Sinners And The Laundromat - From Vampires To Blood Suckers; Plus Lisa Explains Her Fears

[Guide to this post:  This post reminds me of the rambling posts I used to do regularly.  And it feels good, because the world is tangled up in complicated ways - there are few straight lines.  This began as a post about the movie Sinners. But immediately got hijacked by some observations about movie theaters these days. There's a nod to Clarksdale, Mississippi.  But then I switch quickly to what I think is a much more important movie - The Laundromat. But that too gets delayed as I talk about Lisa Murkowski's appearance today on Talk of Alaska and her interpretation of her recent "We're all afraid" comment.  Which requires some background into what ecumenical means.  

If you only want to read one part of this post, I recommend learning about The Laundromat. It's still available on Netflix if you have that.  Skip down to that heading - bold and in capitals.  Then skip past the part on Murkowski to learn about why I think the film is important.]

We haven't been out to see a movie very often lately.  A couple of times while we were in Bainbridge - A Complete Unknown and The Brutalist.  Two movies worth seeing.  

I'd been hearing about Sinners on Spoutible and BlueSky.  Not a lot, but that it was a sleeper big hit, it was a Black themed film.  The parts that had me a bit skeptical mentioned horror elements.  

Well Monday night is a discount night, as two seniors, we got in for a total of $14!!  The tariffs haven't hit Anchorage theaters yet.  But our choice of seats was front row or two separate single seats further back.  We chose the later.  Inside, it was actually pretty empty and we took one of our seats and I sat in the one next to it, my actual seat in the row ahead.  

It did fill up a bit more, but no one claimed my seat.  

When I say it was full, I probably have to remind folks that the theaters have all been remodeled.  There are far fewer total seats, and the ones you get are lounge seats where the head tilts back and the feet up.  So a full theater has a lot fewer viewers than in the past.  

Later:  I didn't finish this.  Sinners is a forgettable movie.  Except for the music.  I don't know what the creators were thinking.  We'll do some Black history, but that doesn't sell enough (a dubious premise) so we'll add some great blues music, and to catch today's audience, we'll add in a vampire massacre.  And we'll locate it in Clarksdale, Mississippi - the Birthplace of the Blues.  (We actually visited Clarksdale and the Blues Museum.  Visiting Mississippi was sort of like visiting Albania or North Korea in my mind - a place forbidden and evil.  It wasn't our destination, but it was between Chicago and New Orleans by car.  But that's a story for another day.) 

This feels like one of my old blogposts, that wandered and jumped, as life does and as thoughts do.  So let's jump back into the present future.  

Why do people say the Democratic party is not really any different from the Republican party?  Because deep down, they are both corrupted by money and protection of the wealthy.  The Republicans are a lot more open about that.  They think rich people are the product of hard work and deserve all they get.  

The Democrats are a little embarrassed by their dependence on the rich.  They cover this addiction (well it's almost required if you want to have enough money to campaign, thanks to Citizens United) by trying to make the lives of those screwed over by the system a little more bearable.  They try to spread a bit of equality to more people, but their hands are just as dirty with money, and they go to parties with lots of people whose wealth comes from less than pristine morals and behavior.  

NO, NO, NO, I'm not saying they are the parties are the same, or that life under a Harris administration would have been no different from the disaster of the current Republican Administration.  [Someone suggested online today, not to mention his name, but to say Republican Administration instead to make sure all the cowards in the House and Senate are fully implicated in what's going on.  After all, they could end this non-violent coups if they chose to.  What do you think?)

THE LAUNDROMAT

So, tonight after falling asleep listening to Lisa Murkowski on Talk of Alaska, in what seemed an attempt to clean up her confession to being afraid, that 'We are all afraid' by saying, "It was kind of an ecumenical 'we' . . . When I say Lisa Murkowski is afraid, it's not in a cowardly way."  She's not, afraid of things like being primaried, she said. She's hearing from Alaskans who are losing their jobs, from Alaskans whose grant monies and contracts have been halted.  "So when I say 'we' I have to include myself as an Alaskan.  She also spoke of her oath to uphold the Constitution and her responsibilities  under Article 1.  "I'm seeing an erosion of the boundaries, if you will, between the Executive and the Legislative branch..."  As I say I fell asleep during this and I'm resurrecting her words through the podcast up at Talk of Alaska. (The comments I'm referring to start around 6 minutes in.)  And if you are a little confused by her reference to the 'ecumenical we' as I was, here's a little refresher.  Maybe she didn't want to say the 'royal we' and 'ecumenical' was the only other 'we' she could think of.  Maybe she thought it would imply some sort of bi-partisan message.  Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, atheists and agnostics, not included I guess.  

"The Ecumenical Movement is a key effort in the Christian faith. It works to bring different Christian groups around the world together. Its importance is seen in religious fellowship and the chase of shared goals. The word ‘ecumenical’ comes from ‘oikoumen?,’ the Greek word for “the inhabited world.” Over time, it has gained a special theological meaning. The word’s evolution shows a move from ordinary to sacred, going from a word about geography to a sign of hope to unite Christians.

"The Ecumenical Movement started as an answer to the need for unity in the Christian church. The church was split by arguments over belief and competitive missions. Through history, ecumenical councils played key roles. They helped form the faith’s theology and practices. This includes councils from the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. These meetings show the ongoing effort to find what the Ecumenical Movement is today. This effort is helped by groups like the World Council of Churches and places like Taizé that focus on community spirituality." (From Faithonview.com)

 But all th's Murkowski stuff slipped in because I got a bit of a nap this evening so I felt like I could partake in a bit of Netflix and while randomly exploring, found a movie called The Laundromat.  It turns out I saw this already on Netflix.  

It's an important film for USians to watch to understand why some people say there is no difference between the two political parties.  The very rich invite politicians of both parties to their parties, and most politicians accept the invitations.  (OK, I'm just saying that.  I don't have statistics.  But I'm pretty sure it's true in a general sort of way.)

It's not your run of the mill movie.  It's a semi-fictional account of a woman whose husband dies in a freak boating accident and she learns that the boating company's insurance isn't going to pay.  She is told about shell companies and holding companies and off shore accounts.  We also meet a couple of wealthy men, business partners,  Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca who tell us their side of the story.  

Mossack and Fonseca.  Is that ringing any bells?  Remember the Panama Papers?  When a law firm in Panama got hacked and all their clients and shell companies got exposed?  That was Mossack and Fonseca.  

It's essentially a movie that attempts to tell us in a down-to-earth way about how the world is rigged against most people by the very wealthy.  Generally we just hear stuff that says we're screwed.  

" 735 U.S. billionaires hold more wealth ($0.4 trillion more) than the bottom 50% of American households."  (I picked this claim because this is from Snopes checking out a statement by Robert Reich, so it was fact checked somewhat.)

The movie tells us a little bit more about how it happens.  

Wikipedia says the movie got mixed reviews.  But I'm guessing because it's imaginative, clever, and takes a very dry and difficult subject and makes it relatable to the average person. And the only vampires are allegorical blood suckers.  

Steven Soderbergh (a very inventive filmmaker) directed it and it stars Meryl Streep as an ordinary USian who wants to know who is screwing her over.  Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas play the two Panama lawyers who got hacked.  

As Trump is leaning on Congress to pass a huge tax cut for the very rich, this film does give us a glimpse of how slimy it all is.   

>

Rewind - Grandkids Were In Town

 I've got six post started from the press club.  My SF grandkids and their parents were here last week.  The world social, political, legal, and economic foundations are being multiple times daily by the current US president.  

With the press club posts, I took notes here (on Blogspot), but it didn't seem right to just post notes, yet there were so many panels that I didn't really have time to do the panelists or my readers right, so they are just dangling there as 'drafts.'  

While most Anchorage bowl snow was gone when the grandkids arrived, we did find some puddles sealed in sheets of ice, which they had a great time breaking and then holding large pieces.  They also liked bouncing sticks off of a still mostly frozen Goose Lake on bike ride to Goose Lake. Then on along 

Northern Lights, the back of APU, and home.  I knew my grandson would be fine - because he and I did a long bike ride in SF last year.  But my granddaughter was also a champ.  I'd warned them there might be some snow still on the trail, but by it was all gone, which disappointed my grandson.  But he found dirt path that went off into the woods and still had some snow.  And off he went.  (He's 10 and she's 8.)

We also made it to the bead shop in the Golden Donut mall at Lake Otis and Tutor.  There are all kinds of beads and other string able objects like porcupine quills.

At the west end of the mall is the Stars of Alaska Rock Shop.  I'd put it on the list of places to take visitors to Anchorage.  

It's a crazy crowded shop full of, rocks, of course, but also fossils, and amazing things.  

How about a mosasaurus skull.  Actually, I don't think that was for sale.

Owner Martin Warfield was unpacking a new shipment of Amonites - 'an extinct cephalopod mollusk' - that lived 280 million years ago.

Here's a closer look at a half of one.  

  Another big hit was Bosco's, Anchorage's really good comic, games, sports cards, etc. shop.  As was Title Wave used book store.  

And Wild Scoops Ice Cream shop.  

  

And a hike at McHugh Creek.

We saw the eagle on our hike.  

So that's some of what's been going on.  Other silly problems, like not having a port in my newish (late last summer) MacBook Air for my SD card from my telephoto lens.  Which I corrected today.  But that's why I never got up a picture of the April 5 Anchorage demonstration against the Trump administration.  But now that I have the card reader, I may put some up.  It was crowded.  

And I'm still working with my 3rd grader every day as a volunteer at my local elementary school.  He's doing well.  And I've got 200 km on my bike since we got back in March.  So I'm keeping busy.  

Alaska Press Club Conference -- Day One, Sage Smiley on AI

 The Press Club Conference begins.  This is the first time I remember a conference when it was snowy.  

Let's see how best I can do this.  

These are notes from the first panel I went to on how journalists can use AI ethically, by Sage Smiley.  

I have consciously resisted AI - getting old?, doing my own thing?  resistance to change?  just suspicious? - probably all of those.  So this was a good chance to hear from someone who has had a Fellowship to learn about AI.  

AI is a tool.  AI can't be ethical or unethical.  It's the users of AI, the people who use it, who will use it ethically or unethically.  And given that the majority party in Congress and the occupant of the White House have shown themselves to be ethically challenged, I still have serious concerns here.  

Perhaps I could say this panel was about how journalists can be more ethical if they want to be ethical and use AI.  And that's what the title of this presentation says:  "Ethicallt Using AI as a Journalist"

A questioner at the end said he's strongly opposed to AI, and the response was that this is how journalists can use it, and if they don't use it, they won't understand it.  If we are going to write about AI, we have to know what it is and how it works."

There was a lively and helpful discussion.  

The rest are my raw notes as I try to give a sense of what's happening here in close to real time, while being able to get on to the next panel.  Treat these just as my notes as I took them during the session to give you an idea of what was covered.  

Sage Smiley,  AI  - How to ethically harness the robots

I've been skeptical, environmentally and other ways.  Applied for Fellowship to find out more

What do you know? 

Use Quad, ??? transcribing interviews,  ChatGPT - makes things up.  

Places we can use AI, but doesn't replace humans.  Can do things we can't but it is infallible. 

Paywalls, academic journals, AI legally can't be legally looking at that.  People can go beyond that.  

Ethics, Tools, Examples

Proprietary AIs - BBC, Financial Times - Building the AI Playground

Ethics

NPR Ethics as example - 

Human -  Thoughtful - Benefits

Going Deeper - accuracy, completeness, impartiality

-Transparency - Protection  - Excellence

If AI is big, give credit to AI like you would attribute another writer.

Duty to people - documents public, but not easily acceptable, copyrights

Use AI to create headlines?   as long as not blindly using,  

Privacy - AI mining - do you put confidential info into AI.  

Partnership on AI 10 Step Guide to responsible adoption of AI tools in newsrooms

Poynter Ethics 

TOOLS

Many, querying, documenting

Ground level thoughts - changing all the time, quality improving maybe, important to check AI (some fabricate things) 

Tiiks tea are bit cage''

Perplexity,  Notebook LM (google) audio and video, Claude Gemini, Adobe Podcast, Pinpoint

Coding - creating code, better than conversational AI

Quad - good at creating code to scrape or analyze data, and stronger privacy 

Pinpoint also google, journalists

Enviornmental Impact

Other uses around the world

• APA alt text for infographics
• BBC verify deepfake detector
• AI for scraping large interviews OR hours of testimony
• El Vocero Weather Alerts  =Puerto Rico and AP

Tools for creating NAPKIN.AI  for infographics

Digital Democracy.org - public hearings, $ donated to pols, 

Columns - data

GITHUB - creating code

How Do You Choose Who To Help And How? How About Myanmar?

I got an email from the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) the other day asking for donations to help people in Myanmar after the earthquake.  Below is a link.   But I'll put it here too.   But first let me tell you why I think this is a good investment.  

There are so many worthy people who need help in this world.  The LA fire victims, particularly those in the Palisades area lost their homes and everything in them.  But these were also relatively affluent folks many of whom had great family and friend support networks.  Though not all of them.  

And there are many people who need a bit of help to pay the rent because of an unexpected expenditure - car repairs, surgery, an unexpected plumbing bill.  

How can you tell who is truly needy and  and who is just using Go Fund Me as a way to raise cash because they can?  

I don't know the answers to these questions. 

But I can vouch for the American Jewish World Service (AJWS)which is raising money to funnel to partner organizations on the ground who can help victims of the Myanmar earthquake.  I can somewhat relate to that 7.7 quake.  In 2018 Anchorage had a 7.2 quake.  I grew up in LA and experienced a few big quakes, but nothing like the 7.2 quake which severely shook the house and seemed to last forever.  Anchorage managed reasonably well, in large part because Anchorage had had a 9.2 quake in 1964 which caused the town to enact very strict earthquake-minded building codes.  I wasn't in Anchorage in '64, but it was North America's strongest recorded quake.

I've also been to Myanmar on three occasions - all on short, day visits from Thailand.  But I'm not claiming any special knowledge there.  

But I can vouch for the American Jewish World Service.  I spent two three month periods as a volunteer

Some of the people I worked with In Chiang Mai

for AJWS in Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand.  While I didn't work with a group dealing with Myanmar, AJWS was supporting such groups.  They've been assisting organizations in Myanmar for over 20 years now.

My experience with AJWS was that they very carefully selected organizations to assist, organizations that were doing serious work to help - in the case of my organization - Thai farmers, many of whom needed protection from land speculators and even theft of their land via dishonest government land managers.  

They also helped promote CSAs - Consumer Supported Agriculture.  This is where consumers pay for their vegetables in advance to help support farmers before they have crops to sell.  They also helped farmers switch over to organic farming.  In Thailand they label even more specifically - farming that doesn't use pesticides and farming that doesn't use chemicals.  

The 5 things the project focused on:
Land, Water, Forest land, Debt, and
 Prices of products.

Spending six months (two three month stints) working daily in an organization that AJWS supports in Thailand gave me a good sense of how AJWS operates, at least in that situation.  And as a former Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand, I arrived with a working fluency in Thai.  My spoken Thai was better than anyone's spoken English, so most interactions were in Thai.  And my earlier three years in Thailand meant I had some sense of Thai culture and history.  And that I had lived in Thailand before some of my colleagues were born.  

  Does AJWS Do Missionary Work?

Jews don't have missionaries trying to bring non-Jews into the fold.  The only thing I know of that is vaguely like that are some orthodox Jewish organizations that try to bring other Jews, less observant or even secular Jews, back into the fold.  But not non-Jews.  Non-Jews who want to convert, go through relatively extensive training in Judaism before that happens.  I've found that because of this, converts sometimes know more about Judaism than some people born Jewish.   

So, while "Jewish" is in the name of this organization, that is really the extent of the Judaism the receiving organizations get.  They know that the help they are getting is from a Jewish organization.  There is no proselytizing, no bible reading, nothing really about Judaism that AJWS offers to the organizations and people they assist.  

However,  Jewish values do underlie why AJWS does what it does.  From their website:

"For many AJWS supporters, tikkun olam—the Hebrew phrase for repairing the world—is the essence of what it means to be Jewish. Jewish teachings to help the poor, care for the stranger, and recognize the inherent dignity of every human being animate our commitment to build a better world. The Jewish tenet that all human beings are created b’tzelem Elohim—in the Divine image—underscores our belief that all people are infinitely valuable and deserving of respect."

All this is the lead-in to the email I got from AJWS the other day asking for donations to help AJWS's partner organizations in Myanmar help people affected by the earthquake.  

 Dear Steven,

This situation has no precedent.

A devastating earthquake unleashed destruction across Myanmar. More than 2,700 lives have been lost. Twice that number have been injured. Hospitals, schools, mosques, and apartment buildings have been destroyed. And the need for humanitarian assistance continues to soar.

But the little support offered by the U.S. government has been slow to arrive.

AJWS partners on the ground in Myanmar are ready to respond, but they need more resources — and there is no time to waste. When this 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck on Friday, our partners immediately began to provide food, water, and temporary shelter to thousands displaced by this disaster, including many from ethnic and religious minority communities overlooked by others. But with the first major natural disaster to take place since his election, President Trump’s dismantling of U.S. foreign aid agencies has delayed and diminished an American response when need is greatest.

The task now lies with us, Steven. We must rush emergency, life-saving support immediately. And we’re asking you to help.

  Give Now      [When you check out the link, you'll find the donations levels suggested are not the even numbers you see generally.  They're multiples of 18.  Here's why:

"Chai (חי) is the Hebrew word for "life." It also has the numeric value of 18. This is why many Jews typically give charity (and gifts) in multiples of 18 (e.g. 18, 36, 54, 72 etc.). We are thus symbolically blessing both the recipient and the giver with good, long lives." From Chabad]

The situation could have been very different. With a history of swift, significant action, the U.S. once led humanitarian response when people were in need. As the wealthiest nation on earth, we rushed emergency aid, saving lives and restoring order when communities were devastated by hurricanes, droughts, and earthquakes. While the AJWS community is pushing for this aid to be restored, the crisis in Myanmar demands that we act now. 

Please rush your gift right away and help AJWS and our partners on the ground in Myanmar to deliver lifesaving aid to communities whose entire existence has been upended by this earthquake.

In a country already devastated by civil war, AJWS is prepared to deliver humanitarian aid in this challenging environment, and we’re eager to bring support to as many people as possible. In Myanmar, AJWS must be ready to address humanitarian needs in a way that reflects our values, not this administration’s priorities.

I am in constant communication with frontline activists working around the clock and will update you as the situation changes. Until then, each of us is in your debt.

Jeffrey Stein

Senior Program Officer for Civil and Political Rights

American Jewish World Service

Some Of The Best Commentary At The Moment

Time is passing on fast forward.  Today is April Fools Day, 2025, but it's hard to come up with anything crazier than what the US president and his team of thugs do every day.  But a few things that happened on this day:

Cory Booker completed his 24 hour plus speech to Congress.  

Wisconsin voters reelected the left-leaning Susan Crawford  to the Wisconsin Supreme Court with 55% of the vote (with 95% of the votes counted) despite (or maybe because of) Elon Musk's various schemes to shower those who voted for her opponent with millions of dollars.

The GOP retained the two Florida seats, vacated so Matt Gaetz could be nominated (unsuccessfully) for Attorney General, and Michael George Glen Waltz could become the U.S. national security advisor and just last week managed to invite Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg into a Signal chat to plan an attack on the Houthis rebels in Yemen.  These are heavily Republican districts - Waltz got 67% of the vote in 2024 - but his replacement only got 56% of the vote this time.  That's still a decisive margin.  

The first video is an interview with Atlantic editor, Jeffrey Goldberg,  byAnne Applebaum, one of his writers at the New Orleans Book Festival.  Those who are attentive to the news, already know most of the information. 

In the second video, Goldberg is the moderator and asks questions of four of his writers, in conversation with Atlantic staff writers  Anne Applebaum, McKay Coppins, Elaina Plott-Calabro, and Adam Serwer.

This one is bubbling with insights about what is happening in the second Trump administration.  Serwer, especially, boils things down to what seem like accurate takes to me. 

Some of the key points:

• speed of destruction - in the first administration, Trump had traditional Republicans keeping him from straying too far beyond the normal boundaries.  Not this time.  Those around him believe in their mission to tear down the evil bureaucracy.
• institutions were slow to accept how much things would change and for the most part hadn't prepared strategies to resist.

I would add that destroying the government in the information age, isn't about destroying buildings, but messing around in the computers - to destroy files, to steal data, to identify 'enemies.'  

If DOGE were blowing up buildings, I suspect Congress would be trying to stop them.  But what they are doing is basically off camera and beyond most people's ability to conceive as 'destroying the United States" as we know it.  People know something bad is happening - particularly when they are directly affected, like when they themselves, or people they know well, lose jobs, their benefits, or people they know get disappeared.  But most of us still haven't felt the real impact yet.