From AA to Yoga at Venice Beach

Ran down to Venice Beach this morning.  Blue,  blue sky.  Not too warm.  Took off my running shoes and socks and went down to the water.  Modest surf, nice kelp.

















On the beach there was a large crowd for the Sunday morning AA Meeting.  (I know AA is anonymous, so I took the picture from far away and I don't think anyone could be identified.  The resolution is low enough that blowing it up won't help.)

And a little further down the beach was Brad's Yoga.





And then I got off the sand.  Put my shoes back on and ran back. 

Alaska Airlines Sneaking Milk Runs Into Their Seattle-LA Options

Inside Q400

We took my mom home from Seattle yesterday.  I have to say, it didn't quite register when I made the reservation and it said it stopped in Santa Rosa.  I was looking at departure time and price.

We've been flying between Anchorage and LA for over 30 years now and the Seattle - LA flight has almost always been non-stop.  A few times there was a stop in Portland.  But now it seems Alaska Airlines is listing a bunch of their local flights (via Horizon Air) as Seattle-LA flights among the options.  We flew in a little Q-400.  But it took 4 hours from Seattle to LA (including 30 minutes in Santa Rosa.)  It will only take 5 1/2 hours to fly to Anchorage non-stop from LA Tuesday. 

I've been on small planes like this for short trips - like Chicago to Cleveland - but this was a long time to be on a small plane.  And when we landed in Santa Rosa we were tipping and bouncing a lot as we got close to the ground, but we landed ok, with just one bounce.

[UPDATE 5:30pm Alaska Time:  On Alaska's behalf, they would say, I'm sure, they are giving people more options.  After all, you could get a flight from Anchorage to Juneau that stops in Cordova and Yakutat.  But those are on 737s and they don't increase the flying time so much.  Yes, I could have thought this through a little more before booking the flight, but it was such a change from what I'm used to that I didn't think about it.  This post is simply a warning to others to pay more attention than I did.]

". . . the idea that injection is safe rests on science that has not kept pace with reality, and on oversight that doesn't always work."

Externalities are the costs of production that are not reflected in the price of goods because they are passed off by the manufacturer to the community as a whole.  The most common example is pollution.   Milton Friedman, in his classic Capitalism and Freedom called them Neighborhood Effects.  Neighborhood effects, he said, were one of capitalism's failures and a reason for government regulation.   But many of today's capitalists acknowledge no failures and see all regulation as bad.  These aren't really market capitalists, it would appear, rather they are capitalists whose philosophy is based on a need for personal wealth and power, not how economics works.

Here's an example why from Propublica:

No company would be allowed to pour such dangerous chemicals into the rivers or onto the soil. But until recently, scientists and environmental officials have assumed that deep layers of rock beneath the earth would safely entomb the waste for millennia.

There are growing signs they were mistaken.

Records from disparate corners of the United States show that wells drilled to bury this waste deep beneath the ground have repeatedly leaked, sending dangerous chemicals and waste gurgling to the surface or, on occasion, seeping into shallow aquifers that store a significant portion of the nation's drinking water.

In 2010, contaminants from such a well bubbled up in a west Los Angeles dog park. Within the past three years, similar fountains of oil and gas drilling waste have appeared in Oklahoma and Louisiana. In South Florida, 20 of the nation's most stringently regulated disposal wells failed in the early 1990s, releasing partly treated sewage into aquifers that may one day be needed to supply Miami's drinking water.

There are more than 680,000 underground waste and injection wells nationwide, more than 150,000 of which shoot industrial fluids thousands of feet below the surface. Scientists and federal regulators acknowledge they do not know how many of the sites are leaking.

Federal officials and many geologists insist that the risks posed by all this dumping are minimal. Accidents are uncommon, they say, and groundwater reserves - from which most Americans get their drinking water - remain safe and far exceed any plausible threat posed by injecting toxic chemicals into the ground.

But in interviews, several key experts acknowledged that the idea that injection is safe rests on science that has not kept pace with reality, and on oversight that doesn't always work.

 The whole Propublica piece is here.

Short term profit for long term health problems of human beings. 

Stunning Beauties In The Volunteer Park Conservatory

It's been a rainy day in Seattle, but I got to spend it with all the people in our immediate family line - my mother, wife, son, and daughter - plus a few other newish family members.  And we spent some of our time at the Volunteer Park Conservatory.   We got there pretty close to closing time so I didn't get enough names to go with the flowers.  So just sit back and enjoy nature's spectacular imagination.

Look at the face on this orchid.

Bromiliad  Flower

This one goes by Cryptanhus Fosterianus 'Elaine'.

Another Bromiliad Flower Up Close

White Passion Flower

Cerebral Chewing Gum

On page 3 of Under the Frog,  Tibor Fischer writes, 

"The streetsweeper was a sort of cerebral chewing gum that Gyuri popped in on long journeys." 

Cerebral chewing gum.  A little more substantial than eye candy.  Gyuri was on the train, chewing on the benefits of being a streetsweeper, a job that seemed possible, anywhere, and

"wouldn't need an examination in Marxism-Leninism, you wouldn't have to look at pictures of Kákosi or whoever had superbriganded their way to the top lately.  You wouldn't have to hear about gamboling production figures, going up by leaps and bounds, higher even than the Plan had predicted because the power of Socialist production had been underestimated.  Being a streetsweeper would be quite agreeable, Gyuri reflected.  You'd be out in the open, doing healthy work, seeing things.  It was the very humility of this fantasy, its frugality that gave the greatest pleasure, since Gyuri hoped this could facilitate its coming to pass.  It wasn't as if he were pestering Providence for a millionaireship or to be handed the presidency of the United States.  How could anyone refuse a request to be a streetsweeper? 

This book, which the author bio and everything I can find online says,  was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1992, is full of such cerebral chewing gum.  Images that are startlingly fresh and potent, as Fischer follows Gyuri (also with the surname Fischer), a Hungarian basketball player through the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

One of the more endearing characters is the Jesuit Ladányi who was a former champion of eating contests.  He talks to the 19 year old Gyuri about his belief that it was time to leave Hungary (1949.)

"'Not at all.  Firstly, as I'm sure you know, it's not easy to get out any more, and secondly, and I should point out this is not an idea patented by the church, matter doesn't matter.  It's not physical conditions that count, but your opinion of them.  Take the farmer in the small village in the middle of China who is the happiest man in the world because he has two pigs and no one else in the village has got one.  Living isn't like basketball, it's not a question of points, but what's here.'  Gyuri saw Ladányi touch his forehead with his forefinger.  'You only lose if you give up - and if you give up you deserve to lose.  In basketball, you can be beaten.  Otherwise you can only be beaten if you agree to it.  You're lucky, you're very lucky.  We're living in testing circumstances;  unless you're very dull, you should want to be stretched.'" (pp. 76-7)

Of course, this paragraph neatly espouses a belief of this blog - what matters is how your head interprets the 'facts' your senses send it.  And that constantly being stretched is a good thing.  So, savor the fact that we live now in testing circumstances. 

The originality, and occasional oddness, of Fischer's prose caused me to look to see who the translator had been.  None was mentioned.  In the bio I discovered that Fischer is British.  Online I discovered he'd been born to two Hungarian basketball players,  who'd only come to England three years earlier.

There was a torn piece of paper in the book on which was written, "This is Carol's book, return it to her. M"   So, Carol, as soon as I'm done, it will be yours again. Thanks.

Here's a follow up post - Women I Almost Slept With.

Ansel Adams Manzanar Photos at Bainbridge Island Historical Museum

Ansel Adams photo at Bainbridge Island Historical Museum

 We stopped at the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum because I saw poster saying there was an exhibit of Ansel Adams photographs of Manzanar - one of the internment camps for West Coast Japanese Americans during WW II.  My first awareness of the these camps came in the 6th grade when I moved to a new school and there was a Japanese girl in my class who had been born in a camp.

All the pictures originally were in a book published in 1944.  Copies of a newer addition were on sale in the museum.










A poster on the wall explains that Adams, living in Yosemite in WW II, was visited by an old friend, the director of Manzanar, who invited Adams to come photograph the camp.   Then:

You can read Ansel Adam's book, Born Free and Equal online from the Library of Congress.  Page five has the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.  Then this statement follows:

. . . . As a nation we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.”  We now practically read it “all men are created equal except Negroes.”  When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read “all men are created equal, except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics.”  When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty. . . . where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base allow of hypocrisy.

Watching the Video

Pretty strong statement, but the references to the Know-Nothings means this probably isn't Ansel Adams writing.  Turns out it was written in a 1855 letter from Abraham Lincoln to John Speed.  

We watched a 15 minute (or so) video about Manzanar.  There are a number of videos on Manzanar online, but I couldn't find the one we saw.  I chose this one because it connected the events of WW II with today.  It's the story of Muslim-Americans visiting Manzanar in 2008 and learning about what happened from Japanese-Americans who had been interned there.  Some of the footage was in the film we saw. 

Two Married Kids Now

On a beautiful sunny day, with cranes and eagles and geese and Mt. Ranier in the background my daughter got married.  It's a momentous day and it was good to have our family together, including my mom. 

"Religious-economic idealism is the belief that the free-market works because God is guiding it"

Paul Froese, in a Religion and Politics article, "How Your View of God Shapes Your View of the Economy" argues that the thesis of Thomas Frank's book, What’s the Matter with Kansas? is false.

Frank championed the narrative that working-class Americans vote against their economic interests, having been lured into the GOP tent largely with what he sees as insincere religious rhetoric. “The people at the top know what they have to do to stay there,” writes Frank, “and in a pinch they can easily overlook the sweaty piety of the new Republican masses, the social conservatives who raise their voices in praise of Jesus but cast their votes for Caesar.”

Instead, Froese, writes that there is no dichotomy between the economic and cultural interests of many Republicans.

 " . . . approximately 31 percent of Americans, many of whom are white evangelical men, believe that God is steering the United States economy, thus fusing their religious and economic interests. These individuals believe in what I call an “Authoritative God.” An Authoritative God is thought to be actively engaged in daily activities and historical outcomes. For those with an Authoritative God, value concerns are synonymous with economic concerns because God has a guiding hand in both. Around two-thirds of believers in an Authoritative God conjoin their theology with free-market economics, creating a new religious-economic idealism. Nearly one-fifth of American voters hold this viewpoint, signaling that it can be a major political force.

Religious-economic idealism is the belief that the free-market works because God is guiding it. (Its adherents are, of course, not your typical laissez-faire, Ayn Rand devotees.) The popularity of this ideology explains two supposed paradoxes. First, it indicates why some religious working-class Americans have embraced the GOP. It is not that these individuals ignore their class interests, but rather that they believe issues of abortion and gay marriage are linked to whether God is willing to help solve both social ills and their economic woes.

Second, the fact that income does not predict whether an American believes in an Authoritative God indicates that this is not a class-based ideology. Instead, it is a cosmic worldview, which appeals across economic divides. Most clearly, it benefits the wealthy because conservative economic policies tend to favor them. But wealthy Americans with an Authoritative God can also have a religious-like devotion to their economic conservatism. In this way, their economic pragmatism transforms into a type of religious dogmatism. And dogmatism does not bend to changing circumstances and outcomes, so that we can expect believers in religious-economic idealism to cling to laissez-faire policies even when they appear not to work.

It's an interesting explanation worth thinking about.  Thanks to J1 for the link. Here's Froese's whole article.

Another Anchorage-Seattle Flight

We flew to Seattle Monday.  Wednesday my baby gets married.  It's a very small family event.  But I'm supposed to keep family matters to a minimum here, so let's leave it at that.  There was rare thunder Sunday night and the big clouds were still hanging around when we left, but it was sunny and warm (pushing 70˚F). 

 There was a recent issue in Anchorage about the airport wanting to swap part of the coastal trail for some other land.  But from up here across the inlet, you can see how much land the airport already takes.  It's that gray blob in the center right.  It would be interesting to figure out how many times downtown or the university are would fit inside the airport land. 

For a few minutes clouds blocked the Chugach, then it was just snowy peaks and puffy clouds.  That's Turnagain Arm in the upper left.

The non-snowy land is Girdwood valley, again with Turnagain Arm in the background.

This is the east end of Prince William Sound, Whittier is at the end of the lower arm, if I had my bearings right.   And soon enough it was mostly cloudy and read and snoozed.

There were breaks in the clouds and here we're crossing back into the US from Canada. 

Seattle was covered in thick clouds.

William Cruz Wants You To Vote

William Cruz, in the video below, says he set a goal to register 100 new voters.  Since we did the video last Friday, he says he's gotten six so far.

This is a democracy, and William and I agree on the point that voting is important.  If you don't vote, you've given up.  Many argue that there are no good choices.  I would argue that when we are down to two candidates, there's generally a better and worse candidate.  But I'll acknowledge that the current system sets up all candidates to be in debt to the people who fund their campaigns.   And so they are required to be polite and responsive to those who pay.  And to spend an obscene amount of time raising money instead of legislating or governing.  The Citizens United case is making money even more important.

But the fact of the matter is that a democracy doesn't work if people aren't involved.  Our last Municipal election, 65% of eligible voters didn't vote.

Say there's a storm coming and your house might get flooded.  You can get things out or move them upstairs.  You can put up sandbags.  It won't be easy. You can work your tail off attempting to save your house or you can just give it up and say it's impossible.

Giving up on democracy is a pretty radical concession. But we are facing a flood.  The current Supreme Court has made some critical decisions, starting with Bush v. Gore and including Citizens United. If the next Supreme Court justice is of the same ideology as the Citizens United majority, our chances at saving Democracy get even slimmer.*  If we keep electing enough people who vote to protect the 1%, life in the US is going to get grittier and grittier for the other 99%.

If the candidates aren't any good, then it behooves people to make sure good candidates run.  Voting is important, but we also have to get good candidates on the ballot and help make sure they get elected.  We simply have no choice but to be involved unless we just give over our governments (the various local, state, and the federal governments) to those with deep, deep pockets.   Our job is a lot easier than it was for individuals to fight the Nazis or to help slaves escape from the South or to demand change in Egypt*.  It involves investing time and money in good candidates.

We aren't risking our lives. Or even giving up much of what we have. At least not yet. OK, that's my soapbox for today.  Here's William's story.  The last minute or two is in Spanish.




 I should disclose that William took two classes from me a six or seven years ago and that he did invite me to do this video. We did a couple of questions more than once and I picked what I thought would best tell his story.

*OK, I know that these statements sound fairly absolute but I recognize that the scourge of many right wing politicians - the ACLU - was on the winning side of Citizens United, so it's more complicated.  The idea of corporate personhood is not something the court created.  The change in Egypt is not necessarily going to be for the better.  So, I'm letting you know that I know down here.