What can I say? Go camping for a few days and you get behind on breaking news.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Doug Reminds Me of the Petrol Tank Hole
Doug made a comment on the post about the road to McCarthy. He said the pictures and text
I met Doug first at the Heineken's Brewery in Amsterdam in 1965 where we'd retreated in the rain instead of biking to see the tulips. The next day, with a sunny blue sky, Doug joined us on bikes to the tulips. At the end of the school year (I was studying in Göttingen, Germany that year) I crashed at Doug's flat when I was in London and we traveled a bit together through England.
When he went to teach in Uganda, I was just about to return from my Peace Corps teaching in Thailand. So, I added Uganda to my route home.
Now to the petrol tank he mentions. We were driving across the red dirt roads of Uganda in his little Ford when we ran out of gas. The road had wheel ruts and a little ridge in the middle and we bottomed out more than a few times. At one point something harder than dirt made a loud noise under the car as we were barreling along.
The petrol tank was leaking. So there we were on the road, miles from anywhere, with no gas. Then a big tanker truck pulled up. Two Ugandans jumped out to see what the problem was.
A hole in the gas tank? No problem. The got out a little gas stove and boiled some water. They put a bar of soap into the water until it was soft. Then they molded the soap so it fit very tightly into the hole in the petrol tank. They let it harden. "The truck's gas tank is locked, but we can give you the gas that's in the hose." I think we got a few liters. Then we made it to the next town by shutting off the engine and coasting down the hills.
In Alaska, Doug, we fix everything with Duct tape.
...are great appetizers for my coming visit. Spikes in the road (shades of sharp rocks taking out petrol tanks on Ugandan roads!), mosquitos and and tropical temperatures suggest that travelling in Alaska can still present the odd challenge...As he says, Doug is coming to visit at the end of this month. Last time I saw Doug he was seeing me off at the airport in Entebbe. Doug was teaching in Kampala, Uganda. That was May 1970, before Idi Amin came to power in Uganda.
I met Doug first at the Heineken's Brewery in Amsterdam in 1965 where we'd retreated in the rain instead of biking to see the tulips. The next day, with a sunny blue sky, Doug joined us on bikes to the tulips. At the end of the school year (I was studying in Göttingen, Germany that year) I crashed at Doug's flat when I was in London and we traveled a bit together through England.
When he went to teach in Uganda, I was just about to return from my Peace Corps teaching in Thailand. So, I added Uganda to my route home.
Now to the petrol tank he mentions. We were driving across the red dirt roads of Uganda in his little Ford when we ran out of gas. The road had wheel ruts and a little ridge in the middle and we bottomed out more than a few times. At one point something harder than dirt made a loud noise under the car as we were barreling along.
The petrol tank was leaking. So there we were on the road, miles from anywhere, with no gas. Then a big tanker truck pulled up. Two Ugandans jumped out to see what the problem was.
A hole in the gas tank? No problem. The got out a little gas stove and boiled some water. They put a bar of soap into the water until it was soft. Then they molded the soap so it fit very tightly into the hole in the petrol tank. They let it harden. "The truck's gas tank is locked, but we can give you the gas that's in the hose." I think we got a few liters. Then we made it to the next town by shutting off the engine and coasting down the hills.
In Alaska, Doug, we fix everything with Duct tape.
Outside Blogger Acknowledges Diane Benson is Running for Congress
Congratulations to whomever notified Reid Wilson of Real Clear Politics that Diane Benson is running for Congress. After first writing that
In November, the Republican nominee will face former State Rep. Ethan Berkowitz,He later makes a correction. Well, he calls it a 'clarification.'
Clarification: Young, or Parnell, will not necessarily face Berkowitz in November. Berkowitz has his own primary, in which he will face Diane Benson, who ran against Young in 2006 and ran for governor in 2002. Benson held Young to 57% in 2006, his lowest win percentage since 1994. National Democrats will privately admit they favor Berkowitz, but Benson has run before and could benefit from better name recognition.
Monday, July 07, 2008
What's the Largest US National Park? -Post 3: The Road to McCarthy
[Click here for Post 1 and Post 2. All the pictures can be enlarged by double clicking on them.]
The road to McCarthy. The reason that I've never been to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park before. It always comes with the warning - it's full of old railroad spikes, be sure to have a spare tire or two.
From Anchorage we drove to Glenallen, then south for 30 miles on the Richardson Highway - the road that ends in Valdez. At the Edgarton Highway, you go east 35 miles to Chitina (Everyone calls it Chitna). This is where you gain access to the Copper River. As you cross the bridge you can see the wide river and the area where people have fish wheels and the point where people take off to go dipnetting.
There are lots of signs warning that this is private land.
The public campground is on the right just after you cross the bridge. I'm not sure what maintenance means here. The wind was constantly blowing up the glacial silt that served for ground cover.
We had a burnt out camper shell in the 'space' next to ours.
We were camped in an open area that filled up during the night. Sleep wasn't easy with all the motors running - the camper next to us, four wheelers, boats on the river, cars cruising for a campsite all night. Plus a few people practicing their fire works skills for the next day.
There were some nice camper spaces and the A family got one of those. But it was late and we really had no idea what was up ahead. The person at the National Park headquarters on the Richardson Highway said, "Most of the land along the road is private. There are some public pullouts where you can camp." In hindsight we should have done that. But we'd taken the slow route and so we camped at Chitina.
The road started out pretty bad - the washboard surface rattled the car hard. But after about six miles we got onto better surface and some spectacular views. Eventually we were going along at the speed limit (35) or better for long stretches. In the end we never saw anyone fixing a flat, nor did either of our two vehicles get a flat.
Here's the Chitina River, only a few miles out of Chitina.
Then we came to the spectacular Kuskulana River bridge. This whole road is built on the path of the original railroad line from Cordova to Kennecott, built to take the copper out from the mines. Apparently they just built the road over the old tracks and spikes regularly surface on the road from underneath - thus the warnings about tires.
A non-glacial creek where we could wash and cool off and let the kids get rid of some energy.
The day was mostly sunny and getting warm, well hot by Anchorage standards. I'm sure it was in the low 80's F (@25 C) by the afternoon
We were told there were about 90 trestles that had to be built in the 196 mile railroad from Cordova to Kennectt. (I think I heard that on the tour, so the numbers are what I remember and not necessarily right.)
Dry weather meant that there was always a cloud of dust behind the cars. When we got separated, we could always spot the other car down the road from the dust. On the way home on Sunday we had just enough rain to keep the dust down.
The ranger at McCarthy suggested we drive down to the river side campground.
There are no park service amenities here yet, it's all private. Parking is $5 a day. The campground was $20 per night. Fortunately they let us have two vehicles in one campground for that price. The guy at the campground office had a beer in hand, and had obviously had quite a few beers in hand already that day.
Finally, in a nice campground for the next two nights.
The road to McCarthy. The reason that I've never been to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park before. It always comes with the warning - it's full of old railroad spikes, be sure to have a spare tire or two.
From Anchorage we drove to Glenallen, then south for 30 miles on the Richardson Highway - the road that ends in Valdez. At the Edgarton Highway, you go east 35 miles to Chitina (Everyone calls it Chitna). This is where you gain access to the Copper River. As you cross the bridge you can see the wide river and the area where people have fish wheels and the point where people take off to go dipnetting.
There are lots of signs warning that this is private land.
The public campground is on the right just after you cross the bridge. I'm not sure what maintenance means here. The wind was constantly blowing up the glacial silt that served for ground cover.
We had a burnt out camper shell in the 'space' next to ours.
We were camped in an open area that filled up during the night. Sleep wasn't easy with all the motors running - the camper next to us, four wheelers, boats on the river, cars cruising for a campsite all night. Plus a few people practicing their fire works skills for the next day.
There were some nice camper spaces and the A family got one of those. But it was late and we really had no idea what was up ahead. The person at the National Park headquarters on the Richardson Highway said, "Most of the land along the road is private. There are some public pullouts where you can camp." In hindsight we should have done that. But we'd taken the slow route and so we camped at Chitina.
The road started out pretty bad - the washboard surface rattled the car hard. But after about six miles we got onto better surface and some spectacular views. Eventually we were going along at the speed limit (35) or better for long stretches. In the end we never saw anyone fixing a flat, nor did either of our two vehicles get a flat.
Here's the Chitina River, only a few miles out of Chitina.
Then we came to the spectacular Kuskulana River bridge. This whole road is built on the path of the original railroad line from Cordova to Kennecott, built to take the copper out from the mines. Apparently they just built the road over the old tracks and spikes regularly surface on the road from underneath - thus the warnings about tires.
A non-glacial creek where we could wash and cool off and let the kids get rid of some energy.The day was mostly sunny and getting warm, well hot by Anchorage standards. I'm sure it was in the low 80's F (@25 C) by the afternoon
 |
| Lakina River Bridge |
We were told there were about 90 trestles that had to be built in the 196 mile railroad from Cordova to Kennectt. (I think I heard that on the tour, so the numbers are what I remember and not necessarily right.)
Dry weather meant that there was always a cloud of dust behind the cars. When we got separated, we could always spot the other car down the road from the dust. On the way home on Sunday we had just enough rain to keep the dust down.
The ranger at McCarthy suggested we drive down to the river side campground.
There are no park service amenities here yet, it's all private. Parking is $5 a day. The campground was $20 per night. Fortunately they let us have two vehicles in one campground for that price. The guy at the campground office had a beer in hand, and had obviously had quite a few beers in hand already that day.
Finally, in a nice campground for the next two nights.
What's the Largest US National Park? -Post 2
Post 1
We've pretty much made it our practice to stay home over Fourth of July. As teachers we had summers off and could go on the road when others were working. Two years ago we went with a group to bike the Denali Highway over the Fourth. That's when we met the A Family. So, here we were back out on the Fourth.
The National Park Service Visitor's Guide for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park says
During its height, over 100 people lived in McCarthy... When the Kennecott mine ceased operations in 1938, McCarthy shriveled into a sleepy, isolated town.The 97-98 Milepost said McCarthy's population was 25. That would probably mean year round.
Take that into consideration when you watch the Fireworks Video. This event was held at the Glacier View Campground, about 1/4 mile from the footbridge over the Kennicott River and into the town of McCarthy.
Even waiting until midnight, it still isn't really dark enough in Alaska in the summer to have great fireworks, but you can still have fun. All sound was recorded with the video.
Bloggers v. ADN - John Dean's Broken Government - Don Young's Lobbyist Friends
This isn't about Wrangell-St. Elias, but I did say I'd started reading John Dean's book Broken Government. (He was selling copies when he spoke to the Alaska Democratic Convention.) Being out of wifi range since Thursday, I have some catching up to do. This morning I caught the front page of yesterday's Anchorage Daily News. Last night I'd read Phil Munger's Progressive Alaska chiding of MSM reporters for missing things that bloggers were getting.
These all tie in together nicely.
First, while the rivalry between some bloggers and the ADN probably makes everyone better reporters, we bloggers need to remember that the reporters have stories to report every damn day. They can't just throw up some pretty pictures of flowers or fish as filler. Just because they miss a story that one of us gets is no reason to pound them. They aren't the enemy. Even the ADN is not the enemy, though if the ADN is missing stories it has more to do with how they are allocating their resources as they face their financial struggles as a print medium in a digital age. I've spent plenty of blog space on that topic already.
Good natured rivalries like UCLA-USC, Yankees-Red Sox make everyone play a little harder and better, but the reporters don't have near the freedom bloggers have to shoot back at us. [Tuesday: Actually, Kyle Hopkins blogs on the ADN website and Robert Dillon has his own blog where he responded strongly to Phil's post. Phil responded to this post in a comment below and to this and Dillon's response on his blog today.] And we really are allies in a larger battle to get news out. If the kind of comments Phil is making here gets the ADN management to give more resources to political reporting, good. But if this friendly sniping gets old for the already beleaguered reporters, then we might lose some of the cooperation that we've had - help getting our computers into the trials, tips on stories they can't run, etc. - then that would be bad.
Anyway, in response to Phil, I wanted to commend Sean Cockerham and Erika Bolstad's Sunday story on Don Young's lobbying money , which shows that they are digging and bringing to light information Alaska voters should know.
I would like to borrow some words from the John Dean book to add some context to their story which tells how a Young staffer raised $90,000 by emailing 20 lobbyists.
This comes from John Dean's Broken Government from pages 48-49. Dean's been quoting several different observers of how Congress has changed under Republican rule. Here he's talking about lobbying.
In the Cockerham/Bolstad article, the Young staff response is that these are all close friends, so it's ok to ask for money, they are helping a friend, not buying influence.
The scary part is that Anderson takes this all so for granted that he doesn't realize how damning his explanation is. Pete Kott and Vic Kohring both thought that their friendship with Bill Allen made everything ok, even after being convicted. "He gave us money because we were friends, not because we were legislators he wanted to influence." Tom Anderson, while appearing to have a little more sense of the problem at his sentencing statement to the court, also had trouble confusing friends and lobbyists.
As I'm reading the Dean book, the problem I'm pondering is this: Much of what Dean says is pretty available knowledge. Most people have at least a vague understanding of many of the problems. But they either dismiss the stories that weaken their own ideology or they claim that it's a problem for both parties, or that it can't be changed. If a Democrat makes the charge - well she's got a partisan vested interest. If a former Republican insider like Dean makes the charges, well, he's a disgruntled turncoat. What does it take to get a significant part of the population to get it? Or is the distraction industry - sports, video games, celebrity gossip, etc. - too powerful for people to attend to protecting the US Constitution?
These all tie in together nicely.
First, while the rivalry between some bloggers and the ADN probably makes everyone better reporters, we bloggers need to remember that the reporters have stories to report every damn day. They can't just throw up some pretty pictures of flowers or fish as filler. Just because they miss a story that one of us gets is no reason to pound them. They aren't the enemy. Even the ADN is not the enemy, though if the ADN is missing stories it has more to do with how they are allocating their resources as they face their financial struggles as a print medium in a digital age. I've spent plenty of blog space on that topic already.
Good natured rivalries like UCLA-USC, Yankees-Red Sox make everyone play a little harder and better, but the reporters don't have near the freedom bloggers have to shoot back at us. [Tuesday: Actually, Kyle Hopkins blogs on the ADN website and Robert Dillon has his own blog where he responded strongly to Phil's post. Phil responded to this post in a comment below and to this and Dillon's response on his blog today.] And we really are allies in a larger battle to get news out. If the kind of comments Phil is making here gets the ADN management to give more resources to political reporting, good. But if this friendly sniping gets old for the already beleaguered reporters, then we might lose some of the cooperation that we've had - help getting our computers into the trials, tips on stories they can't run, etc. - then that would be bad.
Anyway, in response to Phil, I wanted to commend Sean Cockerham and Erika Bolstad's Sunday story on Don Young's lobbying money , which shows that they are digging and bringing to light information Alaska voters should know.
I would like to borrow some words from the John Dean book to add some context to their story which tells how a Young staffer raised $90,000 by emailing 20 lobbyists.
This comes from John Dean's Broken Government from pages 48-49. Dean's been quoting several different observers of how Congress has changed under Republican rule. Here he's talking about lobbying.
Wolfe, too expressed concern about the vital part of the corrupting machinery, the infamous K Street Project, named after the street where many lobbyists have their offices, which "was designed not only to allow lobbyists to make contributions to legislators in return for laws that benefit themselves - this has always been part of the politics of democracy - but to transform lobbying , which has usually been understood as bipartisan in nature, into an arm of one political party; in return for access to government, Republicans insisted that lobbying groups fire Democrats from their leadership positions and replace them with Republicans."[This is one long paragraph in the book. I've chopped it up to make it easier to read on the screen and added emphasis. 'Wolfe' refers to Alan Wolfe and his Washington Monthly (July/August 2006) article "Why Conservatives Can't Govern."]
Recognizing the damage that the Abramoff plea had done to the K Street Project, Wolfe observed that "although Democrats will surely insist that lobbyists stop hiring only members of the majority party, no one seriously expects that lobbying will return to its once bipartisan days." Wolfe's concerns, expressed in 2006, were well placed.
Althought the Republicans are keeping tight-lipped about it, I am told that the K Street crowd is doing everything possible to help get Republicans back in control of Congress. They dream of returning to those days when the GOP ran Congress, and GOP leaders like Tom DeLay boasted that he had lobbying firms writing the laws.
In the Cockerham/Bolstad article, the Young staff response is that these are all close friends, so it's ok to ask for money, they are helping a friend, not buying influence.
Anderson, Young's chief of staff, said Young doesn't make decisions based on lobbying and his relationship with Alcalde is personal.While I have no doubt that these people are long time friends (after all Young has been Congressman 35 years now), and some would help him even if he were not a Congressman, the whole explanation is ludicrous. He doesn't make decisions based on lobbying? Then why are all his clients paying them handsomely to talk to Young? Explaining the closeness of the personal relationship only helps explain why people pay these guys to lobby.
"If Rick Alcalde could talk to you on the phone he would tell you that when he was a youngster and so forth he was kind of a rabble-rouser and everything else. The Youngs looked out for him," Anderson said. "And that goes back to the relationship the Youngs have with Mr. Alcalde, with Hector, (Rick's) father and his mother. When Rick went through some tough times and so forth the Youngs were there to help him, to kind of give him some of that guidance he needed. ... Rick credits the Youngs with being a mentor."
The scary part is that Anderson takes this all so for granted that he doesn't realize how damning his explanation is. Pete Kott and Vic Kohring both thought that their friendship with Bill Allen made everything ok, even after being convicted. "He gave us money because we were friends, not because we were legislators he wanted to influence." Tom Anderson, while appearing to have a little more sense of the problem at his sentencing statement to the court, also had trouble confusing friends and lobbyists.
As I'm reading the Dean book, the problem I'm pondering is this: Much of what Dean says is pretty available knowledge. Most people have at least a vague understanding of many of the problems. But they either dismiss the stories that weaken their own ideology or they claim that it's a problem for both parties, or that it can't be changed. If a Democrat makes the charge - well she's got a partisan vested interest. If a former Republican insider like Dean makes the charges, well, he's a disgruntled turncoat. What does it take to get a significant part of the population to get it? Or is the distraction industry - sports, video games, celebrity gossip, etc. - too powerful for people to attend to protecting the US Constitution?
What's the Largest US National Park? -Post 1
We left Thursday morning for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest US national park. We spent the 4th of July there and returned Sunday night. I've got tons of pictures, some video, and lots of things going through my mind. Here are a few of the posts I hope to be able to get up in the next couple of days.
1. The 4th of July at McCarthy.
2. The Kennicott Mine
3. Traveling with a family with five kids. (I kept thinking of Tea and her nine kids)
4. How to get to McCarthy and what's there
I also got to read a couple of chapters of the John Dean book Broken Government and have lots of thoughts from that. Let's see what I can squeeze out in the next few days.
Meanwhile, here's a map (with help from Google-Earth and Google Maps) to show you were Wrangell-St. Elias is. It's about 250 miles from Anchorage to McCarthy, just inside the Park. And a video I did around 5pm on July 4th in downtown McCarthy, a small town inside the park. We were camped across the pedestrian bridge from McCarthy. Double click the map to make it bigger.
The music in the video was recorded on the street in front of the McCarthy Lodge.
1. The 4th of July at McCarthy.
2. The Kennicott Mine
3. Traveling with a family with five kids. (I kept thinking of Tea and her nine kids)
4. How to get to McCarthy and what's there
I also got to read a couple of chapters of the John Dean book Broken Government and have lots of thoughts from that. Let's see what I can squeeze out in the next few days.
Meanwhile, here's a map (with help from Google-Earth and Google Maps) to show you were Wrangell-St. Elias is. It's about 250 miles from Anchorage to McCarthy, just inside the Park. And a video I did around 5pm on July 4th in downtown McCarthy, a small town inside the park. We were camped across the pedestrian bridge from McCarthy. Double click the map to make it bigger.
The music in the video was recorded on the street in front of the McCarthy Lodge.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Couldn't Find Mrs. Nash, But we Found RD
We were early. Well, we were going to drop off discs 3 and 4 of The Wire (Thanks Theresa) at Blockbusters and realized we'd be really late if we did. So since we were a little early on the way to dinner with KS and CE, so we decided to say hi to Mrs. Nash, who was right on the way.
But we couldn't find her. We did find her husband RD. They were our neighbors ever since we moved in here 30 some years ago. They had moved into this neighborhood when it was in the boonies in the 1950s. Their son still lives across the street.
We had a wonderful home made Indian dinner - sorry no pics - and in the driveway I watched as gulls were pestering a bald eagle.
Tomorrow we head out for McCarthy. Never been to Wrangle-St. Elias National Park and when friends asked if we wanted to go for the weekend - well they had a different destination and I said I wanted to go to McCarthy - we all agreed. So getting up early and I have no idea when I'll have internet connection again.
Still going a little batty with my own router connection working when it feels like it. Nothing for a week, then all of a sudden it connects. Then it stops again. Fortuantely I have neighbors without passwords on their wifi.
But we couldn't find her. We did find her husband RD. They were our neighbors ever since we moved in here 30 some years ago. They had moved into this neighborhood when it was in the boonies in the 1950s. Their son still lives across the street. 
We had a wonderful home made Indian dinner - sorry no pics - and in the driveway I watched as gulls were pestering a bald eagle.
Tomorrow we head out for McCarthy. Never been to Wrangle-St. Elias National Park and when friends asked if we wanted to go for the weekend - well they had a different destination and I said I wanted to go to McCarthy - we all agreed. So getting up early and I have no idea when I'll have internet connection again.
Still going a little batty with my own router connection working when it feels like it. Nothing for a week, then all of a sudden it connects. Then it stops again. Fortuantely I have neighbors without passwords on their wifi.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
New Zealand Green Member of Parliament Nandor Taczos Says Goodbye
A friend who lives in New Zealand sent this link of Green Member of Parliament Nandor Taczos' Veledictorian speech as he steps down from Parliament after nine years.
If only more United States politicians spoke as candidly and yet with as much respect.
Sorry, I couldn't find a way to embed this here in the blog, so you have to take the link to the New Zealand Green Party website to watch the video.
If only more United States politicians spoke as candidly and yet with as much respect.
Sorry, I couldn't find a way to embed this here in the blog, so you have to take the link to the New Zealand Green Party website to watch the video.
Fishing at Costco
[Update July 6, 2010: I think I should add comment from foodchange based on a new Greenpeace Report this to this post. I've also done a new post on this. I realize that Costco may have something to say about this, so I urge you to check into this:
While my blogging colleagues have been out dip netting and snagging on the Copper River and the Kenai, my wife and I had the more common Anchorage fishing adventure at Costco yesterday.
We passed on the crab legs and took home a bag of razor clams, since we'd never seen them packed like that before.
I ate way too much clam chowder last night.
And while most U.S. supermarkets could stand to improve their sustainable seafood policies, Costco reigns as the biggest offender. Everything at Costco is huge—the same is true of the store's environmental footprint. Of the 22 IUCN Red List species, Costco sells 15: Alaskan pollock, Atlantic cod, Atlantic salmon, Atlantic sea scallops, Chilean sea bass, grouper, monkfish, ocean quahog, orange roughy, red snapper, redfish, South Atlantic albacore tuna, swordfish, tropical shrimp, and yellowfin tuna. The store's fish coolers really serve as a one-stop shop for oceanic destruction.]
While my blogging colleagues have been out dip netting and snagging on the Copper River and the Kenai, my wife and I had the more common Anchorage fishing adventure at Costco yesterday. 
We passed on the crab legs and took home a bag of razor clams, since we'd never seen them packed like that before.
I ate way too much clam chowder last night.
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