselor also refrained from including my mother’s phone number or address per my request, as I was concerned about the district contacting her).
After filing this form, your counselor will connect you with a McKinney-Vento School District Liaison. It’s this person’s job to help homeless students find shelter, get transportation to and from school, and give you resources for food, clothes, and healthcare. If you have any health issues, this is vital.
Living Arrangements
Since I’ve moved out, I’ve been couch surfing from place to place. Luckily, I’d already planned on it being this way, and have family and friends glad to help me
Try and have a plan of where you’re going even before you start getting ready to leave
Personally I’d avoid shelters, as youth shelters (at least in my area) are usually focused on repairing the relationship between parent and child. Also, you can only stay for a limited amount of time before your parents can force the shelter to return you to their custody
Emancipation is an option, however it is tedious and extremely difficult to accomplish when living in an abusive household
Research the laws about harboring a minor in your state. If you plan on staying with family and friends, your parents might call the police on them for harboring a minor (you). Luckily, laws against harboring a minor only include minors under 17 in Michigan.
College
Being homeless can be a royal pain when it comes to going to college. Trust me, I’m doing it right now. However, most students aren’t aware how far they can go without their parents’ help.
As most high schoolers know, the FAFSA is horrible. it becomes even more difficult when you’re homeless.
Do not file as a dependent on the FAFSA. This means you’ll be dependent on your parent(s) to provide their tax information, and gives them the perfect opportunity to hold it over your head.
Minors that are considered runaways or homeless can file as an independent on the FAFSA. This means that the FAFSA only uses your own tax information, not your parents’. When filling out the FAFSA, select “unaccompanied homeless youth” in the dependency section.
Most colleges want verification that students are homeless. Remember that McKinney-Vento form? That form provides verification to colleges that you’re no longer living at home. Try to get this document before filing, to avoid any hiccups.
Many colleges provide aid for homeless students. Most programs for foster youth apply to homeless students as well. Call your financial aid office to find out what services they offer.
Welfare
Once you’re 18, you can apply for welfare of your own as long as you’re not living with your parents. However, your parents may still be claiming you, which can prevent you from receiving welfare.
Welfare recipients must declare any household changes (including you moving out) to their social worker. In Michigan, this must be reported within 10 days.
Not reporting household changes is considered welfare fraud and can lead to suspension of welfare or prosecution.
Recipients must report their household size and earnings several times a year.
If you are working, your parent(s) must provide a copy of your most recent pay stubs and a bank statement. Do not provide them with any pay stubs or documentation of your income.
If you believe your parent(s) are still claiming welfare for you, you can report this on your state’s Department of Health and Human Services website. As long as you are being claimed by someone else, you can not apply for welfare of your own.
Filing your taxes as an independent can also prevent your parents from claiming you for welfare (and makes things easier for you).
If your parent(s) receive child support, you may want to tell the parent paying that you are no longer living at home. They can go to court to end payments.
Communication
Successfully becoming independent from an abusive parent is difficult, even more so when you’re scraping for every penny. However, independent means being responsible for your own communication (between work, school, and whatever else you’re doing, you’l need it).
Do not rely on your parents to pay your phone bill. Even if they offer. Even if you are paying them for it. Get it turned off (my mother turned mine off as soon as she realized I’d blocked her, as she’d only kept it on as a way to force contact with me). You will regret it, trust me.
If your phone gets turned off, you might be tempted to buy a cheap minute phone. Don’t, it’s a waste of money, and you’ll hate having to use those annoying little buttons
Internet will take you a long way. I generally use Facebook messenger to talk to friends and relatives. However, apps like Textfree will allow you to get a free phone number. It comes with 60 free minutes of calling and unlimited texts. Minutes can be bought or earned for free by watching videos.
If you have a smartphone, try a piggyback carrier. Piggyback carriers are phone carriers that use the cell towers of more popular cell phone companies for a much lower price. Ting and Republic wireless seem to have the best reviews
If you don’t have a phone, see if your friends or relatives have a spare.
To use a different carrier than the one your phone was bought from, you will need to get it unlocked. Look at the website of the phone carrier your phone was bought from to find out how to unlock it. Do not pay to get your phone unlocked. Most websites claiming to do this are scams.
Make sure to check that your phone is compatible with the carrier before switching.
To change carriers, you will need to buy a new sim card (It must be the Sim card specified by the carrier, do not just buy one). They can usually be bought online and are very affordable (Ting’s sim cards are $1.99).
Piggyback carriers will provide information on how to change your carrier on their website. Please do extensive research to ensure you’re not being scammed.
Transportation
Take advantage of your area’s bus system. Taking the bus for the first time can be scary. It’s complicated, especially when you have to take multiple buses and end up at some bus stop you’ve never been before. However, it’s often the cheapest option.
Find out about bus passes. Since I only use the bus a few times a month, I just pay as I go. However, if you find yourself taking the bus multiple times a week, you might want to consider this.
If you are in contact with a McKinney-Vento School District Liaison, you may be able to get a free bus pass.
Do not rely on others for transportation. At the end of the day, most people are unreliable. Make sure you have a back up plan to get yourself around without others’ help
Doing the Dirty- the Move
DO NOT TELL YOUR PARENT(S)!! Even if they have told you to move out. Even if you have seemed fine with the idea in the past. Once it happens, they will try to stop you.
Try to move out when they’re not home. This will prevent conflict and keep you safe.
Do not let them be able to find you. Only let people you trust know your whereabouts. Make sure you are not being followed. Avoid sharing the names of the people you are staying with and their location. School counselors can be flaky. Do not trust them with your location.
Do not be intimidated by threats to call the police, go to court, or call CPS.
Contacting the police is likely the first thing your parent(s) will do. However, if several days have gone by without police interference, they have likely told your parent(s) that they will not take action (my mother called the police when I left, but they would not do anything since I was 17).
If the police will not do anything, it’s unlikely that a judge will tell you to go home. However, it’s likely this is an empty threat, as testifying in court would lead to their abusive behavior being uncovered. This applies with CPS as well, especially if other children are involved.
Do not assume you will be able to get anything at a later date. My mother still refuses to give me anything I left at her house. Take the important and sentimental things, not objects that can be easily replaced.
If you have to go to your parents’ for some reason, do not go alone. Bring at least one friend and have them sit on the porch. Call them on your phone and mute the speaker so they can contact the police if needed.
Mental Health and Self Care
Moving out can take a toll on you, emotionally and physically. I know it did for me, at least.
Expect to crash. Living in an abusive household puts you into survival mode. Once you begin to feel safe and come down from the abusive environment, you’ll probably become emotionally drained.
No, your memories aren’t fake. After leaving my abusive mother, I found myself constantly questioning my recollections about the abuse which caused me to leave. This is just part of the process of realizing the severity of the abuse.
Don’t expect to adapt right away. Most abused kids are experienced with adapting to difficult situations. However, you shouldn’t expect for that to happen once you leave. Going from a high tension, abusive environment to a safer one is not an easy transition. Talk about culture shock, man.
Anxiety/Depression/CPTSD/PTSD/Dissociation etc. symptoms may (ok, WILL) worsen. Like a soldier coming back from war, many symptoms will resurface or intensify once you are out of the dangerous situation.
Force yourself to function
Make sure you eat at least three meals a day. Even if they are at irregular times and spaced far apart, you need to keep eating. I found this extremely difficult, as my mother starving me mixed with stress had destroyed my appetite.
Buy food that lasts. Staple foods are cheap and easy to make. When living with my mom, I was able to fill myself up with fried rice (with egg), vegetables, and tortillas, all easy to make and nutritious enough to eat for several days at a time
Stay hydrated. If you can’t make yourself drink water, juice, pop, or coffee is fine.
Shower. If you’re not bathing, you will smell like crap. And probably look like it too. A clean face and good smelling hair will do wonders.
Interact with others. Don’t cut yourself off from your family and friends. You need a support network. However, don’t listen to anyone trying to get you to talk you into going back. You left for a reason. Don’t forget that reason.
Avoid destructive coping mechanisms
Recreational drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol will make you feel better in the short term, but we’re playing the long game here (I’m not being patronizing, I have experience)
Chain smoking cigarettes can make you nauseous and sick. If you go to the doctors or dentist, they will be able to tell and may alert your parents. If you need to cover this up, quitting cold turkey for a few days and brushing your teeth thoroughly (for about five minutes, three times a day) may cover it up (if it’s a recent habit, not an ongoing one, as nicotine causes your gums to recede).
Smoking weed isn’t the end of the world. However, don’t get into the habit of it.
Smoking can intensify PTSD/CPTSD symptoms. For example, I’ve noticed I dissociate a lot worse after smoking or a few days after while THC is still in my system.
Be careful. If you get involved in drug related crime (possession, being in a car with people smoking, etc.) you might end up being forced to return to your parent(s) if you are put on probation- juvenile court wants minors in stable households, and despite your claims of abuse (which may be discredited), they may think the best place for you is with them.
If you’re going to do drugs, smoke weed. Acid can cause permanent brain damage, and other drugs can be lethal. No one’s ever overdosed on weed. However, it can be just as addicting as any other drug, so be careful.
If you’re going to drink, be safe. Common sense is key. However, try and limit drinking to social events only. Don’t get into the habit of drinking daily or alone, as this can lead to alcoholism.
Self harm is horrible. Don’t do it, it’s painful and leave scars and is incredibly difficult to quit. Once you start, you’ll never be the same, and cravings may come and go but can last for years after quitting.
Keep Your Nose Clean
Stay on track in school. Failing grades, skipping classes, or suspensions may cause you to be placed back into your home. While I hate to say it, getting into trouble will reduce your credibility to CPS, court, and police.
Keep your head down. The best way to stay out of your parent’s is to not stand out. Avoid as much interaction with the police, your school’s disciplinary office, or court as possible. Having your name pop up multiple times may raise red flags.
Consider Contacting CPS
If you have younger siblings, you may want to consider calling CPS once you are moved out
CPS often takes what kids say at face value. My mother always trained us what to say, However, I am now able to make any claim against her without fear of punishment
Look for proof
You may find proof to back you up in text messages, pictures, or confirmation from others. I found several conversations between my mother and I that would back up my claims.
Expect the worst
If you’ve even had CPS called on you before, you might already know, but CPS workers are usually useless. They will believe whatever a child says (regardless of if it’s a lie), as long as it agrees with whatever the parent is saying and won’t dig any deeper.
If you want action to be taken, you will need a lot of proof, witnesses, and people wiling to back you up.
Breathe
Moving out of an abusive parent’s home can be stressful, disorientating, and terrifying. However, you never realize how bad a situation is until you escape it. If you’re reading this, I hope that this helps at least a little with whatever you’re going through. If you have any questions, want advice or just to vent, feel free to contact me. The system is built against victims of abuse, and having support can really help out.
Yes, It's a scam and this is how it works (2020 edition)
If you receive a suspicious message from someone you've never met offering to send you large sums of money please proceed with caution. The message might've been sent by an individual attempting advance-fee fraud, also called the “419 scam.” What to look out for In combination, the following characteristics may indicate that you're dealing with a scammer: Does he/she:
Use odd phrases, or strange formatting in the conversation?
Offer to send you more money than you are asking for? This is known as an overpayment scam and is described under How the Scam Appears below.
Say they are a traveling businessperson, an oceanographer, out of the country, want to start providing for you before you meet or away at sea?
Insist you reply via a personal email address, off of SA or whatever site they originally contacted you on? A SD/SM who immediately insists on communicating off of site may be questionable.
Seem to not have read or looked at your profile, based on their vague questions?
Insist on sending you a check, your bank login information, your credit card login information, or offers you their bank account information to pay off debt, etc.
Asks you to send some of the money to someone else. An employee, charity, etc before the money has cleared.
Asks you to purchase gift cards and give him/her the code on the back before the money has cleared.
Wants to put you on his/her payroll.
How the scam appears The scammer will attempt to convince you to accept a fake payment for more than the allowance amount you initially agreed to/was offered by him/her. If they are successful, the scammer will get the money/or gift card value. In nearly every case, the con artist will not be caught. Here's an example of how the scam can play out: You get the attention of a 419 scammer. They offer you an allowance amount with no request to meet up, excuse why they can't now, or an online arrangement. They tell you an allowance amount that is too good to be true, $1,000 a week but then sends you $1,800. They want you to send the extra money to someone else via Western Union, Money Gram, etc, because they can't right now(even though they just sent some to you). Or they want you to purchase itune, amazon, google play gift cards and send them the number on the back. You deposit the $1,800 into your bank and then spend $800 doing the favors for the scammer. Or pay off your credit card with the info they gave you and used the card to make gift card purchases for the scammer. The scammer counts on you doing this before the check officially clears your bank account. This window between deposit and processing is known as “float time” and can last seven days, ten days, or even longer if the payment is international. During this time the money can be transferred, but it has not been verified by your bank as real. Once the payment is processed, your bank will determine that it is fake. They will take the entire $1,800 back from you. Since you will have already spent the $800 for the scammer, you must repay the bank $800 of your own money. If you have spent any of the $1,000 you thought you earned, you will also need to replace that. In the case of the credit card you will owe the full balance you thought was payed off plus any purchases you made on behalf of the scammer. Why does this scam work? These scammers typically create multiple accounts on dating and social media sites and send the same message to many different people with little or no personalization. The scammer's messages are meant to trigger greed and over ride common sense. The scammer’s payment is a forgery. It is not real! Your bank may allow you to deposit it, or your credit card might say payment received but the payment will not clear. Your bank will hold you responsible for the entire amount. In the case of a PayPal payment, the scammer will either send a fake PayPal confirmation email or pay with a fraudulent payment source. Whether you return the “overpayment” via PayPal or a wire transfer service such as Western Union or Money Gram, you will still be held responsible for all of the money involved. Remember: Money sent back to the scammer is money which is lost forever. What you should do
Do not respond to the messages. Don't engage these scammers for any reason. Responding will encourage the scammers and cause you to receive further scam messages, and give the scammer more opportunities to manipulate you.
Report the account messaging you if that is an option.
If you've already given out your personal login information contact your bank immediately and let them know you believe your account may be compromised. Follow their security protocols for securing your account.
If you've already sent money or gift cards, still contact your bank but you're pretty much screwed. You'll owe the money spent even if it was an empty account created especially for this purpose. And you may have your accounts shutdown for fraudulent activities or owe additional fees.
The scammer, sensing your reluctance, may start sending you messages threatening legal action if you don't send their money back. This is one of many reasons you should just block all scammer messages, so you don't panic into doing something stupid. You do not have their money, and you should not send them anything.
Other Signs of Scams You can be certain you're getting scammed if you see any of these things. To be clear: if you experience any of these things, it's always a scam.
He asks you anything about your bank account -- the account number so that he can do a transfer, the bank, or the username/password. No SD needs this information.
He wants you to open a bank account, id.me account, an account at a particular place he specifies, or any other type of account. He may have specific sites he needs you to open the account at.
He gives you his bank account information and wants you to transfer money out of it
He wants you to pick up a vanilla card or any sort of reloadable visa card or gift card, Steam Card, iTunes card, Google Play card, etc.
He wants to put you on the payroll or otherwise pay you through his business
He wants to send you a check or picture of a check to deposit
He wants to send you a payment but wants you to send back some of it in the form of a gift card or any other way, or to send some of the money on to a different account or person. He will likely have some (poor) explanation as to why he needs you to send it on, rather than doing it himself.
He wants you to install "blockchain", will only deal in bitcoin, altcoins, or any other cryptocurrency. He wants you to buy bitcoin (or any cybercurrency) on his behalf, for any reason.
He can only do mobile deposit (he'll have some story as to why -- venmo has given him trouble, he's gotten ripped off through paypal, he can't use any apps, etc)
He can only send allowance through some obscure mechanism -- bitcoin, blockchain, discovery account, etc. The mechanism itself will change, it's the fact that he's picked one this one mechanism that is not cash, that you need to look for
He wants your login info for any currency transfer app or mechanism
He has not met you yet, or gotten any value from the relationship at all, but he wants to transfer large sums to you or pay off your credit cards or loans
He gives you his credit card or bank account # and tells you to use them or transfer money out of them
He's looking for platonic, but wants to send large sums to you
He wants to use you as his personal assistant, he'll send money to you, and your job will be to pass that money on to others. Or any variation of him wanting to put you on his payroll.
He claims he is going to have his assistant, financial advisor, CFO, lawyer, or any other third party, arrange the financials.
He'll start sending you a large allowance, but you need to send him a little money first to verify you are real and establish trust (any "prove you are real" "prove you are serious" obligation is a scam)
You need to pay money, for any reason whatsoever, in order to collect your allowance. You need to send money or bitcoin on to someone or somewhere else, for any reason whatsoever.
He sends you pics of documents that would completely compromise him and his security (e.g., his DL, his Passport) in advance
He shows you screenshots of his bank accounts and/or transfers he's made to previous SBs. He sends you a video of his former SBs saying that he's paid them. He volunteers to let you talk to his previous SBs. Any sort of validation of the fact that he's made transfers before is a scam, no legit SD would ever do this.
He pretends to try to use an app to send money, then shows you screenshots of how it failed, in order to manipulate you into using his transfer method of choice (usually credit or gift card, or pic of check)
He's going to pay you an allowance but allowance won't start until the middle or end of the month (he's going to collect his month of free sex and then ghost)
You try to discuss allowance and he shames you for being a prostitute, "I thought you were different", etc. Gaslighting you and making you feel guilty, him pretending to be morally outraged, this is always the prelude to either a scam or him manipulating you to have sex without any support.
SD whose name/number you don't recognize, contacts you on text (they have your phone number), claims to have gotten it from another SD.
SD contacts you and then claims to be lining up an SB for his friend.
You're a male SB and you've met an SM. This is about 100% certain of a scam by itself, but if you've never met and they want to send you money, then 110% certain.
He sends you pictures of money
He wants to do a cashapp transfer but won't use your cashtag, he needs your cashapp card
She wants you to venmo money before the M&G (to pay for gas, or her nails, etc) or due to a sudden crisis (e.g., flat tire)
She wants you to send her money before you've met, and/or as a condition of meeting, to "prove you're serious"
She has a crisis (family emergency, a bill to pay) and needs you to send her money, before you've ever met. This will usually occur just before the M&G.
Could be a scam Maybe not 100%, but the vast majority of the time, these are scams.
It's the very beginning of an arrangement and he wants to use venmo, cashapp, or paypal instead of cash, to send you allowance (this is not a red flag if sending a smaller symbolic gift). Despite popular belief, all three of those are reversible, although not always easily. Cash is best at the beginning.
Man claiming to be an SD randomly approaches you on Instagram (nearly all instagram stories end up being scams). SD emphasizes he wants some combination of loyalty, trust, honesty: very common reverse psychology ploy, before the scam starts, and a common element of the scammer script. 98% of the time it's a scammer.
She requires you give her the full allowance or PPM at the beginning of the date (e.g., when she gets to the restaurant) rather than when you get to the room
Poor grammar and odd phrasing is common among scammers. Some mistakes very commonly seen include "Am interested in being your SD" (Leaving out "I"), and "will like to give you allowance" (instead of "would"). While there are legit non-native English speaking SDs out there, these particular phrases are tip-offs you're probably dealing with a scammer.
The rules change once you're in an established arrangement and have earned trust. The rules are slightly different in non-US countries also, where some forms of bank transfer are safer... but still, it makes little sense not to start with cash, which is safe. A Word About POTs Contacting You On Reddit Please also read: https://www.reddit.com/sugarlifestyleforum/comments/la5mlk/caution_to_slf_sbs_on_reddit_scammers_posing_as/ Anywhere there are people gathering in numbers to talk sugar, there will be many, many scammers. That doesn't just mean Seeking or Instagram, it also means reddit. Many SBs are lured into a false sense of security when someone on reddit DMs them, claiming to be an slf member. The scammers take advantage of the fact that we naturally feel close to our fellow sub members. Many SBs have fallen victim to scams that start with a DM on reddit. And it's not just SBs, multiple SDs also have bad stories, often resulting in blackmail attempts and other scams, when the SD lets his guard down and uses his real phone number, does a video chat, or something similar. This applies as much to SDs. Three suggestions:
Vet all reddit contacts as tightly as you would a POT on SA. Do not give any up-front benefit of the doubt just because they're on reddit, or claim to have interacted with you on the sub. For you SDs: one of the blackmail stories that happened here, the "SB" scammer first did a profile review (!) and appeared to use iMessage (!!) when texting... and still turned out to be a blackmailer. The victim SD DMed the SB after her profile review because he was attracted, which we think was the strategy all along. The "SB" behind that profile review turned out to be a blackmailer.
Strongly consider not even accepting DMs from lurkers in the first place. Through tracing some of the scam stories, we've found that nearly all these scams start with an unsolicited DM from someone who is not active on slf. They claim to be on slf, they may claim to have interacted with you there or are reaching out because of something you wrote. But if you look at their post history, there is no post history on slf. The one simple, easy thing you can do to protect yourself is to decline all these DMs. Only accept DMs from names you recognize from the sub, or who at least have a post history on slf.
The fact that he is so charming and nice, is not proof he's not a scammer. "He was so nice, he didn't act like a scammer, so I let my guard down" is a common refrain from scammed SBs. Being nice isn't proof of anything -- be sure to vet your POTs!
Credits u/LaSirene23 wrote the top portion of this post, describing scams and the details around how they work. u/Azurecole collected scam stories on SLF and elsewhere and subsequently wrote the bottom section on scam signs. The members of SLF provided the stories and learnings.
Do Pre-Paid Vanilla Visa Cards Get Rejected Often with Online Merchants
I was trying to purchase something online in euros with a prepaid vanilla visa card. Cost was 28 Euros and the card has $50 CAD, meaning even after conversion it would be enough to cover the cost. The payment processor denied the card with a generic error response (so I couldn't tell exactly why it was denied). I tried it multiple times, and the card itself is active and has a postal code set up. What I'm wondering is if these vanilla prepaid visa cards are known to not work internationally? I've used them before with success with online merchants like Amazon and some others, but clearly it's not working with this particular merchant. Alternatively, I've heard some people mention that certain merchants can put pre-authorized charges on the card before accepting the transaction; I suppose it's possible if the pre-authorization charge is too much the card is exceeding its spending allowance in conjunction with the actual purchase. I was going to try and buy another 100$ card to see, but would rather not if its definitely going to be rejected again. Has anyone found online merchants who simply will not accept these cards when trying to pay? They are advertised as being able to be used "anywhere that accepts Visa".
Moving Out From an Abusive Parent: A Crash Course For Minors
https://furiousgoldfish.tumblr.com/post/634336581549981696/moving-out-from-an-abusive-parent-a-crash-courseCOPY PASTE FROM FURIOUS GOLDFISH I DIDN'T WRITE THIS I JUST WANT TO SHARE IT Disclaimer: this can be very dangerous. Please make sure you are going to enter safe situations where people are not going to harm you if you follow this advice. Moving Out From an Abusive Parent: A Crash Course For Minors \*The legal information provided in this only applies to minors living in the United States. I am not a legal professional, and any legal information should be researched independently by the reader.*** **Each state has their own laws about when a minor can move out of their parent’s. Research these laws. I’m not promoting minors breaking the law.** Money Moving out is a lot more expensive then it seems. Even if you have a place to stay (a friend, shelter, relative), there will be bumps in the road that will take a good chunk of your savings. Luckily, I had managed to save a few hundred dollars before I myself moved out
Try to get a job to save money before leaving
Try and plan this about 6-12 months before leaving, so if you change jobs they will be able to give you a good recommendation
If you can’t get a job, you can make money online.
Sadly, I have no real marketable skills, but if you’re good at drawing, writing, editing, translating, programming, tutoring, or web design, this might be the gig for you.
Websites like Fiverr or Chegg are good websites to make money online.
If you want to keep your job secret, you can make a PayPal account. They can be set up with a Visa gift card if you don’t have a bank account.
Avoid putting any of your money in your parent’s name. Your parents may drain any joint accounts or limit your access to them.
Note- Online jobs do not withhold income tax, so reserve some to pay income tax, as even work online must be taxed. However, PayPal only reports accounts that receive either $20,000 or 200 or more payments a year to the IRS (Hint hint, wink wink).
Legally, your parents are allowed to take your check from your work. However, they cannot cash it without you signing it over to them. The only way they can do this is by illegally forging your signature. To prevent your parents from taking your check, you may want to change where you work. If you want to avoid needing a work permit, try starting a job over the summer, as they are usually not required.
I highly suggest buying a Visa gift card if you don’t have a bank account (or have lost access to it). I use the Visa Vanilla gift card. It can hold up to $500 dollars, can be used to direct deposit work checks, and can make electronic payments like a debit card. I used mine to order my birth certificate and send AP scores to my college.
Documents The worst mistake I made when I moved out was not getting my birth certificate or social security card before leaving.
Try and get a hold of your birth certificate and social security card before leaving. It will make life 100% easier. However, like in my situation, this isn’t always possible.
Birth certificates can be ordered online, in person, or by mail. Your state’s Department of Health and Human Services website will have information on this. They usually cost about $50-$60 to order.
Social Security cards can’t be ordered until you’re 18. However, you should at least know your social security number. If you work, it will be on your W2s. Your school will also have your social security number on file.
Get a State ID as soon as possible. These require your birth certificate and social security card (or W2 if you’ve filed taxes), so it’s best to try and get one before leaving.
If you’re still in school, talk to your counselor about your situation as soon as you move out. Unless you tell them abuse is occurring, they will not contact CPS.Research your state’s laws on runaway minors beforehand, as your counselor may lie and tell you that you have to go home (like mine did, even though minors that are 17 do not have to return home in Michigan).
Counselors are required to provide homeless students with resources under the McKinney-Vento law. You counselor will ask about your living arrangement and file a McKinney-Vento form. Ask for copies of this form, and try to get it as soon as possible. You do not have to answer all of the counselor’s questions (I told my counselor I was staying at a friend’s, but did not provide an address or phone number. My counselor also refrained from including my mother’s phone number or address per my request, as I was concerned about the district contacting her).
After filing this form, your counselor will connect you with a McKinney-Vento School District Liaison. It’s this person’s job to help homeless students find shelter, get transportation to and from school, and give you resources for food, clothes, and healthcare. If you have any health issues, this is vital.
Living Arrangements Since I’ve moved out, I’ve been couch surfing from place to place. Luckily, I’d already planned on it being this way, and have family and friends glad to help me
Try and have a plan of where you’re going even before you start getting ready to leave
Personally I’d avoid shelters, as youth shelters (at least in my area) are usually focused on repairing the relationship between parent and child. Also, you can only stay for a limited amount of time before your parents can force the shelter to return you to their custody
Emancipation is an option, however it is tedious and extremely difficult to accomplish when living in an abusive household
Research the laws about harboring a minor in your state. If you plan on staying with family and friends, your parents might call the police on them for harboring a minor (you). Luckily, laws against harboring a minor only include minors under 17 in Michigan.
College Being homeless can be a royal pain when it comes to going to college. Trust me, I’m doing it right now. However, most students aren’t aware how far they can go without their parents’ help.
As most high schoolers know, the FAFSA is horrible. it becomes even more difficult when you’re homeless.
Do not file as a dependent on the FAFSA. This means you’ll be dependent on your parent(s) to provide their tax information, and gives them the perfect opportunity to hold it over your head.
Minors that are considered runaways or homeless can file as an independent on the FAFSA. This means that the FAFSA only uses your own tax information, not your parents’. When filling out the FAFSA, select “unaccompanied homeless youth” in the dependency section.
Most colleges want verification that students are homeless. Remember that McKinney-Vento form? That form provides verification to colleges that you’re no longer living at home. Try to get this document before filing, to avoid any hiccups.
Many colleges provide aid for homeless students. Most programs for foster youth apply to homeless students as well. Call your financial aid office to find out what services they offer.
Welfare Once you’re 18, you can apply for welfare of your own as long as you’re not living with your parents. However, your parents may still be claiming you, which can prevent you from receiving welfare.
Welfare recipients must declare any household changes (including you moving out) to their social worker. In Michigan, this must be reported within 10 days.
Not reporting household changes is considered welfare fraud and can lead to suspension of welfare or prosecution.
Recipients must report their household size and earnings several times a year.
If you are working, your parent(s) must provide a copy of your most recent pay stubs and a bank statement. Do not provide them with any pay stubs or documentation of your income.
If you believe your parent(s) are still claiming welfare for you, you can report this on your state’s Department of Health and Human Services website. As long as you are being claimed by someone else, you can not apply for welfare of your own.
Filing your taxes as an independent can also prevent your parents from claiming you for welfare (and makes things easier for you).
If your parent(s) receive child support, you may want to tell the parent paying that you are no longer living at home. They can go to court to end payments.
Communication Successfully becoming independent from an abusive parent is difficult, even more so when you’re scraping for every penny. However, independent means being responsible for your own communication (between work, school, and whatever else you’re doing, you’l need it).
Do not rely on your parents to pay your phone bill. Even if they offer. Even if you are paying them for it. Get it turned off (my mother turned mine off as soon as she realized I’d blocked her, as she’d only kept it on as a way to force contact with me). You will regret it, trust me.
If your phone gets turned off, you might be tempted to buy a cheap minute phone. Don’t, it’s a waste of money, and you’ll hate having to use those annoying little buttons
Internet will take you a long way. I generally use Facebook messenger to talk to friends and relatives. However, apps like Textfree will allow you to get a free phone number. It comes with 60 free minutes of calling and unlimited texts. Minutes can be bought or earned for free by watching videos.
If you have a smartphone, try a piggyback carrier. Piggyback carriers are phone carriers that use the cell towers of more popular cell phone companies for a much lower price. Ting and Republic wireless seem to have the best reviews
If you don’t have a phone, see if your friends or relatives have a spare.
To use a different carrier than the one your phone was bought from, you will need to get it unlocked. Look at the website of the phone carrier your phone was bought from to find out how to unlock it. Do not pay to get your phone unlocked. Most websites claiming to do this are scams.
Make sure to check that your phone is compatible with the carrier before switching.
To change carriers, you will need to buy a new sim card (It must be the Sim card specified by the carrier, do not just buy one). They can usually be bought online and are very affordable (Ting’s sim cards are $1.99).
Piggyback carriers will provide information on how to change your carrier on their website. Please do extensive research to ensure you’re not being scammed.
Transportation
Take advantage of your area’s bus system. Taking the bus for the first time can be scary. It’s complicated, especially when you have to take multiple buses and end up at some bus stop you’ve never been before. However, it’s often the cheapest option.
Find out about bus passes. Since I only use the bus a few times a month, I just pay as I go. However, if you find yourself taking the bus multiple times a week, you might want to consider this.
If you are in contact with a McKinney-Vento School District Liaison, you may be able to get a free bus pass.
Do not rely on others for transportation. At the end of the day, most people are unreliable. Make sure you have a back up plan to get yourself around without others’ help
Doing the Dirty- the Move
DO NOT TELL YOUR PARENT(S)!! Even if they have told you to move out. Even if you have seemed fine with the idea in the past. Once it happens, they will try to stop you.
Try to move out when they’re not home. This will prevent conflict and keep you safe.
Do not let them be able to find you. Only let people you trust know your whereabouts. Make sure you are not being followed. Avoid sharing the names of the people you are staying with and their location. School counselors can be flaky. Do not trust them with your location.
Do not be intimidated by threats to call the police, go to court, or call CPS.
Contacting the police is likely the first thing your parent(s) will do. However, if several days have gone by without police interference, they have likely told your parent(s) that they will not take action (my mother called the police when I left, but they would not do anything since I was 17).
If the police will not do anything, it’s unlikely that a judge will tell you to go home. However, it’s likely this is an empty threat, as testifying in court would lead to their abusive behavior being uncovered. This applies with CPS as well, especially if other children are involved.
Do not assume you will be able to get anything at a later date. My mother still refuses to give me anything I left at her house. Take the important and sentimental things, not objects that can be easily replaced.
If you have to go to your parents’ for some reason, do not go alone. Bring at least one friend and have them sit on the porch. Call them on your phone and mute the speaker so they can contact the police if needed.
Mental Health and Self Care Moving out can take a toll on you, emotionally and physically. I know it did for me, at least.
Expect to crash. Living in an abusive household puts you into survival mode. Once you begin to feel safe and come down from the abusive environment, you’ll probably become emotionally drained.
No, your memories aren’t fake. After leaving my abusive mother, I found myself constantly questioning my recollections about the abuse which caused me to leave. This is just part of the process of realizing the severity of the abuse.
Don’t expect to adapt right away. Most abused kids are experienced with adapting to difficult situations. However, you shouldn’t expect for that to happen once you leave. Going from a high tension, abusive environment to a safer one is not an easy transition. Talk about culture shock, man.
Anxiety/Depression/CPTSD/PTSD/Dissociation etc. symptoms may (ok, WILL) worsen. Like a soldier coming back from war, many symptoms will resurface or intensify once you are out of the dangerous situation.
Force yourself to function
Make sure you eat at least three meals a day. Even if they are at irregular times and spaced far apart, you need to keep eating. I found this extremely difficult, as my mother starving me mixed with stress had destroyed my appetite.
Buy food that lasts. Staple foods are cheap and easy to make. When living with my mom, I was able to fill myself up with fried rice (with egg), vegetables, and tortillas, all easy to make and nutritious enough to eat for several days at a time
Stay hydrated. If you can’t make yourself drink water, juice, pop, or coffee is fine.
Shower. If you’re not bathing, you will smell like crap. And probably look like it too. A clean face and good smelling hair will do wonders.
Interact with others. Don’t cut yourself off from your family and friends. You need a support network. However, don’t listen to anyone trying to get you to talk you into going back. You left for a reason. Don’t forget that reason.
Avoid destructive coping mechanisms
Recreational drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol will make you feel better in the short term, but we’re playing the long game here (I’m not being patronizing, I have experience)
Chain smoking cigarettes can make you nauseous and sick. If you go to the doctors or dentist, they will be able to tell and may alert your parents. If you need to cover this up, quitting cold turkey for a few days and brushing your teeth thoroughly (for about five minutes, three times a day) may cover it up (if it’s a recent habit, not an ongoing one, as nicotine causes your gums to recede).
Smoking weed isn’t the end of the world. However, don’t get into the habit of it.
Smoking can intensify PTSD/CPTSD symptoms. For example, I’ve noticed I dissociate a lot worse after smoking or a few days after while THC is still in my system.
Be careful. If you get involved in drug related crime (possession, being in a car with people smoking, etc.) you might end up being forced to return to your parent(s) if you are put on probation- juvenile court wants minors in stable households, and despite your claims of abuse (which may be discredited), they may think the best place for you is with them.
If you’re going to do drugs, smoke weed. Acid can cause permanent brain damage, and other drugs can be lethal. No one’s ever overdosed on weed. However, it can be just as addicting as any other drug, so be careful.
If you’re going to drink, be safe. Common sense is key. However, try and limit drinking to social events only. Don’t get into the habit of drinking daily or alone, as this can lead to alcoholism.
Self harm is horrible. Don’t do it, it’s painful and leave scars and is incredibly difficult to quit. Once you start, you’ll never be the same, and cravings may come and go but can last for years after quitting.
Keep Your Nose Clean
Stay on track in school. Failing grades, skipping classes, or suspensions may cause you to be placed back into your home. While I hate to say it, getting into trouble will reduce your credibility to CPS, court, and police.
Keep your head down. The best way to stay out of your parent’s is to not stand out. Avoid as much interaction with the police, your school’s disciplinary office, or court as possible. Having your name pop up multiple times may raise red flags.
Consider Contacting CPS
If you have younger siblings, you may want to consider calling CPS once you are moved out
CPS often takes what kids say at face value. My mother always trained us what to say, However, I am now able to make any claim against her without fear of punishment
Look for proof
You may find proof to back you up in text messages, pictures, or confirmation from others. I found several conversations between my mother and I that would back up my claims.
Expect the worst
If you’ve even had CPS called on you before, you might already know, but CPS workers are usually useless. They will believe whatever a child says (regardless of if it’s a lie), as long as it agrees with whatever the parent is saying and won’t dig any deeper.
If you want action to be taken, you will need a lot of proof, witnesses, and people wiling to back you up.
Breathe
Moving out of an abusive parent’s home can be stressful, disorientating, and terrifying. However, you never realize how bad a situation is until you escape it. If you’re reading this, I hope that this helps at least a little with whatever you’re going through. If you have any questions, want advice or just to vent, feel free to contact me. The system is built against victims of abuse, and having support can really help out.
"How did it take you that long to beat the game!?"Is the obvious question. Some of it, I'm sure, is afk time, but the rest comes from the game itself breaking multiple times and from trying to mod it. I believe the last 3 or 4 times I tried to play the sequel I have had something break, corrupt, or fall apart on the last leg of the game. In vanilla there are already a number of bugs, and if you try to mod on top of that then hopefully things stay stable. Every time this would happen, I would uninstall the game and when I finally wanted to try to beat it again, I would start over new. This happened several times before I finally said ok...this time for real. The mods I used on my last run were mostly cosmetic, aside from getting a lightsaber at the beginning (I'd rather do peragus with a lightsaber than skip it entirely) and the droid planet mod. ---The droid planet mod--- I had to look a few things up to beat this mod, and most the time I did it took me to reddit and the comments were usually spiting the mod and calling it a mess. So, the story to the droid planet is neat and I liked it. You get cool stuff there and a lot of exp, plus you can make HK-47 a more useful companion. All of this sounded great, but as anyone who has played this mod knows, you walk all over the place talking to droids across the map. Yes, you get a fast travel, but even that is annoying because you have to use a dialogue tree- unlike Telos where you download the map and travel between information terminals. I could never find all the parts to one of the droids for the bonus quest, but I was fed up with the place by then and wanted to leave. I will say that there is some neat info about force bonds you learn there, but it all ends up being for nothing. The only reason I mention the droid planet is because it broke my game near the end. I uninstalled the mod and was able to make it to the end. Before I talk about that though, let me just clarify how this mod almost stopped me from beating this game. On Datooine, just before meeting with the jedi you painstakingly track down across the galaxy, there is a cutscene of the jedi enclave and the side door opens. Just before entering, I would get a cutscene with Darth Nihilus on the bridge of his ship. The person he's talking to says something about Onderon, and the cutscene ends and my party is found on the entrance to the bridge of his ship as the screen darkens to black. I can still move around and hear my footsteps, but the screen is black. If you quicksave here and reload, you will find yourself on Nihlus's ship completely alone, able to access an area specifically designated for that cutscene. Not only was my character portrait wrong upon reloading, but my character was the wrong gender from the portrait. This bug I couldn't find a workaround for, so uninstalling the droid planet mod actually fixed it. I never saw the rest of that cutscene, but I don't care as long as I could beat the game. ---Ending spoilers--- So Kreia betrays you, but that wasn't even the least bit surprising. I found it a bit odd that she hates the force. She never really talked about this before and it doesn't really make sense. In terms of starwars parallels with buddhism, this would be like a buddhist monk saying he hates consciousness and wants to destroy it. It seemed tacked on there at the end and she didn't really explain WHY she hates the force and wants to see it die. She does, but I didn't find it compelling enough to go through all she went through and they could have done more with it. Remember how I said HK-47 was made better with that droid planet mod? Turns out I never got to use him after that because I had to use Visas and Mandalore against my will. They're fine companions, but not my first choice. I chose to have Mira not kill Hanharr (LS play) because it didn't seem in her character to actually kill him. The part where you run around as the remote and turn on consoles was a boring maze with no threats. I thought both the sith lord fights were fine but Keria's fight was bullshit. I had the game on the hardest difficulty because I was wrecking everything by late game. I went consulawatchman and had decent saber skills and devastating force powers. Once I got to Keria though, none of that mattered. She absolutely wrecked me in both saber combat, and ranged force powers. She could stun lock me with force wave, or just wreck me in normal melee combat. I'm not sure what I did wrong here, maybe I should have committed to going full force user or full melee. I had to turn the diffuculty to easy, but THAT WAS STILL HARD! Wth, Kotor? So I had to beat her like any other health sponge boss in a video game... cheese her. And I did. I saved up most of my adhesive grenades the whole game for this moment because I knew I would need them at some point. I stuck her in an infinite loop of throwing an adhesive grenade, force storming her 2-3 times, throwing another, and only breaking that cycle to heal. I didn't feel good about beating her, I just felt like the game ran out of ways to make the game challenging and gave her 30 WIS+CHA, and x500%HP She was NOT that op when she was in my party, but she got a plot powerup when she left my party so that makes it okay. What? So then my favorite boss appeared...the lightsabers. Whose lightsabers? Dunno, but they were tough. I tried to force storm them, but they took little damage from this. Now was the time to use my melee skill. I eventually chipped away at their health, but man was it a lame fight. So I beat Keria and she tells me what happens to my party in the future, then the Ebon Hawk flies away and the credits roll.... wow Idk what I was expecting, maybe a party on the Hawk at the end where we say "Yay, we did it!" or something, but no. This feels like a 90's PC ending, but this was 2004. Truly this game is the product of rushed development. With bugs that carried over from the previous game, buggy cutscenes and gameplay, cut content, and a weak ending, I can't say this was one of my favorite games. I love it though. Starwars+D&D is such a great concept for a game, and they came so close to pulling this one off. A real shame after putting so many hours into the game. And yet, the first thing I did was make a new character and start over. IDK what it is about this game, but they definitely had a vision and some great execution. The previous game, I think, had a better story overall, but the gameplay in this one felt better, especially since you aren't running around waiting to become a jedi for the first act of the game. I feel like the kotor games are lightning in a bottle, but they didn't quite capture all the lighting they could. They are both, kotor 2 in particular, lacking in their own ways, but have some amazing ideas behind them. So I finally beat the game. It was a bit hollow for me, but here I am starting the story over again. By the way, the online Kotor is a grindy suck fest and I don't recommend that. Edit: Some of my cutscenes were ruined near the end, and I may have missed some key things Keria said about her hatred of the force. Edit 2: Thanks for the down votes. Expressing your opinion of something you like enough to criticize on reddit will do that. Thanks for the reminder on why I don't like reddit.
How to anonymously host the continued development of youtube-dl offshore
Original sources of this guide (might be more up to date in case you're viewing a mirror of it): https://old.reddit.com/youtubedl/comments/jktx5b/how_to_anonymously_host_the_continued_development/ https://raddle.me/f/AntiCopyright/121477/how-to-anonymously-host-the-continued-development-of-youtube In this guide I will go through how to anonymously host the continued development of youtube-dl offshore using companies that have a track record of being very resilient to DMCA takedowns. As a general disclaimer, youtube-dl is not illegal, no matter how much the RIAA wants it to be. Hosting it is not illegal, but the RIAA doesn't care about what's legal, so we'll have to act accordingly and not rely on companies that will bend over backwards for them. This post is basically my way of flipping the bird to the RIAA. DMCA ignored hosting providers RIAA report including DMCA ignored hosting providers MPAA report including DMCA ignored hosting providers United States Trade Representative report including DMCA ignored hosting providers ESA report including DMCA ignored hosting providers Europol report including DMCA ignored hosting providers La Liga report including DMCA ignored hosting providers Former bulletproof hosting reseller reviews offshore hosting providers Former bulletproof hosting reseller on what the most warez friendly hosting providers are (Novogara aka Ecatel recently got busted for tax evasion and are shady as hell in general, allowing anything to be hosted on their servers, so it's best to stay away from them.) Take into account what data center the hosting provider uses. If they don't run their their own data center the company running the data center can shut down the server if the data center isn't DMCA ignored. That isn't to say that resellers can't be resilient, but it depends on how resilient the data center they use is. This goes without saying, but keeping the hosting provider secret makes it a lot harder to take down. Some countries like Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Korea force hosting providers to use government SSL certificates, meaning that they can MITM the connection. CDNs and proxies to hide the real hosting provider DDoS-Guard - Highly recommended. Based in Russia. Doesn't care about DMCA at all. DDoS-Guard is mentioned in the MPAA's Notorious Markets report and currently provides protection for Nyaa (the world's largest public torrent tracker for anime and manga) and Sci-Hub (the world's largest piracy website for academic papers which is under constant legal pressure from big US publishers). Has a free plan and accepts Bitcoin for paid plans. DDoS-Guard might be inaccessible outside of Europe for a few hours/month, meaning that sites using it would be unreachable outside of Europe during that time. This is probably peering related, but I'm not sure. Just tell site visitors to use ProtonVPN's free plan and connect to one of their VPN servers in the Netherlands if that happens. While I recommend DDoS-Guard, I'll list some other alternatives in case something happens: CloudFlare - Might be a honeypot, especially since I'm not sure how they'd be able to get away with this otherwise, but CloudFlare works for now. Just don't expect privacy from them. They're a US based company so they'll probably be reigned in eventually, but for now they're having their Wild West days. CloudFlare has a free plan. If CloudFlare is not configured properly when set up the real hosting provider will be leaked. More info about that here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
It's a myth that Cloudflare does not forward DMCA complaints, they forward everything. However, Cloudflare does not store any "sensitive data", which means forwarding "useless" information is similar like ignoring the DMCA request. A general advice is that whenever you use Cloudflare you should use a bulletproof backend server as well to avoid DMCA takedown request in the first place, so less or nothing gets forwarded (less "leakage risk").
Source: CHEF-KOCH / Warez / Bulletproof Hosting.md OVPN's public IPv4 proxy (the Switzerland proxy) - Swedish company that provided a proxy for The Pirate Bay for a while, went to court because of it, and won. The two advantages with their Switzerland proxy in particular is that it's hosted by Interxion - the same Netherlands based company that is hosting Feral Hosting's DMCA ignored seedboxes - and that Switzerland is a pretty good jurisdiction. OVPN also scores well on That One Privacy Site. Accepts Bitcoin. Before we go into registering a domain, I think it's worth considering if it's really worth keeping the name youtube-dl or if it could be spun off into a more accurate and less trademark infringing name like media-dl, for example. It downloads video and audio from a lot more sites than just YouTube, after all. Resilient TLDs (there are more options than just these) .is - As of a few years ago ISNIC had only ever suspended one domain and it was connected to ISIS.
When we asked whether ISNIC would follow Greenland’s lead and move for a proactive suspension, we got a clear answer. “The short answer is no. Such an action would require a formal order from an Icelandic court. ISNIC is not responsible for a registrant’s usage of their domains,” ISNIC’s Marius Olafsson told TorrentFreak. “This policy applies equally to any .is domain,” Olafsson says, adding that it’s the domain owner’s responsibility to abide by the law, not theirs.
“Domains can hardly be considered illegal any more than a street address. A street address is not illegal even if there is illegal activity in one apartment at the address,” ISNIC says.
thepiratebay.cr domain is still online despite actions against it from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica. Other notorious infringing sites are following the trend of using .cr domains as a safe haven (e.g., kickasstorrents.cr). Costa Rica’s failure to deal effectively with its obligations regarding online infringement, more than eight years after they came into force under DR-CAFTA, is a serious concern.
In case you want cheaper options that are available on Njalla, .ws and .ch are said to be pretty good. .ec is also looking pretty solid as Library Genesis (the world's largest book piracy website, which is under constant legal pressure from big US publishers) have been using it for some time without getting suspended. Vulnerable TLDs .com, .net, .cc, .tv, and .name are operated by VeriSign, a Washington DC based company that is controlled by the US government. .org, .info, .asia, .aero, .ag, .bz, .gi, .hgn, .in, .lc, .me, .mobi, .mn, .sc and .vc are operated by Afilias, a company that blocked one of WikiLeaks' domains. .site, .website, .tech, .online, .uno, .fun, .space, .store, and .press are operated by Radix, a company that has an anti-piracy partnership with the MPAA. All TLDs operated by Donuts, a company that has an anti-piracy partnership with the MPAA. Resilient domain registrars/resellers Recommended: Njalla - As anonymous as you can get when buying a domain. Njalla is a Nevis registered company that buys the more common domains from Canada based Tucows, which is pretty abuse friendly and some TLDs like .is they buy from the registry directly. They then lease it to you while legally speaking they own the domain. This means that you don't have to give them any personal information to register it and they take Monero. Njalla is mentioned in the RIAA and MPAA's Norotious Markets reports. Njalla has a Tor Hidden Service, PGP key, and has support for registration via XMPP with OTR. Njalla is run by one of the Pirate Bay founders and they kept the Pirate Bay sense of humor alive when dealing with DMCA. Other: NiceVPS - As anonymous as you can get when buying a domain. NiceVPS is a domain reseller based in the Dominican Republic that buys the domain from easyDNS and then leases it to you, meaning that you don't have to provide any personal information since they own the domain on paper. Accepts Monero. Has a Tor Hidden Service, PGP key, and warrant canary. I've seen NiceVPS recommended on some websites, but I'm not sure how solid it is. Doesn't seem to offer all of the TLDs that Njalla, Openprovider, and easyDNS offer, including a lot of the more resilient ones. Openprovider aka Hosting Concepts B.V. - Netherlands based registrar that is one of the most abused registrars by rogue pharma sites. Doesn't suspend domains without a WIPO decision or court order. Has a full section dedicated to it in the United States Trade Representative's 2019 report and a brief mention in the 2020 report. easyDNS - Canada based registrar that has a big focus on due process. The current registrar of The Pirate Bay's .org domain, which it defended against the RIAA. Wouldn't suspend a domain for a video downloader like youtube-dl unless ordered by ICANN, CIRA, or a court according to their takedown policy. Accepts Bitcoin. There are a few resellers of bulletproof Russian and Chinese registrars that accept cryptocurrency, but because those are pretty much only used by cyber criminals they would not be a good look for this project. And there's also the risk that they'll just be gone one day without a word and no way to transfer domain and not much recourse. Because of those reasons I'm omitting them from this list. I think the above mentioned registrars and resellers will be good enough, the project is legal after all. Worth considering: In order to anonymously directly register a domain at any of the other mentioned services than Njalla and NiceVPS you'd have to fake the WHOIS information, which violates ICANN's rules and registrars usually suspend domains because of that. I could especially imagine easyDNS doing this. Not sure how the other registrars would react to that, but ICANN does have the power to withdraw their accreditation - meaning that the registrars would lose the ability to issue domains - if they don't follow ICANN's rules. In the cases of Njalla and NiceVPS they aren't a registrar, they just fill in their own details and buy the domain for you from a registry/registrar when you register a domain using them. If you use Njalla or NiceVPS you're handing over control of the domain to somebody else and have to take their word for it that you'll always have access to the domain. It's easier to trust Njalla than NiceVPS in this case since it's known who owns Njalla and they have more of a track record than NiceVPS, which is fairly unknown. TLS/SSL Let's Encrypt - Free, uses open source software, backed by EFF, Mozilla, and others. Easy to set up and easy to maintain with an auto-renewal script. If you're using CloudFlare, you'll have to use their phony SSL certificate. Keeping your server secure and other technical advice
Check your server, and how reliable it is in terms of security and privacy, online services like https://centminmod.com can test your server and it's configuration to ensure nothing is "leaking". Check if someone can see your hidden backend server IP via https://dnsdumpster.com. In general you should block every IP connection to your backend server, only allow your own connection, VPN's or reverse proxies. You quickly can check if someone has an "open" backend IP service via services like https://censys.io.
Source: CHEF-KOCH / Warez / Bulletproof Hosting.md If you use CloudFlare, also check that your backend isn't leaking using CrimeFlare. If you have set up email with your domain, use SMPT and a custom mail server so it doesn't leak your origin server IP. Email is the easiest way to leak origin server IP addresses. Use SSH instead of VNC. With VNC the login information is sent unencrypted via plaintext, meaning that a rogue exit node in the Tor network and any server the login information is sent over on the clearnet could record your login information if they wanted to. Use a password generator for all accounts and have it set to the max number of characters. Don't put the login information into a proprietary password manager or an online password manager. Make sure to back up the login information to multiple hard drives/SSDs/USBs/etc. Try and make the site portable so that all software and all configurations can be saved to an ISO that can be spun up at any hosting provider at a moment's notice in case the site has to move at some point. If you get a VPS, make sure it's KVM. KVM is much more secure than OpenVZ since OpenVZ doesn't have much separation between different customers on the same server. OpenVZ is also easy to oversell. Xen is also secure, but has worse performance than KVM. Use nginx, it has a lot better performance than Apache. Use MariaDB. It's a more up to date fork of MySQL developed by MySQL's original developer after he sold MySQL to Oracle. Contains bug fixes that sometimes have not gotten into MySQL yet. It is of course fully compatible with MySQL databases. Basic security hardening (I'd probably use OSSEC + Shorewall instead of fail2ban and ufw, but I'm not an expert at this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) nginx configuration for improved security (and performance): GitHub Gist | blog post (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 are both Google Public DNS resolvers, so if you enable OCSP stapling, use a more privacy friendly DNS resolver, like Njalla's public DNS, one of the DNS resolvers mentioned on PrivacyTools, one of the DNS resolvers in DNS66's settings, or an OpenNIC server that doesn't keep logs. Digitalcourage e.V. and Chaos Computer Club are pretty trustworthy organizations, so their DNS servers from DNS66's settings along with Njalla's DNS resolver are probably solid, at least. Few OpenNIC servers seem to last very long, judging by that most of them were added in 2019 and 2020. If you use CloudFlare for the site, just use CloudFlare's 1.1.1.1 DNS, they'll get site traffic data regardless, so just use them for that DNS resolver as well instead of sending out data to another party. nginx tuning for best performance nginx SSL/TLS hardening including HTTP Strict Transport Security Top 25 Nginx Web Server Best Security Practices Let's Encrypt auto-renewal script If you need FTP server software, Pure-FTPd is the most secure option. Use SFTP instead of FTPS for better security and less of a headache. Disable password access for administration, require login using a SSH key, and limit the number of login attempts. Change default ports, like SSH. If anyone tries to access the default SSH port, have the firewall block them for a few hours. Disable root login. More security tips for SSH are available here. Don't implement port knocking though. Disable nginx logging once everything is set up to protect user privacy and improve performance. Keep the software up to date to decrease the risk of your serveVPS being hacked. Don't use analytics. If you have to, self-host Matomo (formerly known as Piwik). It's open source. Keep up to date backups of the site on multiple hard drives/SSDs/etc. Anonymous payments Bitcoin is fully traceable nowadays and tumbling/mixing your Bitcoin won't make any difference.
Tumblers are useless Against my better judgement, I’m going with this click bait heading, but the premise is correct. Due to the software running real time analysis on the ledger, simply avoiding taint and breaking up coins is now entirely ineffective, as it matches the full bitcoin amount to be received over a period of time, as the software is built around a neural net of sorts (talking out of school here, I’m not a programmer) it appears to self-correct in real time as a more "likely" or "accurate" owner conclusion is reached.
Source: Blockchain Analysis and Anti-Money Laundering (X-post from /DarknetmarketsOz) Meanwhile Monero was the only cryptocurrency that that the US government couldn't track when they took down one of one of the biggest darknet drug markets and seized the site operator's cryptocurrencies. This is because Monero is the only major cryptocurrency properly designed to be private. Update: There has apparently been some recent developments when it comes to tracing Monero. You can read more about it in my comment on Reddit or Raddle. I wouldn't worry too much about it at this stage though. Use I2P or Tor when transacting with cryptocurrency. I2P has some privacy benefits in its design over Tor:
Unidirectional tunnels instead of bidirectional circuits, doubling the number of nodes a peer has to compromise to get the same information. Protection against detecting client activity, even when an attacker is participating in the tunnel, as tunnels are used for more than simply passing end to end messages (e.g. netDb, tunnel management, tunnel testing) Tunnels in I2P are short lived, decreasing the number of samples that an attacker can use to mount an active attack with, unlike circuits in Tor, which are typically long lived. I2P APIs are designed specifically for anonymity and security, while SOCKS is designed for functionality.
However, I2P doesn't have as much funding and reseach or as big of a developer community behind it. I2P's userbase is also a lot smaller than Tor's. A full comparison about that can be found here. Monero chose I2P over Tor. More information about Monero + I2P/Tor is available here. Either get cryptocurrency donations or use a peer-to-peer exchange that doesn't enforce KYC (Know Your Customer) to buy Monero or Bitcoin. Unlike centralized exchanges, private sellers on decentralized exchanges won't automatically submit all their data to the government. Even if you get all of the cryptocurrency via donations and it therefore has no connection to your real identity at all you should still anonymize it via Monero so that it can't be traced from the donation wallet to the hosting provider which you want to keep hidden. Some private sellers on peer-to-peer exchanges won't require IDs, while some might require it. If nothing is mentioned, it's worth asking the seller before you send them any money. A few even accept cash meetups and cash by mail (watch out for being scammed or mugged though). If you do go to a crypto for cash meetup, make sure it's in a public place with lots of people in case something goes wrong. LocalCoinSwap, LocalCryptos, and LocalMonero even has sellers that accept gift cards (which you could buy with cash in a physical store). However, most gift cards are only redeemable in the country they were bought in, making this an option that won't work outside of the countries the sellers are based in. The one exception to this that I know of are Steam Wallet gift cards, which work internationally. If your method of paying for cryptocurrency involves going somewhere to buy it/a gift card/a prepaid card/a burner phone, consider leaving your phone at home since it's essentially a tracking beacon. If it's a cryptocurrency for cash meetup you might want to have it with you in case something goes wrong though. From what I've read there are some centralized exchanges that don't require KYC, but at least some of them freeze funds if they think it seems suspicious (which I would imagine a Tor IP would fall under) and they refuse to release the funds until they have been provided with an ID. If you decide to buy cryptocurrency using a normal payment method, a wire transfer would be the option that involves the least amount of companies getting the transaction info, though I don't think you'd have much recourse with getting your money back if you got scammed and paid via wire transfer. Bitcoin ATMs may require ID and usually have surveillance cameras around them, but this may vary depending on where you live. If you bought Bitcoin, use XMR.to to exchange it to Monero. If the service provider only accepts Bitcoin and not Monero, exchange the Monero back to Bitcoin so that the Bitcoin has been anonymized. Don't pay in Bitcoin without exchanging it to Monero and back first. Prepaid cards usually require SMS verification and are sometimes limited to purchases within the country they were sold in, so be sure to read up on whatever card you're considering using. Vanilla Visa gift cards used to be the go to for VPN buyers back in the day since they only required putting a zip code into a website, but things change, so read up about activation requirements and international purchases for the card in your country before buying anything and if you get information from an unofficial source, try and make sure that it's at least somewhat recent. If SMS activation is required there are two options. One option is buying a push-button burner phone and a prepaid SIM card at a physical store using cash, activate it at a major public place and then once the prepaid card is activated shut off the phone and take out the SIM card and the battery. Another option is buying access to a dedicated number in the same country that you bought the card in at an online SMS inbox site using cryptocurrency (the free SMS inboxes that have shared phone number might be used up already). The catch 22 there is that you wouldn't have any cryptocurrency yet at this stage, so it's not really an option unless you figure something out that I wasn't able to think of. If the prepaid card can't do international purchases you could withdraw the money into an anonymously created PayPal account (requires SMS verification). Expect the prepaid card and PayPal account to almost certainly get frozen if you try to pay with it over Tor. The risk is lower when paying via a VPN IP, but it's still a notable risk, especially if it's a VPN server with lots of users and you can never verify that the VPN provider isn't logging you. An anonymously paid for self-hosted VPN on a dedicated IP address in the same country that you bought the prepaid card would be less likely to cause the card to get frozen. A residential proxy/proxy would be the least likely to get the card frozen. Just don't connect to that residential or self-hosted VPN/proxy directly using your real IP address since your ISP would see that and since you would be the only user of that self-hosted VPN it would be directly identifying. You could use the prepaid card on public WiFi, but that will give out your general location and will give the WiFi network your IP address. It will also give the WiFi network your MAC address, so be sure to set the MAC address to be random (just search something like "[operating system] random mac address on wifi" on DuckDuckGo). Then there's the issue that most browsers other than Tor Browser, SecBrowser, and Bromite are bad combating browser fingerprinting. Sure you could also customize Firefox with arkenfox user.js (formerly known as ghacks-user.js) and a bunch of add-ons to combat all the different kinds of tracking, but you'll just make your browser more unique the more you modify it. Anonymous Internet browsing Use Tor when doing anything in connection with the site, including when using PuTTY and FileZilla. Verify the integrity of the Tor Browser installer using PGP before running it so that you know that it hasn't been tampered with. Use a bridge if you don't want your ISP/government to see that you're using Tor. Running Tor over a VPN may seem like a good idea, but even if the VPN provider really doesn't keep logs (which is impossible to verify) using Tor over VPN can make you easier to track since that makes the VPN service a permanent entry node [1][2][3][4] and there's also VPN fingerprinting. If Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) is a concern you can use Pluggable Transports [1][2] to disguise the Tor traffic. Keep Tor Browser up to date. Never run Tor Browser in full screen. That makes you more easily trackable as websites can detect the real resolution of your screen. Don't install any add-ons or plugins, that makes you a lot easier to track. If you have logged in and then logged out of a site it can link you to other accounts you have on the same site using session cookies if you login to those accounts without hitting the "New Identity" button to relaunch Tor Browser with a clean slate. Block JavaScript when the website doesn't require it, that's the closest thing you'll come to an ad blocker. Use the Hidden Service version of sites when available, that way your Internet traffic never goes onto the clearnet and it also adds three more proxies between you and the site's server for a total of six proxies. Since you shouldn't use an ad blocker with Tor Browser it's important that you keep your operating system up to date to minimize the risk of getting infected in case you come across some malicious JavaScript via for example malvertising when you have JavaScript activated. If you use Windows and don't want to switch to Linux (even though you can set up dual boot or just boot it from a USB without even having to install it on your computer), use a non-admin user account and have an admin account that you only use to authorize trusted software to run, that will mitigate 94% of critical Windows vulnerabilities. You can use a tool like W10Privacy to decrease the amount of tracking in Windows 10, just be sure that the tool you use is updated to match the latest version of Windows 10 or you might brick your OS. Email Use an end-to-end encrypted no logs email provider located outside of Five Eyes, Germany, Enemies of the Internet, and countries under surveillance - preferably ProtonMail - when signing up for all of those services. Use a different email address for anything not related to the administration of the website. ProtonMail has a Tor Hidden Service, but signing up for ProtonMail is only possible on the clearnet address, so you'd have to go into Tor Browser's privacy settings and change "Prioritize .onion sites when known" from "Always" to "Ask every time" when you register the ProtonMail account. Change it back to "always" once the registration is complete. And yes, it is possible to sign up for ProtonMail via Tor. It's not easy finding an exit node that hasn't gotten blocked yet, and you will most likely need a secondary anonymous email account on another email provider to send a verification code to, but it is possible. Don't try using a disposable email service, ProtonMail blocks pretty much all of them so you'll just waste time and will probably get your account frozen. Once you have made an account, go into Settings > Security and then wipe and disable the authentication logs. Once that's done - before you sign up for anything - log out and wait a while then log back in, just to see if their anti-fraud system decides to freeze your account or not. If you go for a email provider other than ProtonMail, keep in mind that it has to be there for the long haul in order to be usable. If it suddenly shuts down without notice, you're pretty much shit out of luck. So try and go for one that has been around for a while and seems like it will continue to stick around. Comparison of alternatives: https://privacytools.io/providers/email/ https://www.safetydetectives.com/blog/email-comparison/#3 https://www.prxbx.com/email/ Other Use a new username that you haven't used before. Use end-to-end encryption for all private communications. ProtonMail has built-in end-to-end encryption between ProtonMail accounts. If you want to encrypt email with PGP when communicating with non-ProtonMail users follow this guide. That will allow you to import it into ProtonMail. Just remember that the subject line will not be encrypted by PGP. PGP/MIME gives out less metadata than PGP inline and is just better in general, so use PGP/MIME. For file transfers you can also use OnionShare if the receipient also uses Tor Browser or put the file(s) into a password protected .7z file using 7-Zip with the "Encrypt file names" option enabled + a password generator set to the max number of characters that you then upload to Disroot Upload. Be aware that the lufi software that Disroot Upload runs on keeps the filename visible after the file has been deleted. If you need an end-to-end encrypted pastebin, self-host PrivateBin or use Disroot's PrivateBin. Disroot uses a privacy respecting hosting provider and claim that they don't keep logs for services that don't require an account, such as Disroot Upload and Disroot's PrivateBin. Use DuckDuckGo instead of Google. At least when doing work related to the site. It has a Tor Hidden Service that you can easily find by searching "duckduckgo onion" or "duckduckgo hidden service" on DuckDuckGo. Rely on open source software and privacy respecting services when it comes to processing and storing data related to the site. PrivacyTools.io, awesome-privacy, AlternativeTo, and GitHub makes it easy to find privacy respecting alternatives. Keep software on your devices up to date to decrease the risk of it being compromised by an exploit. And yeah, I probably went pretty deep on some of the less relevant sections, but I thought it was best to include everything.
Where can I purchase a VISA prepaid card "ONLINE" that can be used at BET365?
Asked yesterday but deleted due to me not being specific enough. Where can I purchase a VISA prepaid card "ONLINE" that can be used at BET365? NOTE:
I've spoken to BET365 & they confirmed that they do accept prepaid visa cards.
They do not accept Vanilla Visa Cards. According to them, its due to the provider.
I can't purchase a paysafecard as an alternative due to my location.
Websites I visited: GiftCards.com > In the description it says " The Visa Virtual Account cannot be used for gambling ". VanillaGift.com > Will create issues according to Bet365. The reason why I need a VISA prepaid card is because my bank doesn't allow deposits to gambling websites. I use to use Skrill & Neteller but they got strict in a way.
LPT: How to 'de-crapify' & de-polarize your internet browsing experience
In the light of recent events and polarisation of social media/invasiveness of advertising, I got some comments on another thread that I should make this a post, so here it is: How to remove the junk and check the bias of your browsing experience. Most of these extensions are for Chrome, but many have versions for other applications.
This one works on reddit, including politics - It shows the bias and average accuracy of the sources used for the website, and also has a tag for Op-eds.
Green-Red ratings signal if a website is trying to get it right or instead has a hidden agenda or knowingly publishes falsehoods or propaganda, giving readers more context about their news online.
Blocks sites owned by Rupert Murdoch which tend to be filled with yellow journalism. If you see something of interest, it is often worth searching for an alternative site with less biased sources.
Blocks the Daily Mail which tends to be filled with yellow journalism. If you see something of interest, it is often worth searching for an alternative site with less biased sources.
This app allows you to block off entertainment websites to increase productivity while you work. It lets you set up chunks of time to help with distractability.
When you see an AMP page, you’re likely seeing a page served directly by Bing or Google who can suck in information about what you do on that page. Keep the web decentralized and say “No!” to search engines that want to take control over the web.
Shortened links can be hiding anywhere. With the Unshorten.link extension, any shortened link (such as bit.ly or t.co) you click on will be automatically expanded and analyzed for malware giving you a clear view of where the link is taking you. Unshorten will also automatically remove known tracking cookies from the URL.
Search engine that plants trees while you browse; "We're interested in trees, not your data: we don’t save your searches, we don’t track the websites you visit, we don’t sell your data to advertisers, and your searches are always SSL-encrypted."
DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials can protect your privacy while browsing using Google Chrome. When you click on search results, the extension forces sites to use an encrypted connection when possible. Also, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials blocks all hidden third-party advertising trackers and enables you to search privately. The extension exposes trackers that have been tracking you and lets you know how much you can trust a site before and after implementing its privacy protection feature. Furthermore, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials does not track your search history.
If you want to reduce your chances of being tracked by web trackers, Ghostery is a good solution. The free extension works behind the scenes to identify when trackers are lurking. It'll tell you when it's blocking a tracker, then it will source it and present you with information about the companies hoping to track what you do online.
Protects you against tracking through "free", centralized, content delivery. It prevents a lot of requests from reaching networks like Google Hosted Libraries and serves local files to keep sites from breaking. Complements regular content blockers.
HTTPS Everywhere is an extension created by EFF and the Tor Project which automatically switches thousands of sites from insecure "http" to secure "https". It will protect you against many forms of surveillance and account hijacking, and some forms of censorship.
An extension that gives users control of the web and more secure browsing while emphasizing simplicity and intuitiveness.
Some of these will conflict, so be wary of installing all the things. Protecting your head is important for your health. Hope this helps people a bit, and would appreciate more suggestions. :)
What's the minimum account info required by Paypal in 2020?
Canada noob here. From what I understand, Paypal asks for your :
Name
Address
Email
Phone
But only the last two seem to require verification. Meaning, both the NAME & ADDRESS could be garbage; at least until paired with a bank account for withdrawal purposes... ...but what if you never have to withdraw? Since Paypal lets us add currency via vanilla VISA/MC Gift Cards (that can be anonymously purchased at various outlets, like Walmart) then couldn't someone use their account to pay for online services (like a VPN, or Adobe subscription) without ever having their NAME & ADDRESS verified, only the EMAIL & PHONE? I'm thinking as long as Paypal lets you use gift cards, and you spend everything online with no intention to withdraw, you could probably get by with just the EMAIL & PHONE on file... ...or am I way off track? (PS: I'm not asking for any nefarious reasons, purchases will be fully legit; but ever since the big LinkedIn hack awhile back, I've learned to store only REQUIRED information in my various online accounts.)
Simply present or swipe your Card to pay at the register or terminal when shopping at a store or paying at a merchant that accepts Visa Cards. By using your Card, the balance is reduced by the total amount of each purchase including taxes, fees and other charges applied by the merchant, if any. You can use My Vanilla Card to pay the full amount of the purchase and applicable taxes, as long as the balance on the Card is sufficient. If you want to make a purchase for an amount greater than the remaining balance using two payment methods, you must notify the merchant before making the transaction. HOW DO ACTIVATE MY VANILLA CARD? Your Vanilla Card is active and ready for use after you purchase it. Be sure to sign the back of your Card as soon as you receive or purchase it. We recommend that you write down the Card number and the customer service number on a separate sheet of paper in case your Card is lost or stolen. Please keep this information in a safe place. CAN USE MY VANILLA CARD AS A DEBIT CARD? Yes. Financially, your Vanilla Prepaid Card Balance doesn't work any differently when you use it as a debit card without entering a PIN. WHERE CAN USE MY VANILLA CARD? You can use your My Vanilla Card anywhere Visa Cards are accepted internationally. Enjoy using your Vanilla Card to shop at any online merchant anywhere that accepts Visa.The My Gift Card cards are attached to the Visa POS network, so you can use it at any store and any place of the selected brand that accepts this means of payment.Once you have used your card, you will be able to see all the movements made. The date of the purchases, the amount and the place where they were made. You will also be able to see your balance. DO YOU NEED A MY VANILLA CARD? One of the best ways to do your shopping in the age of social distancing is the Vanilla Card, which on the one hand gives you the opportunity to conduct online transactions safely and on the other hand is a useful tool to control your budget. FOR ANY DOUBTS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT MY VANILLA CARD: If you have questions about my vanilla card, please contact or call customer service of ABC.If you have any questions, do not hesitate to send your query with your information through the contact form of ABC.
Deciding between Tresorit/Pcloud/Nextcloud/SpyderOak for secure cloud storage?
I am trying to select a good cross-platform E2EE cloud storage solution. Emphasis here on storage, it's not necessarily going to be used for mobile back-up/restore, so those features are not necessary at the moment. After looking around for a bit, and tentatively trying out a couple providers, my four best option so far are Tresorit, PCloud, Nexcloud SpyderOak One (NxtCloud will have to be used with third-party hosting, since I do not have a setup of my own and do not plan on getting one). Hoping to get a little insight from people who've used them for a while, and see what is the best choice, given the following criteria [in order of importance]:
It works: the service actually works and does what it says, doesn't have frequent down times or major bugs or anything like that.
The encryption works: The E2EE scheme is properly implemented and works well, and if there are multiple clients like mobile desktop browser and so on, none of them have some kind of fatal flaw that breaks the length, or otherwise makes a certain class of device less secure than the rest.
Post-Quantum Resistance: I know this is more hypothetical, but I would like to at least in theory have some protection for this data since it's going to be stored up in the cloud, and likely recorded and copied by many different entities given the prevalence of the surveillance state. To know that it is using encryption that is at least somewhat resistant to quantum cryptanalysis when it comes online of all our NSA/CIA/FDA data banks would be good. I don't know the exact specific, but my understanding is that something that uses large (1024+) symmetric key algorithms. And of course, this would need to apply to the entire process of the service, including the moment a file leaves your device for the app / web interface, and whenever you download anything. If it works 99% of time but there's some weak link like TLS or something, obviously that's not great. Someone with more knowledge of this will hopefully point me in the right direction.
Cross Device Compatibility: the more different devices and Os has it supports the better. Technically speaking if I can get a solid on all the above criteria, then Linux desktop only would be sufficient, but far from ideal. Having at least Android would be good, having iOS would be great, having multiple desktop operating systems would be golden.
Accepts anonymous or more-anonymous payment methods: obviously these are all paid, assuming that anything quality in this sector is going to be. The less personal information, including any payment information, I can Fork over the better, as it makes the encryption that much more useful since there is last tied to me to begin with. Any places that accept crypto (BTC, esp Monero), or even prepaid cards like Visa Vanilla get bumped up the list.
Prices: this one isn't terribly important to me. Not that I am against saving money, but I plan on using a lot of storage so I am going to have to pay one way or another. But, let's leave it here for the sake of a tiebreaker if any of these are really completely head-to-head in all the rest.
Vanilla Non-Reloadable Gift Card is a simple, safe and convenient method of making online payments. It is the perfect prepaid card for everyday spending nationwide. You can use your card for online shopping, dining out, paying for gas and more. It can be used wherever Visa debit cards or Debit MasterCard are accepted in the U.S. and the District of Columbia. To manage Your VanillaGift Card, head on to https://www.vanillabalancecheck.com/
Your Vanilla Card does not have ATM access, and it cannot be used to get cashback at the point of sale.
No fees after purchase – Spend your money on what counts.
No personal information or credit* check required. *This is not a credit card.
Banned for playing from the People's Republic of China?
I am an American who is living in China. I connect to West Coast US servers to play Classic WoW with friends. I went to log on this morning of the 24th (which is the evening of the 23rd West coast time) to get ready to raid with my guild. However, I saw I had been permabanned. The accompanying email accused me of exchanging "game property for ‘real-world’ currency.” This is totally false. I have never purchased or sold gold in my life and have been playing WoW since vanilla. I think I have been misidentified as conducting “abuse of the economy” likely because I play from China and occasionally speak Mandarin in game. The gold buying/selling accusation is a bit ridiculous. I’ve essentially only raid logged for the last couple of months and haven't needed gold for anything since I leveled engineering a few months ago, and I farmed mara for that. (Why would a hunter [Wonkafronka, Blaumeux server] even need to buy gold?) I don't think I've had over 150g since buying my epic mount when I first hit 60 in the beginning of the year. Ironically, I report bots all the time who are actively “manipulating the economy” since I play during daytime in China (middle of the night ST) and see them online everywhere. One of the tells that someone might be botting is they are a hunter with a pet named “野猪,” since this means “wild boar” in Mandarin. It means they have never renamed their pet and connect from a Chinese WoW client. Players like me are extremely rare, but we do exist. People from around the world connect to US servers, and if the ban-net for bots is too wide, some of us are going to get caught in it too. There might also be some issues with logging in from different locations, since I have to connect using a VPN from China to lower my ping and have also connected from the US when visiting family last year. I've had frustrating issues with accounts being locked due to suspicious IP movements in the past. I do not multibox. I have abundant exculpatory evidence I am happy to provide to someone who could help me out and re-evaluate this account action. For example, I can provide passport and visa photos clearly demonstrating that I am currently legally residing in the People's Republic of China as a US citizen. I can provide a Letter of Invitation from my Chinese university as well. (Have seen Kalviery doing god's work here.) Edit: It really sucks knowing I was permanently banned by what appears to be an automated system gone awry with zero human review. A similar situation occurred not too long ago here: https://www.reddit.com/classicwow/comments/g7v2aj/another_account_wrongly_permabanned_for_abuse_of/, as mentioned by someone in the comments. Both me and this poster play from China with VPNs to reduce ping as a common factor, so it seems like the automated ban system is picking up on this. His issue was given a second review and he was unbanned. Apparently it was his VPN that was the problem. I suspect the same case for me. Tl;dr: I am American connecting from China. I speak Chinese. I have never bought gold in my life. I suspect I have been falsely caught up in some sort of automated ban-wave whose conditions I might have flagged based on connecting from a VPN to reduce ping. Please help!
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Deciding between Tresorit/Pcloud/Nextcloud/SpyderOak for secure cloud storage?
I am trying to select a good cross-platform E2EE cloud storage solution. Emphasis here on storage, it's not necessarily going to be used for mobile back-up/restore, so those features are not necessary at the moment. After looking around for a bit, and tentatively trying out a couple providers, my four best option so far are Tresorit, PCloud, Nexcloud SpyderOak One (NxtCloud will have to be used with third-party hosting, since I do not have a setup of my own and do not plan on getting one). Hoping to get a little insight from people who've used them for a while, and see what is the best choice, given the following criteria [in order of importance]:
It works: the service actually works and does what it says, doesn't have frequent down times or major bugs or anything like that.
The encryption works: The E2EE scheme is properly implemented and works well, and if there are multiple clients like mobile desktop browser and so on, none of them have some kind of fatal flaw that breaks the length, or otherwise makes a certain class of device less secure than the rest.
Post-Quantum Resistance: I know this is more hypothetical, but I would like to at least in theory have some protection for this data since it's going to be stored up in the cloud, and likely recorded and copied by many different entities given the prevalence of the surveillance state. To know that it is using encryption that is at least somewhat resistant to quantum cryptanalysis when it comes online of all our NSA/CIA/FDA data banks would be good. I don't know the exact specific, but my understanding is that something that uses large (1024+) symmetric key algorithms. And of course, this would need to apply to the entire process of the service, including the moment a file leaves your device for the app / web interface, and whenever you download anything. If it works 99% of time but there's some weak link like TLS or something, obviously that's not great. Someone with more knowledge of this will hopefully point me in the right direction.
Cross Device Compatibility: the more different devices and Os has it supports the better. Technically speaking if I can get a solid on all the above criteria, then Linux desktop only would be sufficient, but far from ideal. Having at least Android would be good, having iOS would be great, having multiple desktop operating systems would be golden.
Accepts anonymous or more-anonymous payment methods: obviously these are all paid, assuming that anything quality in this sector is going to be. The less personal information, including any payment information, I can Fork over the better, as it makes the encryption that much more useful since there is last tied to me to begin with. Any places that accept crypto (BTC, esp Monero), or even prepaid cards like Visa Vanilla get bumped up the list.
Prices: this one isn't terribly important to me. Not that I am against saving money, but I plan on using a lot of storage so I am going to have to pay one way or another. But, let's leave it here for the sake of a tiebreaker if any of these are really completely head-to-head in all the rest.
Best prepaid card/generally spendable gift card (Visa, Amex, etc.) fundable with Bitcoin with no verification/KYC for a low-value (<$100) USD transaction?
I need to make a low value online (below $100) transaction where paying directly in BTC is not an option and only credit/debit/etc. cards are accepted. So I want to be able to fund a virtual card with BTC to do this. I'm okay with low limits as I don't intend to use it for general purchasing, but I don't want to have to verify a phone number, my name, address, driver's license or anything else. For such a transaction, what would be my best options? I know on eGifter they sell Vanilla Visa gift cards that would meet my needs. But I'm not sure what the "activation" requirements for them are and I'm reluctant to buy one before knowing (as eGifter is vague, saying only that you can only redeem them if you're in the US (which I am) but not how you'll be expected to prove that). Anybody know?
Please help with my genius move re: prepaid debit cards
From time to time I buy bitcoin - this post is NOT about bitcoin, don’t worry :) - which is complicated by the fact that all my financial services (checking+debit card, and credit card) are all provided by Discover, which apparently is even more opposed than other banks to their customers conducting any kind of crypto transactions. In the past I have successfully worked around this with a variety of means, from getting non-Discover credit cards to sending cash to a random dude in Bolivia over Western Union. This time, I tried circumventing Discover’s blockage of crypto transactions by buying two prepaid Vanilla Visa gift cards using my Discover debit card. I quickly learned this was a very bone-headed move - I will skip the details, because this is not a cryptocurrency sub - but it appears impossible to buy crypto with prepaid cards using any remotely “legitimate” methods, and I’ve given up on trying. I figured, no problem, I’ll just use these prepaid cards instead of my regular cards until they run out - no harm, no foul. But, it turns out that these prepaid cards are extraordinarily difficult to use for anything but in-person purchases. I learned from a call with Vanilla customer service that, apparently, all cards that can be used for online transactions, including credit, debit, and prepaid cards, fall into one of two categories: “authorized,” meaning the card issuer has your identity info on file - whether or not they provide that info depends on the specifics of the transaction, but the important thing is that they have the info, and thus will confirm the card as “authorized” to whatever online card processor is handling the transaction. Then there are the “unauthorized” cards, where the issuer will confirm the card is real, it’s balance is sufficient for the transaction, etc, but has no identity info on file associated with the card. And, unfortunately, it seems the vast majority of online payment processors will reject unauthorized cards. So my question is, is there any way to make the $1000 I have on these two cards usable online? On thing I already tried is purchasing an authorized prepaid card (like the Green Dot cards that work almost like debit cards, and you have to provide your identity info to Green Dot for the card to work) using these unauthorized cards I have. I was told (at CVS, Walgreens, Target, etc) that you can only use cash to initially fund one of these cards?? Which makes no sense to me, given that I was able to buy the unauthorized cards with a credit card in the first place. How can I make the money on these cards usable online? Any advice will be immensely appreciated :)
Immediate Aftermath : The more data we collect and analyze, the clearer the picture becomes.
This is the updated first part of the list that has recorded the notable events as the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. [2nd Part] ― The LINKS to events and sources are placed throughout the timeline. ------------------------ The More Data We Collect and Analyze, the Clearer the Picture Becomes. Someone threw a stone in a pond a long way away. And we're only just feeling the ripples. — Fukuhara from Giri/Haji, Netflix series ------------------------ On Jan 30, Italian PM announced that Italy had blocked all flights to and from China. While Italy has banned people from air-travelling to China, however according to IATA data, there's no measurement implemented for air-travellers from China into Italy till the Mar 07. Especially for Chinese people who have EU passports. On Jan 31, the US announced the category-I travel restrictions, barring all foreigners who have been in China for the past 14 days, with measures including the refusal of visas and mandatory quarantine. • "Because the US focused on China and didn't expect the infected people's entry from Europe and the Middle East, the Maginot Line was breached from behind. And so little of credible data at the beginning made the US government to miscalculate its strategic response to the virus." — Dr. Zhang Lun, currently a visiting scholar at Harvard (economics & sociology), during the interview with ICPC on Mar 29. Also on Jan 31, the WHO changed its tune and declared the coronavirus outbreak a Global Public Health Emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
Decisions on a PHEIC always involve politics .... West African countries discouraged a declaration in 2014 after they were hit by the largest Ebola virus outbreak on record, mainly because of concern about the economic impact.
------------------------ On Feb 02, regarding the US category-I travel restrictions, Kamala Harris, the former Democratic presidential candidate, declared on Twitter:
Since 2017, Trump’s travel bans have never been rooted in national security—they’re about discriminating against people of color. They are, without a doubt, rooted in anti-immigrant, white supremacist ideologies. This travel ban is no different.
On Feb 03, criticizing Trump for his travel restrictions continues. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying (华春莹), a Peking University professors James Liang (梁建章), New York Times, the Nation, OBSERVER, the Boston Globe, Yahoo, and Daily Kos were saying, it's a "panicky" decision and "racist" or it's "cruel and callous," he's stoking fear for political gains, and the president is "inappropriately overreacting." And professors Liang even said the US ban "will hurt goodwill and cooperation [with China] in the future." [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Also on Feb 03, Mr. Tedros of the WHO said there's no need for travel ban measure that "unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade" trying to halt the spread of the virus.
China's delegate took the floor ... and denounced measures by "some countries" that have denied entry to people holding passports issued in Hubei province - at the centre of the outbreak - and to deny visas and cancel flights.
Also on Feb 03, China is expected to gradually implement a larger stimulus packages (in total) than a USD $572 billion from 2008. — We'd never find out but my guess is that the fund will probably go to Shanghai clique. On Feb 04, The FDA has given emergency authorization to a new test kit by the CDC that promises to help public health labs meet a potential surge in cases.
The speed ... pushing through a new diagnostic test shows just how seriously they’re taking the potentially pandemic threat of 2019-nCoV. It’s also a sign that the world is starting to learn how to deal with an onslaught of new pathogens.
Also on Feb 04, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS, Chief Chen Wei belongs to) have jointly applied to patent the use of Remdesivir. Scientists from both institutes said in a paper published in Nature’s Cell Research that they found both Remdesivir and Chloroquine to be an effective way to inhibit the coronavirus. On Feb 06, Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based research & analysis unit, noted that with State Council of PRC praising his performance of containing the pandemic situation, the council expanded Li Keqiang's political control over Politburo Standing Committee of CCP. (Li Keqiang = Communist Youth League = Shanghai clique) Also, on Feb 06, as the US evacuation planes leave China, the wave of the US evacuees have arrived who are met by the CDC personnel at the quarantine sites for screening, and those who were suspected of infection will be placed under quarantine for 14 days. Also, on Feb 06, a CDC-developed lab test kit to detect the new coronavirus began shipping to qualified US laboratories and international ones. — However, on Feb 12, the CDC said some of the testing kits have flaws and do not work properly. The CDC finally ended up shipping the working test kits for mass testings on Feb 27. This was three weeks later than originally planned. On Feb 07, China National Petroleum has recently declared Force Majeure on gas imports. They are trying to create a breathing room for their foreign exchange reserves shortage. China's foreign exchange reserves fell to mere USD $3.1 trillion in Oct. 2019. On the same day, Bloomberg reported that PetroChina has directed employees in 20 countries to buy N95 face masks and send them home in China. The goal is to get 2 million masks shipped back. You can also find YouTube videos that show Overseas Chinese are scouring the masks at the Home Depot to ship them to China (the video in Korean). Also Chris Smith is pissed. On Feb 09, Trump renews his national emergency on its southern border, and Elizabeth Goitein from the Brennan Center for Justice, published an opinion article on New York Times titled "Trump Has Abused This Power. And He Will Again if He’s Not Stopped." On Feb 10, Dr. Tedros said that an advance three-person team of the WHO arrived in Beijing for a joint mission to discuss with Chinese officials the agenda and questions. Then, the joint mission of about 10 international experts will soon follow, he said. — Those WHO experts ended up visiting Chinese epicentre for the first time on Feb 24. On Feb 12, the US targets Russian oil company for helping Venezuela skirt sanctions. The US admin seemingly tried to secure leverage against Russia after noticing something suspicious was up. On the same day, Trump told Reuters "I hope this outbreak or this event (for the US) may be over in something like April." — Dr. Zhong Nanshan (钟南山), China's top tier SARS-hero doctor, also said "the peak of the virus (for China) should come in mid to late February, followed by a plateau or decrease," adding that his forecast was based on on mathematical modelling and data from recent events and government action. On Feb 13, Tom Frieden who is a former US CDC chief and currently the head of public health nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives, said:
As countries are trying to develop their own control strategies, they are looking for evidence of whether the situation in China is getting worse or better. [But] We still don't have very basic information. [since the WHO just entered China] We hope that information will be coming out.
On the same day, the CDC reports that the 15th case in the US was confirmed. The patient was a part of group who were under a federal quarantine order at the JBSA-Lackland base because of a recent trip to Hubei Province, China. By Feb 13, China hasn't accepted the US CDC's offer to send top experts, and they haven't released the "disaggregated" data (specific figures broken out from the overall numbers) even though repeatedly been asked. On Feb 14, CCP's United Front posted an article on its official website, saying (Eng. text by Google Translation):
Fast! There is no time difference to raise urgently needed materials! Some Overseas Chinese have used their professions in the field of medicine in order to purchase relevant materials Hubei province in short of supply (to send them to China). .... Some Overseas Chinese took advantage of the connection resources, opened green transportation channels through our embassies and consulates abroad, and their related enterprises, and quickly sent large quantities of medical supplies (to China), making this love relay link and cooperation seamless.
On Feb 18, Reuters reports that 3M is on the list of firms eligible for China loans to ease coronavirus crisis.
There is no indication from the list that loans offered will necessarily be sought, or that such firms are in any financial need. The Bank of Shanghai told Reuters it will lend 5.5 billion yuan ($786 million) to 57 firms on its list.
On Feb 21, Xi Jinping writes a thank-you letter to Bill Gates for his foundation’s support to China regarding COVID-19 outbreak. On Feb 24, China was rumoured on Twitter to delay the phase one trade deal implementation indefinitely which includes the increase of China's purchasing American products & services by at least $200 billion over the next two years. Also on Feb 24, S&P 500 Index started to drop. Opened with 3225.9 and closed 3128.2. By the Mar 23, it dropped to 2208.9. Also on Feb 24, China's National Health Commission says the WHO experts have visited Wuhan city for the first time, the locked-down central Chinese city at the epicentre, inspecting two hospitals and a makeshift one at a sports centre. On Feb 26, IF the picture that has been circulated on Twitter were real, then chief Chen Wei and her team have developed the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine within time frame of a month. On the same day, the CDC's latest figures displays 59 people in the US who have tested positive for COVID-19. Also on Feb 26, the Washington Post published an article that says:
.... the WHO said it has repeatedly asked Chinese officials for "disaggregated" data — meaning specific figures broken out from the overall numbers — that could shed light on hospital transmission and help assess the level of risk front-line workers face. "We received disaggregated information at intervals, though not details about health care workers," said Tarik Jasarevic of the WHO. — The comment, in an email on Feb 22 to the Post, was one of the first instances that the WHO had directly addressed shortcomings in China's reporting or handling of the coronavirus crisis.
On Feb 27, after missteps, the CDC says its test kit is ready and the US started to expand testing. On Feb 28, China transferred more than 80,000 Uighurs to factories used by global brands such as Apple, Nike, & Volkswagen & among others. Also on Feb 28, the WHO published the official report of the WHO-China joint mission on coronavirus disease 2019. (PDF) On Feb 29, quoting Caixin media's investigation published on the same day, Lianhe Zaobao, the largest Singapore-based Chinese-language newspaper, published an article reporting the following:
Dr. Li Wenliang said in the interview with Caixin media; [in Dec 2019] another doctor (later turned out to be Dr. Ai Fen) examined and tried to treat a patient who exhibited SARS-like symptoms which akin to influenza resistant to conventional treatment methods. And "the family members who took care of her (the patient) that night also had a fever, and her other daughter also had a fever. This is obviously from person to person" Dr. Li said in the interview."
------------------------ On Mar 01, China's State Council super tighten up their already draconian internet law. On the same day,Princelings published an propaganda called "A Battle Against Epidemic: China Combating COVID-19 in 2020" which compiles numerous state media accounts on the heroic leadership of Xi Jinping, the vital role of the Communist Party, and the superiority of the Chinese system in fighting the virus. Starting on Mar 03, the US Fed has taken two significant measures to provide monetary stimulus. It's going to be no use as if a group of people with serious means are manipulating the markets to make sure MM will have liquidity concerns when they need it most. On Mar 04, Xinhua News, China's official state-run press agency posted an article "Be bold: the world should thank China" which states that
If China retaliates against the US at this time, it will also announce strategic control over medical products, and ban exports of said products to the US. ... If China declares today that its drugs are for domestic use only, the US will fall into the hell of new coronavirus epidemic.
On Mar 05, Shanghai Index has recovered the coronavirus loss almost completely. On Mar 07, Saudi's Ahmed bin Abdulaziz and Muhammad bin Nayef were arrested on the claims of plotting to overthrow King Salman. — Ahmed bin Abdulaziz is known to have very tight investment-interest relationship with Bill Gates, Bill Browder, Blackstone, & BlackRock: One common factor that connects these people is China. On Mar 08, the Russia–Saudi oil price war has begun. The ostensible reason was simple: China, the biggest importer of oil from Saudi and Russia, was turning back tankers while claiming that the outbreak forced its economy to a standstill. On Mar 10, the Washington Post published the article saying that the trade group for manufacturers of personal protective equipment urged in 2009 "immediate action" to restock the national stockpile including N95 masks, but it hasn't been replenished since. On Mar 11, the gentleman at the WHO declares the coronavirus outbreak a "Global Pandemic." He called on governments to change the course of the outbreak by taking "urgent and aggressive action." This was a full twelve days after the organization published the official report regarding the situation in China. On Mar 13, the US admin declared a National Emergency and announced the plan to release $50 billion in federal resources amid COVID-19. Also on Mar 13, China's Ministry of Commerce states that China is now the best region for global investment hedging. On Mar 15, Business Insider reports that Trump tried to poach German scientists working on a coronavirus vaccine and offered cash so it would be exclusive to the US. The problem is the official CureVac (the German company) twitter account, on Mar 16, 2020, tweeted the following:
To make it clear again on coronavirus: CureVac has not received from the US government or related entities an offer before, during and since the Task Force meeting in the White House on March 2. CureVac rejects all allegations from press.
On Mar 16, the fan club of European globalists has published a piece titled, "China and Coronavirus: From Home-Made Disaster to Global Mega-Opportunity." The piece says:
The Chinese method is the only method that has proved successful [in fighting the virus], is a message spread online in China by influencers, including many essentially promoting propaganda. ... it is certainly a message that seems to be resonating with opinion leaders around the world.
On the same day, unlike China that had one epicentre, Wuhan city, the US now overtakes China with most cases reporting multiple epicentres simultaneously. Also on Mar 16, the US stocks ended sharply lower with the Dow posting its worst point drop in history. But some showed a faint hint of uncertain hope. On Mar 17, according to an article on Chinese version of Quora, Zhihu, chief Chen Wei and her team with CanSino Biologics officially initiated a Phase-1 clinical trial for COVID-19 vaccine at the Wuhan lab, Hubei China, which Bloomberg News confirmed. — Click HERE, then set its time period as 1 year, and see when the graph has started to move up. Also on Mar 17, China's state media, China Global TV Network (CGTN), has produced YouTube videos for Middle Eastern audiences to spread the opinion that the US has engineered COVID-19 events. Also on Mar 17, Al Jazeera reported that the US President has been criticized for repeatedly referring to the coronavirus as the "Chinese Virus" as critics saying Trump is "fueling bigotry." • China's Xinhua News tweeted "Racism is not the right tool to cover your own incompetence." • Tucker Carlson asked: "Why would America's media take China's side amid coronavirus pandemic?" • Also, Mr. Bill Gates: "We should not call this the Chinese virus." On Mar 19, for the first time, China reports zero local infections. Also on Mar 19, Al Jazeera published an analysis report, titled "Coronavirus erodes Trump's re-election prospects." On Mar 22, Bloomberg reports that China's mobile carriers lost 21 million users during this pandemic event. It's said to be the first net decline since starting to report monthly data in 2000. On Mar 26, EURACTV reports that China cashes in off coronavirus, selling Spain $466 million in supplies. However, Spain returns 9,000 "quick result" test kits to China, because they were deemed substandard. — Especially the sensibility of the test was around 30 percent, when it should be higher than 80 percent. ------------------------ On Apr 03, Germany and other governments are bolstering corporate defenses to address worries that coronavirus-weakened companies could be easy prey for bargain hunting by China's state owned businesses. On Apr 05, New York Times says "Trump Again Promotes Use of Unproven Anti-Malaria Drug (hydroxychloroquine)." On Apr 06, a Democratic State Rep. Karen Whitsett from Detroit credits hydroxychloroquine and President Trump for "saving her in her battle with the coronavirus." On Apr 07, the US CDC removed the following part from its website.
Although optimal dosing and duration of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 are unknown, some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally different hydroxychloroquine dosing such as: 400mg BID on day one, then daily for 5 days; 400 mg BID on day one, then 200mg BID for 4 days; 600 mg BID on day one, then 400mg daily on days 2-5.
------------------------ ☞ If there were ever a time for people not to be partisan and tribal, the time has come: We need to be ever vigilant and attentive to all kinds of disinformation & misinformation to see it better as well as to be sharp in our lives. — We really do need to come together. ☞ At first, I was going to draw up a conspiracy theory-oriented list focused on Team-Z, especially Mr. Gates. However, although it's nothing new tbh, recently many chats and discussions seem overflowing with disinformation & misinformation which is, in my opinion, particularly painful at a time like this. Hence, this post became a vanilla list that's just recorded the notable events. — We all are subject to misinformation, miscalculation, and misjudgment. But the clearer the picture becomes the better we can identify Funkspiel. ------------------------ ☞ Immediate Aftermath pt.2.a ------------------------ ☞ Feasible Timeline of the Operation ------------------------ ☞ Go Back to the Short Story. ----
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