What Countries Border Syria?

Syria's been in the headlines about two years now, but where is it?  How many of you have pulled out a map and studied this country so that when they say Allepo, you know where it is?  If you've already done this, then hit next blog.  If not, I'm here to remedy that deficit, to help you do what you know you should have done already.

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Cyprus	B
Turkey
Israel
Lebanon
Egypt
Jordan
Iraq
Syria
Saudi Arabia

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You know if I just gave you a map with the country names, you wouldn't look at it.  But if you take a screen shot from the first cut here line to the next, print it out, and then fill out the table, you'll get this forever.  Below is another map with the names.

From Blog28

And so you can follow the news about what's happening inside Syria, here's a political map with the names of main cities.

This political map comes from a site called World Shia Forum, which has an array of maps showing religious, ethnic, linguistic, population and other characteristics.  The writer of this post proposes dividing up the country on ethnic lines. 


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If Biogenesis Had a Contract With NSA - Headlines Would Be About Stolen Data, Not Baseball Players' Drug Use - Obama Responds

The information which led to the suspension of a dozen major league baseball players this week, was stolen from the company.  A disgruntled client/employee/investor took boxes of data and released the information to the press.

From the Anchorage Daily News:

"Porter Fischer, a former employee of the now-infamous Biogenesis clinic in Miami, told ESPN's "Outside the Lines" that there are at least a dozen more athletes across numerous professional sports leagues that have yet to be exposed.
Fischer turned the Biogenesis clinic investigation into a national scandal when he turned boxes of documents over to the Miami New Times last year."

But the reaction of the nation led by the media is in stark contrast to the reaction to the whistle blowers who released information to the world, at great personal risk, because they thought the public needed to be aware of what was being done by the government.  I'm not necessarily endorsing the actions of the whistle-blowers, but I'm sympathetic to their motivation.

Propublica has a timeline of people prosecuted under the Espionage Act.   Here are the key people on it:

• 1971: Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo indicted
• 1985: Samuel Morison convicted
• January 2006: Lawrence Franklin convicted
• May 2010: Shamai Leibowitz convicted
• August 2010: Stephen Kim indicted
• December 2010: Jeffrey Sterling indicted
• Jun. 2011: Case against Thomas Drake dropped
• October 2012: John Kiriakou convicted
• June 14, 2013: Edward Snowden Charged  
• July 30, 2013: Bradley Manning Convicted 

John Kiriakou, one of the men on the list, recently wrote:

"President Obama has been unprecedented in his use of the Espionage Act to prosecute those whose whistleblowing he wants to curtail. The purpose of an Espionage Act prosecution, however, is not to punish a person for spying for the enemy, selling secrets for personal gain, or trying to undermine our way of life. It is to ruin the whistleblower personally, professionally and financially. It is meant to send a message to anybody else considering speaking truth to power: challenge us and we will destroy you.

Only ten people in American history have been charged with espionage for leaking classified information, seven of them under Barack Obama."

 
The leaks of classified documents by people working for government raises many questions, about the leakers and about the government and its reaction to the leakers. However, there is a great difference between whistle blowers and spies.

Spies sell information to foreign governments for profit, because they are being blackmailed, because of ideology, or a combination of more than one of these.  A report on the motivation of spies on this US Department of Agriculture site by By Dr. Mike Gelles Naval Criminal Investigative Service says that most spies have personal issues that the organization should be looking for.  But this report is about spies, not about whistle blowers. 

True whistle blowers believe that the government is doing something that is in serious violation of the law and poses a danger to the public if the information is not released.  They can be right or wrong about this.  And its possible that the information they release causes some danger as well as needed information.  This has some similarity to when a dangerous prisoner is released because the technical rules of justice were violated.  We balance two different important values.

Reporters prosecuted for espionage raise even greater issues.  John Kiriakou writes:

Two of my espionage charges were the result of a conversation I had with a New York Times reporter about torture. I gave him no classified information – only the business card of a former CIA colleague who had never been undercover. The other espionage charge was for giving the same unclassified business card to a reporter for ABC News. All three espionage charges were eventually dropped.

People in power have always tried to keep information from the public.  Some of it is legitimately withheld - the Freedom of Information Act outlines the kinds of information that is exempted from release.  But often, information that the people should know is hidden by those exemptions.

The film  Dirty Wars  which we saw Monday night is one more account of the serious abuse of secrecy in the federal government.  The film raises many questions, I don't have time to pursue now.

Knowledge of what our government is doing is critical to citizens of a democracy making good choices when they vote.   One can't help wonder how much the government is hiding simply because it is embarrassing.  The Municipality of Anchorage, for example, when it settles with someone who has sued the Municipality, includes language which requires the person to not disclose the details of the settlement.  When asked by the media (if they are paying attention at all) about the settlement, the Muni officials say the conditions of the settlement prevent them from saying anything.  Even though this is a condition they insist on and require.  Basically, this is to keep the public from knowing what the Muni did wrong and how much they paid to make it go away.

And yesterday I read that the encrypted email service David Snowden used has shut down:

"The statement posted online by Lavabit owner Ladar Levison hinted that the Dallas-based company had been forbidden from revealing what was going on."

The release of millions of classified documents by Bradley Manning and David Snowden raises huge questions about [the culpability of the government's handling of this sort of data such as:]

• how these folks had access to all this information
• how they  could download and store this information without detection, without the computer programs alerting officials to what was happening
• why private contractors are doing this work 
• how contracting out this work sets up an interest group with motivation to lobby Congress to increase the amount of secrecy and spying

[The government has pushed the danger of terrorism, it seems, in part to keep the focus off questions on their lax security procedures.]

The amount of media attention on these issues has been tiny.

Yet, when Porter Fisher walks off with Biogenesis files and makes them public, the attention is on the drug use of the subjects of the files, not on the breach of the confidentiality of their medical records or on the theft of the files.

How we handle whistleblowers, whether government employees, private contractors, or the journalists who publish the information the leak, is a problem which may be evolving into the biggest danger to democracy in the US today as the NSA, FBI, CIA, the White House and their many corporate contractors, ruthlessly work to silence anyone who dares to reveal their actions.  


Obama came on the radio as I'm finishing this, responding to some of these issues.  Does that means he's monitoring my computer and reading my posts before I even publish them?  I'm sure they don't even know this blog exists.  Here are the four points Obama made:

1. Reforms to Sec. 215 of the Patriot Act
2. Oversight  over the FISA Court - they only hear one side of the issue, they can have adversarial procedures with civil liberty groups expressing their concerns act  in the courts
3. We can be more transparent - instructed inteeligence agency to be as transparent as possible and a website of intelligency agencies to be more transparent and explain what it's doing
4. High level group of outside experts to review and recommend - interim report in 60 days and final report by the end of the year

Now he's answering questions.  You can listen live here.

Richard Nixon Resigned 39 Years Ago Today "I have never been a quitter."

Richard Nixon was a man who demonstrated how very positive and negative qualities can coexist in one person.  His name is still strongly linked to the Watergate burglary and being the first president to resign from office.  But he also opened up China to Americans and set up the Environmental Protection Agency. 



His record also helps us understand how far to the right our country has shifted in the last 40 years.  And how the concern for secrecy and the attempts to stop leaks can obsess a president as it seems to obsess Obama.  And what can go wrong if that obsession is not counterbalanced with respect for the rights of United States citizens.

Some events from Nixon's record as president:

Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency and got the Clean Air Act passed.

But he vetoed the Clean Water Act, however he was overridden by Congress.

He set up taping systems in the Old Executive Office Building, the White House, and at Camp David to secretly tape all his conversations for history.

Nixon signed an Emergency Employment Act in 1971. earmarking $2.25 billion for the creation of public service jobs at state and local levels.

He surprised the world by going to China and establishing relations with the country we'd refused to acknowledge since it went Communist.

He also was the first US president to visit the Soviet Union.

He was mired in Watergate and late one night walked out to the Lincoln Memorial and talked to very surprised students there. 

He enacted legislation devaluing the dollar in 1972


He froze all prices for sixty days except raw agricultural products and rents in 1973.

His vice president Spiro Agnew resigned and pled 'no contest' to a kickback scheme while Governor of Maryland in 1973.

He increased Social Security benefits in 1973 and increased the minimum wage to $2 with the likelihood of future increases and broader coverage in 1974.

As a result of an IRS investigation into Nixon's finances, the President was forced to pay $432,787 in back taxes and $33,000 interest in 1974. 

And here's a juicy tidbit from  Wikipedia:

December 31, 1974: As a result of Nixon administration abuses of privacy, Privacy Act of 1974 passes into law. Ford is persuaded to veto the bill by Richard Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld; Congress overrides Ford's veto. (Note that the newly-elected Congress had not taken office yet, this Congress was still the 93rd Congress.)

Sources of information and for more details:
The Miller Center
On The Issues
Wikipedia

The Alaska Parkinson's Rag - Gets National Accolades

Peter Dunlap-Shohl is a pretty remarkable guy.  He's got a wicked sense of humor and very little observable ego.  He also has Parkinson's Disease.  It's not the disease that makes him remarkable, it's how he's dealing with the disease - with the humor and low ego.  The most visible manifestation is his blog - which takes his cartoonist skills and makes the disease accessible for non-PD people.  He also, I'm sure, makes it a little easier to bear for those who do.

Here's what Healthline* - the website that put The Alaska Parkinson's Rag on its list of 15 best Parkinson's Disease (PD) blogs  - says about Peter's blog:
(*Note:  I can't get this to open right when I use Firefox on my Mac, but it works for me on Safari.)

Off & On: The Alaska Parkinson’s Rag

Off & On: The Alaska Parkinson's Rag offers a high-energy, artistic look at life with Parkinson’s disease. Peter Dunlap-Shohl, a quirky and creative cartoonist, this site [sic] combines the latest information on PD with comics, commentary, and poignant personal accounts.

If you’re seeking a soulful, upbeat journey of disease and discovery, look no further: Dunlap-Shohl delivers. You’ll find in this blogger the positive partner you need, whether you’re in Alaska or somewhere much, much warmer.

(I don't think the writer read my recent post that showed it was 9˚F warmer in Anchorage than San Francisco.)

I think blogs like these should get attention so that people who have or know people with PD can learn more about the disease and the people with it.  But I'm generally suspicious of "The Best 15 XXXX" lists.  The site says  "Winners selected by Tracy Rosecrans | Medically Reviewed on July 25, 2013 by George Krucik, MD, MBA"  Linked In says Tracy Rosecrans is the Director of Marketing at Healthline Networks, Inc. in the SF Bay area.  She's also done web consulting.

I give them credit for saying who did the list and that they were checked by a doctor.  Maybe she has some special expertise on what it's like to have PD.  Or maybe not, but she thought this would be a good gimmick for the Healthline blog.  Were there any criteria for choosing blogs? (I'm guessing diversity of approaches.)  Did she consult anyone with PD?  I have to mention these things so that people don't get too worked up about the awards. Especially PD bloggers who didn't get mentioned.   It sounds like one person checked the internet and thought this was a good variety of PD blogs.  I do that sometimes, but I don't make up awards to go with it.  At the very least, it's probably not a bad thing to highlight some PD blogs. 

For the record, I know Peter and have had links to his blogs for a number of years now, and I know that Peter and his blog are special.  His PD cartoons are incredible.  They give me a sense of what he's going through.  And he would deny everything I'm writing about him.


Here is a list of the others with a brief excerpt from each.  These are not necessarily (or even likely) representative of what the bloggers do, just something I found in recent posts.  Like a lot of other posts, this sort of got out-of-hand.  Live with it. 

Walking My Path With Parkinson’s 

 "I'm feeling hopeful again. The physical therapy for my arm, neck and shoulders has been very helpful; in fact I "graduated" from PT this week.   Most helpful though, I think, has been Dr. Wasserstein's direction in taking medications.  He has me on a schedule, taking 3 Amantadine capsules a day, and now I feel great!

So here's that promised list of "Do's" and "Dont's" for communicating with doctors and their minions:"

Studio Foxhoven

Eating well - finally

"There wasn't much I could eat for dinner, so I had a spoonful of almond butter, a couple of carrots from our garden, half an avocado, and some salad without dressing. I glared at my family, graciously, as they ate their spaghetti, and lettuce dripping with raspberry vinaigrette.  I was coping quite well until my husband brought out the Moose Tracks ice cream.
It wasn't fair.
Three months ago I decided to watch my diet. What I saw was a lot of carbohydrates and sugary stuff. There was a decent amount of good food, too, but the carbs and sweets side of the scale was a wee bit out of balance.  And so was I.  I hadn't been feeling too good."

LIM Yoga Blog

On the benefits of hugging without PD folks taken into consideration:

"When someone raises both arms and leans toward me for an embrace, my state of being turns to fear. I’m not entirely steady (physically, that is) and the pressure of even a light touch can throw me off balance. If I’m already in the off-balance mode, the hug can turn to a tumble when it ends as my fellow hugger releases her arms, straightens and steps away. I need more time to regain an upright stance, so when she walks, I’m still in a forward lean."

Parkinson's Journey

 There's also much lighter fare than this one.

The United States Patent & Trademark Office filed the “Notice of Publication of Application” July 11, 2013 Titled: Blood-Brain-Barrier Permeable Peptide Compositions. This is a historic first, as the permeable peptide compositions are minimally or non-toxic and are, in mouse models, able to target and destroy proteins in the Central Nervous System that cause Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Contrary to what the general public may believe, most drugs do not reach the central nervous system (CNS) due to the presence of a physical barrier known as blood-brain barrier (BBB). Ninety eight percent (98%) of drugs never reach the brain and the ones that reach cannot slow down or halt Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease. Drugs such as Levodopa that do cross the BBB merely provide symptomatic relief and stop working after sometime.

FoxFeed Blog

This is the Michael J. Fox Foundation website and blog.

"Could that medication you're taking to lower your cholesterol also prevent Parkinson's disease (PD)?
Maybe, says a new population-based study from researchers at National Taiwan University in Taipei, which found that, in particular, individuals taking simvastatin (Zocor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor) had a lowered risk of developing PD. "
  

The Journey

"This has been a huge week medically for me. My neurologist appointment was on Monday. I had my stitches removed Tuesday morning (yesterday) and my new doctor's appointment was Tuesday afternoon. Today, I finally got to go back to the chiropractor. My back, neck, limbs, etc, etc.... were SO far out it was not even funny. I have been putting it off since hitting my head on May 24th, because I did not think it was worth it until now to have my back put in.  All of the vertigo issues and the thought of hitting my leg or otherwise hurting it seemed more important than my aching back. I remembered to take my DizzyFix to this appointment. He was really impressed with it and even asked me if we could do the maneuver with it, so he could see it in action. He already knows the Epley Maneuver, but did not know anything about the DizzyFix. He wants one for his office, now. :)  "

National Parkinson Foundation

"This month, the National Parkinson Foundation launched its second major smartphone app, Parkinson’s Central. In 2011, the NPF developed and released the first ever Parkinson’s app for docs, the Parkinson’s Toolkit. The instant success and popularity of these smartphone-based apps has proven that Parkinson’s disease has shifted into the technological generation, where patients and families expect information to be instantly available, literally in the palm of their hand. In this month’s What’s Hot column, I will discuss these two Parkinson’s disease apps, and also address the challenges of reaching everyone suffering from this disease, on a worldwide scale. "

Parkinson's Insights
 (Parkinson's Disease Foundation)

"1.  BigBrain is like the Google Earth of the brain, allowing researchers to not only see the big picture of brain anatomy but also allowing them to zoom in with incredible resolution to practically see individual cells.

2.  Although BigBrain is like Google Earth, it currently does not have any labels.  That is, if you do not already know what you are looking at, BigBrain will not be able to help you.  (Is that New York City or Jersey City that I see?) Not all scientists are experts in neuroanatomy and so not everyone looking at BigBrain can delineate every brain structure.  Besides, annotating BigBrain will only need to happen once.  As this is done over time, researchers of all stripes will be able to ask interesting questions."

Shake, Rattle, and Roll

"We felt the need to raise some awareness about this disease, not too many people under the age of 50 are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease we are the minority.
This is where the idea to hold a Motorcycle Rally began. Wanda was the drive, she needed something to focus on and get her mind off of their future.
So began the planning of the first annual “Shake Rattle & Roll Motorcycle Rally for Parkinson’s disease”.
A group of friends were invited to join in the planning of the rally and together we got the wheels turning."

Positively Parkinson's

 "The call display had my heart beating faster instantly.  The voice on the other end of the phone announced the beginning of an adventure the likes of which I had never known.  One could argue, and some did (and still do), that to accept the assignment was foolhardy.  Were there not enough challenges in my life; grappling with the degenerative effects of Parkinson’s disease, maintaining a thriving practice of law as part of a dynamic team of professionals, and contributing “spare time” to charitable causes (including serving as an ambassador for World Parkinson Congress 2013 in Montréal in October)?  Certainly, I had not been looking to take on any additional responsibilities.  In fact, the opposite might have been true.  But I knew this was a call I needed to answer."

On Being a Christian With Parkinson's Disease

 "Do you feel weak? Are you on your last leg of energy? Has hope dimmed and are you overwhelmed and weary of the battle against PD? Do you doubt your ability to get through another day​?

God says, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10"

Sitting Comfortably

"It just so happens that I have had one of these nasty little tests before, so I knew what was coming. I remember the jolts of electricity from electrodes placed on the skin going down my arm, causing individual muscles to fire and jumping about like a cat on a hot tin roof in response. Then the needles which were stuck into the muscles which are stimulated by movement of the arm or by wiggling the needle in its site and readings taken. Not necessarily painful, but extremely uncomfortable."

National Young Onset Center 

"I got a lot of response to one of my recent Tweets (@PDpsych) and wanted to blog a little followup:
The best way to drive away those you love is to project your anger w/PD on them. Helping you cope & taking the heat are not the same thing.
I was commenting on a phenomenon many PD partners are very familiar with and that I wanted to blog more about as a follow up. Parkinsons can produce a lot of anger. This anger will not be found on any of the list of “non-motor” symptoms because it is not a direct outgrowth of the neurological change. It is a reaction to having a difficult, chronic disease. Being a little angry about PD is a pretty understandable human response. Making someone you love the target for that anger is not.
Parkinson’s disease has no face. When a person become angry and frustrated because of its impact, there is no one upon whom one can truly direct these feelings. A person who is not careful may find these feelings discharging anyway. The target is often only a proxy for the PD, an unwitting victim."

About Parkinson's Disease

"Much of my work at Parkinsons Recovery over the past six years has been dedicated to identifying all sorts of options that are helping people reverse their symptoms. This has been important work and it seems I am the only researcher in the world doing this type of research. Everyone else is very focused on a narrow issue (as was I when employed as a professor). If you do not focus narrowly as a  professor, you do not get promoted or tenured. I succeed with the promotions and tenure but contributed little to the world in terms of insights and revelations.
What is my revelation this week?  I believe we do not need to struggle for the answer. The journey down the road to recovery need not be a war of us against a “disease.” I believe the answer comes quite naturally and effortlessly as long as we allow it to float in and “have its way.”
What do I mean here? If we are struggling to find a solution . . ."

Note:  For the most part, the links are to the blog, not to the specific post I excerpted.  I'm doing this August 6, 2013, so if you are looking for the specific post and it's six months or two years after this post, it will be one of the recent posts from August 6, 2013.

Does Republican Mean Anything Predictable These Days?

"There is no longer any credible scientific debate about the basic facts: our world continues to warm, with the last decade the hottest in modern records, and the deep ocean warming faster than the earth’s atmosphere. Sea level is rising. Arctic Sea ice is melting years faster than projected.

The costs of inaction are undeniable. The lines of scientific evidence grow only stronger and more numerous. And the window of time remaining to act is growing smaller: delay could mean that warming becomes 'locked in.'"

It's almost as if a mob has taken over the Republican Party and claimed it for their own.  Are the authors of this NY Times opinion piece really Republicans?  All four  - William D. Ruckelshaus, Lee M. thomas, William K. Reilly, and Christine Todd Whitman - were heads of the  Environmental Protection Agency.  Appointed by Republican presidents.  Not even that long ago. 

Is this what Big Tent Republican Party means today?  They have climate change deniers and climate change true believers?    Could any of these four make it through a Republican primary today?  Are there others,  closet climate change believers, in the Republican Party who are afraid to admit it?   Can they take their party back? 

Okay.  I understand that Parties have positions on different things from economics to science, religion, and social behavior.  And people join the party that most closely aligns to their most important issues.  After all, there are gay Republicans and Hispanics and Blacks.  And Democrats who don't believe in torture.   

The Democrats and the Republicans have been the two major parties my whole lifetime.    But the division between the Republican and Democratic Parties isn't an inevitable natural state. Like the earth revolving around the sun.  (And in much longer time horizons, that's not inevitable either.)

Wikipedia lists five different party systems in American history.
(Which I've abbreviated)

First Party System: 1792-1824

The First Party System of the United States featured the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party (Anti-Federalist).

Second Party System: 1828-1854

In 1829, the Second Party System saw a split of the Democratic-Republican Party into the Jacksonian Democrats, who grew into the modern Democratic Party, led by Andrew Jackson, and the Whig Party, led by Henry Clay. . .
The 1850s saw the collapse of the Whig party, largely as a result of deaths in its leadership and a major intra-party split over slavery as a result of the Compromise of 1850. In addition, the fading of old economic issues removed many of the unifying forces holding the party together.

Third Party System: 1854-1890s

The Third Party System stretched from 1854 to the mid-1890s, and was characterized by the emergence of the anti-slavery Republican Party, which adopted many of the economic policies of the Whigs, such as national banks, railroads, high tariffs, homesteads and aid to land grant colleges. Civil war and Reconstruction issues polarized the parties until the Compromise of 1877, which ended the latter.

Fourth Party System: 1896-1932

The Fourth Party System, 1896 to 1932, retained the same primary parties as the Third Party System, but saw major shifts in the central issues of debate. This period also corresponded to the Progressive Era, and was dominated by the Republican Party. It began after the Republicans blamed the Democrats for the Panic of 1893, which later resulted in William McKinley's victory over William Jennings Bryan in the 1896 presidential election.

Fifth Party System: 1933-present

The Fifth Party System emerged with the New Deal Coalition beginning in 1933.^[50] The Republicans began losing support after the Great Depression, giving rise to Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the activist New Deal. 

The Wikipedia piece says experts debate whether a sixth party system came in during the 1960's, which is what I was thinking.  We still have the Republicans and Democrats, but the Republicans exploited the race issues in the South and most of those Southern Democrats turned Republican and the Blacks, who'd hadn't already shifted Democratic with the Roosevelts, mostly abandoned the Republican Party altogether.  

OK, it's Wikipedia.  I put it in there to say that our political party systems have changed in the past.  The current configuration is already the longest in our history.  It's due for a shake up.  Ninety-seven percent of people alive today weren't alive in 1933.   Of those 1.7% who are over 85 most probably weren't politically aware of such things in 1933.  We may be witnessing the shake-out of the Republican Party right before our eyes. 

How many Republicans will move to the Democratic Party?  How many will move to the Libertarians, or will they combine with (take over?) the Republicans?  Will a Christian Party emerge?  I suspect all of these will happen until they realize that unless they unite they won't have a serious national impact.  Will it lead to civil war as some Nationalist websites predict?  (No, I'm not linking, you need to find those yourselves.)  Or will a new more moderate Republican Party form that can attract Democrats who fled the increasingly shrill Republican extremists? 

We're going to hear a lot more nastier stuff before things settle down.  It would be interesting to study the periods of change in those five systems Wikipedia lists. Maybe that will give us a hint. 

You can read the whole  NYTimes opinion piece here.

Send This Video To Your School Board Members And Legislators.

Better yet, find some allies on the board and legislature and get them to play at a meeting. 

It's not the end of the discussion of education, but it is a good beginning. 

This video was consciously created for the medium.  While just listening is ok, watching AND listening is much better.    





I'm a strong supporter of public education, yet also a strong critic of how much education is done.  Kids' natural curiosity should be tapped and learning should be fun.  Kids shouldn't be forced to sit still when their bodies are jumpy.  Kids should be allowed to lead with their natural abilities and the activities that are hard for a particular kid should be pursued when the kid needs to know that knowledge/skill to answer the questions the kid has.

Too much schooling these days is for kids who have an aptitude for a particular kind of rational/logical thinking, are comfortable with reading, and can concentrate for a while on a topic.  School worked for me because I had those skills.  But for too many kids, who have other natural skills, this focus means they are told over and over again that they are dumb.  Until they believe it.  School becomes torture.

This video says all those things well. 

Alaskan Log Dream Home

When we first got to Anchorage 35 years ago, log homes were the hot item.  Genuine Alaskan.   They had character and were the image of real Alaska.

 We have good friends who live in a beautiful log home he built long ago on the hillside.  There are a couple of acres of land.  These folks owned a commercial greenhouse for a while and the grounds are beautiful.  They were having moose problems - eating some of their special trees and plants - so they built an eight foot fence around the whole property!

Their kids moved south and grandma wants to spend more time near the grandchildren.  So they've put the house on the market.

You'd think a place like this would be snapped up, but it hasn't sold.

part of yard from garaage

My theory is this:  This is a unique house.  It's not the typical cookie cutter home with  granite counters in a neighborhood full similar homes right next door.  Instead it's a one of a kind home on a secluded piece of Alaska heaven right in town.

Well, it's about ten miles out of downtown.  And people might perceive it as way out of town.  But I biked there last week (mostly uphill from near the University) in 40 minutes on Lake Otis.  Driving back a couple of weeks before took 12 minutes (I was timing it.)  So it's not really that far out.

Kitchen behind books

Back to my theory.  It's a unique and wonderful house, but not for everyone.  It's priced higher than your average Anchorage home (they lowered it to somewhat over $500,000) and probably people looking at that price range want something more luxurious.  And younger people looking for a house like this might be looking in a lower price range.


But somewhere out there is someone for whom this is the perfect home.  Someone who can afford it and can appreciate and take care of it.  But that family just doesn't know it's there.  Maybe they aren't actively looking.

It's also a lot of land with beautiful flower beds and a lot of lawn.  What I really like is that while gardens are spectacular, they don't have that  artificial look that look like someone worked hard to copy some garden magazine look.  Rather it's a more an artist's love that created flower beds and lawn that blend easily into the natural Alaskan birch habitat.  It takes work to keep things up.  So it will take a family willing to do the work or able to hire someone to help out.  I know the present owners, who put a lot of love into this property, would be willing consultants to the folks that move in.

Back of the house

Garage

Along with the house comes the two car garage,













and another building that's a studio/office on its own  (no bathroom or running water in there.)

To the left is the studio/office.  The main house is on the right.  In the middle, in the distance, is another small log cabin out in the yard. 

I was standing above the garage when I took this shot.  It was about 9:00pm at the end of July.

Just off the living room

This is one of many flower beds with hardy perennials.

This rock wall is between the house and the large circular driveway that goes around the studio/office and to the remote control gate.

 

I'm not in the real estate business, and I don't put ads up here.  I think of this more as a public service - a way to help connect the right family to a piece of Anchorage that really should be preserved. 

Some of these pictures are mine.  The better shots, mostly ones with black borders (and both interiors), were taken by Dave M. Davis Photography for a realtor.

If anyone is interested, you can email me here and I'll pass it on.
[UPDATE October 11, 2014:  As of the end of September, this house has a new owner.]

Public Meetings, Tortured Confessions, Truth, And Endings

Public Meetings
 One of Thomas Cromwell's scribes is talking about rumors he heard.

 "[Wriothesley] says, 'I hear that in council the king declared he will see to marry Lady Mary to a subject.'
Surely that's not what the meeting concluded?  In a moment, he feels like himself again:  hears himself laughing and saying,  'Oh for Christ's sake . . .Who told you that?  Sometimes,' he says, 'I think it would save time and work if all the interested parties came to the council, including foreign ambassadors.  The proceedings leak out anyway, and to save them mishearing and misconstruing they might as well hear everything first hand.'"

I've finished Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies, her second award winning book on Thomas Cromwell.   It takes place between the Fall of 1535 and Summer 1536. These are works of fiction written today, so there is danger in thinking these are lessons from another era.  While Mantel has done a great deal of research and has attempted to think as Cromwell thought, she is a modern woman and that consciously or unconsciously affects how she interprets Cromwell.  Nevertheless,   these topics are timely and worth considering and she writes well.  So I offer them as food for thought and perhaps to entice a few to read the books (Wolf Hall was the first one.)  Variety, among others, reports that the BBC and HBO are working on a six part mini-series of the two books.


Getting Confessions Through Torture

Cromwell is attempting to get Mark Smeaton, one of the queen's courtiers, to confess to adultery.

"Tell us now about your adultery with the queen and what you know of her dealings with other men, and then if your confession is prompt and full, clear and unsparing, it is possible that the king will show mercy.'
Mark is hardly hearing hi.  His limbs are trembling and his breathing is short, he is beginning to cry and to stumble over his words.  Simplicity is best now, brisk questions requiring easy answers.  Richard [Cromwell's nephew] asks him, "You see this person here?" Christophe points to himself, in cae Mark is in doubt.  'Do you take him for a pleasant fellow?' Richard asks.  'Would you like to spend ten minutes alone with him?'
'Five would do it,' Christophe predicts.
He [Cromwell[  says, "I explained to you, Mark, that Mr. Wriothesley will write down what you say.  But he will not necessarily write down what we do.  You follow me?  That will be just between us.'
Mark says, "Mother Mary, help me.'
Mr. Wriothesley says, 'We can take you to the Tower where there is a rack.'
'Wriothesley, may I have a word with you aside?'  He waves [Wriothesley] out of the room and on the threshold speaks in an undertone.  'It is better not to specify the nature of the pain.  As Juvenal says, the mind is its own best torturer.  Besides, you should not make empty threats.  I will not rack him.  I do not want him carried to his trial in a chair.  And if I needed to rack a sad little fellow like this  . . . what next?  Stamping on dormice?'
'I am reproved,' Mr. Wriothesley says.
He puts his hand on Wriothesley's arm.  'Never Mind.  You are doing very well.'

This is a business that tries the most experienced.  He remembers that day in the forge when a hot iron had seared his skin.  There was no choice of resisting the pain.  His mouth dropped open and a scream flew out and hit the wall.  His father ran to hm and said 'Cross your hands,' and helped him to water and to salve, but afterwards Walter said to him, 'It's happened to us all.  It's how you learn.  You learn to do things the way your father taught you, and not by some foolish method you hit upon yourself half and hour ago.'
He thinks of ths:  re-entering the room, he asks Mark, "Do you know you can learn from pain?'

But, he explains, the circumstances must be right.  To learn you must have a future:  what if someone has chosen this pain for you and they are going to inflict it for as long as they like, and only stop once you're dead?  You can make sense of your suffering, perhaps.  You can offer it up for the struggling souls in Purgatory, if you believe in Purgatory.  That might work for saints, whose souls are shining white.  But not for Mark Smeaton, who is in mortal sin, a self confessed adulterer.  He says, "No one wants your pain, Mark.  It's no good to anyone, no one's interested in it.  Not even God himself and certainly not me.  I have no use for your screams.  I want words that make sense.  Words I can transcribe.  You have already spoken them and it will be easy enough to speak them again.  So now what you do is your choice.  It is your responsibility.  You have done enough, by your own account, to damn you.  Do not make sinners of us all.

It may, even now, be necessary to impress on the boy's imagination the stageson the route ahead:  the walk from the room of confinement to the place of suffering:  the wait, as the rope is uncoiled or the guiltless iron is set to heat.  In that space, every thought that occupies the mind is taken out and replaced by blind terror.   .  .

It continues discussing the relationship between the victims mind and the terror.

But Mark will be spared this;  for now he looks up:  'Master Secretary, will you tell me again what my confession must be? 

What Makes A Good Man?

Wriothesley is a young man who works for Cromwell.  But Cromwell also assumes that he is also a spy for Cromwell's enemy Stephen Gardiner, whom Cromwell has had sent to France on errands for the King.  Cromwell tolerates Wriothesley for several reasons.  It seems that one is he thinks he might bring him over to his side.  He also knows he's in contact with Gardiner.

 "One can never be sure what Wriothesley is reporting to Gardiner.  Hopefully, matter that will cause Gardiner to scratch his head in puzzlement, and quiver in alarm."

In this passage, Wriothesley is trying to understand why Cromwell is trying to protect Thomas Wyatt, one of the courtiers around Anne Boleyn and King Henry VII, while he's setting up the other courtiers for execution.

"It is not easy to explain to a young man like Wriothesley why he values Wyatt.  He wants to say, because, good fellows though you are, he is not like you or Richard Riche.  He does not talk simply to hear his own voice, or pick arguments just to win them.  He is not like George Boleyn:  he does not write verses to sexi women in the hope of bundling one of them into a dark corner where he can slip his cock into her.  He writes to warn and to chastise, and not to confess his need but to conceal it.  He understands honour but does not boast of his own.  He is perfectly equipped as a courtier, but he knows the small value of that.  He has studied the world without despising it.  He understands the world without rejecting it.  He has no illusions but he has hopes.  He does not sleepwalk through his life.  His eyes are open, and his ears for sounds others miss." (p. 476*)

 
Truth

This immediately follows the paragraph above:

"But he decides to give Wriothesley an explanation he can follow.  'It is not Wyatt,' he says, 'who stands in my way with the king.  It is not Wyatt who turns me out of the privy chamber when I need the king's signature.  It is not he who is continually dropping slander against me like poison into Henry's ear.'
Mr. Wriothesley looks at him speculatively.  'I see. It is not so much, who is guilty, as whose guilt is of service to you.'  He smiles.  'I admire you, sir.  You are deft in these matters, and without false compunction.'
He is not sure he wants Wriothesley to admire him.  Not on those grounds.  He says, ' It may be that any of these gentlemen who are named could disarm suspicion.  Or if suspicion remained, they could by some appeal stay the king's hand.  [Wriothelsey], we are not priests.  We don't want their sort of confession  We are lawyers.  We want the truth little by little and only those parts of it we can use." (pp. 476-7*)

There Are No Endings

Here are the last four sentences of the book:

"There are no endings.  If you think so you are deceived as to their nature.  They are all beginnings.  This is one."

The first book, Wolf Hall, ended as they were on the road to Wolf Hall.  They were never there in the book.  The second book, Bring Up The Bodies, begins in Wolf Hall.  It's not until page 605* of the book's 673 pages, that we read:

"The order goes to the Tower, 'Bring up the bodies.'  Deliver, that is, the accused men, by name Weston, Brereton, Smeaton and Norris, to Westminster Hall for trial."

A third novel is in the works.  One in which, presumably, it will be Cromwell's turn to lose his head.  

*I have the large print copy from the library so the pages will be different from the regular print versions.

Men With Needles And Yarn

I grew up with my mom knitting whenever she was watching tv or doing other activities that left her hands free.  So it's not a complete surprise that my son has started knitting.  In Bainbridge he took me to Churchmouse Yarn and Tea shop while he was looking for some needles. And I had my camera.  (The pictures were all taken at the shop.)

Apparently, knitting is relatively new. 


From Knitty.com:
"A quick cruise of the Oxford Unabridged English Dictionary also reveals that the term 'to knit' wasn't added to English until the 1400s. Further poking around will reveal that any term meaning 'to knit', specifically make loops with two long, straight needles, wasn't in any European language before the Renaissance. Other than the Middle East, and Spain, other places in the world were even later in their assigning words for knitting. It's pretty obvious; knitting hasn't been around that long. Most of what we're left with in terms of physical evidence is a tiny pile of knitted fragments, and a lot of speculation. And did I mention the knit fragments are really hard to interpret? Before the development of knitting, a craft called nalbinding was used to make stretchy fabrics. [original link didn't work so I put a new one in] for a quickie lesson on how nalbinding is done. The drawbacks are obvious immediately.) Termed 'one needle knitting' by some museums, it is similar to knitting in structure, but stronger, less stretchy, and a lot more difficult to create. The resulting fabric would look very sloppy unless done by a master, and it wasn't something you could have the kids do while tending the sheep -- unlike knitting."

Somehow, knitting has come to be thought of as a woman's activity.  But Yarn Boy sets us straight:

Since there was money to be made from knitting (and we already know the history of how men feel about women making money), it was initially a male-dominated craft. It is generally believed that sailors and traders from Arabia, as well as Catholic missionaries,were responsible for spreading the craft of knitting around the world. Knitting didn't become the female-associated activity that it is today until cheaper and faster methods for making clothing were developed, and men moved on to other forms of world domination. By the beginning of the 20th century, it was highly unusual for a man to knit.

I didn't know that Catholic/Muslim link. 

I found a number of men's knitting blogs. 

(Almost) Eternal Bliss

There are moments in a knitters life that are without match. Usually they are relatively fleeting- a finished project, a mother’s joy at her new shawl or the admiration of others as they see skilled fingers producing intricate lace. I’d hardly imagined that it was possible to string a series of these moments together to create something akin to Nirvana, but this past weekend proved me wrong.
My dear friend Matthew had pestered me for years to attend a Men’s Knitting Retreat. For one reason or another, I’d never been able to go. This year, Matthew took matters into his own hands and essentially signed me up whether I wanted to go or not. I acquiesced, requested a few days off and packed my bags. .  .

With Icelandic Air flying non-stop to Anchorage this summer, here's a link to an Icelandic knitter on video.  Here's the description:

Halló, this is Iceland. It is true that my men are very manly, and sometimes have names that are hard for you to say. This is Þórgnýr Thoroddsen, whose name is very hard to say, but he makes up for it by being a very good (and manly) knitter. If you see him on one of my streets, and would like him to give you some advice on how to do knitting like an Icelandic man, just call out “Halló, Icelandic man with a difficult name who knits! Stop and show me how!” He will not mind at all.

From the House of Humble blog:  (nice picture of him sitting on a huge, colorful, crocheted, I think, quilt)

"In the Winter of 2010, I was on a train crossing the Hawkesbury river on the way to my job in Sydney. I had my headphones blaring (I would have been listening to either Neil Young’s Comes a Time or Hold Time by M. Ward, as those were my train riding albums) and I was knitting an iPod cover in the shape of a crocodile. Every now and then I’d look up from my work to check on the journey’s progress and enjoy the scenery out the window. Once when I looked up, the old lady sitting across from me mouthed something and smiled. I’m a terrible lip reader so the headphones came out to sit on my lap. She was saying something along the lines of “It’s so lovely to see a young man knitting.” Sadly her husband continued to stare out the window and didn’t add to the ensuing conversation.
One of our awesome bloggy neighbours, Raynor from The Shy Lion, was in the paper over the weekend. It was an article all about people who do things that defy gender stereotypes. They interviewed Raynor because, like me, he is a man who knits and crochets. Reading the article got me thinking about being a man and a crafter, and it reminded me of the friendly old lady and her less friendly husband.

Knitting With A Y: The Accounts of A Male Knitter  

 "25 year old clarinetist living in Minnesota. Began knitting summer '07 and can't seem to put the needles down! Ravelry name: yarndude"

Mad Man Knitting is a blog by a man who's knitting Teddy Bears for a living.  His book page gives a quick summary:

I was the head server at one of Savannahs most successful and popular restaurants, The Firefly Cafe, catering to the best of this citys blue-bloods. But, once the restaurant was sold, everything changed. The new owners were running the business into the ground, my partner left, my father was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and my weight dropped to a 115 pounds. And while most people find themselves escaping into drugs and alcohol, I became obsessed with knitting. I spent long hours chugging beer after beer and working on any pattern I could come across, developing a psychotic routine of mindless action while life around me was crumbling.

These next two blogs' titles reflect male knitter sensitivity to their image:
The Straight Male Knitter

We walk unseen among you. We possess both “Y” chromosomes and knitting needles. We’re equally at home in a yarn shop and a gentleman’s club. When admiring exceptional décolletage, we may find ourselves distracted by the softness of a mohair sweater as it clings to the complex curves of your bust. If we ask to touch that delicate fabric, rest assured we do want to experience the fabric. But that probably isn’t all we want to touch. We are men. We love women. And we knit.

It Takes Balls To Knit: A big-balled, bald man with sharp sticks -

 On July 25, I was lucky enough to be one of the 3,000 or so knitters in attendance a the 9th Annual Stitch ‘N’ Pitch event at the Seattle mariners baseball game! What a blast we had – and Seattle won the game 8-2, due in large part to a barrage of runs in the 2nd inning. 6 runs as a matter of fact. In that 6th inning Nick Franklin went yard, I mean went yarn for a 3 run blast!

It turns out we were in close proximity last week because my son took me to the Stitch 'N' Pitch night Seattle Mariners baseball game too.  



Men Who Knit has blogs, forums, even a store.


There's an ABC News video at this website on male inmates learning to knit.

"I'm arrested for armed kidnapping and I love knitting."
Every Thursday around dusk, a group of men, hardened criminals sentenced for a variety of violent crimes and incarcerated at the Pre-Release Unit in Jessup, Md., can be found with knitting needles in hand and balls of yarn in their laps.

Yarn Boy (the history quote above) also has original patterns and is one of the smartest looking male knitting blogs I saw.   He lives in San Francisco and I guess the young twins he mentions are taking up a lot of time because the most recent post on his blog is April 2012.


This post was supposed to be a short, quick photo post from the yarn shop.  A quick post while I finish some longer posts that need more thinking.  But I'm finding all sorts of websites on this topic.  But I need to stop and go to bed.   But here's one more link - to Knit Vienna - that has lots of pictures of knitted and crocheted decorations in urban settings as well as a section on men knitters (middle of the page) that includes pictures from some of the websites I'd found - including the picture I liked at House of Humble and the Icelandic video. 


My son gave me a baby hat he'd knitted to bring back to Anchorage as a gift for a friend's new addition.  

West Coast Weather

These are the weather reports I have on my computer dashboard.  It's almost 11pm in Anchorage right now, but this is what the spread looked like (but a little warmer) all day. 

These locations are where my immediate family reside these days.