Links of a Sunday

https://discord.com/terms#16 Discord is pulling a fast one with regards to forced arbitration. You can send the following email to arbitration-opt-out@discord.com from the email for your discord account: "I opt out of arbitration." as subject and body. If you can't remember which email is your discord email, just send it from multiple. This is a shitty thing they're forcing everyone to do, or risk being unable to sue for data harvesting, art theft, warrantless surveillance and more. Deadline is May 14. If you miss the deadline, you would have to delete your account and send the email when you re-establish a new one. Ugh.

https://www.vox.com/health/2024/4/17/24132112/period-mental-health-depression-anxiety-menstruation Menstrual cycles make depression worse. Yeah, I know, very duh. But we finally have science to back it up. Other menstruation-related science is also forthcoming.

https://www.axios.com/2024/04/16/homicide-rate-us-voters-trump The number of homicides has plummeted in major U.S. cities, so Trump and the MAGA party are lying through their collective teeth about the “massive crime waves” in the US.

TRIGGER WARNING: needlephobia-triggering images of vaccine shots. https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2024/04/15/vaccine-breakthrough-means-no-more-chasing-strains “Scientists at UC Riverside have demonstrated a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised." (Emphasis mine.)

https://restofworld.org/2024/elections-ai-tracker/ This website is tracking AI-fabricated stories and AI-supported disinformation in the 2024 elections around the world.

https://theintercept.com/2023/03/21/fbi-colorado-springs-surveillance/ While ignoring an open case about threats made by a white supremacist, Colorado Springs police placed a pink-haired undercover officer in with a racial justice group protesting a murderous cop. Because they are, in fact, the largest street gang in America, and it’s not hard to spot. 🤬

Rolling dice for mental health

A friend recommended a fair while back that I could make a numbered list of 20 mentally healthy things for me to do to care for myself, and then roll a die to pick a random one so that I never get burned out or bored. And then I got eleventy million headaches and forgot until today. So here:

My D20 Self-Care List:
-1. Go outside
-2. Look at paintings online
-3. Read poetry
-4. Meditate
-5. Smellgoods
-6. Pet kitties or rub silk
-7. Hot bath
-8. hugs and snuggles
-9. Read something comforting
-10. Listen to music
-11. Ask for help with something
-12. Make a pot of decaf
-13. Connect with a loved one
-14. Stretch
-15. Eat a tasty food
-16. Finish something
-17. Blog
-18. Rub my feet
-19. List recent accomplishments
-20. Crafting projects.

In this vein, I have also created a D100 table of (so far) ten people to call, text, or email and say something nice about them. We could all use the extra mood boost to know that someone is proud of us, or trusts us, or is delighted that we exist. And the act of gratitude and finding good things about others or that they mean to me is good for my mood, too. If you want to be on the list, lmk?

In personal news, my nasal swab fungus test came back abnormal, so we may have a cause for what, exactly, is going on with these headaches. Fingers crossed. 🤞