Notes: Psychopath Childhoods; Flying; Flying TVs; Refugee Day

New York Post article about a Norwegian study:

"Two “extreme” parenting styles have been linked to children becoming criminal psychopaths in later life, a study has revealed.
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology interviewed high-security prisoners and found many have a history of either total parental neglect, or rigidly controlling, authoritarian parents."

OK, so this is a study looking back from someone who ended up in prison.  I've always assumed that prisoners have figured out they'll get more sympathy if they tell people they were abused as kids.  I would imagine the researchers have figured this out too and have methods to avoid being told what they expect to hear.

But how about a study that follows kids to see how they turn out?  What percent of neglected and kids with authoritarian parents end up messed up?  How do you defined messed up?  I was thinking susceptible to Trump like tactics.  But George Layoff already argued that authoritarian parents have kids who want an authoritarian leader.(Scroll down to the Family heading under Conservativism and to the nurturing family under Liberalism.)


New York Times piece, Paying a Price For Eight Days of Flying in America:

"The trip had its share of surreal moments — interrogated by a security agent at one point, I forgot what city I was flying to — and I felt increasingly removed from myself, dehumanized and disaffected. Through a grim twist of fate, every flight seemed to leave from a gate in a distant corner of the terminal. Sitting again and again at the back of the plane, I wondered, am I getting enough oxygen?"

I'm not recommending this one, but it's (another?) example of finding what you're looking for.  She was looking for bad experiences and found them.  I mean, the route she took in a week guaranteed she wouldn't have enough sleep and would be grouchy as hell the whole time.
I think about eight hour bus rides I used to take in Thailand to go 200 miles.  Dusty.  Hot.  Chickens.  No toilet. Unpaved roads.  Dare-devil drivers.   Going 2000 miles in five hours in air conditioned seats with arm and head rests?   Luxury.

OK, There's a lot about flying to complain about - the proliferating fees, the shrinking seats, the carbon footprints,  and all the time it takes just to get on the plane.  And we should rightly work to change these things.  Through lobbying for more competition and as consumers who can refuse to fly and let the airlines know why.  And if you do have to fly, minimize the things that cost extra.  I know we can't always do that, but I see a lot of people forking over $8 for a digiplayer every time I fly.

She complains about people who pay more getting treated better.  Hey, that's the American way of life.  It's just on planes the coach passengers have to walk through first class.  The really rich fly on private jets.  And the wealthy get better everything in the United States, it's just done where you can't see it.  The more we see the class system, the more people might start to figure out our system isn't fair.  But I also have to say that a lot of the first class seats on Alaska anyway, are frequent flyers who get bumped up even though they are paying coach fares.

But still, it's pretty remarkable how quickly we can get to distant places in relative comfort.  Since I tend to fly on Alaska Airlines, I may be spoiled compared to other airline passengers, but I also plan for the trip, have something good to read, or to work on the computer, and my own food,  and the time passes quickly.

So, yes, let's do something to fix the ever increasing ways airlines gouge us (outrageous change fees would be on the top of my list), but in the meantime, prep for the flight, be respectful to the people around you, and think how much better this is than doing the same trip by stage coach.


A New Yorker piece called "White House On Lockdown After Television Is Hurled Out Window"

In these times of outrageousnous, I had to read through the writer's bio to confirm this was a joke.  It's hard to do satire when the president does it so much better.


From the Catholic Anchor,  World Refugee Day celebration set for June 11 in Anchorage.

"World Refugee Day is an annual international celebration established by the United Nations to honor, recognize and celebrate the positive contributions of refugees worldwide.

“Catholic Social Services hosts its annual World Refugee Day celebration on Saturday, June 11, 4-6 p.m., at Clark Middle School* in Anchorage.

[UPDATE:  Seems I got last year's announcement and the times wrong.  Sorry about that.]

After facing unimaginable challenges as they were forced to flee their homes, living precariously for years in refugee camps or cities, our clients have been given the opportunity to rebuild their lives,” Catholic Social Services related in a statement about the upcoming celebration. “'They now have access to rights and freedoms they have long been denied: stable housing, education for their children, and opportunities to work and become economically self-sufficient.'”

I've been doing some volunteer work** with RAIS (Refugee Assistance & Immigration Services) and I promise you'll meet some very interesting people from places like Bhutan, South Sudan, Mexico, Congo, Somalia.  People you've been reading about.  And maybe have seen out and about in Anchorage.  But this will a setting where you're encouraged to engage them in conversation and ask about why they've left their homes and what it's like to be here.

*Clark is north of the Glenn on Bragaw - where the old Mt. View library used to be.

*Not a lot.  A few Saturday mornings.  The program is just getting started and they're working out the kinks.  But I've met some impressive people.

Opera To The Rescue? Bannon Diavolo, Bigoto, Bigoto, Bigoto, Immigrantissimo Trumpo Banisimo

Last November 22 I had an uncharacteristically short blog post:

"Trump And The Arts
Prediction:  The period beginning roughly in 2017 will be known in the future for its burst of artistic creativity in music, literature, poetry, painting, graffiti, and all other forms of human creativity."

Below is the most creative and well executed example I've seen of the creativity that the Trump administration has inspired.

The power of humor and music!

Thanks to Sam Rose who posted this on his FB page.

Dark Pun

Not much screen time today.  Houseguests and a wedding this afternoon.

But this Twitter exchange made me smile.  But I couldn't figure out how to embed just these two tweets (and not all the other responses, or I could get the response without the original.)  So this is a screenshot.

For my visually impaired readers whose computers can't read images, it's a tweet and response.

The Tweet:  Look, we all know that the statisticians are the true Jedi Knights of the science world.
Reply:  Maybe,  But many are of the opinion that statisticians are on the dork side of the force.

Chinese Construction Giant Reported To Have Strong Bid For Trump Border Wall

The China's official Xinhua News Agency reports that Qin Shi Huang Construction Company of China, whose CEO's  family can be traced back to the emperor who built the original parts of the Great Wall of China, has submitted a serious bid for a one hundred kilometer stretch of Trump's proposed Mexican wall.  The plans are said to meet all the threshold requirements (see below*) as well as the objective requirements of the General Services Administration's request for proposal RFP.

Meeting Threshold Requirements
For example, requirements 3 and 4 of the threshold requirements (again, see below*) call for a wall that is impossible to climb and has "anti-climb topping features." QSHCC's proposal includes provisions for detection of contact starting at eight feet above the ground level.  "Such contact triggers the release of hot oil from the top of the wall in the section where contact was detected."

Financial Issues
In addition the QSHCC proposal has a number of additional features addressing other issues not required by the RFP, but which have been raised as challenges to construction.  There are arrangements, for example,  to develop financing from Mexican sources through the Sinaloa Banking Cartel who have worked closely with Mexican and US officials in the past.  This could help meet Trump's pledge that Mexico would pay for the wall.

Other Border and Wildlife Issues
Two of the problems that have been raised concerning the wall are:
1.  How to build the wall on US soil without encroaching Mexican territory, yet not giving up US land south of the wall to Mexico, particularly in the large portion of the border that runs through the middle of the Rio Grande.
2.  Concern for the wildlife that lives along the border, including endangered species.  

The QSHCC proposal calls for portions of the wall to be sited up to a mile north of the Rio Grande.  There will be razor wire fences along the river and the land in between will become an international wildlife refuge that will be populated with pumas, jaguars, wolves, tarantulas and other poisonous spiders, wild pigs, various kinds of poisonous snakes as well as a variety of particularly thorny cacti.  There is research included to determine whether alligators can be introduced to portions of the Rio Grande.  Not only will this give these animals habitat in which to grow their populations, but it is felt their presence will deter illegal immigrants.

Financing Maintenance Costs
Financing for maintenance of the wall includes a proposal  for  making parts of the wall into exotic tourist hotels and casinos. While these will be low rise hotels to maximize the wall's intent of blocking the border, there will be some observation towers and possibly restaurants on top.  In addition, all rooms will have south facing  bullet-proof one-way glass allowing visitors to look towards Mexico and the wilderness area.  The Chinese have not named an American partner for the hotels, however, drawings and descriptions of the US wall side showing a hotel would follow the design criteria described in the Xiaodong Ji, Dan Liu, Jiaru Qian article, "Improved design of special boundary elements for T-shaped reinforced concrete walls"  in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration January 2017, Volume 16, Issue 1, pp 83–95.

In those parts located in or near populated areas, Amazon has partnered with QSHCC, with a proposal to make some of the wall suitable for warehouse space, with Amazon lockers on the south side where  Mexicans could pick up American goods they had purchased on line.  This too would help finance maintenance of the wall and offer employment to US border residents.

US Jobs
The plan also includes as partners, Winnebago Industries in Forest City, Iowa as well as the Departments of Labor in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and West Virginia.  Unemployed coal miners as well as workers from other industries will be hired, have three weeks of initial training, then be transported to Forest City to pick up, eventually, a total of 10,000 newly designed and built Winnebagos (bringing employment for 300)  that will be used as housing for the workers.  Additional training will be conducted at the construction sites.

You can read  the details of the proposal here.

Meanwhile, the construction industry in the United States is concerned about a concrete shortage due to the wall, which will sharply raise the cost of aggregates and construction.

The Mexican sports magazine, Tritón, ran an article which noted that the specifications for the wall say "designs with heights of at least 18 feet may be acceptable," In contrast, the article pointed out that world record for pole vaulting is 6.16 meters or just over 20 feet.  With springier than officially allowed poles, athletes should be able to 25, possibly even 30 feet.  Mexican sporting good stores report a shortage of vaulting poles.

Additional Information from General Services Administration Request for Proposal

*Threshold Requirements [see page 62 of the link]
1) The wall design shall be reinforced concrete.
2) The wall design shall be physically imposing in height. The Government’s nominal concept is for
a 30-foot high wall. Offerors should consider this height, but designs with heights of at least 18feet may be acceptable. Designs with heights of less than 18 feet are not acceptable.
3) It shall not be possible for a human to climb to the top of the wall or access the top of the wall from either side unassisted (e.g. via the use of a ladder, etc.)
4) The wall design shall include anti-climb topping features that prevent scaling using common and more sophisticated climbing aids (e.g. grappling hooks, handholds, etc.)
5) The wall shall prevent digging or tunneling below it for a minimum of 6 feet below the lowest adjacent grade.
6) The wall shall prevent/deter for a minimum of 1 hour the creation a physical breach of the wall(e.g., punching through the wall) larger than 12-inches in diameter or square using sledgehammer, car jack, pick axe, chisel, battery operated impact tools, battery operated cutting tools, Oxy/acetylene torch or other similar hand-held tools.
7) The north side of wall (i.e. U.S. facing side) shall be aesthetically pleasing in color, anti-climb texture, etc., to be consistent with general surrounding environment. The
manufacturing/construction process should facilitate changes in color and texture pursuant to site specific requirements.
8) The wall design shall be able to accommodate surface drainage.
9) The wall design shall be able to accommodate Border Patrol approved design standards for pedestrian and automated mechanized vehicle sliding gates (25 feet and 50 feet).
10) The wall design shall be constructible to slopes up to 45 percent.
11) The wall fittings and fixtures shall be secured on the north side of the wall to shield from external attack.
12) The wall design should be cost effective to construct, maintain and repair.
Objective Requirements
1) It is operationally advantageous that the design of first 12 feet of wall height (as measured from the highest adjacent grade) be adaptable to prevent/deter for a period of time greater than 1 hour 30 minutes up to 4+ hours the creation of a physical breach of the wall (e.g., punching through the wall) larger than 12-inches in diameter or square using sledgehammer, car jack, pick axe, chisel, battery operated impact tools, battery operated cutting tools, Oxy/acetylene torch or other similar hand-held tools.

For more information on the Chinese proposal click here.

Can An Alternative Fact Sell Jeans?

The first time I was aware of alternative facts in advertising, I was about ten or eleven.  I'd ordered the 'fresh' strawberries from the menu.  When they came, they were obviously frozen strawberries.  I told the waitress that they weren't fresh.  "Sure they are," she said, "their fresh frozen."

So lying in advertising is probably as old as advertising.

But announcing that what your are saying is a lie, I don't recall any ads like that before.

Here's a San Francisco billboard I saw today.

Maybe this is just a local joke, since Levis, the Gap, and Betabrand are headquartered in San Francisco.


*For the visually impaired, the billboard in the image says:

"Alternative Fact:

We're now bigger than

Levi's and Gap

Combined"

Betabrand

NOW YOU CAN SAY ANYTHING."

Steve Austin: Trump's Role Model For Taking Over White House

This was in my Twitter feed, posted by Rob Wesley.  It shows Stone Cold Steve Austin's first day as the head of WWF. You know, the organization Linda McMahon, the new head of the Small Business Administration co-founded and ran.  If you watch the first minute, you 'll watch it all.




And if you haven't read the previous post on Alexander Humboldt, I'd recommend that, too, though it's a bit more cerebral.

Why Wait Till 2020, Let's Ask For An Annulment Of The Election

OK, so you're really drunk when you get married, and you really didn't know what you were doing and you married someone you didn't even know the person you married.   If you're Catholic, you can get an annulment.

So I was thinking the same should hold true for an election.  So I looked up the grounds for an annulment of a marriage in the Catholic church.  We could incorporate some of these as part of a constitutional amendment.

For example, the document I found starts like this:

Grounds for Marriage Annulment in the Catholic Church  There are very well defined canonical grounds for Marriage Annulment. Once these have been established marriage Annulment can proceed. It is important to understand the grounds for Marriage Annulment before making application, and if in doubt you should consult your local priest.

So what are some of the grounds that might apply here?

• Insufficient use of reason (Canon 1095, 10)
• Grave lack of discretionary judgment concerning essential matrimonial [presidential] rights and duties (Canon 1095, 20)
• Psychic-natured incapacity to assume marital [presidential] obligations (Canon 1095, 30)
• Ignorance about the nature of marriage [presidency] (Canon 1096, sec. 1)
• Error about a quality of a person (Canon 1097, sec. 2)
• Fear (1103)

I think most of my readers can figure out the logic one could use to argue most of these.  But there's one more that might need a little clarification because the metaphor is not perfect.  While the Catholics talk about marriage and then "you or your spouse", we're talking about the 'election' in part and the 'presidency' in part.  And the 'you' here is the 'voters' and the 'new president' is the spouse.  But after the election, we have to talk about the nature of the presidency.  

With that in mind, I offer one more ground for an annulment:

• Willful exclusion of marital [presidential] fidelity (Canon 1101, 12)

My thinking here is that the president thought he could take on the presidency and still keep his old partner (the Trump businesses).  I think that qualifies as willful exclusion of presidential fidelity.  He's just put his businesses in his sons' houses where he can sneak a visit any time he goes over for dinner.  

Is Climate Denial Really Republican Plot to Regain National Dominance?

In NY Times story by Justin Gillis printed in yesterday's Alaska Dispatch News about how climate change is now causing regular flooding of coastal area in Virginia and other states, and talks about local expenditures to protect communities being inadequate.  It talks about how the military has made protecting bases against climate change threats, but that Congress' gridlock keeps money from being appropriated.  Gillis writes that

"A Republican congressman from Colorado, Ken Buck, recently called one military proposal part of a 'radical climate change agenda..”

"Radical climate change agenda."  This guy seems to have a pretty narrow circle of friends if he uses trigger words like 'radical' and 'agenda' to enclose climate change.

Reading that caused me to think.  OK, this guy is in Colorado.  His district is the eastern 1/3 or so of the state.  So he's probably about 800-900 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and maybe 1200 miles from according to Net State:
the Pacific Ocean.  Furthermore,

"Colorado's low point, 3,315 feet above sea level at the Arikaree River in Yuma County, is the highest low point in the nation and is higher than 18 state high points."

So, Colorado will be the last state where the population feels the effects of rising oceans.  Though the ski industry is concerned about how climate change will affect them, but it looks like those areas aren't in his district.



But then it hit me.  The Republicans see their party imploding.  Demographics are against them (at least in their current mode) and their presidential candidate seems to be using his nomination as a branding exercise for his businesses rather than a serious run for the White House.

But.  But.  If rising seas take out liberal strongholds on the east and west coasts, that would leave the more inland and more conservative states.  Yeah, I know this sounds far fetched, but I'm adding it to my list of possible reasons people oppose climate change legislation like a carbon fee with dividend.

OK, I've used this (to me) unknown legislator's comment to make a rather light-hearted post.  And I am concerned that I not, out of ignorance, disparage someone who's doing a decent job and who's been taken out of context.  Actually, I don't think I have disparaged him, I just used his comment as a jumping off point, but I thought I should find out more about him.  We all should understand more about the people who are quoted regularly in the news - otherwise how do we know how to take the person's comment in the larger context?

So here's what I found out about him.

Buck had enough going for him that got into and graduated from Princeton, though on Wikipedia he is quoted as saying, he went there to please his father.  He moved west and got a law degree at the University of Wyoming.  (Still Wikipedia:)

In 1986, he was hired by Congressman Dick Cheney to work on the Iran-Contra investigation. Following that assignment, he worked as a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C.[5] In 1990 Buck joined the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado where he became Chief of the Criminal Division. Buck was formally reprimanded and required to take ethics classes in 2001 for a meeting he had with defense attorneys about a felony case he thought should not be pursued.[3][6] Only one of the three men initially indicted on felony charges was convicted, for a misdemeanor offense.[6] Buck said he is "not proud" of the incident that effectively ended his career with the Justice Department,[6] but says he felt it was "unethical" to prosecute such a "weak" case against the three men.[7] One of the three men donated $700 to Buck's 2010 Senate campaign.[6]

The Denver Post tells us more about the case.  It involved illegal gun sales.

Then there's the case where he chose not to prosecute a rapist, even though the victim had a tape where the rapist acknowledges that what he did was rape.  He told her that she had 'buyer's remorse" and there was an allegation by the rapist that she'd had an abortion in the past.  Buck is against abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.  And he once said that homosexuality is a choice though it might be influenced by birth, like alcoholism.

 He introduced a bill this year to make attacking a police officer a hate crime.


This is one the men who helps pass (or obstruct) laws in Congress.  What do you know about the other 434 Members of Congress?

The Trump Shooter Network

[Note:  In a USA Today interview, Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau, when asked if Trump was easy to satirize, responded:

"Quite the opposite. As has been widely observed, Trump is beyond traditional parody. His demeanor, speech and behavior are so over the top, there's no point in trying to exaggerate it"

This post is a response to that challenge.]

The Trump Shooter Network 

Confidential sources high in the Trump business empire have leaked to us news about a new cable channel that will begin airing in early October called "The Trump Shooter Network."

The network will feature the latest shootings from around the world, but with a focus on the USA.  Aside from "Breaking Shooting News,"  the network will have daily programs on mass shootings, terrorist shootings, robbery shootings, gang shootings, accidental shootings (particularly those involving children),  suicide shootings, and shooting games.
There will also be a program of  best home video of shootings.
Mass shooting anniversaries will be celebrated.
There will also be features on the lives of shooters and their victims.  And detailed reports on the specific types of guns used in shootings.

The network will have a mass shooting calendar so that mass shooters can plan their activities on days that don't have other mass shootings.

Subscribers to the Shooter Network will automatically be enrolled in the NRA and will be eligible for  steep discounts at gun shops and gun shows.

They can also sign up for gun buyers' pre-check so they can always use the fast line when purchasing weapons.

When asked about whether the timing of the debut of this network was aimed at affecting the election, our source said, "Actually, Trump's presidential run was timed to support the rollout of the network."

A spokesperson for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence said they were hopeful the channel would make it easier to track gun violence data.  An NRA rep told us the channel would help Americans understand the danger all around them and the need to arm themselves.  And a staffer at Negative Population Growth, lamented that this was the natural outgrowth of too many people fighting for finite resources.  

Media reporter Brooke Gladstone didn't think the channel would be a big deal, "After all, the mainstream media are close to doing this already."

Republican Platform To Restore America To The Good Old Days (TIC warning)

Let's see, so far:

No abortions. Ever.

Climate change is a hoax.  Coal will be a clean energy source again.

Bible in the schools, except for the pornographic parts. Since porn is a 'public menace.'

Gay marriage,  bad again.  The anti-regulation wing stopped the call for extra closets in all housing so gays can return.

Even unmarried hetero partnerships will be bad again.

They aren't finished yet.  Look out for:

Free guns to all white new-borns.

Repeal of the 19th Amendment.  And other laws giving women rights over their personal and financial affairs.

Reopening of WW II Japanese internment camps for undocumented immigrants and their terrorist friends.

Return of segregation (I don't think the pro-slavery folks will have enough votes, but who knows?)

Constitutional amendment to exclude human beings from the 'person' category.

Oh yeah, watch out minimum wage.  And maybe businesses can even get child labor back.


Apparently Trump is being hands-off here.  According to the NY Times article,

"That allowed conservative activists like Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, to exert greater influence. Mr. Perkins’s hand could be seen in dozens of amendments on issues like gun control, religious expression and bathroom use."

I'm beginning to think that Perkins' sharing the name of the actor who played Norman Bates is no coincidence.  Can you say Psycho?

He's giving Clinton a great Republican platform to run against.



TIC- tongue-in-cheek

Genre: Legislative Fiction - Story: Alaska Legislature Selling UAA to Charter College

This story idea popped into my head recently.  Probably because of all the stories about huge budget cuts to the University of Alaska plus bills to make it legal to carry guns on campus.  Along with the legislature's reluctance to end subsidies for the oil companies and all the mega-projects which are, in effect, subsidies for construction companies.

We've already passed April 1, so I can't just put this up straight.  Although it's far fetched, some of the people I've mentioned this story to said things like, "Oh, I didn't hear that yet."  They just took it for real without blinking.  An Irony icon (*I*) might get overlooked.

So I want you to consider this genre of literature:  Legislative Fiction.  Like science fiction, which imagines a world changed by future developments in science and technology, legislative fiction imagines a world in which the wildest desires of some legislators are fulfilled.  In this case, I'm pushing to the limits conservative desires to privatize government functions that they think could be done as well by the private sector, their concern about radical left-wing faculty brainwashing their students, and their desire to reward private sector supporters and funders.

So here's my short story.

Alaska's Majority coalition legislators have announced they are working to sell the University of Alaska Anchorage to Charter College.  The deal is being handled by developer Mark Pfeffer, whose commission should more than make up for any losses at the LIO.  In the tradition of the Alaska Republican majority, not only do they propose to sell the campus, they are giving Charter College a $500 million zero interest loan,  so Charter can afford to make the purchase.  The sale will also effectively cancel all union contracts, pension obligations, and health benefits.



Reporters noted Charter College's questionable record*, according to College Factual:

Among the Worst Graduation Rates
Only 23.6% of students graduate from Charter College - Anchorage on-time (two or four years depending on the degree) and only 25.4% graduate at all, ranking this school among the worst in the country in both categories.
Graduating From College Isn't for Everyone.
The Majority of Non-Grads at this School Dropped Out. 74.6% of students at Charter College - Anchorage failed to graduate within 150% of the expected time. The majority did so because they dropped out.

Senator D, said he thought they could also achieve those levels with the University.

*This part, unfortunately, isn't fiction.

Trump Firing Slovenian Born Wife For American Born Spouse

There has been some low level sniping about the most anti-immigration presidential candidate in anyone's memory having had two immigrant wives and only one American born wife.  Apparently the ratio is going to be evened up.

Trump was almost 29 when he married his first wife, Czech born Ivana, in 1977.  Although she was three years younger, Trump was her second husband.  By the time she was 43, he lost interest in her and she divorced him in 1992 because he was carrying on with American born model Marla Maples.  They married in December 1993, about two months after their son was born.  Maples was 30 years old when they married, 17 years younger than Trump.

This marriage to an American born woman lasted only six years, until Maples was 36 in 1999.

Trump didn't remarry until 2005, to another foreign born woman,  also from the former Soviet bloc - this time to another model,  Melania Knauss, from Slovenia.  She was 23 years younger than Trump.   Eleven years later and they are still married.

But Trump's supporters, contrasting his love for immigrant woman to his anti-immigrant campaign rhetoric, have begun to question whether Trump really walks his talk.

Pressure increased with the December release of Michael Moore's latest film Where To Invade Next?, which included a section on Slovenia's free college education for all students, including Americans.  Moore interviewed students at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, where education is free*.  

Given that one of Bernie Sanders' key proposals is free public university education for all, it's particularly galling to Trump's supporters that Trump's wife actually attended the University of Ljubljana  (and knows how to pronounce it), the very university Moore featured in what Trump fans see as an American hating film.

Knauss is also pushing 36 now, and pundits are speculating it is time to switch to a younger, American-born wife, with whom Trump's supporters would be much more comfortable in the White House.  I wasn't able to track down any information on the mystery lady.

More on this story can be found here.

*I met a Slovenian in Anchorage this week and I mentioned the free college education featured in the movie.  He made a face and said, "You get what you pay for."

1491s Get Serious With Humor

The 1491s  started off joking back and forth - see the first video - then moved into more serious talk.



They showed their video Smiling Indians and talked about how it got tons of racist comments on YouTube and even on their NPR interview.  They said that NPR took down the comments and they thought they should be kept up.  The movie was dedicated to Curtis, the photographer who took pictures of non-smiling Indians in the 1800s.  This movie was to show smiling Indians.








Their Facebook page.



They showed a film about domestic violence they made (which i can't find on Youtube.) They tried to make one that focused on the man and the impact on the child. Very powerful.

Then they talked about how they questioned the idea that 'we live in two worlds' and argued that we needn't keep the worlds separate and made some videos on that theme called Represent.


A truly incredible part of this workshop is the many different media that are being used in the conversation here about racial equality. The artwork on the stage behind all the speakers powerfully sends a message as well. There is other artwork in the room including an artist who is actively painting during the workshop. We've got humor here tinged with serious stories. The music wasn't simply entertainment, rather it was part of the conversation. Well, things aren't over yet. It's only 10am and we've got the rest of the day to go.

 You can watch this stuff live online.

Bittersweet Humor - Science v. Everything Else And Delta's Breakup Letter To Juneau

This certainly is relevant to this blog's theme of how we know things.

Click to enlarge and focus - Found in LA Times Jan 20, 2015

My immediate reaction was a bittersweet smile.  So true.  So sad.  But this really depends on how one defines science.

Full blown rigorous western science with quantification and experimenting doesn't answer every question, but not everything can be broken down and measured.  Particularly social behaviors.

And there are less rigorous (in a pure science sense) ways of knowing.  Scientists in Alaska have learned to pay attention to traditional Native Alaskan knowledge on things like weather, animal behavior, ice conditions, medicinal herbs etc.  There's just a long accumulation of knowledge over generations.

Even the divide between simple, quick, superficial answers versus more complex ones can be questioned.  Many biblical justifications we hear are long and complex.  They can also be just wrong. And there is also a lot of wisdom in the bible, but like with the Constitution, it has to be interpreted in the context of what science has since revealed.  For instance the requirements to rotate crops, to leave the leftover harvests on the ground for the hungry, the ideas about jubilee years when debts are forgiven, are all good for social animals to heed.

I'll leave it at that.  It's a heavy, grey, rainy day on Bainbridge Island, makes Anchorage inviting, especially with the reports I'm seeing on great auroras.   I've got a short time here before I'm playing grandpa again..

So let me offer you, for another bittersweet smile,  this link to Delta's breakup letter to Juneau posted on One Hot Mess Alaska.  

Laugh Hard

I'm trying to get Part 2 of the confession post up, but in the meantime, somehow my granddaughter and I got on the subject of frogs catching flies with their tongues.  In 2016, you can then say, "Let's find an example on Youtube."  The first one's we found were frogs catching flies, not with their tongues though, just jumping fast with their mouths open.

But then we found this one and we both started laughing and laughing.  I finally had to say, just one more time after she watched it five or six times.

Enjoy!


 

[Sorry for those seeing this reposted - Feedburner problems again. This seems to be getting all too common. I add this for two reasons. For those who found this post another way, I'm sorry if you were fooled into coming back. And I'm also keeping track of how many times Feedburner takes more than an hour or two to kick in.]

Meadowlark Lemon Takes His Leave

I saw Meadowlark Lemon and the Harlem Globetrotters at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.  I thought it was in the early 1960s, but the only mention I could find online of the Globetrotters around that time at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium was in a history of the auditorium:

"And on February 3, 1959, Wilt Chamberlain and the Harlem Globetrotters whipped the Los Angeles Rams in a basketball game, 80-56." 

Whether it was that game or a later one in Santa Monica, I just remember laughing very hard and being totally amazed at what these guys could do with a basketball.  I'd note that some of the first UCLA basketball games I went to were also in the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

Below is a snippet of Meadowlark and the team that will give those who never saw the Globetrotters an idea of what they did on court.

Below that is a longer documentary that puts their comic talents into the context of their amazing athletic talents and race relations in the United States and the world - the real importance of the Harlem Globetrotters.

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything” - Mark Twain Would be 180 Years Old Today

Mark Twain
Born:  November 30, 1835, Florida, MO

Died: April 21, 1910, Redding, CT

I had the good fortune to go to a Junior High school named after someone I actually admired - Mark Twain.   So here are some quotes attributed to him at GoodReads:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
― Mark Twain“ 

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”― Mark Twain

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
― Mark Twain

“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
― Mark Twain

“Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.”
― Mark Twain

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
― Mark Twain

“Classic' - a book which people praise and don't read.”
― Mark Twain

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
― Mark Twain

“Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.”
― Mark Twain

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
― Mark Twain

“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.”
― Mark Twain

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
― Mark Twain

“Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”
― Mark Twain

“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”
― Mark Twain

“God created war so that Americans would learn geography.”
― Mark Twain

“I did not attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.”
― Mark Twain

“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?”
― Mark Twain

“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t know.”
― Mark Twain

“Life is short, Break the Rules.
Forgive quickly, Kiss SLOWLY.
Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably
And never regret ANYTHING
That makes you smile.”
― Mark Twain

“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”
― Mark Twain

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
― Mark Twain, The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain

“Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
― Mark Twain

“Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.”
― Mark Twain

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”
― Mark Twain, Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World

“Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.”
― Mark Twain

“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir...mighty scarce.”
― Mark Twain

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”
― Mark Twain

“Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.”
― Mark Twain

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”
― Mark Twain

“Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.”
― Mark Twain
 

“In the name of the Great Teacher, we will stop at nothing to unleash a firestorm of empathy, compassion, and true selflessness upon the West,”

said Rinpoche, adding that all enemies of a freely flowing, unfettered state of mind will be “besieged with pure, everlasting happiness.” “No city will be spared from spiritual harmony. We will bring about the end to all Western pain and anxiety, to all destructive cravings, to all greed, delusion, and misplaced desire. Indeed, we will bring the entire United States to its knees in deep meditation.”
  

OK, this is a spoof from the Onion, and no good Buddhists would use imagery like 'unleash a firestorm.'

Thinking about this reminds me of how many Chinese deal with the difference between Western and traditional medicine.  The traditional medicine is important for every day maintenance of health and can be used to treat routine illnesses and injuries.  But for major, immediately life-threatening trauma, they turn to Western medicine, if it's available.

I don't think many Westerners are willing to give up using violence when their lives are directly threatened, though people tell me that Jesus said something about loving one's enemies and turning the other cheek.

As with medicine, when dealing with confrontation - whether it be with nations abroad or with citizens at home - our responses should be broader than sending in drones to bomb or having police draw and shoot their guns - we should consider the wide array of non-violent alternatives that are available.

[Feeburner wouldn't take the original, so I've tried to clean up the html and repost]

The Million Candidate March On Washington DC

You think there are 14 Republican candidates running for US President in 2016?  Think again.  The Federal Elections Commission as of today (June 25, 2015) lists 112 Republican candidates.  The largest group of candidates - 123 - are listed as Independent.  Here's the list by number of candidates for each party as of June 25, 2015 from the Federal Election Website.

Number of Candidates	Party
123	Independent
112	Republican Party
86	Democratic Party
39	Other
26 (each)	None;   Unknown
13	No Party Affiliation
12	Unaffiliated Party
11 (each)	Libertarian; Write-In
4 (each)	Green Party; Constitutional
3 (each)	United Party;  American Party
2 (each)	NBC;  Independent American Party;  Federalist Party
1 (each)	Reform Party;  HEL;  Democratic Farm Party;  Communist;  American Independent Party;  AME;  A99
421 total	Numbers as of June 25, 2015 at FEC Website.  (Plus I admit to possible errors)

I propose we aim for a one million candidate march on Washington DC.  The date I've chosen is Friday the 13th (there's just one in 2016 - in May), because 999,999 of these candidates will be unlucky and not win.  (Some actually may think those who don't win are the lucky ones.)

So that leaves less than a year to round up 999,579 more candidates.

So, how can you become a candidate so you can march next May 13?  From the FEC website:

"Under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), an individual becomes a candidate for federal office when:

• The individual has received contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 or made expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000; or
  
• The individual has given consent to another person to receive contributions or make expenditures on behalf of him or herself and that person has received contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 or made expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000 (11 CFR 100.3(a))."

That's the easy part.  

Slate explained the process and paperwork for running for President in 2008.

All the details - it's pretty complicated - are on another FEC webpage - Quick Answers To Candidate Questions. 

There were a few party names that caught my eye.

HEL - Votesmart writes:

"William Knox Richardson 

Announced, Helluva Party for President

Contact Information

Campaign
5805 West Harmon Avenue #308
Las Vegas, NV 89103"

A99 - Jeremy Lee Milligan.

I haven't found anything that directly explains what the name of the A99 party (Party is not part of the name) is about.  But I did find a reference to A99:15 of the Nixon Tapes where Nixon is talking to Governor Shafer about a commission that was looking at the legalization of marijuana:

A99:15

Shafer: The congressional members didn’t participate as much until the very end, and then Javits and Hughes tried to take over. [Chuckling] We would have had legalization if we hadn’t really, you know, they wanted to have the alcohol model, which is wrong. We were against legalization, because we feel that in the first place the returns are not in about the pharmacological effects of the drug.

President Nixon: I would say this with regard to that, you know how Ray is an old politician. You know very well that no matter how precisely you state it, how your report reads, that they will try to oversimplify it and say, ‘The commission recommends legalization,’ or, ‘It does not recommend legalization.’ [Unclear] And I think it is important that you say, ‘Let us understand whatthis report does do and what it does not do. We do not believe marijuana should be legalized.’ I think you

should say that.’

Shafer: We’ve already said it [unclear].

President Nixon:And then you go on to say, ‘However, we believe that in terms of penalties that there should be some, uh, that in order to get at the problem there should be’ this and that and the other thing

You can read more aboutf Nixon and marijuana at CSDP.

Is This The PSA That Comes Up On The Alaksa House And Senate Majority's Screens?

Things I find on Twitter:





[UPDATE for non-Alaskans:  Pick.Click.Give. is the campaign to get Alaskans to make a donation to a non-profit organization by deducting it from their Permanent Fund Dividend checks each year.  The video is from Alaska Robotics out of Juneau.  They do great stuff.]