Notices by George Dorn (gdorn@social.coop), page 3

My basil cuttings have successfully grown new roots! I hope to have fresh lazy* hydroponic pesto all winter.

* The Kratky hydroponic setup is basically just a tote with a hole in the top for a root cup. No bubblers or pumps needed; the plants make their own air pockets by drinking up the water/nutrient blend.

@datatitian @Bernie2020 They're both kinda muddling around a topic where they need extremely clear talking points. I get Colbert is a favorable audience they don't need to preach to, but there's a very simple way to say it: "Your taxes could go up a little, but your medical expenses will drop to zero and for most people that's a win" followed by "the math works because it cuts out a huge number of for-profit middlemen who are incentivized to not give you care".

That in mind, if anybody needs a #Python / #Django developer, remote or in #PDX, and they think their company* would be flexible enough to allow 30-ish hour work weeks, let me know. I mean, there's probably a referral bonus in it for you.

I mean, even Amazon has a 30-hour workweek program. Or had. I don't know if it survived.

(*No adtech, no bitcoin, probably no clown platforms unless it's actual clowns).

I'm starting down the path of applying for full-time jobs with a goal to negotiate down to 30 hours during the offer phase. This follows the advice of Itamar Turner-Trauring, who published a book "You can negotiate for a 3-day weekend". I stumbled across that from a blog article, "What software developers can do about climate change" (https://codewithoutrules.com/2019/09/10/software-developers-climage-change/) at the end of which he gives out a free copy of the book to anybody looking for free time to be activists.

Web development with #django: ./manage.py runserver

WebSocket development with #django: step one: install docker...

WebSockets considered harmful.

"More like CRAPitalism amirite?" is fedi code for "I'm so tired and I need a hug."

@BalooUriza They've both been saying one thing and doing another. I'm just holding out a tiny bit of hope that the current narrative that much of the media is going with (out-of-town fascists descending on the city to start fights) will have some effect on their actions.

Got a new PT doc yesterday (the old one was subbing in for the summer but moved on). She did do some MFR that was far too light to do much, but was also a more hands-on way to examine the muscles in my lower back; she noticed a couple possible issues.

The workout part seemed super easy but today I am _sore_. I think this might actually help after all.

Of course, I haven't had any major symptoms due to not training capoeira; hopefully I can go back soon.

@interneteh Oh, I know. PPB has sided with the chuds repeatedly and in much worse ways. I just am holding out a tiny hope that Wheeler has changed.

But I'll probably be there with a camera anyway.

@interneteh I do have a tiny bit of hope that he has seen the light, that a lot of the protestors are flying in specifically to start a fight with RCA, and that siding with the fascists isn't good for his optics. Whether Outlaw will be able to resist attacking the counter-protestors remains to be seen...

Also, I wish I could believe that Wheeler and the PPB have woken up to the notion that the fascists are the problem and antifa is just doing what it needs to do, but the number of businesses that have had to move and/or cancel events that day just might have something to do with it...

PPB also just gave a press conference, though I was unable to stream it. Followup summaries seem to suggest they're shutting down a couple streets and the Hawthorne bridge. Presumably this is to make it harder for bystanders to end up caught in the mess, which in turn makes it a lot easier for cops to kettle & arrest.

It was also a show of force; there will be a _lot_ of cops there this time.

Citation for the US Marshals being involved in the arrests:

"PPB has arrested 6 Patriots and 0 Antifa ahead of PDX Saturday," writes the Three Percent of Washington, a local chapter of the Three Percenters paramilitary group, on Facebook. "They are using sealed indictments to hide Ted Wheeler's bias as Police Commissioner/Mayor and Antifa supporter. Warrants are being executed by U.S. Marshals."

https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2019/08/15/as-arrests-mount-at-least-one-far-right-paramilitary-group-has-bailed-out-of-the-aug-17-rally-in-portland/

Suggestions that this is about the May 1 attack.

If I delude myself hard enough into thinking I'm enough of a Fediverse developer to get something useful out of the #ActivityPub conference, I can also convince myself I could afford to do it.

And I'd have to stay in #Prague a week to make it the cheapest (weird airfare behavior).

I dunno. It's a neat idea, and #wonambi is coming up on federation any week now...

@opal It was an observation on the vulnerabilities of bad actors on the fediverse and the inherent power imbalance implied by needing to cooperate in order to federate.

Gab would have a hard time doing the opposite, since anybody they would want to do this to pre-emptively blocks them.

But it is a thing a small pleroma patch could easily implement without much extra cost, and hundreds of small pleroma sites could implement it without noticing it.

And of course now I'm hyper aware of my lower back, and since I biked to the appointment (five miles each way) it's a bit tired. But _lopsided_ tired.

I'm going to be fighting psychosomatic symptoms for the next few days, at least.

A followup after the first appointment today:

No MFR; it wasn't even mentioned. The first step is diagnosis, which proved difficult because only intense exercise and particularly acrobatic movements trigger it and I've been taking it easy since it got really bad three weeks ago.

Possible diagnosis is damage to the L4/L5 disk or a nerve therein. I have some really mild (to me) exercises to target the region and gather some data, but no capoeira for me for another week.