"flood the zone with shi*t" - Why Courts And Media Don't Seem Adequate These Days

[Bear with me.  I'm trying to pull a number of issues together.  Basically, we need to step back and see the bigger picture rather than get distracted by all the crap the Right is throwing out there.  Their goal is to spew so much nonsense that the system breaks as people try to address it rationally.] 

Choosing labels carelessly  

"CULTURE WARRIORS such as U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) . . ."  LA Times"

There may have been a time when there was something that could be called 'culture war,' but that time is long past.  MTG is not offering anything resembling 'culture' unless the naked quest for power is considered a 'culture' today.  There's nothing here, really, about Christian values, though one could argue MTG represents hijacked Christian values to wrest power.  The attacks on LGTBQ and specifically trans and drag queens is merely a hook to incite the gullible to send cash and votes toward the GOP.  

On the other side are people who merely want to be free to be themselves.  If they take PRIDE in who they are, it's merely because society has vilified them so long and so hard, that they need some validation now and then.  

The media are slow to discard misleading labels, while the Republicans have an automated factory where they produce and distribute new imagery daily.  Where they take left leaning terms and turn them into epithets.  Some journalists are too young even to remember that the correct name is Democratic Party, but the Republicans have flooded the airwaves so long with "Democrat" party that people think that's the name.  

Eastman mulls the economic benefits of letting kids die

"In the case where child abuse is fatal, obviously it's not good for the child, but it's actually a benefit to society because there aren't needed ??  government services ?? for the full course of that child's life."

Rep. David Eastman (R - Wasilla) on the cost savings to the state when abused children die.

Alaska: Rep. Eastman of the family values party says it's actually a net benefit to society when a child dies from abuse & neglect because of the financial burden it would otherwise put on the state budget. pic.twitter.com/NKUOvUZvgf

— ChudsOfTikTok (@ChudsOfTikTok) February 21, 2023

The Republicans in Alaska have rules that oust other Republicans from committees if they don't vote with the party on budgets.  But making a case for letting abused kids die because it saves the state money, well, he has the right to free speech according to the committee chair Rep. Vance (R Homer).  

But, as I write, it seems that the House has censured Eastman over this.  (Thanks Matt Acuña Buxton)

The problem I have as a blogger (and any legitimate journalist has) is dealing with all the jabberwocky  being thrown out there by the Republicans - from DeSantis' shipping of immigrants to New York, banning the teaching of history he doesn't like, and his Don't Say Gay campaign (just a few examples) to the Hunter Biden laptop.  

And that's the point.  Stephen Bannon said to "flood the media with sh*t" and that's exactly what they are doing.  

From CNN

While some of the actors in this circus may actually believe what they're doing, those encouraging people to file all those election challenges and to write all those laws letting kids carry machine guns in public are just "flooding the zone with shit."  Getting people riled up and wasting time on fighting all the shit flying at them.  

Our justice system is based on the assumption that people believe in the Rule of Law and that the vast majority of people will voluntarily obey the law.  Neither our court system nor our journalists are quite ready for large numbers of people rejecting the rule of law or the rules of reason.  

The lawyers were trained to dot their i's and cross their T's, but with Trump and others filing bogus lawsuits and appeals and motions, the courts can't keep up. The public is losing confidence that they will ever be able to bring Trump and his mob to justice. But that's how Trump has stayed out of prison all these years.  The legal system has to retool itself to handle this sort of threat.  Not sure how.  Dominion suing Fox is one option, but so much damage happens before it is settled.  And Alex  Jones declared bankruptcy to avoid the financial consequences of losing his lawsuit.  We need tactics that work with the Right's new weapons.  

Journalists are trained to be impartial to the extent they feel compelled to treat insurrection as a legitimate point of view.  I'd note that some journalists believe they shouldn't vote because that taints their objectivity.  Here's an NPR journalist mulling over NPR's ethics code.  The Republicans are counting on journalists to continue such internal counting of angels.  

Such purity doesn't matter any more (if it ever did) because whatever journalists do, the Republicans will vilify them.  Meanwhile old school journalists will try to respectfully cover MTG's calls for a new confederacy and Eastman's claim that letting abused kids die is beneficial to the state of Alaska.  

Not voting, not declaring one's party, might seem the right thing to do, but I think declaring where you stand openly and then letting readers determine if your personal values color what you write (or say) is the more honest approach.  

In any case, the old rules don't apply to the new political world we're in.  Yes, a lot of voter fraud cases were won.  And a number of January 6 Insurrectionists (yes, that term identifies me as biased, but it was also the conclusion of the courts) went to prison.  But most of the top people are still living, ostensibly, comfortable lives.  (I'd like to think that all the  pending litigation is at least  disturbing Trump's peace.)

We need new tools for dealing with the current manufactured chaos.  How much damage have we had to endure (can we endure) before the deluge of lies is dammed?  

There are perhaps a dozen more threads I could easily follow that give context to what's happening today. 

 It's a psychological barrier to blogging because I know that writing about some discrete issue merely entangles me in Bannon's web.  But people's attention spans are much shorter than they used to be.  Few want to read long attempts to put things into perspective.  I'm not just making this up.

"A recent study by Microsoft Corporation has found this digital lifestyle has made it difficult for us to stay focused, with the human attention span shortening from 12 seconds to eight seconds in more than a decade."

But you can't read too many long articles, let alone books, even with a 12 second attention span.  But if you got this far, you're doing fine.  And should take articles like that with a grain of salt.  Who measured the average attention span in 2000, for example?  No, I'm not going to dig up the actual research report to find out.  It does say that drinking water, exercise, and avoiding electronic devices helps increase attention span.  So go for a walk and don't take your phone.  

Random Shots San Francisco

 

Prickly pear foot.

Went to the Castro to buy a friend a rainbow flag.

Someone chalked a memorial to their grandfather on the garage door.

One architectural feature I began to notice I've finally got a name for - quoins.  Lots of the San Francisco buildings have them.  They seem to be both structural and decorative.  In the picture they are the lighter color pieces on the corners.  

I first started to notice them (first you see something, but don't consciously register them and then you do) on a bright blue house I put up in a previous post.  I don't usually post the same picture twice, but I think it's appropriate here.  

On this house, because of the starkly contrasting colors, they really stand out.  And while some go around the corners, others seem mainly decorative.  

Look closely for the hummingbird.

Waiting for the bus.

Cymbidium seem to do alright in San Francisco.  From Orchidweb:

"While these orchids can be cultured successfully indoors, Cymbidium benefit tremendously from growing outdoors between May to early October. In late summer and early fall, night temperatures that fall below 58°F (15°F) initiate the development of flower spikes. Keep in mind, these are not frost-tolerant plants, and should not be exposed to temperatures below 35°F (2°C)"

Other Avenues is a worker owned coop grocery in San Francisco with a small woke book section.  

I ended up buying two bars of soap which caused TSA to pull my roller bag aside and look for the suspicious blocks.  

I'm pretty sure this is an aeonium arboreum.  These plants are very popular in San Francisco.  

Nearby Houses - Frank Lloyd Wright In Chicago, Blown Up Drug Lab In San Francisco

 I mentioned in the previous post that Oak Park, Illinois was Frank Lloyd Wright's home for a long time.  Then Sunday I discovered there were some of his houses around the corner from my friend's place.  Here are some pictures.  

The first pictures are of the Moore-Dugal House.  Our friends said it was for sale, but that it needed a lot of work.  

And these are some other FLW houses across the street and next door to the first house.

Sunday night we flew from Chicago to San Francisco.  My daughter-in-law is out of town and we're here to help the grandkids.  Always a delight.  The nasturtiums and sweetness my grandson planted when we were here in December are doing well - at least the ones that survived his watering schedule.  My granddaughter has a birthday Thursday.  

Yesterday after school the kids took us a couple of blocks over to see the house that blew up Thursday. 

The house on the left is the neighbor's house.

You can watch a video of the explosion from a neighbor's surveillance camera here as well as learn more details.  

And to end this on a lighter note, here's a house that looks like it's out of a cartoon that we passed on the way home. 

Bearings And Sunshine - And Some Oak Park Houses

We're in Chicago/Oak Park, Illinois visiting a long time friend (we were roommates in Peace Corps training over 50 years ago) and J's brother who we haven't seen since well before the pandemic.  We arrived Wednesday evening, on a cloudy night.  My internal compass wasn't working.  The next day the clouds were low and leaking.  I just couldn't sense north or south, east or west.  

Then this morning I pulled up the shades.  

Blue sky and sunshine!  When we went out I was able to figure out directions much easier knowing my shadow was generally toward the north.  

We went off for a walk which gave me a chance to take some pictures of a few houses and other objects that caught my eye.  I'd note, for people who don't know anything about Oak Park, it's the town where Frank Lloyd Wright lived and had his studio.  There are a number of his houses and other structures in Oak Park.  

This is a WW I monument in the park next to the public library.  Monuments like this one glorify war by suggesting all who fought in the war were heroes.  They give young boys and men the idea that fighting for your country is noble and makes you a hero.  There are times when that is true.  I think those fighting in Ukraine now to keep Ukraine free from Russian conquest are noble.  

But far too many wars are fought to protect business interests or access to raw materials in other countries.  The only people who always benefit from war are arms dealers - whether guns, tanks, planes, and the people who supply all the needs of soldiers.  Those folks don't worry about the people - civilians and soldiers - killed or wounded or psychologically damaged.  They don't even care about the destruction that war causes.  In fact, they may even get contracts to reconstruct the cities their products destroyed.  

Kids around the United States and other parts of the world tend to see a lot more statues honoring the military and war than statues that treat doctors, teachers, artists, or scientists as role models whose paths are worthy of following.  

The sun was nice today, but the temperature never got more than mid-30s, The wind today was not much more than a breeze.   Also got to do some surrogate cramping today as we picked up my friends' granddaughter from pre-school and wandered around through parks and neighborhoods until her mom got home.  She decided she was going to eat my knee and so I said I'd eat her ear.  Five yer old ears are the tastiest I said.  And she responded without a pause - I'm four.  (She's five.) We did have fun.  

My Thoughts On Pro Publica And ADN Summary Of The Bronson Corruption

[NOTE:  This post highlights the ProPublica/ADN report on the Bronson administration.  I've added my own reactions in blue.]

For those in a hurry, summary of  points I make:

1.  Baker, as a private contractor, was NOT a client of the Municipal Attorney and thus the attorney saying he can't discuss the case because of that is incorrect.  And if he was a client of the attorney, then t was more inappropriate as part of the Mayor's team to approach the Attorney.

2.  Assembly should make it illegal for the administration to remove the indemnity clause in contracts without Assembly approval, regardless the value of the contract.  

3.  Media have to do a better job of getting past the facades of politicians (and others in power) to get the public the real scoop on who these people are and what they do.  Local media need to give reporters focused beats and incentives to stay on them to develop reliable contacts who will give them tips.  

Image from the ProPublica/ADN article

ProPublica and the ADN published a long article that pulled together many of the events that have happened in the Dave Bronson administration.  It's worth reading. 

It didn't cover all details, but focused on Larry Baker and the conflicts he had over the Golden Lion because he and other Bronson owners lived nearby.  I hadn't heard about the DOTPF memo being mischaracterized to make it look like the state would demolish the Golden Lion.  It discuss Baker's younger partner Brandon Spoerhase and his attempts to get the Muni Attorney to drop all charges against Spoerhase for violating a restraining order against a woman working in the Mayor's office.  

The article mentions that the mayor did not hire Baker as a Muni employee, but skirted the need for Assembly approval by hiring him as a contractor with three contracts at $29,500 - just below the $30,000 threshold that would require Assembly approval.  The contracts also gave Baker immunity from prosecution, meaning the Municipality would be on the hook for problems he caused.  

They asked then Municipal Attorney Peter Bergt about Baker's interference:

"Bergt declined to say whether Baker pressured him to drop or reduce the city charges against Spoerhase, citing concerns that he could break legal rules protecting confidential communications between attorneys and clients. . .

 “I took very seriously my ethical obligation to my client — the Municipality of Anchorage — and always acted in its best interest.”

My thought is that if Baker as a private contractor, the he wasn't Bergt's client.  The Muni, not a contractor is the client.  So there shouldn't be any attorney client privilege here.  [Of course I'm not an attorney so I'm sure some or even most lawyers might say I'm wrong. ]

[OK.  I've spoken to an attorney friend who first said that Baker, as a private citizen, has the right to contact the Municipal Attorney and try to point out legal reasons why he charges should be dropped.  But, I asked, he's the Mayor's policy advisor, so there's a conflict of interest.  In that case there may be an ethical problem, but probably not a legal one.  Then I went on to read the quotes above.  Then my attorney jumped and said, that as a private contractor coming in to discuss his business partner's charges, he's absolutely NOT a client of the Municipal Attorney.  And if the Attorney thinks he is his client, then there are bigger barriers to him interfering with this case.]

But I would also recommend that the Assembly pass a law that says a contractor cannot have the indemnity clause removed without approval from the Assembly, regardless the dollar amount of the contract..  

The article also quotes Assembly member Quinn-Davis (who also acted as temporary Mayor) about Baker and she responded.  

“Unlike Bronson, he knows he needs to get along with people and relationships matter,” said Assembly member Austin Quinn-Davidson, who filled in as mayor for several months after Berkowitz resigned.

“I like him,” she said of Baker. “I think he relies on that, which is smart. People sort of trusting him or liking him as a person to get things done.”

Getting along with people is a very useful skill.  My thought is how many people use this skill to mask some not so nice behavior as Baker did?  How many people in positions of power do dastardly deeds protected by a nice guy image?  Or other images that suggest competence - clothing, education, purported experience.  This is a call to media and political opponents to do a better job learning and then alerting the world about important background information about the people running for office and serving as corporate executives.  George Santos is only the most egregious example of the media not doing their job in this area.  Except for the North Shore Leader. which wasn't able to get the story a wider audience.  

While we have watched quite a bit of this play out over the last year and a half, we we lacked key details that were revealed by Amy Demoboski when she was fired and sent a nine page letter of accusations.  As a conservative Assembly member who moved over to serve as Bronson's city manager, she had the insider's view of what was happening and because she's an ideological ally of the mayor, her accusations have more weight.  

I mention this because I think 'nice' guys are protected by insiders generally not exposing them as Demboski has done.  

This means we really do need better ways to keep our officials accountable and keep government as transparent as possible.  When local reporters have long term assignments, they have time to build up networks of insiders who give them tips.  Let's hope we can get media outlets to keep reporters on beats long enough to develop these networks.  I'd like to thank ProPublica which is helping the ADN do more long term coverage of major issues.  

One of the issues the article doesn't cover is the crowd of abusive Assembly attendees who made anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ attacks in opposition to both COVID regulations and the Assembly's homeless actions.  They were loud and and worked to intimidate Assembly members and the public who did not support their politics.  These were basically stirred up and supported by the group of Geneva Woods neighbors - including Larry Baker - who were opposed to using the Golden Lion Hotel for an addiction center.  

Spoutible's Impressive If Imperfect Start - A Serious Attempt For More Civil Society

 I can understand readers here who think I'm spending way too much time on the new Twitter alternative startup Spoutible.  But hear me out.

Why I think this is important

Most of social media has become infected with trolls - from jerks to paid hit men.  Spoutible is a serious attempt to create a protected space where people can interact and discuss serious issues calmly (or even excited too) and rationally.  It's designed to keep out those who prey on the weak, and also on the not so weak.   

The creator of this project is credible and capable.  It has a chance to offer a safe place and be a model for others.  If this works, it would show that neutralizing the haters is possible.  

Who is Christopher Bouzy?

 Christopher Bouzy isn't your typical tech startup creator.  He created BotSentinal - an app that allows you to submit someone's Twitter handle and then scores it by how civil its cumulative tweets are.  He did this to help people recognize those trolls quickly.

In a reasonably small human setting - a school, a religious congregation, at work, on a sports team - you quickly get to know who you can trust and who tends to be a jerk.  Online anonymity means we don't know people's identity or history.  BotSentinel is a tool to help overcome that.

As Twitter became more hateful, Bouzy saw a need for a civil space to discuss the issues of the day, or one's personal life, or whatever one wants without being targeted. And BotSentinel suggested he also had a lot of technical resources to pull it off.   As Twitter's decline in civility quickened with Musk's takeover, things got more urgent.  Using what he knew from working on BotSentinel, Bouzy got to work with a collection of computer folks to create a new online forum.  He made it pretty Twitter like so it would be easy for Twitter users to navigate on it quickly.  

He's also happens to be black which gives him a view of the world most techies don't have.  He's pledged to have 40% of Spoutible workforce be women.  

Spoutible Background

The team spent about three months developing the site.  Then they invited journalists and some other celebrities to try out the site for a week or two.  Journalists, because Bouzy believes that they need a healthy platform to gather early news tips and to alert the world to what they are working on and have produced.  [I'd note that I resisted Twitter for a while.  But at an Alaska Press Club conference I attended a couple of workshops put on by the then Social Media editor of the Wall Street Journal who explained how and why he used Twitter - the reasons I just mentioned: to get early tips on emerging stories and to share their own stories.  That got me to try it.  And it does those things.  It also can help you waste a lot of time if you don't pick the people you follow carefully.

Because I've used BotSentinel to identify Twitter abusers, I appreciated that there was someone who saw this problem and came up with a way to combat it.  So when Christopher Bouzy came into my awareness saying he was working on a Twitter alternative and that his background included creating BotSentinal, I was ready to follow.  I'd already joined Mastodon and Post as I looked for Twitter alternatives, but neither really grabbed me.  

So I was eager for the Bouzy site to become real.  I listened to Bouzy talk to us on Twitter Spaces (ironic that he can use Twitter to promote Spoutible) and take questions.  I was impressed with what I felt was sincerity and openness.  He was going to be as transparent as possible without giving away information that might not be safe in the hands of competitors, scammers, or hackers.  There have been several other open forums and each time I'm impressed with Bouzy's sincerity, his motivation, and his technical knowledge of how to get this done and hire people to do what he can't.  

On February 1, 2023 (yes, just five days ago) Spoutible opened up for preregistered users, which included me.  It was both a strong and rocky start.  Lots of people signed on and started spouting.  But there were technical glitches and the site was really sluggish.  It got better by February 2 and then there were more problems the next day.  

Saturday Bouzy did another Twitter Spaces forum where he talked about the issues and answered questions.  By the time I saw the notice, the meeting was over, but I was able to go for a walk and  listen to the recording.

Meeting Takeaways 

[You can listen here. It's 2 hours and 44 minutes long. Good for an airplane trip, or doing some mindless task, as well as exercising.  Don't need to hear it all, but at least to get a sense of Bouzy.]

1.  Bouzy haters - He started out by taking all the blame for things that went wrong, including a sort of breach.  No data got compromised. But the attackers acted like there had been.  These attackers have been on Bouzy's case since BotSentinal examined online attackers of Meghan and Harry and they have turned their attention onto Bouzy and Tweeting how Spoutible was a scam and you would have all your data compromised. [Me:  I had wondered how much of the problem with Spoutible was hacker related and apparently some of it was.]

2.  Lots of people signed up and lots of kumbaya - Despite the technical problems, there was a surge of people signing up and it seemed that the tone of the conversations was great and that people were meeting lots of new people and following and getting followers and lots of comments and discussions.  Bouzy was a little cagey about numbers, though he Tweeted in mid December that 110,664 had already pre-registered.  His hesitance to talk numbers had to do with the haters, but I didn't quite understand the issues.  [Me:  I agree with the tone and warmth of the spouts.  And people commenting on my posts and following me much faster than they did when I first joined Twitter.  But I suspect there are other explanations.

• There aren't that many people on Spoutible right now and everyone is trying to find followers and people to follow.  And they are connecting quickly because of a sense of the safety of the site
• No cliques yet.  The crowd is mingling.  There are no groups yet.  So people are connecting with people they normally wouldn't connect with.  This is good.  But I suspect once people get familiar with each other, they will settle in to interacting with regulars more and won't be making friends so freely.

I also didn't see a lot of the serious political or theoretical discussions that I find important on Twitter.  It feels a bit like the early days of the internet where everyone was just looking around and having fun.  People didn't quite know where it was going or how to make money off of it.]

3.  Despite the technical issues in the first couple of days, people have been very forgiving  Lots of thank-yous to Bouzy.   Responses were similar to mine: grateful for this new space and understanding that this was put together in three months and has only had a significant number of users for four days.  A number of of commenters told Bouzy not to be so hard on himself.  We all recognize that Twitter has had  about 16 years to evolve.  Bouzy acknowledged that but said that protecting users was his top priority and anything they overlooked he felt was a problem.  That's good, but as many pointed out - going without sleep too long is not healthy.  

4.  Identification of bugs, suggestions for improvements

There were minor to serious technical issues - ie the Spout drop blocks the like button for some, can't sign up two accounts, some people's emails and some non-US phone numbers weren't recognized,  There were questions about when features would come out - like a phone app, a common suggestion box, the rules of engagement, foreign language options, podcast options, etc.  A couple of people wanted to have kids get access since it seems like a safe space.  That was the only one Bouzy was not receptive to.  In most cases he said it was coming and they were trying to prioritize the most important things first.  

5.  Transparency

This and previous online open forums demonstrated a level of openness we don't see very often.  I can't help but feel that Bouzy is a really decent person I'd love to have as a personal friend.  

My own suggestions:

1. people's profiles should pop up when you put the cursor over their image
2. easier navigation back to where you were - ie not jumping back to the top of your timeline after checking a comment
3. have the follow/unfollow button available with each spurt
4. I understand why they have the Bot-Sentinel button so prominent, but so far everyone is zero.  I think it would be better if it was on people's profile and popped up with the profile (see suggestion #1)
5. Will the BotSentinel score be 
1. just for Spoutible?
2. for Twitter and Spoutible separately?
3. for a combination of both?
4. just for Twitter?
6. Timestamps on Spouts seem to reflect the spouter's time zone - converting them into the readers' time zone seems to make more sense.
7. 
   Why does the Spoutable image in tabs bar look like a P instead of an S? OK, if I look closely maybe that's supposed to be a spouting from the vague but blue whale below.   WOW!  I went back to capture the Spoutible image alongside the Twitter image and there was already a new Spoutible image.  A minute after I wrote this.  But I think a bigger whale without the extra word (which shows where you are on Spoutible) would be better.    There are more, but this is enough for now.  
   
   Follow up:  If tab isn't open, then just the whale or bird show. [Update 4pm - the P is back.  Guessing they're experimenting.]

My hope for Spoutible is that:

1. The platform can be a space where journalists, artists, activists, and other humans can safely express themselves free of hate and vicious attacks. But 'safely express themselves' doesn't include people who make hateful and vicious posts or spread disinformation.  Paradox?  It might appear so, but if people object to something, they need to do it civilly and explain why.
2. That it will serve as a model that such places can exist and thrive online.
3. The world will adapt with the changes and find ways to protect safe spaces in general

My concerns are:

1. The various forces that want to preserve those parts of the status quo they benefit from will do what they can to find ways to infiltrate my ideal Spoutible and poison it as they've poisoned the internet in general.  These include:
1. White supremacists, fragile would-be alpha males, and troubled people in general, who out of anger, spite and/or for profit have used their anonymity to intimidate good people without consequences to themselves and to make truth harder to discern
2. The people who stir up such people with propaganda and pay them to disrupt the free flow of ideas
3. People who will see hacking Spoutible as a challenge.  Bouzy did say he hopes most of those people will be friendly and let Spoutible know of any vulnerabilities they find.  

But I also know that in the flow of time, as new problems emerge, new strategies emerge to overcome them.  The Right has had strategists working for years to exploit race and abortion in order to keep power.  They've plotted for decades to take over the Supreme Court.  The Left  has generally not been so calculating long term and have been slow to recognize the Right's strategy.  But now that they know what has been happening, they are more galvanized to fight it.  They have science and good will on their side and they will find ways to stem the evils that new technologies have unleashed

About Making Assumptions: Looking Up Lisa Blatt Before Finishing This Post

 A week or so ago an attorney arguing before the US Supreme Court claimed:  [You can read the transcript here page 28.]

"but, yes, it's just been -- I mean, the world has been around for, like, 7,000 years, and no country has ever tried another country.

(Laughter.)"

The case is TURKIYE HALK BANKASI A.S., )AKA HALKBANK, )  v. UNITED STATES and involves a challenge to the US' ability to bring suit against a Turkish bank on the grounds it is part of the sovereign nation of Turkiye.  (Yes, that's the new formal name of the country.)

"the world has been around for, like, 7,000 years"

Was this a joke?  Was it pandering to the Federalist Society appointed judges?  Was it the attorney's actual understanding of how old the world is?  

Trying to comment meaningfully on today's world is how I imagine a mosquito swarmed caribou in the midsummer Arctic must feel.  Every bite hurts a little but there are just too many to deal with. 

But I also know we must stand firm.  All the voting fraud legal losses have weakened Trump and his follower, and claimed  We shouldn't assume they have more power than they have.  

That said, I looked up Lisa Blatt to see if she's also a docent at Kentucky's Noah's Ark Encounter?

Sarcasm often floats over people's heads.  I learned quickly that I couldn't use it in class because there were always a few students who took my words literally.  

Not everything is as it appears.  Lisa Blatt is said to be the female attorney who has appeared most frequently before the US Supreme Court.  She's also a former RBG law clerk.  

Here's an interview with Lisa Blatt chair of the Supreme Court and appellate practice at Williams & Connolly, that makes it pretty clear that she knows the world is more than 7000 years old and this might have been an unintentional bit of humor.  

 Is this post worth writing? If I just dealt with one mosquito among millions?  I think so, because the real point is to be careful about jumping to conclusions - which seems to happen with greater frequency as online media rush to be the first to report anything.  And if anyone reads this and checks on an assumption she's about to make, then yes.  

And I'm going to reiterate this theme in an upcoming post, so this is just a seed to get you ready.  

Slow: Busy First Day At Spoutible And Envelope Navigating USPS [UPDATEd]

While there were some influential (the word influencer grates) folks invited to try out Spoutible.com early, the pre-registered folks, like me, got our first look yesterday.  At 10am Alaska time.  The previous post covers what Spoutible is/hopes to be.  It appears to have been wildly successful in terms of lots of people signing up, but it's also been a massive traffic jam as the servers had trouble keeping up with everyone clamoring through the front door.  It took forever (30 seconds to over five minutes) for the site to respond to the cursor.  Here's this morning's Tweet from the driver behind Spoutible.

Clearly the 100,000 (my mind also remembers 200,000) folks who preregistered were eager to sign in right after the gates opened.  And that seems to have made it so sluggish that I've decided to wait a few days before trying to use it again.  Boozy had said Tuesday that they had built the platform with anticipation of lots of users.  Was he wrong?  Or were there more sinister players involved in making the debut hard to navigate?  I'm not accusing, just thinking out loud.  

The rest of the world can join next Wednesday as Bouzy launches this safer, less toxic version of Twitter.  And I will say, I saw no hate and lots of joy there.  Though I didn't see that much because of how slow it was.  

[UPDATE Feb 2, 2023 10pm:  I did go back and now Spoutible is running at a good pace.  They've fixed things, for now.]

And here's my other visual today (Feb 2):

We* mailed an 8X10-ish envelope at the midtown post office of January 14, 2023.  I made the envelope using old calendars pages.  It's going to Chile.  

As you can see, it purportedly left the midtown post office about five hours after we gave it to the clerk.  Then it took three days to get to the Anchorage distribution center.  (Not sure what that is - Airport Post office?  Something else?) THREE DAYS!  I've gotten mail from Los Angeles in three days.  

Four days later it was reported "in transit to next facility."  I took this to mean it was on it's way to Seattle.  But clearly I was wrong.  Why did this take four days?  It's got got a scannable code on it.  It's not some holiday mailing rush.

Nine days later it left Anchorage!  It took 15 days, just over two weeks to get from the midtown post office until it finally (it seems) departed from Anchorage.  It went first class and registered.  

I've had problems sending things to Chile in the past, but generally on the other end.  Just want this on the record here.  Not quite sure who to try to contact at the post office.  I'd leave a note for my mail carrier, but we're spending time with our daughter and her family.  

*I was sending it, but my wife actually took it to the post office.

Spoutible - From The Bird To The Whale

 Tomorrow, Spoutible will be available for the 150,000-200,000 people who have preregistered.  

⚠️Today at 5 PM EST, we are ending the preregistration phase. So if you have not preregistered for Spoutible yet, please do so now, or you will have to wait a week to create an account when it is open to everyone.https://t.co/N5QWQKI768

— Christopher Bouzy (@cbouzy) January 31, 2023

Right now [well I was from 9am PST to 11ish]  I'm listening to Christopher Bouzy on a Twitter Space talking to several thousand people about tomorrow's launch.  I've heard him several times before talking about how they plan to make a platform that's easy for Twitter users to navigate, yet corrects many of the problems of Twitters.

[I'd also note that Boozy was the creator of Bot Sentinel, a site where you can check on people who post on Twitter.  Using Twitter's standards, Bot Sentinel rates users so you can see if the account is normal or harasses people.  They'll use that technology to track Spoutible users and I heard earlier you will be able to see the Bot Sentinal rating of people who reply to you.  At right is an example of a Bot Sentinel report.] 

First I'll list some key points I heard, then I'll just leave a very rough transcript of what was said (starting about an hour into the discussion)

Overview of Key Points as I heard them

• User safety and security - the platform was designed to give users a safe space for discussion.  To that end a number of features have been put in place.
• General security of the site aimed at making it harder to be hacked, and if hacked, harder to steal personal info of users because all is encrypted
• Users can delete replies and block hateful users, this also blocks replies to the blocked users
• Spoutible has tighter security for users joining (they have to give their phone number which also prevents someone from making more than two accounts with one number) and more vigilant system to detect users abusing the rules
• Key feature ways to keep mis- and disinformation to a minimum 
• Money and size less important to Spoutible than safety and security
• Acknowledgement, repeatedly that 
• no system is completely safe from hackers
• that there will be mistakes, but they'll jump to fix them as fast as possible
• determining the  right balance on issues (ie what is misinformation) will always be difficult
• we're just starting, give us time to discover and fix bugs, work with us
• Want to promote media and news outlets important
• Only three months old, but have experience of Twitter, and will be adding features and tweaking system as it develops
• Intentionally made it easy for Twitter folks to move over to Spoutible - it will feel comfortable and familiar.  
• Expects that Twitter users with lots of followers will stay on Twitter until followers move over - but working on ways to post on both platforms at once

My notes - (not sure what time I moved to the laptop to take notes) (These are pretty rough, but I hope I've gotten the gist of the questions and the answers)

Anne - how quick a turnaround response to a hate attack? (She said she'd been a victim with death threats etc. on Twitter, had to call FBI and that Twitter was slow in responding.)

Christopher - we have tools to address swarming, trying to get folks to harass you, they'll get time out.  On the other side, sometimes people say dumb things, and they we won't take action if they aren't crossing the line.  

Crossing the line - is used a lot.  But Christopher recognized that figuring out where that line is.  

We have tools - you can delete replies and block people.  Would like to have folks hold off on those things until the platform has been up a while.  But you have tools to block things yourself if necessary.

Michael Morgan (was a test account for the last couple of weeks - says was not paid and is not connected to Spoutible)

Safe, Fresh, has your interests at heart.  Some platforms push the issues that rile you.  On Spoutible that isn't going to happen.  

Smoke detector - tells you about accounts.  [ I wasn't sure what Smoke Detector means.  sounds like some sort of warning system, or notification system.]

Spoutible eels like wearing comfortable slippers as you move from Twitter.

Q:  Will edition up tomorrow have push notifications?  What will Spoutible do to address feature parity  with other platforms.

Christopher:  We are trying to get Spoutible out as soon as possible, so focused on what people wanted first.  So yes, there will be push notifications so you know when people respond.  We can add features in suitable time frame.  Twitter, sometimes take months.  Some stuff we'll do in days, other in months.  The push stuff we'll have up soon.

Freature parity, laugh, we're trying not to fall into the trap, but don't have an  answer for that.

Melinda:  Thanks, sounds very good.  Planning on platform or stand-alone app, like Tweet deck, but they cancelled it.  Like it because dynamic.  Going to do something like that?

Christopher:  Tweet deck does still exist.  Don't worry about being nervous - I'm nervous.  It's in the pipeline to allow customize platform.  Most don't want that because they want to maximize platform.

Going to launch own app store to allow developers to extend the capability of Spoutible.  Not having that made making Spoutible work was much harder.[Not sure how to fix that sentence.]  Not sure when, but we'll do it.  Part of the road map to allow developers to come in.

Rick:  Working with media orgs?  Birdwatch?

Christopher:  That's the plan - like to work with other outlets to let you to text certain stuff.  Don't want just anyone to come in.  Not sure how, but will invite journalists to discuss.  Important to platform, but also to democracy in general.  Want to work with outlets to keep garbage off.  Don't want mis- and disinformation rampant.  Do we take off this misinformation?  Tag it?  Something deadly like treat COVID with bleach, will be removed.  Want to be the platform for media, researchers - people who fight this stuff.

???:  You're being really thoughtful in how you approach this stuff.  Use tools available and protect yourselves.  

Christopher:  Thanks for saying this.  I have a vision and had for a while.  Tried to get Twitter folks to see this, but they went on as business as usual.  Rare opportunity.  Twitter isn't the same anymore. If we had launched five months ago, it would have failed.  You wouldn't have moved.  I think we have a chance now - people want to leave for a better alternative - content moderation at scale is difficult, but we've built Spoutible with that in mind.  Someone being doxxed with phone number, user can remove themselves.  Be patient with us.  There'll be bugs.  Twitter had a long time to do this.  Give us time.  We've only had three months.  A year from now if you don't see us listening, then call us out.  First few weeks allow us to get our bearings.

Q:  Thanks, doing great job.  1.  Will you be able to keep media and reporters 

Christopher?  Will we address folks in the media who target Spoutible?  yes

2.  Have global manpower to support?  They have people in other countries, do you have that?

3.  Do you communicate with followers across the platform.  I have followers who are important for online fundraisers, will I be able to communicate with them.  

Christopher: 1.  going after journalists, I am pro journalists, news outlets, even ones negative to me.  But there are people who do that actively.  It would probably be addressed by the panel, do we ban the president, do we kick off journalists who are attacking?  Difficult questions.

2.  International?  Not yet.  Focusing on US first.  But there will be people using the platform, but if someone is spouting in another language, there are translators doing it automatically and can see.  But ultimately we will have people.  I believe in work from home model - you can have people moderating in France or Brazil and not have everyone in central place.  My team is spread around the world to develop safe platform. 

3.  Want to allow folks to cross post, - allow to Tweet and Spout simultaneously.  But present owner may shut that down.  One tech hurdle.  Spout 300 characters but Twitter fewer.  If you want to cross post you'll have to reduce # of characters.  I'm going to be Tweeting a while trying to get people over here.  People with 500k are going to stay on Twitter as well.  Not giving up those followers.  But eventually hope followers move.  If he shuts it off, he shuts it off.  Haven't figured out how to have seamless transition from one platform to another and keep all your followers.  

Dr. Kate - a lot of people earn a living saying terrible things about people.  Would you moderate for me or expect me to block them.  

Christopher -Say Meghan Markle.  How help this lady to breathe?  VP Harris and others.  Overwhelmingly women and women of color who go through this.   You have those tools in place you can use to prevent them from posting in your feeds.  I have been victim of people profiting off of hate.  On Spoutible will be extremely hard to do that. [But of course people will take that as a challenge.]  We also have to be proactive knowing who is own our platform.  If account is focused on attacking Meghan Markle or VP Harris we'll take it off.  Other platforms have this policy, but they don't enforce it.  Youtube channels could have 50 videos on Markle, they don't take it down.  On Spoutible, they will get removed.  Not just user, but Spoutible will too.  We know hostile nations will do this.  Why we want phone numbers.  We won't be perfect, but your experience on Spoutible will be vastly better than on Twitter

Gadi Ben-Yehuda - been on T since 2006.  I'm a  social media director, ability to manage those.  Someone mentioned Tweet deck, if I'm overseeing multiple accounts can I use single platform?  Encouraging businesses and more important government on.  My school is delayed, National Park Service.

Christopher:  Yes.  Extremely important.  But flip side to third parties to post on your behalf is completely different from a hostile foreign nation.  Only certain verified will be able spout on behalf of a user.  Outreach - we've had conversation, but focus for last few months was to get this up and running and then go for govt. agencies.  There are a lot of officials who have preregistered and even are on and testing.  Hope word of mouth.  Also want local organizations and authorities, so amber alert will be available on spoutible.  How can we make the platform better?  Part of us communicating?  Gotta be honest.  Only three months.  

Akunjee - They successfully brought in ways to onload people onto platform.  Get to set ethos - these are the sort of people here.  There townhall system allowing local conversations, to set up discussions on those issues.  Going to look at these?  

Christopher - Yes, no.  Not opposed to.  Open to suggestions.  How we've developed this platform - allowing you to give your ideas.  We took a lot and implemented them.  I took flak.  I had a vision.  Wanted you to participate.  So far worked well.  Something like that is a feature we'd be interested in that.  If you ask 10 people you get 10 different answers.  But if ask 10K you start seeing patterns.  I said earlier, no Nazis on the platform.  Misinformation/Disinformation number 2.  Took top stuff you wanted us to address.  Yes.  Clubhouse could work well on Spoutible.  Totally against waitlists.  You build something, you want a few folks to test.  We did.  But then need to open up.  If you have a waitlist, it stifles the momentum.  Even what we're doing, a week for the preregistered people, will slow us down, but I think it's for ???.  Not studio 54, you can come in, you can't.  Once the preregistered week is over, all can join

Julie - I was targeted by horrific racists - N word, videos, my 5 year old daughter.  Had to call FBI.  Eventually Twitter .   He duplicated my account  - bio, pics, etc.  And he Tweeted terrible things in my name.  Twitter wanted my drivers license.  I didn't want to give them that info.  If that happens on Spoutible.  Would we have to give Drivers License to verify identity.

Christopher.  Look at this from Twitter's perception, and sorry you had to go through this.  Horrible on platform and feel like platform not helping.  From Twitter's perspective.  How do I know that picture belongs to you.  Basic verification - customer service that handles bank security.  We don't want that.  But whatever company we partner with, what will they do with it?  Sell it?  No.  Just for verification.  If user targeted, get verified.  If another account steals it, we can take it down.  If this account is doing other stuff and doing crazy stuff - we'll take them down for other stuff.  But if stealthy, we have the problem of verifying.  People in this room opposed using phone numbers to verify.  We had to find balance.  Not looking to sell numbers or spam people.  With Spoutible resend an email or two a week.  No spam stuff.  Also to keep people from creating a bunch of accounts with one phone number.  It's encrypted.  Not selling.  

Hoping to launch about 12am, maybe 3am.  Definitely tomorrow.  Probably early.  

If you preregistered, your email address is on the list.  You have to use same email address, you have to use same email address.  Still debating about phone number confirmation.  Have 60-70 people try it out, have some bugs, but it's built to handle 1 million users, but we don't get those numbers.  If we have tech difficulties, be patient.  Prepared for more people.  Don't think 200K will sign up, it will be staggered.  

Is it fast?  Fast now, but we'll see in a week if it holds up.  Built with scale in mind.   Using service called ??Detectify.  Looking for vulnerabilities in our code.  Tried our best to make it as secure as possible.  But if a hacker finds something - there are people who spend all day hacking.  If firm tells us there's a problem, we'll notify you immediately.  Microsoft finds vulnerabilities all the time.  We will be.  If it happens, all they get will be encrypted data.  

Thanks for taking this journey with us.  I promised we'll get it up by mid-Jan or February.  We did that.  I promised certain features.  We did that.  Look at what we've done in 3 months and think about what we can do in a year.  Give us time to work it out.  It's not going to feel like a beta.  

We don't have to accept this crap, this misinformation/disinformation.  We can do something about it.  If you see us turning into another Twitter, you need to hold our feet to the flames.  Not about how many users or money, but success for us is protecting users.  

-------------------

I did notice the remarkable situation of Spoutible holding this meeting on Twitter to encourage people to leave Twitter.  Did Twitter not notice?  Not care?  One commenter during the meeting asked when Twitter was going to shut them off.  Twitter never did.  

"You have to risk it to get the biscuit." Sharman Haley On Hiking The Haute Route Through The Pyrenees [UPDATED 2/20/23]

[UPDATE 2/20/23 - Now available in Anchorage at  Mosquito books and Barnes and Noble]

Sharman Haley's book, Perspectives on Place: An Alaskan Explores the Pyrenees came out early December.  It's an account of her walking tour on the the Haute Route, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) through the Pyrenees of Northern Spain. Sharman is a retired economist and sometimes that's reflected in the depth she explores things.  But the beautiful water colors of her partner and travel companion Michael Samoya offer a refreshing respite from the more difficult passages.  A good reflection of the hike itself I would imagine.  

Sharman is a friend and was a colleague at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  She let me view a prepublication copy in November and I've left a draft of this post languish since early December.  My hope here is to give a sense of the book by using quotes that reflect the variety of topics she experienced on the trek.  Not unlike many posts on this blog.  

This book is probably most useful and interesting taken along when doing this hike through the Pyrenees.  It's most basic organization is chronological, so hiking along the trail, one gets history, geography, natural history, along with descriptions of the trail and refuges along the way.  So Sharman's details of the history of various locations would add richness to one's hike.  

There's often a tendency to compare what you're seeing to what you know.  It's how we expand our world view and gives us insights into our own homeland and assumptions. Sharman does this explicitly by adding an Alaska perspective to each chapter.   For example, one chapter describes wars and treaties going back to the 1300s in Aragon.  The matching Alaska history only goes back as far as the Russian invasion in the 1700s.  While Haley acknowledges that Alaska Natives have been on the land for tens of thousands of years, she excuses leaving  out any of that older history on the grounds that Native cultures were oral, so we don't know.  However, there are archeological digs in Alaska that go back further than the Russians and matching them to archeological sites on the route might have been a better connection - perhaps comparing the archeology experiences of both places.  Using invasions as the common thread seemed a stretch.  

Here's a sampling of what you'll find on the pages of this unique book and, for me, engaging trip through the Pyrenees.  

Useful travel advıce:

"Sleeping at the refuge with 30 other people side by side in two long

bunks was an experience. It was surprisingly comfortable and went remarkably

smoothly. Everyone was organized and quiet and respectful going to

bed and getting up. We were comfortable, yet didn’t sleep soundly.

The showers were great and the water was really, scaldingly hot! I

washed my hair. There was no gender separation in the bathrooms but of

course doors on the stalls. Our two showers, two red wines, veggie dinner,

two beds and breakfast cost 96€. The refuge administrator was a very

friendly, funny, multilingual middle-aged woman. In the winter she teaches

informatics. The guests are totally international from all over Europe. We

met no other Americans. Everyone uses English as their travel language." (98)

 

There's mountaineering history:

"Interest in mountaineering surged in the late 19th century. The

climbing and camping equipment was primitive by today’s standards:

Hemp ropes and iron crampons were heavy, and canvas tents were out of

the question. In the Pyrenees, early rock and ice climbers targeted the north faces of the peaks surrounding the Cirque de Gavarnie, mostly a day trip out of town. As their ambitions extended further, the need for overnight mountain lodging grew. Caves and shepherds’ huts were their earliest forms of shelter on multi-day climbs.

The first mountaineering club was formed in Gavarnie in 1864, named

the Société Ramond in honor of the illustrious Pyrenean naturalist Louis

Ramond de Carbonnières. The French Alpine Club (FAC) was founded in 1874 with the aim "to encourage and favor the knowledge of the mountain and its individual or collective frequentation in all seasons," including in its mission "the construction, improvement and maintenance of shelters, chalets, shelters and trails." The !rst mountain club in Spain, the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (CEC), soon followed in 1876. These organizations, along with individual benefactors, launched the network of mountain refuges we enjoy today." (99-100)

Along with Michael's water colors.

 

Details on wildlife:

"My favorite insect of the whole trip was the burnet moth (Zygaena anthyllidis).  While burnets are common throughout Europe, this particular species of burnet is unique to the higher elevations of the Pyrenees. The burnet is the most brilliantly colored moth I’ve ever seen: iridescent black, with big, red spots on the wings. Most moths are dull brown and only around at night to evade predators. The burnet doesn’t have to worry about that. The red spots tell potential predators that it is poisonous. The burnet carries hydrogen cyanide, both for protection and—get this—for mating. Sounds a little kinky, doesn’t it?" (p. 61)

We also learn about honey bees after Mike gets stung.  After Sharman relates the physiology of the sting and the  response in the body, we learn about the bees of the Pyrenees, and the history of domesticated honeybees in the region..

“Honey has been produced and consumed in France and Spain for

millennia. Cave paintings near Valencia, Spain, more than 8,000 years old depict men collecting honey. The Bible and the Koran praise the virtues of honey as a food of nutritional value. Spain is number one in the EU in the number of hives and sixth in honey production. Spain also produces more than half of the beeswax in Europe. I don’t know how many honey producers there are in the Pyrenees specically, but there are 27 in the Ariège region alone. You can find a lot of them online who advertise in glowing terms the high quality, "flavor and ecological properties of their mountain product and sell direct to the consumer.” (118)

Here's one of Mike's paintings showing the beehives along the path.  

I learned a few words:

"Compounding the economic squeeze, the emigration of rural labor to industrial centers resulted in a shortage of shepherds to conduct the seasonal transhumance* of sheep." (126)

*"Transhumance:  noun

the seasonal migration of livestock, and the people who tend them, between lowlands and adjacent mountains." (from dictionary.com)

You can also tell that Haley was an economic policy analyst in a past life:

"More than two-thirds of the territory of Pallars Sobirà is under some

level of environmental protection. It also hosts seven ski resorts. In five

decades, the number of second homes in the region has mushroomed a

hundred-fold, from fewer than 25 to more than 2,500. While this boom in

the tourism economy has provided jobs, increased wages and helped to keep

some youth in the region, it has also increased property values and housing

costs for local residents. While the infrastructure has greatly improved,

temporary visitors and part-time residents do not enhance the social vitality

of the local communities. The transition also marks a decline in local

control, as more and more of the land use policies are defined by higher

levels of government and more and more of the businesses are owned by

nonlocal corporations."  p. 127

Interview with Jan, a German hang glider about why he was on the trail, people he'd met, and a link to this video :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Zp25E_lbM  - his version of this trail. (Worth watching.)  He related some lessons he learned on the hike to Sharman:

"First: Don't keep your food inside the tent! You could wake up in

the middle of the night with a hungry fox next to your sleeping bag.

Second: You can easily compensate for your lack of fitness with

good navigation skills.

Third: There is no excuse! Even an Acute Respiratory Distress

Syndrome* should not hold you back from experiencing great adventures.

You have to risk it to get the biscuit.

And fourth: François Lelord is a wise man." (147-8)

*Earlier he had recounted a hiker he'd met who slept with an oxygen device at night.   

The next quote contains an extraordinary account of surviving in the cold.  I guess it's not the only instance of something like that happening.  It's also a reminder that despite the different environments, people who lived 1000 years ago were not that much different than we are.   

"The town L'Hospitalet-près-l’Andorre was named for the hospital (travelers’ hostel) that was established there in the first decade of the 11th century. The hospital was founded by the knight Bertrand d’Enveight in fulfillment of his vow to do so if he survived a snowstorm that caught him on the westside of Col de Puymorens, south of the Haute Route, where Route Nationale 20 (N20) crosses today. He saved himself by slitting open the belly of his horse, removing the entrails and climbing inside till the storm passed. He fulfilled his vow and dedicated the hospital to Saint Suzanne,  patron saint of his aunt, Suzanne d'Enveight, dowager of Cerdanya, in whose domain he was traveling." (159)

Some of the history can get a bit tedious, but then there is another disaster story that would fit in any modern tabloid or social media.

"The hospital was damaged or destroyed by avalanches several times over the years and rebuilt. In one case, year unknown, Moles wrote:This time the incident had a more tragic outcome than the previous one, entombing 5 women and 3 children, amongst them the wife and children of the Landlord who being away in Benasque survived but returned to the shocking news that he was now a widower and childless."  (162)

 

We learn about the cork forests they walk through and how they fights climate change.

"Not only is cork production sustainable, but a harvested cork oak tree stores up to five times more carbon than an unharvested tree, since the tree

utilizes additional carbon in the regeneration of its bark. Each year, cork oak

forests account for 9 million metric tonnes (10 million tons) of CO2

absorption. Cork stoppers for wine bottles have a much lower carbon footprint

than wine stoppers made from aluminum or plastic. And the byproducts

are made into bulletin boards and floor tiles."  (186 -7)

The Author Gets To Win Arguments 

"May 25-26

The morning was overcast, giving way to partly sunny and windy in

the afternoon when we set out for our next waypoint, Montalba

d’Am.lie. Mike was a little impatient with how slow I was going

uphill, and needing to stop to eat, so he said, “Give me more weight. The

less you carry, the better off I am.” So he carried almost all the food, as well

as all the camping gear. I carried the potato chips and toast. Lightest pack

ever! 

...On top of that, Mike’s knee became painful—probably from too heavy

a pack on too steep and rough a trail down after too many weeks without

hiking. [They did the whole trail in two parts.]  So the last hour coming down the road I took all the food. He tried to say it wasn’t making any di#erence in how his knee felt, but I said, “The less weight you carry, the better off I am.” The easy grade and firm surface made road walking easier on his knee than the trail had been, but it was easier for me too, and I was faster than he, even with the added weight, which, frankly, felt good. (196-8)

And a little more history

A second medieval monastery in the eastern Pyrenees, the abbey of Saint-Martin-du-Canigou, perches on a high cliff on the west flank of the Pic du Canigou. The primary access is by foot, 1,600 meters (1 mi) on narrow, steep path through the woods, above the town of Casteil. The original Benedictine monastery was endowed by Guifred, Count of Cerdagne, and consecrated in 1009. The Romanesque-style church was built on two levels: the lower, older crypt dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the upper

church, completed in 1020, dedicated to St. Martin. The cloister was also

built on two levels, due to the steepness of the terrain.

The monastery has had a traumatic history. It was damaged in the

Catalan earthquake of 1428. It was secularized in 1782 by Louis XVI, abandoned by the monks and fell into disrepair. During the French Revolution,

the abbey was closed and its contents, including the sculptures and furniture,

were looted. Even the marble capitals from the pillars in the upper

cloister were removed and scattered through the neighboring villages. The ruins of the monastery lay empty for the entire 19th century. (192)

 

Some topics are hard to convey in words.  The birdsong descriptions probably mean little to those who haven’t already heard them or are very musical.

"The song of the tiny ruby-crowned kinglet is similarly loud and

complex. It typically has three parts: a series of high-pitched notes (zee-zeezee or tee-tee-tee), two to have low trills (turr or tu) and a repeated three note "galloping" phrase (tee-da-leet, tee-da-leet). Individual males sing their own variations, and females sing a shorter version of the song. The population of ruby-crowned kinglets is on the rise in less-disturbed habitats in northern latitudes".(p. 201)

While there are times Haley gets a little poetic, others are pretty dry recitation of facts: 

"In 1659, at the conclusion of the Thirty Years’ War, The Treaty of the

Pyrenees moved the border between the French and the Spanish monarchies

100 kilometers (62 mi) to the south where it is today, dividing French

and Spanish Catalonia. Roussillon became o#cially and permanently

French, but many inhabitants were still Spanish at heart. The medieval

fortress guarding the new border was handed over to France. In 1674,

during the Franco-Dutch War, the Spanish army occupied Bellegarde, but

the fortress was retaken by the French the following year.(p. 206)"

I'm sure sitting on the grass where this all took place after six hours of hiking makes this an interesting break.  

As I mentioned, this post has been sitting here as a draft for six weeks.  Today I added the pictures and cleaned up fonts and quotations.  So I'm going to just end abruptly here.  I enjoyed vicariously traveling with Sharman and Mike. For people not taking this hike, the book can give you a sense of what such an adventure is like.  And Mike's water colors are a delight and there's at least one in each chapter.  And I haven't really touched the sections on Alaska.  

Paperback Premium Color Print  (ISBN: 979-8-218-09640-3):              $35.95   $26.54   

Kindle e-book:   $9.99

Available at Alibris.  Publication date: December 1, 2022.