Code Traveler's Journal — December 27th 2018

A habit of posting more frequently continues to evolve and expand. In this episode my friend Milo is back and will probably become a regular or daily feature. That all depends how much wit runs in a corn syrup brain.

_{Photo of the Day by Adam Kontor from Pexels}

I believe @lanzjoseg, @katekor11, @chokomenia, @jjay, @jmhb85, and others will recall Milo from his birthday party about 9 months ago. Milo might have had too much too drink and gotten a little loose with Steem Power that isn't his too spend. Or maybe he was just caught up in all the excitement.

Also, I came up with a new name, Code Travellers Journal, as these #Actifit posts have grown past reciting a daily fitness and no topic of daily reach will be out of bounds. There's plenty going on to write about.

Video of the day

Growing up in western New York — and once upon a time a history major — I thought I might have had a better than average grasp of the Iroquois Confederacy. However, this video goes into more detail about the political mechanics of this federation of idigenous North American peoples than my schooling ever did.

This YouTuber also makes an interesting claim—that the Iroquois confederacy is plausibly "the world's oldest democracy."

Like several others who voiced so in the YouTube comments I am skeptical of this, certainly bold, assertion. It's not because the Iroquois Confederacy isn't impressive. I do think however that, despite being comparatively egalitarian, it was not necessarily democratic. After all clan mothers were not elected. The position appears to have been—and to still be—at least to a degree a matter of seniority and hereditary.

However, I also found some modern evidence in favor of applying the term democratic. According to a summary taken from the court record in Poodry v Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians:

[Each of eight clans] appoints a clan mother, who in turn appoints an individual to serve as Chief [from hereditary maternal lines]. The clan mother retains the power to remove a Chief and, in consultation with members of the clan, provides recommendations to the Chief on matters of tribal government. The clan mothers cannot disregard the views of the clan, nor can the Chiefs disregard the recommendations of the clan mothers.

While this may not be an election per se it certainly seems like there was a popular consensus and collective sovereignty being exercised in selecting the clan mothers. And in underwriting their power.

It's also worth noting that while a smaller band, the Tonawanda Indians, mentioned above do indeed maintain this traditional government into the present day, this is a minority. The larger Seneca Nation adopted a republican form of tribal sovereignty shortly before the American Civil War, prompting the smaller band to splinter off and eventually seek independent recognition.

In any case I think it can be said with far less controversy that the Iroquois was a sophisticated and well balanced polity.

Today's Activity

For my part I've continued to plank and re-added a creatine regimen to my extropian stack of supplements. Recently I had been focusing almost exclusively on supplements for cognition. I don't think I've made regular use of creatine for at least a few years. It's already made me feel limber and alert in recovering from my most recent six minute planking session.

These sessions actually take me almost 15 minutes, incidentally, when I figure in some recovery time in between planks. In fact reducing that recovery interval is the main way I am progressing right now rather than extending the time in each position.

Six Minute Plank Routine

• 60 seconds standard plank [front leaning rest position]
• 30 seconds elbow plank
• 30 seconds elbow plank with leg raised [each side]
• 60 second side plank [each side]
• 30 second standard plank
• 60 second elbow plank

My Stats

• @Actifit User Rank 27.5 [no change in 24 hours]
• User Authority (@steem-ua) 3.783 [Ranked 4,698th as of most recent comment]

Today This Nomad Travels

• By foot 2.4 miles (3.9km)

Actifit Post of the Day

In each post I will highlight a post by a fellow Actifitter. Today I shoutout to @cryptospa — Congrats on your 15k+ points and a great (but chilly) couple of photos.

_{Check out tihs post @cryptospa—https://steemit.com/actifit/@cryptospa/actifit-cryptospa-20181227t205537208z}

I am also curious what building is that in the city center? I think I can glimpse the old hammer and sickle emblem high up in the masonry. During my time visiting former soviet republics as a student I once went on a type of scavenger hunt tour to find and photograph as many of the symbols as possible.

There were quite a lot of them and not always in obvious places (such as larger state offices and monuments) but they could be found worked into bridges, small ironwork fences, building corner stones, and at times even old murals — of course the real goal was to take a close look in discovering the historical landscape of a city, but nevertheless it was surprising tour.

Thanks for a reminder of that journey. It's been a long time since I thought about it. And Happy New Year!

Musings With Milo

Milo is a friend of @tdre who pops up from time to time with something to say. Milo's mind is equal parts algorithm, hive brain, and high fructose corn syrup — mixed in a blender and drawn with Rough.js, a fun, open source graphics library for rendering in a style reminiscent of hand drawn sketches.

Milo's Earlier Musings

• Milo #5
• Milo #4
• Milo #3
• Milo #2
• Milo #1

This Is Me

https://github.com/tdreid

Daily Activity,House Chores,Moving Around Office,Shopping,Walking