Summer School Update (OCN)

I'm not involved in any of the civic unrest taking place in my City of Portland, although I am commenting from my crow's nest on Facebook.

My experience with Occupy, which echoed the Smedley Butler Hoovervilles, right down to Elk Park, was in no way a positive indicator that I'd be at the vanguard of some smashing fest.  We operated with precision and although we trampled the park, we channeled a lot of amps.  The park bounced back, complete with restrooms.

I'd be for reopening the pavillions (not gazebos exactly), such as in Colonel Summers and kitty corner from Cleveland High School, without ending social distancing.  Maybe these could be dispensaries for the free government cell phones we're all getting along with testing, that will let us avail of social services, and vote.  Just lapsing into science fiction there for a sec.

Regarding Facebook Policies

There's no way to fact check the billions of posts in hundreds of languages, about events and theories unfolding around the world daily. I know a lot of people obsessed with North American politics don't care at all about what's going on in the Indian subcontinent or in Africa, but tribal culture wars in the US should not dictate Facebook's practices.

The standards that do exist are difficult enough to uphold, such as keeping the platform relatively free of pornography, a challenge many platforms don't shoulder. I understand if Twitter wants to block posts "glorifying violence" but there again, what combination of algorithms and eyeballs are going to apply those standards even handedly?

A lot of frustrated individuals, feeling powerless to stop misinformation, want a big daddy / mommy tech firm to jump in and be the authority figure. The internet is distinguished by its decentralization. We don't have authority figures or big brothers by design. That wild west free-for-all atmosphere is what's valuable about these networks. Asking for crackdowns against political speech, propaganda, advertising, manipulation, misinformation, is asking for parental controls. I would prefer to not pander to this impulse.

Journal Entry: Quaker Business

I cancelled my recurring payment from PayPal to the QuakerQuaker discussion list.  I was putting a lot of eggs in that basket, and shouldering some of the costs.

However the domain name behind the site has been parked with GoDaddy and the security certificate is now invalid.  Chrome complains bitterly when I want to go there.

Today I deleted several videos from the site, that also appear on Youtube.  I'm just getting into practice.  I may be deleting a lot more.

In the meantime, I've had a good ride, enjoyed the site, and am grateful for the valuable service, worth it to me at the time.

Addendum:  funny watching The Atlantic make Russiagate sausage right before I eyes.  I sent 'em a note about it, saying I was mocking this article on Facebook.