When It Comes To Guns, We Don't Need New Laws 'Cause People Will Still Get Guns, But When It Comes To Immigrants, They Think Taking Away The Kids Will Stop Folks

I know logic and consistency don't matter with the Trump administration, but I think about all the NRA folks swatting away any law that might make it harder for some people to get guns, saying, "Criminals will still get guns.'

And I say, no matter what Congress does, immigrants will still come.

Remember the folks who jumped out of the World Trade Center to avoid burning to death?

The people fleeing from countries where they're in daily danger from community and domestic violence have a much greater chance of saving themselves by seeking asylum in the US than the people who jumped out the windows.  And even if they're told about Trump's policies, it sounds better than the fires burning around them at home.

But the Trump administration thinks taking away the kids - and for many this will mean a life of severe psychological damage, particularly for the youngest kids - will stop people from jumping out of the burning countries.

From the NYTimes:

"But advocates inside the administration, most prominently Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s senior policy adviser, never gave up on the idea. Last month, facing a sharp uptick in illegal border crossings, Mr. Trump ordered a new effort to criminally prosecute anyone who crossed the border unlawfully — with few exceptions for parents traveling with their minor children.
And now Mr. Trump faces the consequences. With thousands of children detained in makeshift shelters, his spokesmen this past week had to deny accusations that the administration was acting like Nazis. Even evangelical supporters like Franklin Graham said its policy was 'disgraceful.'”

How much more of this evil* will the Republicans in the Senate go along with?  Certainly those not running for reelection in November need to stand up to this severely troubled man in the White House.


*I don't use this term lightly, but these people, who seriously advocate separating young children from their parents, are morally incompetent, not to mention that whatever possible short term gain, will be far offset by the long-term damage to these kids.

Read this Twitter thread by a reporter who was forcibly separated from his father as a young child.

when i was four, i was taken away from my father during an intense custody battle and placed in a group home for several years by an idiot judge. we went to parks and zoos, too, and then i’d cry myself to sleep most nights. the trauma left me bent for years. this is child abuse. https://t.co/3rsFfkIptX

— dell cameron (@dellcam) June 16, 2018

Sleeping In Public, Immigrants, Separating Kids From Parents, Can Getting Stoned Cure All This? Sunday Reading

NPR's Ted Talk show this week* , Attention Please, was about how the world is vying for your attention.  They noted the average person sees (does that include hears) 4000 - 10,000 ads a day, all competing for your attention.  I've been writing here about how people's attention is diverted from critical issues, from learning deeply enough to understand critical issues.
*Link gets you to this week's show which will thus be out of date soon  This link gets you to one of the talks on this subject.

And I'd remind you that this blog DOES NOT TAKE ANY ADS.  The more time you spend here, the fewer adds you're subject too. :)

Here are some recent  articles that cover well issues that we either don't hear or think about enough, or at all.


1.   Sleeping In Public - Starts with a story about a Yale student calling the police because black Yale student dozed off in a dorm common room, but goes on to explore our norms against sleeping in public.  It gives some examples of where it's ok, but doesn't mention the beach, where it's ok if you're in swim wear, but not if your in street clothes.  Think about your reaction to people you see sleeping in public - when is it ok, where is it ok, does it matter how they're dressed or what color they are?

2.  Crackdown on immigrants takes a toll on federal judge: 'I have presided over a process that destroys families' - a judge talks about how soul destroying his job is.  Here's a brief snippet:

Brack also sees migrants charged with drug offenses or long criminal records and is unsparing in their punishment. But they are a minority, he said.
“I get asked the question, ‘How do you continue to do this all day every day?’ I recognize the possibility that you could get hard-edged, you could get calloused, doing what I do,” he said. “I don’t. Every day it’s fresh. I can’t look a father and a husband in the eye and not feel empathy.”
Brack, 65, is the son of a railroad-worker father and homemaker mother and earned a law degree at the University of New Mexico. He served as a state judge before being named to the federal bench by President George W. Bush.

3.  Taking Children from Their Parents Is a Form of State Terror - Masha Gessen is bi-cultural having grown up in both the US and the Soviet Union/Russia (maybe they makes her trip-cultural.)  She was a journalist in Russia and has written a searing biography about Putin.  She's someone I think understands the world better than most.  Here's a paragraph from that piece that is a relevant follow-up to #3 above.

"Hostage-taking is an instrument of terror. Capturing family members, especially children, is a tried-and-true instrument of totalitarian terror. Memoirs of Stalinist terror are full of stories of strong men and women disintegrating when their loved ones are threatened: this is the moment when a person will confess to anything. The single most searing literary document of Stalinist terror is “Requiem,” a cycle of poems written by Anna Akhmatova while her son, Lev Gumilev, was in prison. But, in the official Soviet imagination, it was the Nazis who tortured adults by torturing children. In “Seventeen Moments of Spring,” a fantastically popular miniseries about a Soviet spy in Nazi Germany, a German officer carries a newborn out into the cold of winter in an effort to compel a confession out of his mother, who is forced to listen to her baby cry."
  

4.  Why We Should Say Yes to Drugs  - Andrew Sullivan argues that psychedelic drugs help expand people's minds,  help people  experience universal love  and  see the unity of humankind. From Jesus to Lennon we've heard "All You Need Is Love."   And that's why authoritarian leaders over the same time period have wanted them banned.  (The last sentence is my thought. But the idea is connected with George Carlin's piece  )

"Crackdown on illegal foreigners: Many claiming to be students to get fake visas"

Just to put things into perspective, this was a headline at ThaiVisa - a website for ex-pats in Thailand - about foreigners (Westerners generally) staying in Thailand illegally.

We're back (sniff, sniff) from Denali and I saw this in my email and thought I'd pass it on.  Yesterday was sunshine all day, pics at six.

Happy Birthday Mom

We've been working from early morning each day trying to get my mom's house ready for renting.  We got new beds, cleaned the yard just to fill the compost garbage for Monday night pickup, fussed with the alarm system, got the electrician, someone to steam clean the sofa and other upholstered furniture.  We visited my 96 year old step mom, who was briefly awake and engaged in a limited way.  I got ride in to the beach to simply to work off all the anxieties that were building up - it worked.  We had the electrician and the repair man.  Moving furniture back into the house from the garage now that the wood floor has been sanded and redone.  Maybe the car will fit in tomorrow.

picture from previous visit

Also squeezed in a trip to the cemetery today to wish her happy birthday.  I cut some flowering jade plant, a bird of paradise, and some epidendrum from my mom's yard, and we took out some of the dead flowers from last time and stuck in the new ones.  My wife's parents, my brother, and another close family friend are there too.   Last year I put some soil in the vases and stuck the jade plants in.  A caretaker at the cemetery waters them and the jade plants are growing and healthy.  So the flowers were just to add some color for a while.  She would have been 96 today.

And so as I was sorting out the books I opened Erich Maria Remarque's Shadows in Paradise to see why my mom  still had that book.  Here's the prologue:

"I lived in New York during the last phase of the Second World War.  Despite my deficient English the midtown section of New York became for me the closest thing to a home I had experienced in many years.
Behind me lay a long and perilous road, the Via Dolorosa of all those who had fled from the Hitler regime.  It led from Germany to Holand, Belgium, Northern France, and Paris.  From Paris some proceeded to Lyons and the Mediterranean, others to Bordeau, the Pyrenees, and across Spain and Portugal to Lisbon.
Even after leaving Germany we were not safe.  Only a very few of us had valid passports or visas.  When the police caught us we were thrown into jail and deported.  Without papers we could not work legally or stay in one place for long.  We were perpetually on the move.
In every town we stopped at the post office, hoping to find letters from friends and relatives.  On the road we scrutinized every wall for messages from those who had passed through before us addresses, warnings, words of advice,  The walls were our newspapers and bulletin boards.  This was our life in a period of universal indifference, soon to be followed by the inhuman war years, when the Milice, often seconded by the police, joined forces with the Gestapo against us."

My mom's Via Dolorosa was a little more straightforward.  At age 17 she finally got her visa and a ticket to sail from Hamburg to New York.  It was late August 1939 when she left home for Hamburg, leaving her parents behind.

Reading this and thinking of my mom and other family members whose trips were more arduous and followed Remarque's path more, the journeys of today's refugees seemed more real, and I seemed more connected.  Lacking visas, at the mercy of local police, finding word from relatives wherever you can (for those with cell phones today, this is probably easier), and getting advice from other travelers - some of it good, some of it not - wherever you can.

Unintended Consequences

Two of our current president's goals are to lower immigration and renegotiate NAFTA and he just got a tax bill that greatly reduces taxes for corporations and the wealthy.

But in this world everything is interrelated.  NPR reported a drop in the Mexican peso.

"The fear south of the border is that with corporate taxes lower in the U.S., Mexico won't look as attractive to businesses. A possible drop in foreign investment here sent the peso tumbling this week to its lowest level in nearly 10 months. Mexico's central bank tried to perk up the peso by selling off an additional $500 million in a foreign currency auction. The tactic usually gives the peso a boost, but there was no such rally this time."

If unemployment in Mexico rises and the value of the peso drops, there will be much greater incentive for unemployed Mexicans to come to the US and work for US dollars that they can send back home where their value will be much greater than working for pesos.

Sanctuary State - Why It's Harder For Trump To Dominate US Than It Was For Hitler To Dominate Germany

Back in February I did a post called Structural Difference Between US and 1930's Germany That Makes It Harder For Trump which recalled the lessons I learned from my mother who grew up in Nazi Germany and how that helped me see, as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand, the stark differences between a centralized national bureaucracy and one where each state had significant independence from the capital.

Screenshot LA Times 9/17/17

Yesterday I was reminded of that lesson once again when I saw this headline for an LA Times story:  State to become a 'sanctuary'.




In a centralized bureaucracy like they had in Nazi Germany or have in Thailand, all government is controlled out of Berlin or Bangkok - education, police, health, everything.

But in the US the federal government is in charge of certain things and states have the power over everything else.  The Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

(Article 1 of the Constitution which enumerates the federal powers is not nearly as brief.)


Some of that state independence has eroded as Congress has, over the years, tied federal funding to compliance with the federal mandates.

But individual states, police departments, school districts, can risk the funding if they object strongly enough to the federal demands.  They can, essentially, tell the feds to go to hell.   In this sanctuary case they are telling state employees not to enforce (partially at least*) immigration laws because those are federal, not state, responsibilities.  And in this sanctuary case, it appears that so far, the courts have agreed with the states that the feds can't withhold federal funding to sanctuary cities.  (That's also mentioned in the LA Times story.)

Of course, states rights are a good thing when they protect what you feel is important, but not when they protect things to which you object.  The rights of African-Americans were horrendously violated in the post-civil war south through to Jim Crow and even after the civil rights acts of 1964, on the grounds of 'states rights.'  And the states that have legalized marijuana are improvising a tricky dance with the feds around conflicting laws.

But I'm pleased to see how many Americans are standing up for the rights of immigrants, particularly the DACA folks.  We've come a long way since Japanese-Americans, including US citizens, were incarcerated during WW II, with very little objection from the rest of the population.


*The new sanctuary law in California, the article tells us, does allow some cooperation, mainly regarding immigrants with criminal violations.

Notes On The News: The Symbolism Of Killing Obamacare, Of Travel Bans, Hawaiian Shirts, And Of Income Taxes

[These are my quick reactions to things I saw in the Alaska Dispatch News, paper edition, today.  Links are to what I could get online.  The ADN takes national stories from other papers, so the links get to them instead of ADN and may have different headlines.  And even the ADN articles online may have different headlines than the paper edition.]


1.  CBO:  22 million would join uninsured  

My Take:  The Republican brand has been anti-Obama for so long that they have forgotten what they are for.  Their key symbol of Obama has been the ACA or what they dubbed Obamacare.  And Trump, who wasn't particularly involved in Republican politics before his campaign, piggybacked on the Fox News generated hate of Obamacare among his 'base' and made 'repeal and replace' one of his key campaign goals.

So now  Majority Leader McConnell is willing to wreak havoc for tens of millions of Americans who will be edged out of health care access, just so he can say, "We got rid of Obamacare."  It would be fascinating to know what psychic demons are driving McConnell's sick mission.

This is all symbolism, with potentially deadly consequences for many Americans.

2.  Supreme Court to hear case on travel ban

Basically the court said the 90 day ban on people coming from six Muslim nations and the 120 day suspension on the nation's refugee program, could happen, but with limits.  Trump claims victory, travel advocates say the decision will impact only a few.

"The court said the ban could not be imposed on anyone who had 'a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.'”

Immigrant advocates say such a bonafide relationship means people with relatives in the US, who have been accepted into universities or been offered jobs, or asked to give a speech.  Most applicants meet these standards, the advocates say, so the ban will affect few people.

But I'm looking at the issues of dates and security.  This ban was imposed right after Trump took office, in late January.  A CNN report from Jan 29 says:

Trump barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for at least the next 90 days by executive order, which a senior White House official said later Friday is likely just a first step toward establishing a broader ban.

"Trump also stopped the admission of all refugees to the United States for four months.
During that time, Trump's secretary of state will review the application and screening process for refugees to be admitted to the US."

So they've had plenty of time - more than the 90 and 120 days - to expand the ban and review the refugee process.    They should be ready now. If not,  it will be nearly another 120 days before the court hears the case.  So it will be moot.  Except probably what they wanted won't be allowed.

Trump said in February, "nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated."  Of course we all knew, and we all know now that if Trump doesn't know something, he believes 'nobody knows' it. Middle East peace isn't as easy as he thought either.  

He also had no idea of the high level of vetting that already existed for refugees  to get into the United States.  And he still has no idea of the suffering and hardships and fear refugees experience trying to get out of danger and into a permanent home, and how his polices just makes things worse for them.  And our Republican controlled congress. . . well see the first headline above.  The bans were just symbols for his base and his own ego.


3.  Rick Koch (1956 - 2017) 

"For the Celebration of Life, attendees are invited to wear loud Hawaiian shirts, awful camouflaged shorts and/or mismatched prints in honor of Rick's truly horrendous fashion sense."

An obituary that starts out like this suggests that the good things it says about Rick Koch are probably true.  He died too young (age 60 in a motorcycle accident), but it sounds like he was a good man who loved people and helping out.

3.  How to fix alaska's fiscal problem for the long haul

When I read this title, it hit me:  everyone is talking about a fiscal problem.  Alaska has no fiscal problem, we have an ideology problem  - the Senate majority is so stuck on the evils of an income tax that they can't see the forest for the trees.  As this opinion piece spells out, the compromise our legislature just made, pretty much drained the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR).

 A $13 billion CBR could have generated $650 million a year – year after year after year. At the end of the coming fiscal year, according to press reports, only $2 billion will be left.

This is a good piece (translation:  I agree with most of it, though I think he's a bit near-sighted about the Permanent Fund) and I recommend people read it.  A step in changing the ideology problem in the state senate is the announcement that Fairbanks representative Scott Kawasaki is seriously considering running for the state senate seat now held by Senate Majority leader Pete Kelly.

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.

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.

Extreme Vetting For Immigrants. Apparently None For Trump Appointees

Trump issued an executive order for extreme vetting. But at the same time, it appears that Trump cabinet and staff appointments get minimum vetting - think of Manafort and Flynn as the most obvious examples.

But there is a significant difference between these two types of vetting.

Immigrant and refugee vetting

This link takes you to a detailed State Department chart of the admissions process for refugees.

Immigrants and refugees already go through an extremely vigorous vetting process that takes 12-18 months.  CNN reports that no 'major fatal terrorist attacks' have been carried out by refugees since the Refugee Act was passed in 1980.  It then lists terrorist attacks by Muslims in the US and looks at their status.  The Atlantic, using the same study as CNN, reports:

"But after sifting through databases, media reports, court documents, and other sources, Alex Nowrasteh, an immigration expert at the libertarian Cato Institute, has arrived at a striking finding: Nationals of the seven countries singled out by Trump have killed zero people in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil between 1975 and 2015.
Zero."

The Pew Research Center reports

"About 3 million refugees have been resettled in the U.S. since Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980, which created the Federal Refugee Resettlement Program and the current national standard for the screening and admission of refugees into the country."

[Note:  in that same time period 1,526,864 people died in auto crashes in the US.  Numbers are based on a Wikipedia list through 2015 and the National Safety Council Report for 2016.  While these numbers are not rounded off and look very precise, one source suggested the 2016 number was an estimate.  I include this note to put the refugee threat in perspective.  If Trump were really concerned about saving American lives, he might be far more effective by focusing on traffic safety.]

The key points I want to make about delays in accepting refugees are that:

1. The US already does an excellent job
2. While trying to identify the one or two possible needles in the pool of refugees, many, many lives have been badly disrupted, to find, what seems to be a mythical bad apple.  I'm not denying that there are terrorists who would try to get into the US.  I'm just saying that the process we already have is working.  If it can be improved, Trump's edicts are unlikely to prevent any terrorists from entering the country.
3. This is all just political rhetoric, whether Trump knows the actual statistics or not, to pander to his base and raise fear of refugees.  All of which increases the likelihood that immigrant lives will be made harder. 

Vetting Cabinet Appointments and Trump Staff

The number of positions a new administration has to fill may seem like a lot, it's a small number compared to the refugees.  And vetting them affects only people who have agreed to be considered for a position.  Extreme vetting of cabinet appointees and White House staff, doesn't disrupt the lives of tens of thousands of others, the way Trump's actions on immigrants does.

The news we've had about Trump's appointee backgrounds and conflicts is very troubling and when Trump talks about vetting of refugees and immigrants, I cannot help but think about Trump's vetting process for his own team.

It appears that the Trump team did little or no serious vetting of the people he's chosen.  What sort of background check was there for Bannon or Flynn?  And if there were any serious checks, it seems the Trump folks just disregarded any of the red flags.  Flynn, for instance, was an agent for the Turkish government and got paid half a million dollars.

In Flynn's case, Pence and Trump are saying, now, they had no idea Flynn was working for the Turkish government.  The Chicago Tribune writes:

"Among those told of Flynn's lobbying work during the transition was Don McGahn, a campaign lawyer who has gone on to become White House counsel, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversations between Flynn's representatives and the transition team.
A White House official said McGahn and others were not aware of the details of Flynn's work. It's not clear why the Trump advisers did not seek additional information once Flynn's lawyers raised the potential filing.
According to the person with knowledge of the discussions, Flynn's representatives had a second conversation with Trump lawyers after the inauguration and made clear the national security adviser would indeed be registering with the Justice Department. The White House official said the counsel's office had no recollection of that second discussion."

It's hard to figure out when they knew what.  Rachel Maddow goes back and forth with clips of Pence and Trump denying knowledge and then shows they had to know, because others say they told them. You can watch Rachel Maddow go through the evidence,


As I write these posts, I'm fully aware that for many logic, numbers, and reason play only a small part of their decision making processes.  But the way I think and my skills, such that they are, fall in this area, so it's where I have to focus.

And there are many who are confused by the conflicting claims, so I hope these are useful to them.  Either so they can make better decisions and/or have better data when discussing these issues with people who decide without any data at all.

It's my experience that when you counter someone's argument well, there's a good chance they will not acknowledge that to your face.  But the accumulation of evidence of time, does matter.

AIFF2016 Followup: Immigration Nightmare - The Movie

[You can scroll down to see the movie, and further to see one of the director I took when she was in Anchorage last December for another of her movies at the Anchorage International Film Festival.  But here's some immigration context for the film.]

Immigration dominates the news these days, but for many there is no sense of the topic.  But let's look at some numbers to put things in perspective.  From the Homeland Security Website:

Below are daily averages:

1,069,266 passengers and pedestrians
- 326,723 incoming international air passengers and crew
- 53,786 passengers and crew on arriving ship/boat
- 688,757 incoming land travelers

So, in a year, there are about 400 million people going through Customs.  And how many terrorist attacks have we had inside the US since 9/11?

Back to daily averages:

• Conducted 1,140 apprehensions between U.S. ports of entry
• Arrested 22 wanted criminals at U.S. ports of entry
• Refused 752 inadmissible persons at U.S. ports of entry
• Identified 877 individuals with suspected national security concerns
• Intercepted 20 fraudulent documents 

I can't find any explanations of these figures or the terms used, so I don't know if there is overlap from one category to another.  Were the 22 arrested already counted in the 1,140 apprehensions?  Were the 20 people intercepted with fraudulent documents also counted in the 752 inadmissible persons?

But for my purposes here, the numbers here are so low that I'll count them all as if they are all discrete counts.  The total comes to 2811.

So, on a daily basis, that comes down to one quarter of one percent  of the people coming through get onto the list of 2811 above.  That's one out of every 400.   I have to assume that the 'perfect' foreigner  like Anna in the film - highly skilled, US education, a place to stay and a job where people are needed badly, no suspicious connections - is one of the 2811 caught up in a typical day.  And perhaps the woman in the wheel chair who couldn't speak English who will have to stay overnight because Anna isn't allowed to translate - is she part of these numbers?  It's not clear.

Here's the whole film which is being highlighted at Short Film of the Week.


WELCOME from Serena Dykman on Vimeo.




Is the situation in the movie an exception to the rule?  It doesn't look like it.  From the Center for American Progress (in Wikipedia identified as a progressive policy group):

"The most serious conviction for many deported immigrants is an immigration or traffic violation. Forty-seven percent of those deported in FY 2012 for committing a crime were convicted of only immigration or traffic offenses." (emphasis added)

Another excellent full length film on immigration we saw at the Anchorage International Film Festival in 2013 was called De Nieuwe Wereld (The New World) and took place in the  no-man's-land between the arrival area and the departure area in Amsterdam (I'm guessing because it was a Dutch film) where people with questionable or missing documents are held pending a decision.



I've got this titled as part of the Anchorage International Film Festival 2016, because the filmmaker showed another film - NANA - at the festival this year.  I mentioned it briefly in this post, but I also had a video of Serena Dykman that I didn't have a chance to post.  Getting work of this film got me to get it ready so I could post it here.  Below she talks about the film she showed at the festival - about her grandmother who survived Auschwitz and took on the mission of going to schools and elsewhere to spread the word from the mouth of survivor.

AIFF 2016: Super Shorts In Competition - Matches, Magic, Weight Loss, And More

Super Shorts are under ten minutes.  Films in competition are those chosen by the original screeners to be eligible for awards.  Super Shorts are shown in programs so they can be hard to find in the program.  Below is

• a list of the super shorts in competition
• list of the programs where they appear and when
• description of each super short in competition in alphabetical order

I'd note that while these are the screeners picks, screeners don't always agree, so some would have chosen other super shorts as the best.  I often disagree with the screeners, but this is a good start.

Super Shorts in Competition	Director	Country	Length
20 Matches	Mark Tapio Kines	USA	10 min
Death$ in a $mall Town	Mark Jones	USA	7 min
How To Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps	Benjamin Berman	USA	7 min
A Magician	Max Blustin	UK	3 min
On Time	Xavier Neal-Burgin	USA	8 min
A Reasonable Request	Andrew Laurich	USA	9  min

Program (right)   Film (below)	HARD KNOCKS Saturday - 1st Dec 3, 2016 11:30am -1 pm - AK Exper Small Thursday -2nd Dec. 8 5:30-7:30pm AK EX Large	MARTINI MATINEE Friday. Dec 9 2-4 PM BEAR TOOTH	LOVE AND PAIN Wed.  1st Dec. 7 5:30-7 pm BEAR TOOTH Sat 2nd Dec. 10 5:45-7:15pm AK Ex Small	GLOBAL VILLAGE Sunday, DEC. 13  1PM-2:45PM AK Exper Large
20 Matches			√  √
Death$ in a $mall Town		√
How To Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps			√  √
A Magician				√
On Time	√  √
A Reasonable Request		√

As you can see, three of these films are only showing once, so you're going to have to work hard to see them.  In the past they've occasionally shown super shorts before features, so maybe they'll do that, though A Reasonable Request will need to be with a mature audience feature.  Fortunately you can see the whole film below.

202020202020202020202020202020202020202020202020

20 Matches

Mark Tapio Kines

USA

0:10:00

"A young woman (Nina Rausch) sits alone in a pitch black room and lights twenty matches, one at a time.
Her face illuminated only by the flame from each match, the woman tells the story of a Viennese serial killer who kidnapped and murdered twenty immigrant women – one per year."

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


Death$ in a $mall Town
Mark Jones
USA
0:07:00


Can't find much about this one.  From IMDB page:

"A mayor has a unique way to revive the fortunes of his small town that had been losing citizens, businesses and tourist prior to his taking office."

Based on these first two pictures, the team that chose the super shorts in competition had a thing about matches and the dark.


4444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444

How To Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps
Benjamin Berman
USA
0:07:00

Here's the guy whose story is told in the film writing on the film's Tumblr page:

“'How To Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps' is a short film is based on a true story from my life: I went through a bad breakup, then hit the gym as a way to get over the heartbreak - and ended up losing 90 lbs in the process. Then I did what anyone else in this glorious age of the Internet we live in would do:
I wrote a blog post about it.
Published on my small personal Tumblr as just a cathartic way to somehow make sense of my heartbreak and what I had gone through, The Little Blog Post That Could surprisingly went massively viral and struck a chord around the world with millions of people: It turns out (unfortunately) that there are a lot of people out there who have gotten their hearts broken, and almost all of those people turned to the gym to get over it. I wasn’t alone.
One of those people who had gotten their heart broken and stumbled across the “4 Easy Steps” blog post was director Ben Berman, who contacted me through a friend. He said “let’s make a film!”. So we did. "

It continues, including how the actor suggested that he actually lose weight during the filming.

There's also an SNL connection.

Here's the whole movie.  It's got over 4 million hits already on Youtube.  Who needs film festivals anymore?  If a film was in every festival in the US, it wouldn't get 4 million viewers.







MAGICIANAICIGAMAGICIANAICIGAMAGICIANAICIGAMAGICIANAICIGAM





A Magician  Global Village*
Max Blustin
UK 0:03:00

Image and description from Agile Ticketing;

"After witnessing a man behave violently towards his girlfriend, someone decides to intervene."

⌚️ ⌚️ ⌚️ ⌚️ ⌚️ ⌚️ ⌚️ ⌚️ ⌚️ ⌚️

On Time
Xavier Neal-Burgin
USA
 0:08:00

Image and description from the Bureau of Creative Works:

"'On Time' is a short form adaption of the feature length script 'Rough Around the Edges' written by Xavier and Tiara Marshall. The script made it to the first round of the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab. We can't wait to see this story unfold into a feature length film."

NOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOTNOT

A Reasonable Request
Andrew Laurich
USA
0:09:00

If you let your child watch this, you might have some explaining to do.  I'd suggest you watch this on your own first.  Below is the whole movie.

Happy Thanksgiving: Remembering Some Of The First Immigrants

Turkey made by one of the younger generation in my family

The pilgrims (as they were to be called much later) were among a persecuted religious group (Puritans) that fled England for Holland in the early 1600s.  Some eventually moved to the nearby university town of Leiden.  But that didn't last either.  From the Pilgrim Hall Museum:

"After a decade in Leiden, the low wages, the danger of renewed war with Spain, and concern for their children's future led them to seek another solution. The Leiden Separatist community decided to relocate to America."

They returned to England and prepared for their journey to Virginia.

The trip over was rough.  From Eyewitness to History:

"Problems plagued their departure from the start. Leaving Southampton on August 5 aboard two ships (the Mayflower and the Speedwell) they were forced back when the Speedwell began to leak. A second attempt was thwarted when the Speedwell again began to leak and again the hapless Pilgrims returned to port.
Finally, after abandoning the Speedwell, 102 Pilgrim passengers departed from Plymouth aboard the Mayflower on September 6. The intended destination was Virginia where they planned to start a colony. After a journey of 66 days they made landfall at Cape Cod near present-day Provincetown - more than 600 miles off course."

The pilgrims arrived Dec. 21, 1620.  From the Pilgrim Hall Museum:

The Pilgrims' Landing in America
Having landed on Cape Cod, a small party set out to explore. Coming on a place where Native People had stored corn underground, they confiscated it to use for seed.  Finding poor soil and lack of fresh water, they decided to look further.
The Mayflower’s pilot, Robert Coppin, remembered Plymouth Harbor from a previous visit.
An exploring party set out in the shallop:

...though it was very dark and rained sore, yet in the end they got under the lee of a small island [Clark's Island] and remained there all that night in safety... And this being the last day of the week, they prepared there to keep the Sabbath. On Monday they sounded the harbor and found it fit for shipping, and marched into the land and found divers cornfield, and little running brooks, a place (as they supposed) fit for situation. At least it was the best they could find.
- William Bradford    [emphasis added]

The first few months were disastrous.  From National Humanities Center:

"But that which was most sad and lamentable was that in two or three months’ time half of their company died, especially in January and February, being the depth of winter, and wanting [lacking] houses and other comforts; being infected with the scurvy and other diseases, which this long voyage and their inaccomodate condition had brought upon them, so as there died sometimes two or three of a day, in the aforesaid time, that of one hundred and odd persons, scarce fifty remained. And of these in the time of most distress, there was but six or seven sound [healthy] persons who, to their great commendations be it spoken, spared no pains, night or day, but with abundance of toil and hazard of their own health, fetched them wood, made them fires, dressed [prepared] them meat, made their beds, washed their loathsome clothes, clothed and unclothed them; in a word, did all the homely and necessary offices for them which dainty and queasy stomachs cannot endure to hear named; and all this willingly and cheerfully, without any grudging in the least, showing herein their true love unto their friends and brethren. A rare example and worthy to be remembered." [emphasis added]

If you look at the list of people on the Mayflower, you'll see married women, children, adolescents, and men.  One baby was born during the voyage and another in harbor.  Here's a list of the Mayflower passengers and a brief account of them. 

It wasn't until March 1621 that they made official contact with the indigenous people. From the Pilgrim Hall Museum again:

The English were moving into a region where Native Peoples already lived. Seventeenth-century Europeans believed that their colonizing effort was justified because they were "improving" the land in European ways of intensive farming and permanent villages. The Europeans also believed their colonizing effort was justified by the introduction of the Christian religion. 

POLITICS AND COEXISTENCE
The weakened group of colonists worked hard to build houses and gather food. While they occasionally saw Native People from a distance, it was not until March 1 of 1621 that an Abenaki named Samoset entered the little village of Plymouth, "saluted us in English and bade us ‘Welcome!’ for he had learned some broken English among the Englishmen that came to fish at Monhegan [Maine]."
Samoset brought Tisquantum (Squanto) to meet the colonists. Squanto, a Wampanoag native of Patuxet, was kidnapped by an English sea captain in 1614, returning to his homeland with an English explorer in 1619. Massasoit, a sachem of the Wampanoag, then came to Plymouth.

The two groups approached each other cautiously, exchanging hostages. The Wampanoag sought to balance the dominance of the powerful Narragansett. The colonists sought to ensure security for their fledgling settlement. On April 1, 1621, they agreed upon an alliance of mutual support.

THE TREATY WITH MASSASOIT
"... the coming of their great Sachem, called Massasoiet. Who, about four or five days after, came with the chief of his friends and other attendance, with the aforesaid Squanto. With whom, after friendly entertainment and some gifts given him, they made a peace with him (which hath now continued this 24 years) in these terms:
I. That neither he nor any of his, should injure or do hurt to any of their people.
II. That if any of his did any hurt to any of theirs, he should send the offender that they might punish him.
III. That if any thing were taken away from any of theirs, he should cause it to be restored; and they should do the like to his.
IV. That if any did unjustly war against him, they would aid him; and if any did war against them, he should aid them.
V. That he should send to his neighbours confederates to certify them of this, that they might not wrong them, but might be likewise comprised in the conditions of peace.
VI. That when their men came to them, they should leave their bows and arrows behind them.

From: Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford,

edited by Samuel Eliot Morison

(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984), p. 80-81

That first Thanksgiving was about eleven months after they first arrived.

From the Pilgrim Hall Museum are two primary sources of that event (both from the pilgrims' perspective, of course.)

That 1621 celebration is remembered as the "First Thanksgiving in Plymouth." There are two (and only two) primary source descriptions of the events of the fall of 1621. In Mourt’s Relation, Edward Winslow writes: 

"our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the Company almost a week, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deer, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governor, and upon the Captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty." 

In Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford writes:
"They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports."

It sure sounds like their need to leave their home country and their experience as boat people and their difficult situation on arrival isn't all that different from immigrant experiences around the world today.

How To Talk To Your Cat About Gun Safety And Other Books At Elliott Bay Book Company

There was a book I couldn't get in LA, San Francisco, or Anchorage.  But Elliott Bay Book Company said they had a copy when I called.  It's a surprise for a relative, so nothing here yet.  

But here are some other books I saw on the shelves.  Remember books?  

HOW TO TALK TO YOUR CAT ABOUT GUN SAFETY -  Zachary Auburn

From the Preface:

"My fellow purrtiots,
You hold in your hands the only book in print today with the courage to tell it like it is.  To stand up to the idolaters, the liberals, the international bankers, and the secret kings of Europe who want to destroy America and replace it with their one-world government.  To bring about our downfall, these villains have targeted what is surely our greatest national resource:  our cats.  They know that no other cats in the world are as cute as ours.  American cats have the softest bellies, the fluffiest tails, and the loudest purrs.  We are the greatest country in the history of the world, and we have the cats to match.  Our enemies know they have no chance of defeating us while we stand tall with our cats by our sides, and so for years these scoundrels have worked in the shadows, trying to weaken us and our cats.  Stripping from ur cats their Second Amendment right to bear arms!  Undermining the faith of our kittens by teaching them the lie of evolution!  Addicting out feline friends to the scourge of catnip!  The cats of America are under siege . . ."

BLANKETS,  Craig Thomson

From DrawnandQuarterly:

"This groundbreaking graphic novel, winner of two Eisner and three Harvey Awards, is an eloquent portrait of adolescent yearning; first love (and first heartache); faith in crisis; and the process of moving beyond all of that. Beautifully rendered in pen and ink, Thompson has created a love story that lasts."

RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE  - Kate Schatz

From Advocate:

Rad Women Worldwide tells fresh, engaging, and inspiring tales of perseverance and radical success by pairing well researched and riveting biographies with powerful and expressive cut-paper portraits. Covering the time from 430 B.C.E. to 2016, spanning 31 countries around the world, the book features an array of diverse figures, including Hatshepsut (the great female king who ruled Egypt peacefully for two decades), Malala Yousafzi (the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize), Poly Styrene (legendary teenage punk and lead singer of X-Ray Spex), and Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft (polar explorers and the first women to cross Antarctica). This progressive and visually arresting book is a compelling addition to works on women’s history. 

WE CAME TO AMERICA - Faith Ginggold

From Kirkus:

"Known for her trademark folkloric spreads, Caldecott Honoree Ringgold showcases the arrival of people immigrating to America. By way of luscious colors and powerful illustrations, readers embark upon a journey toward togetherness, though it’s not without its hardships: “Some of us were already here / Before the others came,” reads an image with Native Americans clad in ornate jewelry and patterned robes. The following spread continues, “And some of us were brought in chains, / Losing our freedom and our names.” Depicted on juxtaposing pages are three bound, enslaved Africans and an African family unchained, free. The naïve-style acrylic paintings feature bold colors and ethnic diversity—Jewish families, Europeans, Asian, and South Asian groups all come to their new home. Muslims and Latinos clearly recognizable as such are absent, and Ringgold’s decision to portray smiling, chained slaves is sure to raise questions (indeed, all figures throughout display small smiles). Despite these stumbling blocks, the book’s primary, communal message, affirmed in its oft-repeated refrain, is a welcome one: “We came to America, / Every color, race, and religion, / From every country in the world.” Preceding the story, Ringgold dedicates the book 'to all the children who come to America….May we welcome them….'”

THE BATTLE FOR HOME - Marwa Al-Sabouoni


From The Guardian.

". . . With so much of the country destroyed, what will the future look like? People close their eyes, and they wonder: is it even possible to imagine such a thing?
Marwa al-Sabouni believes it is – and her eyes are wide open. A 34-year-old architect and mother of two, Sabouni was born and grew up in Homs, scene of some of the most vicious fighting. Unlike many, however, she did not leave Syria – or even Homs itself – during the war. The practice she and her husband still (in theory) run together on the old town’s main square was shut up almost immediately: this part of the city quickly became a no-go area. But her home nearby somehow survived intact, and her family safe inside it.
“I’m lucky,” she says. “I didn’t have to leave my home. We were stuck there, as if we were in prison; we didn’t see the moon for two years. But apart from broken windows there was no other damage.” She laughs, relishing my astonishment at this (we’re talking on Skype, which feels so strange, the cars in her street honking normality – or a version of it – with their horns). . . "

ATLAS OBSCURA: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders - Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, Ella Morton

This book is divided by continents and then countries.  I randomly opened to a page to a 'hidden wonder' I'd actually been to.  On India's northwest border with Pakistan, outside Amritsar, there's a bizarre, but uplifting ceremony held each sundown when the flag is powered at the border called the
Wagah border ceremony.  A couple pages later was another choice Indian attraction we had visited - Jantar Mantar, an observatory built in 1728, in Jaipur.  The Alaska entries are less compelling.  The Eklutha cemetery and the Adak National Forest sign are definitely unique, but not quite of the same magnitude as those Indian entries.






NEIN - Eric Jarosinski

From Publishers Weekly:

". . . Nein is not no. Nein is not yes. Nein is nein," he explains. The slim manifesto is divided into digestible, tweet-length aphorisms (each on its own page) with a hashtag for a title. "#TechRevolution/ Turn on./ Log in./ Unsubscribe./ Log out." Jarosinski also includes a hilarious glossary of Nein-ish words and phrases. Performance art, for instance, is defined as "six doppelgangers in search of a selfie." Technology particularly draws his ire. He calls Instagram a "marketplace in which pictures of your cat are exchanged for a thousand unspoken words of derision." There are gems on nearly every page. The book might seem tongue-in-cheek, but Jarosinski's cynical aphorisms about philosophy, art, language, and literature hold plenty of truth. . . "

A New Life Borrowed From The Dead

There's so much I haven't written about the movies and tv shows we've seen on Netflix.  And about the phenomenon of Netflix itself.  I think because there is so much to think about after watching many of these films that I give up.  Particularly because by the time the movie is over, it's late.  We've been to so many different worlds, sat in with so many people whose lives we didn't know existed, or if we did, had no idea of what it was like.

The film Dheepan is one of those films.  It won the Palme D'Or at Cannes last year.  It's a French film which colors in the details of one sort of family of immigrants in Europe.  From a country we don't normally see in the news on refugees.

Good film has such a powerful way of plunging us into other people's lives and connecting us to the pains and, in this film, small joys. Not like the superficial descriptions of refugees we see in the news, the nameless faces in a crowd.

It's on Netflix - at least in the US - for now.  It's powerful.  Dheepan.

Screenshot when they get their new identities

Here are parts of three different reviews.


From Joe Morgenstern's  Wall Street Journal review:

"Whether by chance or the filmmaker’s design, the touchingly modest wardrobe of a young schoolgirl in “Dheepan” includes a T-shirt that says “New World Order.” Her life bespeaks a new world disorder. She’s a refugee from Sri Lanka who has managed to reach France as part of a pretend family—a mother, father and daughter who barely know one another, though that’s not what it says on their false documents, and who don’t know how to begin making a new life for themselves in an alien culture. Every day we see new accounts of refugee tides coursing across continents, and every account challenges our comprehension. Jacques Audiard’s superb drama, which won the top prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, rises to the challenge with the power of art and not a scintilla of sentimentality."

From A. O. Scott's New York Times review:

"They have, in effect, borrowed a new life from the dead, and the transaction is mostly successful. They are able to leave the refugee camp where they meet and fly to France (though Yalini would prefer to go to England, where she has relatives). After a spell in a crowded dormitory in Paris, during which Dheepan earns money selling trinkets and batteries on the street, the three are granted asylum, thanks to the intervention of a sympathetic interpreter and the benign haplessness of the French state." 

(I'd note I saw lots of Dheepans selling trinkets on the street last August in Paris.)

And from Peter Bradshaw's review in The Guardian:

"There is such exhilarating movie mastery in this powerful new film about Tamil refugees in France from director Jacques Audiard, who gave us A Prophet, Rust and Bone and The Beat That My Heart Skipped. It’s bulging with giant confidence and packed with outbursts of that mysterious epiphanic grandeur, like moments of sunlight breaking through cloud-cover, with which Audiard endows apparently normal sequences and everyday details. There is also something not always found in movies or books or TV drama – that is to say, intelligent and sympathetic interest in other human beings. Every scene, every line, every frame has something of interest. All of it is impeccably crafted and the work of someone for whom making films is as natural as breathing."

"I'm all of those things at once."

“I am an immigrant. I am also a human being, an American, a Vietnamese, an Asian and a refugee.” I’m all those things at once. I think that’s absolutely a crucial decision for me because we live in a society where people are pressured to choose their identities. Especially for Asian-Americans, we’ve grown up in a society that often makes us decide whether we’re all American or whether we’re Asian. That’s a false choice, so we have to rebel and proclaim that we can be many things at the same time.

The writer is Tranh Nguyen, USC Associate Professor of English and American studies and ethnicities.  He also has a recent Pulitzer Prize in fiction for his novel The Sympathizers, which my book club read and discussed while I was away and I have to get and read.

His statement just seems so self-evident.  We aren't one of the many labels we bear.  Think of all the labels people can (and do) use to think and talk about you.  Everything from sister, mother, daughter, skier, reader, dancer, red-head, gardener, idiot, shopper, passenger, American, Alaskan, Republican, Italian, drummer, fisher, cook, teacher, neighbor, etc.  You aren't just any one of those, you are all of those sometimes and some of those all the time.

But I hear people declare that someone can't or shouldn't be a hyphenated American.  They have to choose, just as Professor Nguyen writes.

But this piece in the USC alumni magazine goes on to focus on refugees particularly.

"Refugees bring with them these histories that make potential host countries uncomfortable…. The reason they became refugees is what we ourselves might have had a hand in. Refugees are a living reminder that the things we take for granted—the safety of our homes, the safety of our country—are fragile. We see other countries being afflicted by war or natural disaster from a distance, and we assume that can’t happen to us, but if those refugees start coming to our shores, then they become these living reminders."

That second sentence jumped out at me.  Why did we get Vietnamese refugees?  Because after the French pulled out of Vietnam and gave the Vietnamese their independence, the US insisted in jumping in and assuming that we could do what the French couldn't.  And by 1975 we realized that we couldn't either.  But a lot of people died before that happened.  And a lot of money was diverted from building infrastructure and education to airplanes and guns and bombs and transporting soldiers half-way across the world.  And eventually Vietnamese refugees, mostly people who, because they aligned with the US, were suspect when the US lost and pulled out.

Central American refugees are a major reason why Trump became the Republican candidate for president.  We've used Central America as our private cache where we got bananas, sugar, coffee, and other commodities.  We overthrew governments we didn't like.  Reagan even made a deal to sell arms  to Iran (even though they'd taken over the US embassy and kept Americans hostage there until Reagan was inaugurated)  to get money to Nicaraguan rebels after Congress nixed any funding.

Some American politicians express shock about the possibility that Russia is trying to influence the US election,  yet anyone with a knowledge of US covert operations to overthrow governments that weren't friendly to our interest has to be smirking just a little bit.  See for example from Foreign Policy of seven nations the US overthrew.

The point is that we have often made life difficult in countries around the world to the extent that people needed to leave.  We've even hurt economies by dumping surplus US agricultural projects into countries which destroyed the local agricultural infrastructure.  While this CATO Institute analysis assumes all our aid has been catastrophic 'even if the intentions were good,'

I'd take some issue.  A lot of AID did good things - particularly in health infrastructure and education.

I would also question the good intentions of most US AID.  Another CATO commentary tells us most foreign aid is really aid to US business:

“'fully 80 percent of the foreign assistance budget is spent right here at home, on American goods and services.'” Moreover, claims the exporters’ lobby, aid also helps poor countries develop the institutions necessary to “foster trade, and to attract private investment - the very things that make possible American exports.”

Basically, US aid helped US companies by restricting the aid to US products, often surplus.  Usually such aid helped US businesses more than the receiving country.  And it often actually hurts the local businesses who couldn't compete with the sudden influx of cheap, subsidized US food or goods.

The idea that refugees are coming to the US because of things we did is not even imaginable for many, perhaps most, Americans because they have no idea what we've done around the world.  And our schools and media tend to keep it that way.

But back to Nguyen's discussion of labels.

"Perhaps the biggest misconception is that refugees are only victims. People see these horrible images: The Syrian boy face down on the beach in Turkey has now become iconic. That image made me physically ill in a way I have not felt in a long time. It reminded me of the fact that the Vietnamese were portrayed in the same way. It led to the perception that poor Vietnamese people are victims. Of course, they were. The Syrian people, including that boy, are victims. But that doesn’t define them. The idea that refugees are victims simply becomes a way of not sympathizing with them. We continue to treat them as less than humans. If you see people only as victims and therefore as less than human, they’re still not the same as you are."

Again, he's talking about people dismissing refugees as one dimensional - in this case 'victims'.

The only way I see that we can change people's attitudes about refugees is for them to meet them and other non-refugee immigrants.

And to remember that most immigrants to the US were well educated before they got to the US.  Here are a few prominent immigrants to the US:

Albert Einstein Henry Kissinger   Robert Murdock Nikola Tesla

Neil Young Joseph Pulitzer   Irving Berlin Ayn Rand

Bruce Willis Sergey Brin*   Alex Trebek Cary Grant

Arnold Schwarzenegger Jose Conseco Mikhail Baryshnikov Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

*I'm guessing this name is less familiar than the others.  He's one of the co-founders of Google.

And Anchorage has its own fair share of prominent immigrants who make a huge contribution to our city and state.