Cold Sun at Seven Below

OK, seven below zero Fahrenheit isn't that cold, not for people in Alaska. And it was colder yesterday here and in other spots in town.



The sun was out, but we didn't feel much heat.

Can You Crack the FBI's Code?

[UPDATE March 30, 2011:  The FBI has coded notes posted today that were in the pocket of a 1999  murder victim and is asking the public for help decoding them.]

I've been spending time looking at the FBI webpages while working on another post. This is a copy of their page. The link takes you to the FBI code page with working links.



The page on ciphers is pretty interesting.

Bear With Me

For those of you who drop by often, I'm working on a bunch of things. Some are posts - trying to say something useful about the FBI whistle blower complaint document. I also got a copy of the charter agreement negotiated when BP bought ARCO which I want to post. And since the post early January last year on Famous People Born in 1908 was so popular, I thought I'd do one on people born 1909, so I'm working on that too. Only this time I want to give a little info on each person on the list.

Plus we're getting ready to leave for Thailand for several months which requires a few preparations. Probably the most important is for J to get totally well from her cough. It's getting better, but she's not yet 100%. We have been trying to straighten things out so there is room for the house sitters.

So please bear with me. Now's a good time to check out an old post, or pick a tag on the lower right. If you've never read the main Victor Lebow post - it seems to be the consistently most popular and has the most comments - check it out. It stemmed from my seeing the internet video Story of Stuff which I see now isn't linked in that post. This post is the original comment on Story of Stuff and links to the video which got me started on Lebow. Other posts rise and fall in popularity, but the Lebow post continues to generate a steady stream of hits.

Or go play with your kids, hug your spouse, walk your dog, take a break from the screen.

And while I'm just chatting with readers in general, some of you out there drop by on a regular basis. I see some familiar profiles when I check sitemeter. So if you come here more than three times a week and you've never said 'hi,' leave a comment. Or, if you're shy you can send an email.
(There's also an email link in my profile)

Folks at a certain hotel in San Francisco for example. Who are you?

And, one more thing I learned today while working on the whistle-blower post - how to do bullets with subheadings in html. Blogspot lets you use bulleted lists, but I couldn't figure out how to make it create subheadings. It's pretty simple to just do it in HTML. You can start using the list button on the Compose toolboard in Blogspot. Then go into the edit Html tab and you can cut and paste in the black tea and green tea examples. And you can do it again for subheadings for those. Then just type in what you want over the tea examples. (It none of that makes sense, probably you should do without subheadings in your lists.)

"I don't get superheroes"

[If you can't read it, double click to enlarge it.]

We were invited to dinner for Christmas with friends. We had a nice night. I found this in a book by Paul Madonna they had on the coffee table. I'm still thinking about it.

And there was incredible homemade apple pie. It tasted even better than it looks.










We got home and I cleared the driveway of about six more inches of snow. Then did a short walk in the neighborhood as it continued snowing.







This morning various neighbors were clearing the snow again. Our new neighbors had once again cleaned the sidewalk and the street around our van. I cleared about as much snow as I cleared last night. My back is fine.

Thoughts on Slumdog Millionaire

[Update: for a much more astute review see Great Bong's review at Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind.]

After the (Anchorage International Film) festival, there were just two movies we wanted to see: Milk and Slumdog Millionaire. I've already posted on Milk, which I think is a very well made and powerful movie. We saw Slumdog the other day.

India is probably one of the more fascinating places on this globe. Even calling it a 'place' is misleading. It's a different world, a different time, a different reality. It's got a huge population. It is a mix of so many landscapes and cultures. It has incredibly rich and unimaginably poor people. It's part of the 21st Century, yet the last ten centuries, at least, continue to exist simultaneously. Perhaps most significant, India probably is the biggest countervailing force to the West's materialism. (The whole idea of the movie - winning on the tv show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire - would seem to belie that characterization, but India is still big enough to swallow up and trivialize the tens, maybe hundreds, of millions of Indians who are caught up in Western materialism.) India, for centuries, has had the most advanced knowledge of internal human capabilities. Indian yogis and the many other spiritual traditions have mastered the discipline, certainly equivalent to the discipline required in Western science, of gaining control of one's own human body. Rather than being a technical fix you can plug in, it requires decades, lifetimes even, of focus and discipline and simultaneously letting go.

The world of English literature has been enriched hugely by Indian writers writing novels in English. Salman Rushdie. Vikram Seth. Arundhati Roy. The Indian movie industry has its own traditions ranging from the austere films of Satyajit Ray  [Jan 2015 - noticed the old link was bad, changed to another] or the psychedelic exhuberance of Bollywood.

So, I was looking forward to this British movie told from an Indian perspective, a boy from the slums of Bombay who wins big in the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. [update: Yes, the filmmaker is Western, but unlike many other Western made films, the focus isn't on a Westerner in the other culture, such as in The Last King of Scotland, or Blood Diamonds.]

I was only moderately pleased when I left the movie. Probably without the hype it would have been much more enjoyable. Yes, go see the movie. It's fun. It's a good movie. It teaches more about India than most Americans will ever know. It's just not the great movie that is being hyped. It gives glimpses of India. The way the story is woven together - which I won't disclose - is clever and moves both narratives along nicely. The bollywood ending is contagious.

After a couple of days of thought - no, I didn't sit and think about this for three days, but rather, my brain distilled it in the background while I did other things - I can articulate one key issue I have with the movie, which may be the cause of my disappointment.

Despite the fact that the three main characters are children of the slums of Bombay, and that much of the movie takes place in those slums, the movie manages to use the slums as a backdrop only. I'm not sure how it happened, but we don't at all get to know the slum, to feel it, to smell it, to ache with it and for it. Perhaps the rise out of the slum of the three main characters makes it less menacing. Reagan was called the teflon President, none of the problems of his administration stuck to him. The three characters - while enormously impacted by the slums - seem to have that same teflon coating. The problems of the slums - perhaps the outhouse scene illustrates this most graphically - are there, but they slide off and we go to the next scene. It's not that the film doesn't depict horrible situations - rioters rampaging through the slums to kill Muslims, a child's eyes gouged out so he can beg more successfully. But somehow, through the main characters, we seem to be immune from all this.

Maybe conveying the slums is just too overwhelmingly depressing. But I think it can be done. Gregory David Roberts, for example in his book Shantaram seems to capture some of the spirit of the Bombay slums. He makes us feel its oppression, but also to see that despite what looks totally unlivable from a Western perspective, the inhabitants, like everyone else, live rich lives with joys as well as suffering. But he had over 900 pages to make it work. I'm hoping director Mira Nair, with Johnny Depp, can keep that sense of the slums in the film version scheduled for a 2011 release.

I heard in an interview that it was Danny Boyle's (the director) first time in India. Maybe that explains it. We've seen a number of movies that featured India in the last couple of years, most of which seemed more authentic, connected more on the emotional level.

The trailer is so promotional that it trivializes the whole movie. So I'm putting up this clip I found online. This is just one scene, not particularly noteworthy.

Slumdog Millionaire Scene
by ThePlaylist

[Update, 22 Feb 2009 - Thai time: This NY Times article discusses what I tried to get at with my comments about Shantaram - that the slums of Mumbai are really far richer, safer, and more productive than our stereotypes.]

December Anchorage Sun and Snow, Copying 8mm Film

I found some 8mm film labeled Thailand a while back. I wanted to transfer it to digital and put it on a DVD so I could take it with me to Thailand when I return in a couple of weeks. I'm not even sure what's on it, I just know it was taken around 1967-68.
Someone lent me an old 8mm projector and a Copy Kit - a mirror that projects the image onto a plastic screen. Then I'm supposed to video tape the screen. I tried just running the film.



But the projector chewed up my 3 foot leader. Then I got some of it to work, but then the film broke. Again the film was being crumpled up somewhere in the process. I mentioned this to a friend the other day who said he had an old projector that probably wouldn't eat the film. So today I went over and interrupted him clearing his driveway and street to borrow it.



It snowed yesterday and today the sky is clear. These were shot between 10:25am and 10:30am this morning. The sunrise here in Anchorage was officially 10:15am. The picture with the bike crossing the street is looking south on Lake Otis, at 36th. There's enough trees and whatever to hide the just up sun rising from the south.



Here's a peek to the left (east) at the mountains. This is where 36th changes its name to Providence.











Now, later on, about 2:30pm, you can actually see the sun, maybe 6˚ or 7˚ above the horizon. But solstice is past so every day now we're gaining some light.

I'm setting up this new projector and let's see if I can get some of this film digitized without destroying too much of the old film.

FBI Whistle-Blower Document Copy

The ADN was very responsive and quickly added the link to the actual Whistle-Blower document after being notified it wasn't up. Here is that document. You can use the down arrow on the right of the tool bar to enlarge the document.

256-2 Whistle Blower Complaint.source.prod Affiliate.7

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

I'm just putting this up for now without comment, because I haven't had a chance to read it and think about it. I'll either add an update here or I'll do another post.

Political Oxygen and are the FBI Losing Oxygen?

On the show Law and Disorder this morning, Paul Buhle, talking about the current political times, said:

"We have entered a new era, the nation has acquired more political oxygen than it has in a long time."

I recently talked about how "out-there radicals" stretch the political agenda in my post on Milk. There's been "political oxygen" for the Right since the Reagan election. And since that time 'center' has moved steadily rightward, so much so that many of Richard Nixon's policies would be considered far left today, and they've been doing their best to repeal them - Affirmative Action, Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, for instance.

But it looks like the Bush administration's violations have been so outrageous, and the political, social, and economic consequences so extreme, that people are beginning to stand up and say, "No more."

I like the phrase "political oxygen." (But I hope that its use is limited, that it doesn't become a cliche used by everyone until it has no meaning anymore.) I take it to mean that the people who make up this democracy are waking up from their political oxygen deprivation and now will become politically active to demand accountability from their elected officials and the public administrators who carry out the functions of government. But it is clear, we're talking about political oxygen for the left now. This means not simply rooting out the relatively few problems, but also giving support to the honest, competent politicians and administrators who often get trashed or marginalized when they speak truth to power.

This theme of holding politicians accountable was discussed on this morning's Law and Disorder too. The show was aired in Anchorage on KWMD - 104.5 or 87.7 FM. They discussed the necessity of , as well as the obstacles to, prosecuting members of the Bush administration who committed crimes. Without holding the current administration accountable, they argue, there is no deterrent to prevent future administrations from pursuing similar paths. The likelihood that Bush will sign broad pardons to protect both the low level and high level criminals in his administration was a key concern however.

Related to all this, but in ways I haven't digested yet are ADN's lead story today by Richard Mauer about the FBI informant's report alleging misconduct in the FBI investigation on Alaska corruption, particularly as it affected the Ted Stevens trial. I'll try to discuss this when I've read the report, or at least those parts that aren't redacted. The ADN website has a link labeled Court Whistle-Blower Document. I thought it would be the whistle-blower's actual document, but it links to Judge Sullivan's decision to release the document.

My initial reaction is that the rules for dealing with undercover informants is pretty loosey-goosey. Last December I mused on the ethics and rules of surveillance and touched the topic of working with undercover informants who are also players in the criminal activity. If you watch any tv cop shows - I think The Wire is probably one of the best for this - the cops have to play a lot by ear. They have to gain the trust of the informant, they have to be careful not to inadvertently out' the informant, and they have to make sure the informant isn't gaming them. So to claim that the agents broke the 'rules' as this whistle-blower apparently does, well, I'd have to ask, "What are the rules?" Perhaps they're in the document.

New York Times: Ted Stevens' Departure's Impact on Lobbyists

Monay's New York Times has an article on the shakeup among lobbyists as Ted Stevens leaves the Senate, particularly a coterie of former Stevens staffers who left to become rich by lobbying Stevens. (Some did claim to have lots of other non-Stevens business, thank.) I suspect as time goes by, we'll be seeing more and more of what was going on behind the facade of the Uncle Ted image. Here are a few clips from the article. Click on the link above for the whole article.

With Stevens’s Fall, Pipeline for Lobbyists Shuts Off

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: December 21, 2008

WASHINGTON — Until recently, there were few better ways to start a lobbying career than by leaving the office of Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. . .

His power made his good will a valuable commodity on K Street, where many lobbying firms are located. During the past five years, just nine lobbyists and firms known primarily for their ties to Mr. Stevens reported over $60 million in lobbyist fees, not including other income for less direct “consulting.” The most recent person to leave his staff to become a lobbyist reported fees of more than $800,000 in just the last 18 months. . .

Mr. Stevens’s preference for one lobbyist over another was big news in industry trade publications, and he did not hesitate to exert his influence. . .

The article acknowledges that other Senators have done the same thing...

But Mr. Stevens — Alaska’s “Uncle Ted” — is in a class by himself. For most of the last decade he was a dominant voice on both the Senate appropriations and commerce committees, which govern federal spending and business regulation.

23 Uses for Your Digital Camera

The film camera used to be good for capturing images - landscapes, faces - to document where we'd been, what we'd done, and people we'd met, things we'd seen. When I was a student in Germany in the mid 60s, my 12 print rolls of color pictures were relatively expensive to print and it would take a while for me to finish a roll and then - I don't even remember how long it took from when I dropped it off at the shop til I could get the pictures. When I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand a few years later, with my brand new Pentax, I could get black and white pictures developed in town in a day or two. But there were either 24 or 36 pictures on a roll and it could take days to weeks before I finished a roll. My color slides had to be sent to Hong Kong or Australia to be developed and that took at least two weeks before I could get my pictures back.

Digital cameras change all that. Now you can see your picture immediately. It's not on film, so you can take all the pictures you want without thinking about using up film. You can just delete the bad ones. The pictures are digital so you can upload them to your computer, email them, send them on your cell phone. You can enlarge them, crop them, even fiddle with the colors and exposure.

So, this means that the digital camera is a tool with many uses that old film cameras never had. Below is a list of ways I've found mine to be useful - in general categories, and then with specific examples.

The main ways I use my camera are as a portable note pad and a copy machine.



Use Your Digital Camera as a Note Pad

1. What's in those boxes in the basement? Take pictures as you load them up.










2. There's a map on the sign, but will you remember the path when you leave the sign? Take the sign with you.








3. How do you describe the part you need at the computer store or to the plumber? Take it on your digital camera. Of course this goes for all sorts of things that you can't take with you.



4. How do you describe your suitcase to the lost luggage people at the airport? Show them the picture.







5. Keep track of the information on the for rent signs you pass and what the place looks like.


6. Where did I park the car?
















7. Ordering food in foreign countries - take a picture of food you like to show the waiter, or of a menu with things you like marked.




8. Take a picture of your hotel or other destinations to show the taxi when you want to go back





9. Wonder what kind of flower it is? Take a picture then ask someone at a nursery.







10. How will I remember all these people I just met and their names? Sometimes you need to ask them to write it in English though too.

11. Damn, where did I put my to do list? Click.


12. I want a copy of this legal document, but they charge $1 a page to print - just take a picture of the computer screen. Also good for your airlines reservations or that I paid my bill on line.(You can do a screen saver too, but not if it's a public computer.)





13. I really like this camcorder, (jacket, necklace) but I need to check with my wife before buying it. Snap. (get the price tag too.)









14. That's a nice fence, (door, window.) Wonder if I could make/find one like that? Just so I don't forget what it looked like, snap.








15. Meeting notes on the white board. Just snap 'em.





16. Lecture going too fast? Take digital notes.








17. What's the license plate number of your rental car?


18. Document dings and scratches on rental cars before you drive off

19. Audio memos - Use the audio memo function to have some someone give directions in the local language and play it for a local when you need help.



Use Your Digital Camera as a Copier

20. Need to have a copy of a price quote, birth certificate, or passport (or any piece of paper)? Just take a picture.



21. This recipe looks great. Snap.


Video - some things are hard to explain in writing, so use the video feature on your camera
22. Want to leave instructions for a house sitter? Video tape where the garbage bags are and how much to water the plants, etc.


23. Video instructions for how to do something - here, how to say 'hello' in the Karen language