Old Music - German Swing In My Mom's Garage

Going through my mother's garage, I came across this case that contains old 78 records.  I've seen it before, and put away for another time. Well, it's another time. I've taken it out again.

I knew that these were basically German records that my step father must have brought with him when his family fled Nazi Germany.  So they would have been late 1920s and early 1930s.  But I didn't know what they sounded like. I have a turntable, but it doesn't play 78s.   I did ask a few people about what I should do with them, but got vague responses.

So I did what everyone does these days.  Google.


And I found some of the records that I have on Youtube.








Here are a few:


Telefunken Musikus M 6359  Truxa-Fox.

Telefunken R 1910  Links sitzt das Herz (Left sits the heart)

















There's even Frank Sinatra and Doris Day - Let's Take An Old-Fashioned Walk.  It says "Berlin" on the label - but I think that's for Irving Berlin who wore the song.  Did this get added to the collection later?














Here's one more - Richard Tauber and Dajos Bela - Ich Küsse Ihre Hand, Madame (I kiss your hand, Ma'am)

And there were others I couldn't find online.

Thank you to the YouTube folks who have put this music online.  

State of Alaska vs. Purdue Pharma, Attorney Resignations, Evolution Of A Blog Post

[NOTE: My original title was, "Might Dunleavy's Purging of Alaska State Attorneys Be Prelude To Drop Lawsuits Against Supporters?"   This blog post starts with a chance discovery of DocumentCloud.  A quick search for Alaska came up with a few pages from a state lawsuit against Purdue Pharma.  Then I connected this case with another event - Dunleavy's call for exempt employee resignations. I get more info about the original discovery.  Then more information from someone involved, and finally conclude that while the original idea might be valid, theoretically, in this particular case, it's probably not.  I'll let you go through this process with me.  It's sort of like the scientific process - you make a hypothesis, then do the research, then conclude.  In this case the hypothesis isn't confirmed.  But the info collected is interesting.  I'll start with the original draft of the postand comment on it in [brackets]. The original draft was written Dec. 17. I'm now calling that PART I.  Then PART II is my follow up today.]


[PART I:]  This is just a thought, but worth pursuing.  [In hindsight, could have been titled "the hypothesis"]

The incoming Dunleavy administration has called for the resignation of all exempt employees - including those in the Department of Law.  Many of these attorneys, one would assume, are in the middle of ongoing lawsuits.  It would be useful to get a list of the current ongoing lawsuits the State of Alaska has filed, so we can see what happens to them under the Dunleavy administration.

For instance, I serendipitously came across a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma [makers of Oxycontin] claiming their misleading marketing and other actions helped lead to, or at least exacerbate, the opioid crisis in Alaska.  [This was the original discovery - Alaska's lawsuit against Purdue Pharma - which is something everyone should know about.]

It would be useful to check out whether Purdue, and other organizations being sued by Alaska,  had any role in Outside, campaign funds that supported Dunleavy.  This will probably be tricky since the point of some of those funds is to keep the donors anonymous.

DocumentCloud search for 'Alaska' came up with the state's complaint against Purdue.  Here's a summary of the complaints - they are explained in more detail in the document.  [It was the discovery of DocumentCloud that led to my discovering the Purdue Pharma case.]

As alleged in this Complaint, Purdue engaged in false representation and concealment of material facts about the use of opioids to treat chronic pain. 

"Purdue knew, deliberately ignored, or recklessly disregarded, that:

1. its statements about the risks and benefits of opioids to treat chronic pain were false or misleading;
2. it failed to correct prior misrepresentations and omissions about the risks and benefits of opioids
3. its statements made to promote the use of opioids to treat chronic pain omitted or concealed material facts; and
4. for many patients the pain relief of "12-hour" OxyContin dosing lasts well short of 12 hours; and
5. there is no evidence to support statements that abuse-deterrent formulations of Purdue's opioids make the drugs less likely to be abused or diverted or less addictive; and
6. it lacked the commitment it professed to reducing or deterring abuse and to cooperating with law enforcement, as evidenced by its failure to report suspicious prescribers as required by law and its misrepresentations regarding the abuse-deterrent properties of is opioids."

(This complaint is dated October 30, 2017.  A Department of Law Press Release dated July 13, 2018 links to a judge's order that denies the defendant's attempts to dismiss most of the charges.  So I'm assuming this case is on-going. ) [I confirm this later.]

How many other cases are there like this that some large corporation might like to have dropped?

Am I being alarmist here?  I don't have any evidence that any wrong doing has taken place or will in Alaska regarding well funded defendants.  However, defendants have made large contributions to defeat judges in states with partisan judgeships.

It's not hard to imagine a wealthy defendant making contributions anonymously to a PAC that would support a gubernatorial candidate who could end a state's lawsuit.  And given that our new governor has asked for the resignations of all exempt employees - which includes a lot of prosecutors - I don't think it's unreasonable to raise this question.

Given the high visibility of the opioid crisis in Alaska, dropping this case would probably get a lot of blowback.  So I just want to make sure people are paying attention to this case and others that potentially could be dropped under Dunleavy.

An article in the Knox News about Tennessee's lawsuit against Purdue mentions Alaska's lawsuit several times.

PART II  Dec 19, 2018  I'm abandoning the [brackets] since this is the new update.

I talked to an Alaska state attorney yesterday.  Given the headlines about the governor asking for resignations, I wasn't sure if the email addresses would still be valid.  But I got an email back quickly, which told me that the Purdue Pharma case was, indeed, still ongoing.  The judge had set a March 23, 2020 trial date.

What about the resignations of the attorneys?
The line attorneys had been assured by the new Attorney General that their jobs are safe.  Only management are on the line.

What about a list of all the cases?
There are so many cases it would be hard to list.  But that includes many that are just in the investigatory stage - that can't be made public at this point - plus there are different departments pursuing different cases.  Actual, ongoing cases?  Not so many.

And the Purdue Pharma case?
This is such a high profile case, it would be hard to shut down.  There are cases all over the country on this.  Essentially three major groups.

1. Litigating states- almost 30 states who have filed suit in their own state courts and who are either litigating through their AG or through outside counsel such as Motley Rice (AK and 7 other states) or another firm
2. MDL- Multi district litigation in Cleveland OH, multiple plaintiffs mostly cities, counties and tribes although one or two states have submitted themselves to the federal courts jurisdiction
3. Multistate investigation- includes some litigating states (but not AK) and the remaining states that have not filed suit yet

There's a Reuters article that gives an overview of the lawsuits around the country over Oxytocin.  

Another Reason Purdue Pharma (and other cases) won't be dropped - money

Cases like these bring revenue to the state.  When I asked for a ballpark, my contact wouldn't make a guess.  But when I asked "Say $5 million?"  my contact said more than that and likened this case to the the tobacco lawsuits which are still bringing in revenue, even as cigaret sales have declined.

My Hypothesis Not Confirmed

Did Purdue Pharma or the Sackler family that privately owns Purdue make contributions to the Dunleavy campaign in order to get the new governor to drop this case?
I couldn't find anything about Purdue Pharma in the Alaska Public Offices Commission searches (though I don't use them that often so I might have missed something.)
Open Secrets reports show fairly low expenditures by Purdue Pharma and nothing Alaska related.   Nor could I find anything of interest for members of the Sackler family who privately own Purdue Pharma.  That doesn't mean there's nothing there, but it would take more sophisticated sleuthing.  And given the number of suits around the country against Purdue Pharma, Alaska's probably has to be one of the smaller ones, simply because of our low population.
And the report from the state attorney I talked to indicates the attorneys have gotten no reason to believe the case won't continue, and the potential revenue to be gained is a good reason to continue.

What's next?

It probably wouldn't hurt to monitor state law suits against corporations.  People should know what the state is doing, especially, in this case where the state stands to recoup some of the costs of dealing with the opioid crisis.

I didn't know anything about the suit against Purdue Pharma and so I will do another post on this topic.  For those who can't wait, I suggest you read this (long, but chilling) New Yorker article - The Family That Built An Empire of Pain - about the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma and how this company contributed to the current opioid crisis because of how profitable it is.

I'd note that the Anchorage Daily News has reported on this case:

October 2017 - Alaska sues drugmaker Purdue Pharma, saying its OxyContin stoked opioid crisis
December 2017 - Alaska hires Outside law firm to investigate potential opioid lawsuit
July 2018 - Judge allows Alaska’s lawsuit against opioid manufacturer to proceed

And another case where five Alaska Native tribes joined a nationwide suit by Native American tribes against opioid makers and sellers:
November 2018  Alaska Native tribes sue drug companies over cost of opioid epidemic

And they've republished Washington Post stories on suits against Purdue Pharma, like this one on the Ohio case I mentioned above in this post:

April 7, 2018 An epic battle over the opioid crisis moves to an Ohio courtroom

And this one:

Sept 7, 2018  Man who made billions from OxyContin is pushing drug to wean addicts off opioids

Fight Citizens United - Call Your Assembly Members to Support Constitutional Amendment [UPDATE: It Passed]

There's a resolution before the Anchorage Assembly tonight.  It would support a Constitutional amendment to counter Citizens United, the US Supreme Court decision which allowed for unlimited money in US elections from corporations.

There are conflicting views on the effectiveness (and unintended consequences) of this proposed Amendment, but it seems to be the leading contender to push back the effects of Citizens United.

Here's the FAQ page of the website of Move To Amend, the organization sponsoring this around the country.

The ACLU supported Citizens United in the Supreme Court.  Here's what they say about it on their website.  

HERE'S TONIGHT'S RESOLUTION:    (I put the actual Amendment in red)

1. A RESOLUTION OF THE ANCHORAGE MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY
2. 2  SUPPORTING AND CALLING FOR AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION
3. 3  OF THE UNITED STATES TO ADDRESS ISSUES THAT RESULTED FROM
4. 4  COURT DECISIONS SUCH AS THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT’S
5. 5  DECISION IN CITIZENS UNITED v. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION.

6 7

8. 8  WHEREAS the heart of democracy is the right of human beings to govern
9. 9  themselves, and the United States is the first and foremost democracy since the days of
10. 10  ancient Greece; and

11

12. 12  WHEREAS the founding documents of the United States, the Declaration of
13. 13  Independence and the Constitution, recognize that human beings have certain inalienable
14. 14  rights; and

15

16. 16  WHEREAS the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution
17. 17  do not mention or grant any rights to corporations or to any artificial entities other than the
18. 18  United States of America and its constituent States; and

19

20. 20  WHEREAS corporations and other artificial entities are not and never have been
21. 21  human beings, and are only entitled to the legal powers and protections that the People
22. 22  grant to them; and

23

24. 24  WHEREAS recent judicial decisions, including the United States Supreme Court
25. 25  decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 130 S.Ct. 876, 558 U.S. 310
26. 26  (2010), have held that corporations and other artificial entities are “persons” under the
27. 27  United States Constitution with a constitutional right to spend as much money as they wish
28. 28  on political speech, thereby greatly expanding the power of corporations and other
29. 29  artificial entities to influence elections and otherwise undermine the power of the People to
30. 30  govern themselves; and

31

32. 32  WHEREAS when freedom of speech is equated with freedom to spend money, the
33. 33  free speech of 99 percent of the People is overwhelmed by the messages of the few who
34. 34  are able to spend millions of dollars to influence the political process; and

35

36. 36  WHEREAS respected national political polls show that large majorities of the
37. 37  People from all parts of the political spectrum believe that corporations and other artificial
38. 38  entities have too much power in our political system; and

39

40. 40  WHEREAS we the People are supreme, and have the power to overrule the
41. 41  Supreme Court through a constitutional amendment; and

42

AR supporting Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Page 2 of 2 to address effects of the Citizens United decision

WHEREAS over 800 municipalities and local governments, and 19 state governments, have already passed resolutions calling for an amendment to the United States Constitution to address the types of issues identified above;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Anchorage Assembly supports, and calls for, an amendment to the United States Constitution, establishing that:

Section 1. The United States Constitution does not create or grant or protect any constitutional rights for corporations or other artificial entities; and
Section 2. That money is not speech, and that the government has the right to enact statutes and regulations governing the expenditure of money to influence elections and political decision making, to the end that all voices and opinions of the People can be expressed and heard.

The Municipal Clerk is directed to deliver copies of this resolution to the Anchorage delegation to the Alaska Legislature and to Alaska’s delegation to the United States Congress.
PASSED AND APPROVED by the Anchorage Assembly this ____ day of ______________, 20____.


This is the most organized effort to blunt the effects of the Citizens United decision.  While it won't solve the campaign finance problems completely, and it raises some free speech questions, I think it forces the debate to a higher profile.  That's worth supporting this.  


Here's a list of Assembly members' email addresses.

If you don't know who your Assembly members are (most people have two), here's a map of the districts.  For more precise maps you can click on each district:  ( District 1) ( District 2) ( District 3) ( District 4) ( District 5) ( District 6)

Even if you don't want to call or attend the meeting tonight, you should at least know who your Assembly members are.  

[UPDATE Dec 22, 2018:  I'm told it passed with little or no comment.]

How And Why To Talk About Climate Change - Katharine Hayhoe

Katherine Hayhoe is a climate scientist and a Christian Fundamentalist.

In this Ted Talk, she talks about how to talk to others about Climate Change by sharing your values and why climate change matters to you.

Anchorage just got through a large earthquake, one of a magnitude that has killed hundreds and thousands in other locations.  We got through it reasonably well, in part because after 1964 earthquake, geologists and engineers came up with building codes that protected most buildings.  

We need to be looking ahead right now, to implement changes that will reduce our carbon usage before we heat the planet to the level that we won't be able to easily adapt to.  And there are lots of ways to do this.  She talks about some of these options in the talk too.  

Nancy Wilson Was The Soundtrack Of My Life

I'm not sure exactly when Nancy Wilson came into my life.  Maybe the end of high school or the beginning of college.  I was even in an elevator with her before a concert at UCLA once. I couldn't say a word.  Her albums lifted me out of whatever problems I was facing.

They still transport me to another world, even if I have to move the arm when the needle his a scratch in my 50 year old vinyls.

It's hard to believe that golden voice has been silenced.  This is just a sampling of a few vocal jewels.



Here's more factual stuff from the LA Times.

Some Of The Best Things In Life Are Free

After a beautiful sunny Southern California day yesterday, it was grey most of the day today.  But by 4:45pm as the sun was setting, it made a colorful appearance.   It went from cheery glow to















dazzling in about 15 minutes.  The fact that Night Market Sahm doesn't open until 5pm, meant we were out on the street to watch the show.

We ate here at the beginning of this year when we were working on my mom's house and it hadn't been open long.  The laab was so hot I had to take breaks.  But J, whose tongue is more sensitive than mine, also kept eating it because it was so good.  This time, while it was still spicy, it wasn't nearly as hot and I don't think it was as addictively tasty either. But we did finish it.  We ordered way too much, plus they gave us a complimentary salad.  So we have snacks for the next few days.

[Laab is a northeastern Thai dish.  When I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the late 60's, you could get laab, barbecued chicken, and somtam (very spicy green papaya salad) along with sticky rice (all northeastern dishes) in Bangkok if you went to a Thai boxing match.  'Sahm' means three in Thai.  There's also a Night Market and Night Market Song in the LA area.]

Aural Earthquake Flashbacks

I realized today that I'm randomly re-hearing the earthquake.  It's an ominous sound that includes a low (in frequency, not volume) rumbling sound which I assume is the earth shifting and the wrenching, crunching, creaking sound of the wood of the house being bent, I think there might also be a bit of rattling of the windows, but I'm not sure.

I don't think I even thought about the noise after the earthquake.  My initial thoughts were visual and kinesthetic.   The crooked pictures and toppled shelves in the garage.  And my body being shaken as I brace myself against the door frame.  My sciatic muscle seems to have absorbed the force of the quake and the pain comes and goes like aftershocks, down my leg.  (The physical therapist has given me exercises to deal with this, but it's almost two weeks later, so I'm guessing this isn't going away soon..)

And as I thought about how I could describe these sounds I realized I never even thought about my camera - which wouldn't have done a very good job, I don't think, of capturing the sounds of the quake.  And the only video I've seen of the quake online was footage caught by security cameras.  I'm guessing few people had time to think about capturing the quake on their phones.  It just happened too suddenly and strongly. Whipping out my camera didn't occur to me until after I was reasonably sure the quake was over.

Strange how the human body processes these things.

How Not To Do An Online Survey

I had to call a company yesterday, and during the call I spoke to two different representatives.  The first one was very good, listened, understood my issue and said she would fix it and then check to be sure it was really fixed.  She could not, however, do anything about my other issue.  That had to be handled by a different department.

That person said he could change the setting on the computer.  I'd had the same problem last year with the company.  He said I should fill out an online form. I looked at it.  It wasn't short and required that I look a number of things up.   (I had earlier, before this call,  filled out paper work online for the rental car accident payment. Our rental car in October had been hit in a parking lot while we were eating lunch.  I was fed up with all the paper work and not receptive to doing more work like that just then.)  I asked him to do what the other rep had done - fix it and then check in a few days.  His response was, I told you a way to fix it, but you don't want to take it. (He was n't wrong, but his tone of voice was.)  I said, look, if your company can't fix this over the phone without me filling out the whole form over again, then maybe I'll just have to take my account elsewhere.  "But I gave you a way to do it ('you dolt' wasn't said, but was in his tone.)

So today I got an email asking me to take a survey about my phone call with the company.  It wanted me to rate 'the representative' I'd talked to.  I couldn't find a way to ask, "Which one?"  I couldn't find a way to leave a comment.  I couldn't go on (to see if there was a place for a comment somewhere else, without rating the representative.  I didn't want to rate the good rep poorly nor did I want to rate the poor rep positively.

So, they didn't get my feedback.  I just closed that window and went on to other things.

Of course, I don't know if they really wanted to know, or whether this was a gimmick to make me think they cared how I felt.  If it was a gimmick, it didn't work.  If they really wanted good feedback, it didn't work.

Surveys should always have comment options because:

• People may not understand the question, and comments let the surveyors know that.
• The options offered may not include what the responder actually experienced.
• The question may not be appropriate.   (my case here - which rep did they mean?)

So, if any of these things happens, and there is no comment option and no 'skip the question' option, then the respondent has two choices:

• Answer the best she can, knowing the response isn't really right
• Quit the survey

I understand the companies that do surveys for other companies want to do things as quickly and easily as possible.  Just run the survey responses through the computer and provide the client with whatever statistical analysis of the numbers they need.

Comments, for that sort of surveyor, just get in the way.
They can't be so easily quantified.  And if they actually point out flaws in the survey instrument, then everything would have to be thrown out and started over again.  Data you've already collected are now suspect (how many other respondents had the same problems, but just answered the question anyway?), so you have to ask those people again (not what anyone wants to do) or keep the bad data or start over.  And it would be hard to do that without telling the client that you - however you sugar coat it - screwed up.

So who is this post for?  I guess

• First it's for me, to just get this off my chest.
• Second, for others facing frustratingly bad survey questions - just quit if they don't  give you a way to point out why the question doesn't work for you.
• Third, for companies that hire people to do surveys for them.  Don't trust the survey consultants..  Take the survey yourself.  Have a number of other people test out the survey - perhaps even actual customers.  Require the survey company  to allow people to comment throughout the survey.
• Fourth, for ethical surveyors, who perhaps didn't learn all they needed to learn, but are willing to listen because they want to do it right.

AIFF2018: Awards Brunch - OK, I've Got The List Now

OK, finally, I've got the list of the winners including 2nd and 3rd Place.
NOTE:  This afternoon there's more - including

On The Tip of the Tongue - A World Premiere about the Young Frenchman who helped save Eyak Language  2:30pm at Alaska Experience Theater
Don't Be Nice at 4:30pm E Street (Audience Choice)
1945 - This should be good.   4:30 Alaska Experience
Julia Blue - Feature Winner - 6:30pm  Alaska Experience




This year's award ceremony is in the conference room at Alaska Experience Theater from brunch - catered by Organic Oasis.  I'm trying to get ready and I've set up the categories in advance so I have time to fill in the names of the winners.

I'm not sure what order these will be in, but I'll keep updating this post.  The sun is out and we
have a great view of the port.

Shorts
Winner:  Fauve
2nd Place:  Sirene
3rd Place:  About the Birds and Bees

Screenplay Winners

Screenplay 
Winner:  Stan and Mary "221 Broadway"




Audience Choice Awards:
Documentary:  Don't Be Nice
Feature:


FEATURES
Winner: Julia Blue
2nd Place: Funny Story
3rd Place: Rich Kids


Feature-Length Documentaries 
Winner:  Rodents of Unusual Size
2nd Place: Afghan Cycles
3rd Place:  Anote's Ark

ANIMATION

Winner: Sail
Runner Up: Everything Changes
Honorable Mention:  Playtime


MADE IN ALASKA
Winner: Wellaway  (It won, I think it was this category)
2nd Place:  Rocket
3rd Place: And Now We Rise

These categories don't seem to have been in the festival this year.

Documentary Shorts
Winner:
2nd Place:
3rd Place:

Super Shorts
Winner:
2nd Place:
3rd Place:

AIFF2018: Alaska Related Docs - Lowell Thomas and Five Important Alaskans

We went to the museum yesterday and saw Voice of America:  Lowell Thomas and the Rise of Broadcast News and then Magnetic North Series - Alaska Humanities Forum portraits of Alaskans.


Maybe I'm stretching it a bit about the Lowell Thomas movie - most of it was about his life and about the beginnings of broadcast journalism, with just a bit taking place in Alaska.  However, his son, Lowell Thomas Jr.,  settled in Alaska and was our Lt. Governor for a while and his his daughter (Sr's granddaughter) was in the audience and spoke after the film.

This film documents not just Lowell's life, but also the beginnings of broadcast news.  We see him first in his round the world travels - including 'discovering' T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) and trekking three weeks (was it four) into Lhasa to record - for the first time ever - the Dalai Lama and Lhasa just before the Chinese invaded Tibet.

We heard from Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather about how Lowell set the mold for broadcast news - neutral, fact based, and with a story.  NPR broadcaster David Folkenflik was also featured.  Lowell Thomas is a name that seems I've always known, but I didn't know the details.

The screen writer and biographer Mitchell Stephens was there to answers questions afterward.  At one point an audience member seemed to be nostalgic for the 'good old days' of broadcast news where 'both sides' were fairly represented.  Stephens jumped in to point out there were problems then too, that we saw and heard a limited amount of news compared to today. [UPDATE SUNDAY:  I'm sitting here with Rick Moulton, the director at the Awards ceremony and he clarified it was Mitchell, not Rick, who talked after the film.  So I fixed it.]


Later, the Humanities Forum presented their Magnetic North Series.  With funding from the Rasmuson Foundation, they are capturing on film key figures in Alaska's history.  They've got five 30 minute films done already - on Roy Madsen, Nathan Jackson, Arliss Sturgulewski, Jacob Anagi Adams, Sr., and Clem Tillion.  The Bill Sheffield movie isn't yet completed.
The film makers - Marla Williams and Kyle (the photographer - I can't find his last name) were there to talk about the films.
Actually, for last night's film they had picked a theme - which they asked the audience to guess afterward - and edited parts of the five films with the intent of focusing on their chosen theme.  The audience picked themes somewhat related to theirs - resilience - but didn't use that word.

I was interested in how the film makers were going to deal with issues in the Sheffield film about his impeachment, the Alaska Railroad depot at the airport, the significant problems with the port when he headed it.  This is more about personalities than investigative journalism, Marla told me afterward.  But, she pointed out that all the subjects talked about their flaws.  My concern was that these films will probably be the main film sources of information on these people.  Marla said these were not intended to be tributes, but more portraits (I think that's my word not hers.)  The Humanities Forum wants to make these widely available and I'm concerned they do seem more like tributes and they will become 'the truth' about these people.  While I suspect with Sturgulewski and Tillion 'the truth' will be reasonable close to who these people are.  With Sheffield, there's a lot of baggage that I suspect will not be raised enough for people unfamiliar with him to be alerted to the serious problems.  I know I'm asking a lot, but, again, I suspect these movies will be the main source for Alaska students to know these people.

And you could accuse me of leaving out things - like that the director of the Alaska Humanities Forum was there as well - but this blog will not be distributed in the same way, and did not use nearly as much time and resources to produce.

These film are intended to be available online eventually.  You can check back at the Alaska Humanities Forum website.