Campground Wifi? Changing Icons

I saw this sign at the Riley Creek campground at Denali National Park last week.

Wow, I thought, the campgrounds have wifi now.  Amazing.  But why would it be over in one spot?

When I asked a ranger about the sign and whether there really was wifi, she paused to think what I might be referring to.  Then she smiled and said, "That's the sign to the amphitheater."

And when I looked on my computer, of course, the wifi symbol has the longer waves on the top. 


Actually, we enjoyed three days without any news media intrusion and just a few minutes a day of wifi (sitting outside the not yet open visitors center) to post pictures of animals we saw at the Park. 

Shell In Seattle, Power, Americans For Prosperity Leading Opposition to Medicaid Expansion [Reposted*]

A What Do I Know? reader in Seattle sent this picture he took Thursday from the ferry of Shell's oil rig. (But I was in Denali Thursday so I just got the picture.)

Think about people used to power, used to getting their way.  People in positions of authority in large organizations that have the money to convince the weak to agree and to destroy those who would stand up against them.

The large oil companies are used to getting their way, whether it's in places like Africa or Asia where they can buy government leaders or US states where they can do the same.  In Alaska, Conoco-Phillips put one of their lawyer/lobbyists into the governorship and two more of their employees into the legislature.  They are so used to getting their way, they  pay no attention to those who disagree with them - including the Democratic minority.

Think about the people who are currently keeping the Alaska Republican leaders from agreeing to expand Medicaid, despite the overwhelming support for its expansion.  NPR had a piece on five states
that have been dealing with Medicaid expansion - Florida, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, and Alaska.  In all these places the Koch Brothers' supported Americans for Prosperity (AFP) has spent a lot of money in opposition to Medicaid expansion. 

Montana's a slightly different case from the others.  Legislators got angry at AFP for going behind their backs and connecting directly with constituents. 

In Alaska, it seems they've gone directly to Chenault and Meyers, the heads of the state house and senate respectively.  Because they're saying no to everyone else and refusing to make any concessions.  As I said, if you get used to power, you think you can do whatever you want. 

Salon has an article on how Americans for Prosperity "blew up" the Tennessee Medicaid expansion bill.



Context:

Forbes puts David Koch's wealth at $42.7 billion.  They also put Charles Koch at the same amount.  I wasn't sure if that amount was combined or individual.  Bloomberg, though, puts them jointly at $100 billion. 

To get a sense of things, suppose your net worth was $100,000.  If you spent the same percentage of your wealth as the Koch brothers it would be something like:

Koch brothers spend $1 million.
You spend $1.

You spend $200 on a candidate.
The Koch brothers would spend $200 million.

This is why people like Tom Hayden were talking about economic democracy back in the 1970s.  Because without a reasonably level playing field, we lose democracy.

As we see in the Medicaid fight.  And the way Shell can tell Seattle to go to hell, we'll put our oil rigs wherever we damn well please.  

* I'm reposting because Feedburner didn't catch this one to blogrolls. Apologies to those who came here earlier.  I'm trying to figure out a good way to signal you, so you don't come back to a post you've already seen. 

No Lions Or Tigers, But Bears. And Moose. And . . .

I'm pretty sure these are the same bears we saw on Wednesday.  But this time they were out of the brush, clearly visible, and on a mission.  They walked with purpose.  I'm just not sure what it was.  Along the Savage River just before it goes under the bridge at the end of the paved road in Denali National Park.  Then up onto the road, through the parking lot and up the mountain.  They didn't run, but they sure got up the mountain fast. 

Having hiked up a couple of miles earlier that day (this was Thursday), we were well aware of how much faster they got up the hill than we had.  We found out later that the trail we took - from near the Savage River campground - the Savage Alpine Trail actually ends four miles away at this spot where the bears ended up.  

Fortunately, we didn't see any bears while we were hiking - though they had something in mind and it didn't seem to be people.  But we did see Dall sheep on the hill above us.

Actually, on Thursday we saw the bears, the dall sheep, caribou (there were lots of caribou), and moose.  Despite seeing moose fairly regularly in Anchorage, it's still neat to seem them out in the wilderness as well. 

Then on Friday, we went back to the Savage River trail and on the way back, J shouted from behind "Stop!'  She pointed ahead of me and there was a caribou coming across the trail about 25 feet ahead of me. 

There were four more after that.  One at a time, each carefully checked us out and then crossed the trail.










And then there were a few ground squirrels who were not at all shy.  Suggesting they'd learned that people were a source of food. 

Denali Birds - Warbler, Robin, Sparrow, Ptarmigan, Pintail, Eagle, And Bufflehead

Some of the feathered critters we encountered this week at Denali. 

This yellow rumped warbler visited us at our campsite every morning and evening.  I chose this picture because it displays its namesake best.  I'm lucky to live in Alaska and see this bird at its best.  From Allaboutbirds:

"Though the color palette is subdued all winter, you owe it to yourself to seek these birds out on their spring migration or on their breeding grounds. Spring molt brings a transformation, leaving them a dazzling mix of bright yellow, charcoal gray and black, and bold white."

 

Another campground visitor, the robin seems almost out of place in this huge, wild, northern national park.  It should be on a lawn somewhere pulling out worms. 

This northern pintail couple on a pond near Teklanika campground. 






This bufflehead was in the same pond.  From Audubon:  

"The name "Bufflehead" is derived from "buffalo-head," for the male's odd puffy head shape."

A white crowned sparrow.

The willow ptarmigan is the Alaska state bird.  It's shedding its white winter plumage for its summer browns. 

A golden eagle hunts along a mountain ridge.  Their wingspans go up to seven feet. 

Caribou and Bear

A quick pic post, since the visitor center wifi works, even though they don't open until tomorrow.  There were a lot of caribou yesterday. 

These I saw when I was on the bike.  At first, he was looking at me head on and mostly I saw the antlers and my first thought was - why is there a windmill up there.

This, despite how remote it might look, is looking under the bridge at Savage River.

We never would have seen this bear if there hadn't been a bus and several carsfull of people with their binoculars aimed out into nowhere.  Since there were lots of caribou to be seen, we figured maybe it's a bear for all the people to be looking at something so far away.   For the most part, the bear was in the brush and occasionally you could see a glimpse of blond fur in the binoculars.  I'm guessing the bus driver knew there was a bear in the area (there was a cub too) and was looking out for it.

We stayed after everyone left and I was able to catch this quick shot as the bear got out of the brush for a moment.  It's a long ways off.  I could make up a number, but really, with the long vistas in Denali, it's really hard for me to guess how far things are.

OK, that's enough for now.  There are more animals to see.  I'll put up birds and other pics later.  The mosquitoes are already out despite the wind and they're checking me out. 

To Denali

We left Anchorage about 8pm.  I just wanted to get going and since it doesn't really get totally dark, we left. 

About 11pm past the McKinley view points - we could just see the top of the mountain, not well - I took this one.

About an hour later - on the flat lands before getting to Cantwell.  The light was incredible.  I didn't capture it unfortunately.

And then this morning, driving into the park. 

By this afternoon it was clouded over.  Lots of caribou today, a bear and cub in the distance, and some good birds.  More tomorrow.  The park officially opens Friday.  Until the buses start on May 20, you can drive in to Teklanika, which we did.  It was beautiful and clear, but it got very windy.  Got some biking in on the road to Teklanika. 

Blogger Overload - Things I Haven't Posted From Erin's Law To Shell Arctic Drilling

There is a bunch of posts still listed as drafts in my blog index of posts.  Some will never see the light of day because there are more important things, they've been partly incorporated in other posts, or they are old and the topic's been covered enough elsewhere.

The battle between living and blogging is sometimes easy and sometimes hard.  Ideally, the blog captures bits and pieces of life as I live it.  But my kids have said the grandchildren are off limits for the blog, so reflections on their growing language skills ("The rocket's at my house") and other motor skills (crawling up and down the wheel chair ramp at my mom's house) don't get chronicled here, though I think they are significant, not just for me, but for the world.  This point was made today by someone who spent about ten minutes on an older post about infants learning sign language. 

Some posts are partly or largely written.  Others are just notes.  Here are some examples.

Obergefell
What signs from the Supreme Court hearing on Obergefell are worth attending to get a sense of what their decision might be and the implications for the future?

Shell Arctic Drilling
I did a fair amount of reporting on Shell's previous Arctic drilling plans  (for example) and the later fiasco with Kulluk.  You might look at the link on the plans.  Those were last time.  I've looked quickly at parts of the new ones.  My issue then was that they were more PR than actual operational plans of what to do.  This time it seems there is more detail, but still a lot missing.  For example, there's this sort of reassuring language, that reminds me a lot of the reassuring (but incorrect) language they had in 2013.

"Operational Monitoring:
Operational monitoring is conducted to minimize the potential of penetrating an overpressure
zone resulting in a loss of hydrostatic overbalance.

1. 1)  Flow checks are conducted with the pumps off to confirm the static mud weight over balances pore pressure.
   
2. 2)  Frequent pit drills and mock well control drills are planned and conducted.
   
3. 3)  Drilling Contractor / Shell Staff have relevant and current Well Control Certificates.
   
4. 4)  Shell requires its operational staff to attend and pass its internal Advanced Well Control Training.
   
5. 5)  Real Time monitoring of the well and operational parameters is conducted by the Real Time Operations Center that is staffed by a team of experts. Any anomalous signals or indications are immediately relayed to the rig.
   

This extra set of monitoring provides a secondary team of individuals to monitor the wells status and minimize the potential for loss of situation awareness by the drilling team" [from page 2/6 Well Control Plan which is in a zip file linked at Appendices and Attachments on this page at this Bureau of Oceans and Environment Management (BOEM) page. ]

"loss of situational awareness' was a big red flag for me.  Here's a post I did on that phrase back in 2010:  Euphemism Alert!! What the hell is "Lack of Situational Awareness"?

I understand that there's an art to giving an overview, and I have yet to probe deep enough in all the documents to find out if there are more operational details than this. 

For instance,
1)   how often the flow checks are conducted and where the results of those tests go and how quickly and how quickly do government regulators see them? 
2)  What does 'frequent'?  I'd like to see some numbers - once a week, once a month (I don't know what's reasonable) - and records kept and reported that they happened and what was learned from each drill and what improvements were made based on the drill. 
3/4) should be expanded somewhere to list the job titles of the "Shell staff" and "operational staff" and the names of the people in those positions with a list of the specific certificates they have, when they got them,  plus links to what the training includes and what the certificate guarantees the staff know and can perform. 
5) how about a list of the 'team of experts' including their name and expertise and how their expertise is determined.

It's in Shell's interest that all this rhetoric is backed up, but I know these things are written to get approval.  I'd like to know that BOEM is getting more detail than this.  BUT, it may be in there somewhere, I just haven't had the time to read it all and then find the people I can ask my questions of.  So, these posts are still unwritten. 

Then there's this somewhat disturbing prospect:

The estimated total duration from the initial mooring to well kill pumping through a relief well would be approximately 28 days for a Burger blowout (Table 1). In the event of a blowout, the secondary rig if located at the Burger Prospect, will cease drilling, suspend the well so that it cannot flow, recover its BOP stack and moorings, and transit to the relief well drill site. In this case, the estimated duration of flow prior to drilling a relief well to intersection with the original wellbore and killing the flow is approximately 34 days (six days to mobilize and moor and 28 days to kill the well). If the secondary rig is located in Dutch Harbor, the rig will transit from Dutch Harbor to the relief well drill site. The rig will initiate relief well drilling operations upon arrival and mooring and will remain at the site through plugging operations on both the relief well and the blowout well. The max additional time required will be to unmoor in Dutch Harbor, transit to relief well site, and moor is an estimated 10 days (10 days to mobilize and moor and 28 days to kill the well).  [emphasis added] [Page 2-5 from
Revised Outer Continental Shelf Lease Exploration PlanChukchi Sea, AlaskaBurger Prospect:Posey Area Blocks 6714, 67626764, 6812, 6912, 6915Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 193]

I don't know what sort of damage can happen in 28 days, and I need to check.  But I suspect it won't be pretty. 

But I also know that Shell has huge incentives for everything to go right.  Not only are accidents costly to them in lost time and equipment, they are disastrous in terms of public opinion and the future obstacles that result.  So Shell surely wants things to go well, wants to get oil as quickly as they can with no mishaps.  I don't question their intentions to have no serious problems.  The question is their ability to carry it out.

They have a lot of smart people, but many of them are smart in a narrow area of knowledge.  But I have lots of reading to do, and questions to ask before I tackle this for real.  And I may or may not get there.  

Erin's Law
This bill still hasn't been passed.  I've emailed the representatives who voted against it (only Rep. Tammy Wilson has responded) and I've got what the ADN says their reasons for opposing it are.  But I need to get a bit more information.

Others

Tanaina preschool followup, mayoral election reflections, left over press club conference thoughts, the university searches for a president and Fairbanks chancellor, and it goes on. 
And then there are a dozen posts in my head that haven't gotten into writing even.

And it's essentially summer in Alaska and Denali calls for a visit before the buses are taking the tourists in.

Self Identity And How Your Life Would Change If Key Characteristics Changed

What aspects about yourself do you take for granted and which ones would have the biggest impact on your life if it changed?  Let's look at some key ways we categorize people.

Sex - If you're male, how would your life be different if you were female?  And if you're female, if you were male? 

Race - Pick a different set of physical characteristic that we tend to call race.

Nationality - Here's a world map.  Close your eyes and let the mouse find you a new nationality.

Map from Geology.com   Click to enlarge and focus

Religion - Here's a list of 79 spiritual options.  Note Christianity is lumped pretty much into one category

Job/Profession - Here's a list of 1183 job titles.  Or no job at all.  Have fun.

Health Status -  This would be some sort of identified illness or physical characteristic from healthy and fit  to some labeled condition that identifies you as not completely healthy and fit.  Names of diseases and/or loss of abilities that most people take for granted.  I'll include mental illnesses here too.  You don't need a list of things that could go wrong.  For some, the change might just be moving to healthy. 

Sexuality -  Who are you sexually attracted to?  What things turn you on? 

Educational Status - How much schooling do you have?  Pick something several levels different from yours. 

Economic Status -  From homeless to billionaire.  This could also include what economic class you were born into, not just where you ended up. 

Questions to ask yourself and others:

• So, which of these are most significant to your self identity and are they different from what others think are important about you? 
• How would suddenly becoming a different economic class, sexuality, gender, health status most affect your life and your self identity?  And how others see you?  
• Which things are obvious to others when you walk down the street, which are not?
• Which of these changes would be difficult because of your own self identity and which because of how others expect you to be?  
• Which are easier and which harder to change?

I'm going somewhere with this, but I'd like to let folks play with these questions first. I'll pick up this theme in a future post.  In the meantime, ponder the questions when you're in bed and can't sleep.  Talk to your family and house mates about them.  Use them as ice-breakers at a party or reception or waiting at the post office or the airport. 

Be honest with yourself.  Try on a few identities and imagine going about your daily routine that way.  How would things be different?  Why? Would some make your life better and others worse?  Which ones? 

Is this hard?  Why?  

Did I miss one of your important identifiers? 

Incredible Story - 3 Minutes of 1938 Film And Glenn Kurtz' Quest To Find Out More

A talk in the UAA library, Sunday afternoon.  When J asked what it was, I said what I knew.  "Some guy went to Poland to discover his relatives." 

How little I knew that I was to be transported on an amazing story of perseverance, history, and discovery. 

Glenn Kurtz finds a cache of old movies in his parents' home.  He seeks out the oldest one.  He could smell the vinegar of the decomposing film.   It's a short film, partly in black and white and partly in color. 

On the right is the opening scene of the movie.






Then there is this shot.

His grandmother is on the far left and the other three people are their traveling companions for this adventure. 

His grandparents had come to the US from Poland in the 1880's.  Kurtz never met his grandfather, but he did know his grandmother.  They had done well in the US and all he knew about this trip was this film. 

There's typical tourist footage of the travelers in the countries they visited. 

Men with beards

But then, there is three minutes filmed in a small town, more a village, in Poland.  A Jewish community a year before the Germans invaded.  Kurtz knew immediately this was important footage - probably the only film of this town, of these people, before  most of them were swept up by the Nazis and sent to die.  People crowd before the camera - lots of people.  Kids hamming it up, no different from kids today.  But who are they?  What happened to them?

But  he didn't know anything more than the film.  He knew 1938 because it was on the film.  But when?  What ship?










An aunt, moving to a nursing home, later discovered a box of post cards from the trip, including the one below.

Kurtz went in search for names of the people in the film.  But how do you find them.  He donated the film to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC and a woman recognized her grandfather - he was 13 in the film - and called Kurtz.  He visited the grandfather Maurice Chandler (his American name) in Florida and he was able to identify a lot of people in the film.  This led to others.

And eventually, many of the nameless faces came to life.  They got names, the birth and death dates and little bits of curious details.   For example, in the picture above that I labeled men with beards, he learned that the man with the dark beard had been the headstone carver at the cemetery and kids would come by his shop after school and start throwing the chipped stone around.  He would kick them out by threatening that the Angel of Death, whom they assumed he had some connection with, would get them.  This story, if I recall, came from Maurice Chandler. 

from the book's jacket

It's an incredible story of sleuthing and bringing to life an almost vanished piece of film that is a unique documentation of a lost world.  And, fortunately, Kurtz has written a book about both the people in the town and how he found out who they were.  A great afternoon adventure to hear from the author's mouth this story. 







Here's the book.  

 I was so wrapped up in the story, I forgot to take pictures until it was mostly over.  And even then I didn't take a picture of Glenn Kurtz.  And J bought a copy of the book, so it was easier to take pictures from the book for this post.  I look forward to reading the book. 


 

Coming Home To The Sweet Smell Of Cottonwood

I still can't share fragrances with you here on the blog.  Pictures and sound, yes, but not smells.  Too bad, because when we got to the front door last night, the powerful and sweet smell of the cottonwoods filled the air.  It doesn't smell like cinnamon, but it tickles the nose in a similar strong seductive way.


I've written about cottonwoods before - they're a big presence, and lots of folks hate them.  The sticky sweet buds attach to the bottom of your shoes and later the cotton catkins strewn all over test even my patience.  But the sweet (English is really deficient in words for odors - I'll have to start making a list of types of smells that need words) smell and the big leafy green trees are worth it in my book.







We left LA under clouds last night. 

And it seemed cloudy below the whole way up.  But since it's May, the northern horizon eventually got light again as we got north, though below was solid dark cloud.