Notices by Shannon Skinner (she/her) (shansterable@c.im)

@nixCraft LOL. In the #pacificnorthwest, "Junuary" is an actual thing. We use it to describe the dreaded low temps and dreary drizzle that come like clockwork in June, just as our patience for summer's start runs dry.

Meta announces 5% cuts in preparation for an "intense year" of fuck yous and account closures.

A whole lot of people who have camping reservations at National Parks this summer are in for a big surprise.

The camp sites are so popular that I'm typically fighting to book a site this time of year for a slot in August. It is a cutthroat endeavor. Most of the sites over the summer have already been booked.

A single tent site with no power or water hookups, no reliable source of drinking water, and pit toilets at Panorama Point Campground in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest costs $48 per night. There is still ridiculous demand.

If it's true that the Rump Administration has rescinded all job offers for national park employees, there won't be anyone there to clean and supply the pit toilets and oversee reservations.

*If* the parks stay open, it will be total chaos and the overflowing pit toilets will be a disease vector.

If they close, I can't imagine the mass numbers of reservations that will need to be canceled and refunds issued. Not to mention the economic devastation to nearby towns whose businesses rely on the summer travel season.

#USPol #USPolitics #NationalParks #Camping

In the summer of 1978, there was anarchy in Memphis when both the police and fire departments went on strike at the same time. This terrifying situation of rampant arson and looting happened while I was a young adult living in Memphis and learning about the world.

People unified to fill the gap. Neighborhood organizations advised residents to appoint street captains, trade phone numbers, and keep watch over each others' properties.

This bit of history offers us valuable lessons that become more relevant each day.

"July 1, 1978, the Memphis Fire Department Strike left over 200 structures in ruins.

The strike and the actions of some individuals in both the police and fire departments present one of the more disturbing chapters in Memphis history, with racial overtones that echo to this day.

The primary issues centered on poor wages and working conditions, long work weeks, lack of compensation for injuries, frustrations dating back ten years, and according to many, a general mistrust of the city’s administration. On a pay stub he had sent back to Memphis Mayor Wyeth Chandler, one fireman wrote, “Me and my family can’t live on this (wage). You may have to get somebody else to put out your fires.”

With the support and encouragement from firefighter unions across the country, on July 1st, 1978, 1,400 fire fighters walked off their jobs. They would return to work on the 4th after obeying a court order and with a promise there’d be strike mediation. But there were a few more walkouts and picketing, and then a month later, on August 15th officers of the police force walked out, and the firefighter’s union joined them.''

#USPol #USPolitics #Memphis #MemphisHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #UnionsStrong #GeneralStrike #Resist

This article does a great job in summarizing the terror, politics, and culture surrounding these events using images from newspapers and photos from the time:

https://storyboardmemphis.org/history/the-infamous-1978-fire-and-police-department-strikes/

Message to those of you wishing ill will on the USA: I live here and I say go for it.

Speak out againsts our new regime. Apply force against it. Levy tariffs. Boycott our products. Change your plans to travel here and go somewhere else instead.

I am not offended by these actions. I would be more offended if you were to go with the flow and encourage our current leadership with your indifference.

Our voter rolls were unlawfully purged. Half of us didn't vote for the felon. We will fight back from the inside and we need your help from the outside. Do your thing and don't worry about hurting our feelings.

#USPol #USPolitics #Democracy

Started watching the movie Shock Waves (1977) last night.

In the film, a group of "almost human" Nazis rise from the sea and attack tourists shipwrecked on a deserted island.

Watch the trailer. "You are now in the deep end of horror! They have risen! We call them The Death Corps."

Has #Monsterdon watched this one already? It seems timely.

https://youtu.be/fJEHhl3m_bQ?feature=shared

#Horror #Movie #Zombies #Fascism #Nazi #USPol #USPol

Since joining Mastodon in November 2022 I've:

Left Twitter
Joined Pixelfed
Started using LibreOffice
Deleted my LinkedIn account
Deleted my Instagram account
Deleted my Facebook account
Deleted my Facebook Messenger account
Started using Signal
Opened a Tutamail account
Started using Camel Case for hashtags
Started adding alt text to 100% of my images

And I'm thinking Linux is looking pretty good right now.

Y'all are influencers. Never forget that.

#SocialMedia #OpenSource #BoycottMeta #TwitterRefugee #BigTech

Welp. That's the end of COVID wastewater data in my county.

Last year I noticed that the CDC's COVID wastewater data map indicated "No Recent Data" for my sewershed since mid-November 2024. I finally called the Lynden Public Works office (twice) to get an answer for why. This was the response they sent me:

"I had a talk with our Plants superintendent regarding the wastewater testing and reporting to the CDC. I was informed that this was done during the pandemic with some grant money that was available. This was stopped once the pandemic came to an end and there was no more grant money.

There is talk at the treatment plants on whether they would like to start this process again though and may be brought back on in the future."

Sometime between today and yesterday, the dot on the CDC map for my nearest sewershed collection area (#2124 Whatcom County) disappeared.

I'm going to lobby my city's public works department to take over data collection from that jurisdiction. We deserve to know the level of COVID (and other pathogens) circulating in our community.

#Healthcare #CDC #COVID #COVIDIsNotOver #Wastewater #H5N1

I went to a meeting of Whole Washington (@WholeWashington) volunteers at my local library today.

About 15 engaged community members met to discuss how to continue the fight for a universal healthcare plan that will cover all Washington state residents.

Whole Washington has run 3 different citizen initiative campaigns over the years. They continually lobby the Washington legislature. They keep trying. They never give up.

Whole Washington's got a universal healthcare bill in the WA senate this session. They are actively seeking a sponsor for a bill in the house of representatives.

There's nothing more uplifting than surrounding yourself with people who believe that positive change can be achieved, especially given the long, hard slog we face with the incoming administration.

If you want to get involved, visit https://wholewashington.org/

#USPol #USPolitics #Healthcare #WashingtonState #HealthcareIsAHumanRight

I joined the Service Employees International Union informational picket today at PeaceHealth Hospital in Bellingham, WA.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants warn of chronic understaffing and wages insufficient to support the local cost of living.

An SEIU organizer told me PeaceHealth is offering wage increases of only 2-3%. The cost of living in Washington state increased by nearly 6% last year.

In addition to stalled contract negotiations, PeaceHealth has refused to recognize the June 2024 joint union victory of the PeaceHealth and Sound Physicians hospitalist team at St. Joseph Medical Center and United General Medical Center.

#USPol #USPolitics #Union #SEIU #UnionStrong #Solidarity #Healthcare #PeaceHealth #PacificNorthwest #PNW #News

@Tarah
MSP is a "managed service provider" in case that helps anyone besides me.

"A managed service provider (MSP) is a third-party company that remotely manages a customer's information technology (IT) infrastructure and end-user systems"

I aspire to do for initialisms and jargon what alt text does for images.

1/6
Entire opinion published below:
Elon Musk Is a National Security Risk

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/29/opinion/elon-musk-china-classified-secrets-national-security-russia-doge.html

#USPol #USPolitics #Elmo #Leon #QElon #NationalSecurity #China #TaxTheRich

2/6
"It is now fair to ask the question: Is Elon Musk a national security risk?

According to numerous interviews and remarks, Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency co-leader, Vivek Ramaswamy, once appeared to believe he was. In May 2023, Mr. Ramaswamy went so far as to publicly state, “I have no reason to think Elon won’t jump like a circus monkey when Xi Jinping calls in the hour of need,” a reference to China’s leader. In a separate X post targeting Mr. Musk, he wrote, “the U.S. needs leaders who aren’t in China’s pocket.”

Mr. Ramaswamy has since walked back his numerous public criticisms of Mr. Musk, but he was right to raise concerns. According to news reports, Mr. Musk and his rocket company, SpaceX, face federal reviews from the Air Force, the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General and the under secretary of defense for intelligence and security for failing to provide details of Mr. Musk’s meetings with foreign leaders and other potential violations of national-security rules.

These alleged infractions are just the beginning of my worries. Mr. Musk’s business ventures are heavily reliant on China. He borrowed at least $1.4 billion from banks controlled by the Chinese government to help build Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory, which was responsible for more than half of Tesla’s global deliveries in the third quarter of 2024."

#USPol #USPolitics #Elmo #Leon #QElon #NationalSecurity #China #TaxTheRich

3/6
"China does not tend to give things away. The country’s laws stipulate that the Communist Party can demand intelligence from any company doing business in China, in exchange for participating in the country’s markets.

This means Mr. Musk’s business dealings in China could require him to hand over sensitive classified information, learned either through his business interests or his proximity to President-elect Donald Trump. No federal agency has accused him of disclosing such material, but as Mr. Ramaswamy put it, China has recognized that U.S. companies are fickle. He added, “If Xi Jinping says ‘jump,’ they’ll say, ‘How high?’”

#USPol #USPolitics #Elmo #Leon #QElon #NationalSecurity #China #TaxTheRich

"Bird flu has been on the rise in Washington state and one sanctuary was hit hard: 20 big cats – more than half of the facility’s population – died over the course of weeks.

The Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington announced the deaths Friday. The nonprofit sanctuary is in Shelton, about 22 miles northwest of Olympia.

The 20 animals that died include: five African Servals, four bobcats, four cougars, two Canada Lynxes, one Amur-Bengal tiger mix and other species of big cats."

#BirdFlu #H5N1 #WashingtonState #PNW #PacificNorthwest #Healthcare #PublicHealth #USPol #USPolitics

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/25/us/bird-flu-washington-cats-cases/index.html

Welp. Not that we were holding our breath anyway, but I think we can kiss reasonable egg prices good-bye for the foreseeable future.

I photographed this sign affixed to the egg cooler at the Bellingham, WA Winco grocery store this morning.

You know what? I only eat 1 or two eggs during a normal week, so I think I'll just skip eggs altogether for a while.

By the way, one dozen large, free range eggs cost $4.65 today, about a dollar more than we usually pay. We just returned from California where the cost was between $5 and $7 per dozen.

#BirdFlu #H5N1 #Pandemic #USPol #USPolitics #Eggs #Groceries #Healthcare #PublicHealth

I'm not naming names, but I still think about this daily.

Some of you on here told us we were overreacting with regard to the slow pace of the criminal cases against Orange Mussolini.

You told us that justice takes time and that its wheels were turning as designed.

You told us we were being impatient and lacked knowledge of the system.

Well, guess what. You gaslighted us. I won't forget that.

#USPol #USPolitics #Fascism #Democracy #HumanRights

Your periodic reminder that the Better Business Bureau is a sham organization.

Back when I ran a business, I got scammed by a credit card processing company. They did a bait and switch on a contract.

I filed a complaint with the BBB. The BBB contacted the scam company and solicited a response from them. The scam company responded that they were right and I was wrong.

The BBB closed the case, said it was resolved satisfactorily. I called them to ask how that could be. I was still scammed and the scam company still had my money.

The BBB said that when a company responds to a complaint, that shows they are acting in good faith and can retain their rating.

I asked the BBB, "So, even if the scam company's response is 'fuck you,' they get a pass? The BBB rep said yes.

That is the last time I ever paid attention to the BBB. Just ignore the BBB. You will be better off.

#BetterBusinessBureau #USPol #USPolitics #Business #Fraud

Alt text helps everyone.

I have a difficult time understanding some memes. Often, I click on the alt text for more context.

Most of the time the extra info enlightens me, I suddenly understand the meme, and move on. Thank you for the alt text.

Case in point. Today I saw a meme photograph from the point of view of someone writing code on a laptop. Lovely scenery can be seen through a window. The caption "I love coding on the train" seemed banal.

Because the post had indications it was a meme, I dug further and clicked on the alt text, which explained that the idiot that took the photo and posted it publicly was revealing some very private bits of code visible on the screen.

Had there been no alt text, I would have missed this entirely. I'm not blind or visually impaired, but alt text helps me on the regular.

#AltText #Ableism #Accessibility #Inclusion

If we can't collectively muster the resolve to avoid crossing the Amazon picket line for just a few days, we're doomed.

We face enormous tests of our solidarity against oligarchs, kleptocrats, and christofascists. This one is easy.

Here's some extra encouragement.

Jeff Bezos is a union-busting oligarch who floats around on a $500 million yacht that is so big, it has its own 250-foot support yacht.

He flies around on his choice of four private jets, his newest and favorite an $80 million Gulfstream G700 luxury business jet that travels near the speed of sound.

Monopolist Bezos extorts 50% of revenue from sellers on Amazon.com.

Bezos doesn't pay taxes while middle class Americans pick up the tab.

And, the cherry on top, Bezos' congratulatory Tweet proves he has kissed the ring: “Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing [Trump] all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.”

Please don't be a scab. Only if we stick together can we come out of this intact on the other side.

#Solidarity #UnionStrong #Amazon #Bezos #BoycottAmazon #BlackFriday

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4976604-jeff-bezos-donald-trump-2024-election-victory/