Our Early Spring

A warm spell at the end of April and beginning of May really woke things up early. I posted shots of early green poking up a few days ago. And now there's more. It was only May 5 when I got this picture of the greened up birch. It was a bit cooler yesterday and the clouds are in today. So the trees may stay in suspended animation until it warms up again and the leaves fully pop out. But this is definitely one of the earlier displays of birch green in our 30 + years here.

Some sedum peeking out.

The thalictrum is spreading. This one will get to about five feet high. But the aphids love it so I have to water them off frequently. Last year they stunted it significantly so I'll be more vigilant this year. The plant can take a pretty strong stream of water - enough to get the aphids off.

I don't know how this rose got here. It's not an Alaska wild rose, it's a 'real' rose. But it hasn't bloomed over four or five summers.

And the iris are rapidly growing too.

And it sure seems like there isn't much snow left on the mountains. This was May 4. The ADN says that 'snowfall season to date" is 93.4 inches and "Snowfall normal month to date" is 69.5 inches. I remember there being snow on the mountains all the way until fall, but my old photo albums aren't dated well and a 2007 late August digital picture doesn't show any snow at all.

And I finally got close to some Canada geese.

Cary Carrigan is Here Too

Cary was momentarily out of the studio when I took the last set of pictures, so here he is now. CC and Cary are on the air live now here:

Anchorage: 104.5 and 87.7 FM
Wasilla: 107.9 FM when it works
Kasilof: 90.7 FM

771 0205 if you want to call in.

More Pictures from the Two Bay Studios

This is a bit unfair. These folks are radio people who assume that you can't see them.
But there isn't much I can say that they aren't saying on the air now.

Anchorage: 104.5 and 87.7 FM
Wasilla: 107.9 FM when it works
Kasilof: 90.7 FM

771 0205 if you want to call in.

Jeremy responding to CC

The machine that takes the phone calls

The feet and wires

More Jeremy

Jeremy and the computers

CC, Cary, and Jeremy Preparing to Go On-Air

At five o'clock, if all goes well, CC will be broadcasting again. A few minutes away. You can listen at KWMD

Anchorage: 104.5 and 87.7 FM
Wasilla: 107.9 FM when it works
Kasilof: 90.7 FM

771 0205 if you want to call in. This is seat of the pants radio in an undisclosed location.

For more info on what this is all about, see the previous post.

CC Back on the Air - At Least Today at 5 on KWMD

Progressive talk show host Camille Conte (CC) was let go last week from KUDO. Phil discusses that story in his account of the changes at KUDO.

But today, for one more show, CC will be back on the air. KWMD is a community FM radio station run mostly by Jeremy Lansman. Jeremy is a national hero to people who know about community radio. Phil's blog covers a lot of topics and here's his piece on Jeremy from November 2007. Also, if I understood it right, Cary Carrigan may also be on. He too was let go from KUDO.

Today is a chance to hear live local radio on KWMD and to hear CC again until she gets another paying gig.

5pm

90.7 FM Kasilof,

104.5 & 87.74 FM Anchorage

107.9 FM Mat-Su

So, turn on the station now so you can find it. Set it on one of your buttons. And make sure you're back there at 4:55 pm so you can hear CC.

Jeremy says he's got it set up so CC can take phone calls, but he hasn't done that before with this equipment, so we'll see how that works. The call-in number is

(907) 771 0205

But if that doesn't work, listen for the number they give on the air.

Jeremy has cobbled this station together with his FCC and technical radio expertise and few other dedicated radioheads. But so far, he hasn't had the time and help to make the community part work. He's mostly got downloaded programs from around the country that offer listening opportunities we can't get at any other local radio stations. A week ago Friday when I was showing three African delegates to the Indigenous Peoples Summit snow at Glen Alps, I got Jeremy to set up a spur-of-the-moment live show where we talked about the conference and the three delegates' impressions of what happened.

The Role of Insults and Profanity on Blogs

A blogger friend of mine occasionally writes things like:

Mr. XXXXX, you're a lying sack of shit.

That bothers me. Is it just a difference of style? Is it just that my friend has spent time with fisherman and others who tend to use more colorful vocabulary? Is it just that I'm out of touch with the modern world where profanity is common?

Actually, it's not the profanity per se that bothers me. Though I think that when it is used as frequently as it is, say on The Wire or even Jon Stewart, the words no longer have the power that profanity once had. After all, if every other word in every discussion has 'fuck' as its root, what can you use when something truly worthy of profanity happens? The power of the truly taboo word is gone when there are no taboo words left. But that's a minor part of my concern here.

Probably I'm most disturbed by insults like this in political blogs because they divert the reader from the argument. Wikipedia explains this sort of attack:

Ad hominem argument is most commonly used to refer specifically to the ad hominem abusive, or argumentum ad personam, which consists of criticizing or attacking the person who proposed the argument (personal attack) in an attempt to discredit the argument. It is also used when an opponent is unable to find fault with an argument, yet for various reasons, the opponent disagrees with it.

This isn't much more than a third grade level argument. But there's no teacher around here to explain to the children why this is inappropriate and to get them past being miffed and to go back to playing together.

I think it is also bad strategy for political bloggers for several reasons.

1. Calling others nasty things is a form of venting. It makes the ventors feel good when they are frustrated and feeling otherwise powerless to do something about a situation. (On the other hand it can be like kicking a victim who is already down and out. Perhaps that also is a sign that one knows the problem hasn't been solved.)
   
2. So, as self therapy, being bitchy is appropriate when you are alone or with your close friends. But not publicly. Your friends know that you are using hyperbole and they may even encourage you. Your friends probably agree with you, it's not aimed at them, and they won't hold it against you tomorrow. If it is aimed at them, they know not to take you seriously.
3. In fact, with your ideological cohorts, you may even build up a sense of solidarity and enthusiasm. Sort of like Sarah Palin on the campaign trail riling up all those anti-'them' passions.
4. But when you do this publicly on a blog, everyone else can listen in. This invective is proof of your weak arguments to them. More likely these are seen as fighting words that increase the divide and justify their own counterattacks. This is no longer political, it's personal. I can understand Sarah genuinely feeling that she's being attacked personally by some of my fellow bloggers, that it isn't her actions that are being attacked.
   
5. When someone starts calling you names, it's easy to react only to that and not even see the rational arguments that proceeded or followed. There is no trust for the motives of others. What 'they' say and do is merely strategy to defeat 'us.' So we don't listen to their arguments and they don't listen to ours.
   
6. I believe that people are extremely complex and their behaviors and words are often intended to be masks to hide what they really believe or feel. Rather than call people like Sen. Larry Craig a hypocrite or worse, we should be asking what is it in our society that causes people like him (and countless others - including Bill Clinton) to have to dissemble and even be hypocritical about their sexuality? Or their other socially disapproved behavior? What happened in their lives that causes them to have to escape into alcohol, drugs, gambling, or making lots of money, or having a bigger house? Calling someone a lying bag of shit doesn't help our understanding of the behavior. Understanding might ultimately lead to ways to reduce that sort of behavior in the future. Not just of this individual, but others who have the same behavior patterns.
   
7. In many Asian cultures, losing one's temper is seen as loss of self-control. It's natural to get mad, but it's generally better to be in control when you are dealing with your opponents.

I don't deny that it's important to stand up for what you believe. Standing up to bullies is a way to get them to back off. But one needn't be nasty and brutish. One does need to be firm and have solid facts and a stiff backbone.

I guess on a less important level, I'm dismayed by such language because it reflects a lack of rigor on the part of the writer. For me, a comeback should be witty and unexpected, so that even the recipient has to admire the mind that came up with it. Or it should be couched so that it takes a moment to realize that one has even been insulted. Ideally it should be closely linked to the issue at hand. Studying the words of masters - for inspiration, not for copy - such as Winston Churchill or Oscar Wilde might inspire one to work at it a bit. Here's one from Churchill:

He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

And Oscar Wilde reflects a theme I've been trying to get at here:

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

Still too nice to blog - So Here's Dennis' Snow Geese Pic

The blue sky and sun and warmth continue in Anchorage. Dennis sent me a link to the snow geese picture he took the other day, so here it is. I'm outside enjoying.

Sun Damaged Sanity - Sandhill Cranity

The sunny, warm weather - better than I can remember at all last summer - has my mind unable to focus much on blogging or anything mental for that matter. So here's a picture from Dennis Zaki's Alaska Report (with his permission.) I was going to post the Snow Geese he had up yesterday, but they are gone and not yet in his galleries. So enjoy the crane.

For a wonderful book that uses sandhill cranes as its metaphoric theme, check out Richard Power's The Echo Maker. The link takes you to an old post on the book with some quotes on the cranes and a description on how the fit into his main topic which has to do with the human brain. A commenter came up with a much better title than I had for the post - Cranes and Brains.

Satruday Forum On the Permanent Fund - Senior Center

Cliff Groh's post today at Alaska Political Corruption reminded me of tomorrow's (Saturday, May 2, 2009) event at the Senior Center:

…you should come to the forum on “Hard Times and the Permanent Fund” from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. It’s on Saturday at the Anchorage Senior Center at 1300 E. 19th Avenue. It’s open to the public and it’s free—there’s even going to be coffee, muffins, and fruit.

Here's from the flier:

Annual Meeting and Forum
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009, 10 am to 1 pm
Anchorage Senior Center
1300 East 19th Ave, Anchorage
Doors open at 9:30 am

Schedule of Events
9:30 am: Please join us for coffee, fruit and muffins
10:00 am: Annual Meeting

10:30 am: Forum: Hard Times and the Alaska Permanent Fund

Hard Times and the Alaska Permanent Fund
Moderated by Michael Carey

Panelists

• Janie Leask – President/CEO, First Alaskans Institute
  
  
• Larry Persily – Long-time Alaska journalist and former Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Revenue
  
  
• Eric Wohlforth – Former Chair of Alaska Permanent Fund Trustees and Former Alaska Commissioner of Revenue

The Principal: What is the untouchable principal? Can we
better protect it? How?

The Dividend: Can the dividend be made more stable and
predictable? How?

The Rest of the Earnings: Should part of the earnings be
available for public purposes? What are the alternatives?

Co-sponsored by: League of Women Voters Anchorage, AARP, First Alaskans Institute, Resource Development Council of Alaska and Commonwealth North

The event is free and open to the public

Time to be Outside

Yesterday at this time it was 69˚ in the shade (20.5C) according to our indoor/outdoor thermometer. It's a few degrees less today, but just as nice. So after reading the newspaper on the deck, I decided it was time to get the leaves out of the flower beds.









Six loads piled in the back. I was able to get some of last year's compost onto the newly uncovered beds, but down below it was still frozen. The compost heap doesn't get that much sun. So these are temporarily over at the old compost heap. I'll want to get some of my neighbor's lawn clippings to layer in with the leaves. But his lawn has to green up first. When the new solid waste collection system hits our neighborhood, I wonder how many people will start compost heaps?




I certainly don't claim to be an expert here, but I do know what happens in my yard after many, may years.

Some of the plants, like the phlox, stayed mostly green from last year under the leaf mulch.






Some of the lamium did too; some of these might not make it, but most will and others will be out soon. I'm still amazed when these come back. They just don't look like plants that should make it through the winter.




Others don't make it through the winter in plant form, but they send up new leaves as soon as they can. This one has light blue flowers, but I just can't remember their name. Some of these I only know what they are or what they are going to do because of where they are in the garden. If I just saw them at someone else's house, I probably wouldn't know them at this early stage.

These are wild geraniums and will be the first to bloom in the back yard. (The others are all in the front with more sun.)




Posting to the blog gives me a chance to look up a few things and learn something new. According to GardenGuides.com:

Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla spp.) is a traditional perennial herb enjoyed in flower gardens for its attractive yellowish-green flowers, which are small and numerous. The soft-looking foliage has a bluish cast. Named after the Virgin Mary's cloak because of its scalloped leaves, Lady's Mantle is often found in northern European gardens, where it is native. Some species can grow to a height of about 24 inches and most species bloom from late spring until early fall.

The root is edible, as are the leaves, which sheep and cattle are said to relish. The entire plant is normally harvested in midsummer and can be used medicinally for bruises and wound healing. Lady's Mantle tea is said to be helpful for excessive menstruation.

And it spreads.



It wasn't even May yet yesterday, but the birch buds were showing. If the weather stays this way for a week, they could fully open pretty early this year.


You can see what some of these will look like in five or six weeks by looking at some posts from last year and 2007. The blog is turning out to be a good way to keep track of when my flowers bloom over the summer months.

Of the ones on those old posts, a few wild iris leaves are poking up, but I didn't see the chocolate lily or the dandelions yet. Nor the lillies of the valley, and the forget-me-nots. Not sure the lilac will bloom this year. It's hard for me to tell the flower buds from the leaf buds. The mountain ash buds are there, but no green yet.