Bookwriting Finally Comes To A Close

 I put together a picture/story book for my granddaughter when she turned two.  I intended to have one for my grandson when he turned two.  But life got more complicated and my original story ideas seemed lame and then the muse move out.  He's turning seven in June and I've just about finished his adventure book now.  I tried to put up the last picture on the back cover, but it wouldn't go.  I used the same online publisher (Zno) used for my granddaughter and I'm doing the same product.  But it's change a bit - square instead of rectangular, and 20 pages instead of 16.  The file goes up on the regular pages and I'm concerned that they no longer do back covers.  The email is in.  

The point of all this is:  I've spent a lot of time on the computer in the last couple of weeks as the finish line came into sight.  And various blog posts have not gotten up.  

I'd offer you a page or two from the book, but he should get it and see it before that happens.  I'm guessing it will take several weeks to get printed and out to him.  Also he's on most of the pages and there's an edict from my kids that grandkids' pics don't go on the blog.  Even with the face blurred.  

So you'll have to trust me that there are cool pics of M being caught in a spider web with a nasty looking spider, carried in the mouth of a T-Rex, riding on the back of a butterfly, and in other scary adventures.  There all based on pictures I took or in one case another family member took and a lot of Photoshop magic.  I have learned some new Photoshop tricks.  I was reminded how pretty much anything you want to know is available online.  I googled something like "How to show a candle lighting a cave" and that took me to a video tape of how to make a cave and show the glow of a candle.  

I've also learned that you can save a layer directly to another photoshop file.  And several new keyboard shortcuts.  

My granddaughter has been a consultant on this project.  She originally lent me one of her shirts when I needed an alligator (there was one on the shirt.)  And she reviewed the pages (FaceTime) and  giggled at the right places and assured me it wasn't too scary.   The other day she said the maze (for getting out of the cave) was too simple.  So I asked her to make me a harder one.  And, now that I think of it, I can show you that one.  Hers was pencil on off white paper.  

There was a lot of new learning as I had to figure out thinks like how to place the pages so that 1) the two pages side by side were compatible and one page didn't ruin the next, and 2) so that the "The End" page would end up on the right side.  

So there's one grandchild left who needs a book in the next few years.  

Netflix Recs: Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz And Two Short Films

 Tip 1:  Prosecuting Evil:  The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz   

I'm doing this one first because it leaves Netflix on May 31 - so you need to watch it now if you want to see it there.  As portrayed in the film, Ben Ferencz is a truly remarkable person. (The link goes to his website which has a wealth of information.)   Born in Romania in 1920, he immigrated to the US before he was one.  A teacher alerted his mother that he was gifted - "We didn't know what gifted meant.  No one had ever given us gifts." - she encouraged him to go to college.  From City College of New York to Harvard law school where he was a research assistant for a professor who had written one of the only books on war crimes.  He was with the US army when they liberated some concentration camps and when he returned the US was called to DC - he assumes the professor had recommended him - to work on prosecuting Nazi war criminals.  

He ended up as the lead prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trials (at 27!) and went on from there to be a pioneer in human rights law including a long battle to establish the International Criminal Court to prosecute leaders who commit human rights violations.  

While there is, necessarily, some disturbing Holocaust footage, I got inspiration from a man who took on impossible tasks and saw them through.  Who never gave up on his quest to make the world a better, more peaceful place.  A true role model.  

He was still alive in 2018 when the film was made and apparently - looking at his website - is still alive today.  In the film he was still working hard on peace issues at 98.  

It leaves Netflix May 31 - That's Monday.  But it's also available through Prime (though I don't like to encourage people to support Amazon.)

A key relevant issue for me in this film was his arguments that Nazi war criminals should NOT be just forgotten and that they should be prosecuted, not as retribution, but as a warning to future leaders, to let them know these things will not go unpunished.  

That is a key reason why the January 6 investigation needs to be undertaken.  To not investigate and prosecute at the highest levels, is to encourage another insurrection.  Republican legislators in a number of states are already setting up ways to overrule election officials and make themselves in charge of deciding who has won the election.  Germans did not take the Nazi threat seriously until it was too late.  We are in early 1930s Germany territory right now in the United States.  

I'd like my junior senator - Dan Sullivan - to see this movie.  He doesn't seem to understand the values I hold.  The cultural background and values that Ferencz represents - highly valuing peace and justice and fighting injustice (no I don't think that that is redundant) - mirror the cultural background and values I grew up with.  Valuing peace and fighting AGAINST war, is not un-American and it's very much part of being a human being.  I just wish I was one percent as effective as he is.  I'll work on it.  

That's why this is such an important film.

Tip 2:  If you search "short films" Netflix will give you a page of short films, maybe 5 minutes to an hour.  (Some are longer because they are collections of short films.)  This is a great option if you don't have time for a long movie or don't want to get hooked into a series at the moment.

The first one we picked was Two Distant Strangers.  It said "Academy Award Winner" so we figured it was worth watching.  It's part of their "Black Lives Matter Collection."  Basically it's a Ground Hog day type movie where the black protagonist keeps running into the same cop who mistreats him in different ways and his attempts to avoid and/or improve the interaction.  

The second one was The Trader, because it was short and was a Georgian movie.  Not Georgia - the state of Staci Abrams, but Georgia in Central Asia.  How many films have you seen from Georgia?  Probably none.  

The film follows a man with a truck who goes from village to village selling trinkets and cheap household goods and used clothing.  He'll take money, but mostly he's trading for potatoes which he takes to Tblisi and sells to traders in the market.

What always strikes me about films from places that are foreign to me (though by now it shouldn't anymore) is how much people are alike.  The architecture, the landscape, the dress, the language may be different, but humans are really all the same.  Particularly poignant here were a couple of scenes with little kids.  The Trader uses bubbles to attract kids and then tells them to bring their parents to buy them things.  

The actions and smiles of  little kids chasing the soap bubbles was no different all all from little kids in well off households in the US.  Another, older kids was asked what he wanted to do when he grew up and his facial expressions and body language was no different from an embarrassed 12 year old anywhere in the world.  

Overall, I recommend escaping from the Netflix recommendations and searching by countries to find a lot of interesting films that help us see how much the human condition is the same everywhere.  Get over your aversion to subtitles.  Just do it.  There are excellent films and series  from India, Korea, Turkey, Scandinavia, the Spanish speaking world.  

Redistricting Board Meeting May 26, 2021 - Board Picks VRA Consultant, But All Discussion Of Candidates Was In Executive Session

It was clear from the agenda that most of the meeting would be in Executive Session  to interview candidates for Voting Rights Act consultant.  They carefully explained the legal bases for going into Executive Session.  They estimated they would take 45 minutes per interview which would have been 135 minutes.  The phone was muted for just about two hours.  

They also announced beforehand that after the contract with the VRA consultant was signed, they would let us know who the three applicants were and give their proposals to anyone who requests them.  

My understanding of Executive Session in Alaska is that their discussion about who they were going to choose should have been in public.  But I"m sure they would argue they couldn't have had that discussion without revealing confidential information.  They did vote in public, but it was clear that all the discussion was held in Executive Session.  They'd already agreed before they came out of Executive Session.  

Here are my rough notes of the meeting:

2:35 - Meeting connected but LIO connection can't hear them.  So just hear the LIO person asking if they can hear her.  

2:42pm - starting to hear things - discussing training for computer redistricting program.

2:43pm - opening meeting.  Apologizing for technical problem delay

Establish quorum - taking roll - all there

John:  would like one change, item 5.  Haven't read minutes from past meetings and I'd like to hold off til next meeting so I can read them all carefully.  Modify to eliminate item 5.  

Budd:  Not really amending. Have another suggestion for form - add footer to each page that says ARB p1/x.  That would make it much easier to find a certain page.  

John:  Don't need to make it a motion.  They've got the message and all concur.  Discussion on motion to amend the agenda?  Hearing none, lets move to adopt amended agenda.  Adopted.

First Item:  Public Testimony - anyone want to testify.  One member- Sen Giessel:  Thanks Mr. Chairman.  Good afternoon.  Calling on behalf of myself.  Thank the board about hiring a Voting Rights consultant.  Worried about Census Bureau manipulating the data.  People knowledgable about the state and you should see the distortions.  Thank you.  

John:  

???:  Quick comment:  Thank Sen Giessel.  Concerned that Alaska Native/Aemerican issues with census.  

Giessel:  Glad to hear you're engaged.  Concern that data will be unfairly distorted.  

2:50pm Sound went dead.  

2:54pm  back on - Peter three responses that seem substantially qualified. We will keep the documents confidential until after someone is chosen.  That is to protect the competitive information from the other respondents.  Also to protect confidential information.  So for those reasons go into executive session, to interview voting rights consultants.  Again explaining details of legal reasons for going into ES

???:  Got text message that audio dropped.

Peter:  We paused for that and got it corrected.  Nothing was missed. 

2:50pm John:  Going into ES.  We set aside 45 minutes for each interview.  There are three.  It may not take that long.  Then we'll come out and discuss and possibly take action then.  

So back by 5:15pm maybe earlier.  

First respondent 

4:53 - out of ES

Discussion:  

Rasie hand or go right to motion regarding VRA itself.

Bethany:  I move the Board move into contract with selected responded and set up contract. 

Melanie: 2nd

John:  Discussion?  No discussion?  Adopted.  

Staff and myself will negotiate the contract and get back to public.

Last item on agenda.  If not motion to adjourn?

Melanie:  So moved

John:  Seconded by Budd.  No objection.  Adjourned.  

Redistricting Board Meets Tomorrow (Wednesday) May 26 at 2:30 Mostly Executive Session

 Call-in numbers:  Anchorage 563-9085, Juneau 586-9085, Other 844-586-9085 to listen and/or give testimony.

Here's the agenda for the meeting.  Most of it is minor procedural stuff.  

They will 

1.  Take public testimony

2.  Approve minutes for all the previous meetings - since they only recently hired a transcriptionist who had go through all the old minutes and tapes and do them in the format they approved recently.  All the old minutes up for approval are available here (along with the other documents for the meeting including the RFI that applicants are responding to.)

3.  Interview respondents to the Request For Information (RFI) for a Voting Rights Act consultant.  

4.  They may vote to select a consultant after the Executive Session.  

This is less important than ten years ago, before the Supreme Court struck down the requirement for 16 states (including Alaska) to get pre-clearance of their maps from the Department of Justice before they could adopt their maps.  The current bills - in the Senate the For the People Act, also known as H.R. 1 (Redistricting is covered in Section II) and in the House the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act - may change the rules again, but it's unclear if either will pass and if one does, in time to affect current redistricting.  The Senate bill has an outline which makes it easier to find sections.  But terms to search in both are 'redistricting' and 'preclearance.'

The Voting Rights consultant interviews will be done in executive session. The Board hasn't announced how many applicants there are or who they are.  

Date: Time: Place:

May 26, 2021 2:30 pm

T eleconference:

Public Numbers: Anchorage 563-9085, Juneau 586-9085, Other 844-586-9085

1. Call to Order

2. Establish a Quorum

3. Adoption of Agenda

Agenda

4. PublicTestimony (dial in to one of the phone numbers above and indicate to the operator that you wish to testify)

5. Adoption of Minutes from past meetings

6. Executive Session for the purposes of interviewing Voting Rights Act Consultant RFI Respondents

7. Board Discussion on selection of Voting Rights Act Consultant. Possible action.

8. Adjournment

Video About China's Contribution To Saving Wetlands Along International Flyways Of Migratory Birds [Updated]

[UPDATE:  Here's a link to a great site about birding and other wildlife in Beijing and beyond:  https://birdingbeijing.com.]

When I taught a masters of public administration class in Beijing in 2004, I paid close attention to the birds I saw.  We had a fifth floor walk up apartment in the faculty housing on campus and so we had a treetop view from our apartment.  The most prominent bird at the time was an azure magpie.  

But I was surprised to learn that most of my students were unaware of the birds on campus.  They simply didn't see them on campus.  They were surprised that there were birds and that their American professor was interested in them.  

I searched bookstores for birding guides.  I identified birds by taking pictures and sending them to a birder friend in Anchorage who sent them to her birder friend in Japan who would identify the birds and then I could google them to confirm.  

Eventually a student took me to the biggest bookstore in Beijing - about five stories - and we found a birding book published by, I think, the World Wildlife Association.  I'd even look straight up and sometimes see flocks of birds way, way up high above Beijing.  

So when Emily retweeted this video, I was excited.  The Chinese government has stopped reclamation projects along the Yellow Sea where migratory birds stop on their migration path.  

This post is for my students in Beijing. Ben (Frank), I hope you'll pass the video along to your old classmates.  

There is a variety of people speaking here - from China, from Cornell University, from New Zealand, and from Anchorage.  

Thanks to all these folks for making this happen.  (This video is dated May 23, 2021)

An Obsession With Motorcycle Gangs

The LA Times has an article today on Bo Bushnell, who became obsessed with collecting the memorabilia of outlaw motorcycle gangs.  He spent years finding and getting to know members and former members.  Many of the original members are now in their 70s or dead.  The article mentions at the end that Bushnell has a new obsession - street gangs.  

"It’s not that he’s obsessed with gangs any more than he was with motorcycle clubs.

“'The gangs and the clubs, they’re just the backdrop,' he said. 'It’s the people, and the personal stories, that fascinate me. I have always been interested in outsiders and outlaws, and these are the ultimate outlaws.'”

And I think that is something we need to always be doing all the time - look closer at the stereotypes we have of people and groups we only know through the media.  Yes, motorcycle clubs and street gangs have done terrible things.  But why?  Who are the people who were attracted to those organizations?  What do they have in common?  Are there things we can do as a society to minimize the number of people who get involved in organized violence against others?  I'm not sure Bushnell's interviews and documents answer those questions, but it's worth reading the article.  

"The real value of the collection is its capacity to correct the monstrous image of outlaw bikers and give them their true place in history, said Paul d’Orleans, motorcycle historian and curator of the influential bike culture website the Vintagent.

“These few hundred club members had an enormous impact on our culture at large by their mere existence, and they also created a unique and peculiarly American folk-art movement with their custom motorcycles,” D’Orleans said. Like it or not, he added, 'That movement evolved into a billion-dollar worldwide custom motorcycle industry'.”

Denali Day At Denali

 There was sun and blue sky mostly this morning and when we got to the first point on the park road with a view of Denali, there it was.  There were a few clouds near the top, but on closer look they were behind the mountain.

But even before we got to that point, we saw a porcupine.  I remember seeing one live porcupine in the wild in Alaska a long time ago, so this was a big deal. 

And then that first glimpse of Denali.  It's in the middle and looks like a cloud in the first picture.

But then, that's what the telephoto lens is for.  

I've got about 15 or 20 pictures of Denali today. I'll limit myself to these three.  It just dominates the view and may explain why we didn't see too many animals today.  We also didn't drive in that far because we knew we also had to go home today.  So we didn't go past the point where you could see the mountain.  

At one view point, I just climbed up the tundra above the road and kept looking back down at the expanding landscape and the mountain.  

Denali is still very much in early spring.  There are few (I don't remember seeing any) new green leaves.  And driving home, past the Denali viewpoint at mile 135, the trees seemed to go from just budding to full on new green.  But on my tundra hike I did see a few of these.  Don't know what they are.  

We came upon this ptarmigan while we had some classical Indian music on.  It seemed to pay close attention to the sitar and flute.  

This is a white crowned sparrow we encountered as we did the Savage River trail again, this time with sun shining on us.  

We saw a moose and a caribou outside the park on the way home.  A man was taking a picture next to his car along the highway.  I thought of the mountains to the east.  When suddenly a caribou dashes into the road in front of me and doesn't a 180 when he sees my car rushing toward it.  I guess that kind of quick change of direction is good wolf dodging genes.  Was the man waiting to take a picture of a caribou being hit by a car?  

This sad picture was near the road to Willow.  Remnants of a fire now that many years ago.  

The Riley Creek campgrounds now distinguishes between the under 30 foot and over 30 foot spaces.  Our VW camper doesn't take up much room, but for the most part the bigger spaces have more privacy.  So the space we normally have had we couldn't use.  We'd reserved online as in the past, but this year there was no place to do it live.  The Mercantile - the shop at Riley where you normally got your receipt - was closed.  And they had cards on all the A sites (>30 feet> telling you not to park there.  

Also, with the gas tax Anchorage added last year, gas is cheaper in Wasilla.  And amazingly, the cheapest was at Trapper Creek - $3.04 for unleaded.  

Caribou Day At Denali

 We saw lots of caribou, close by while hiking, and off in the distance today.  

And a couple of moose.

And a bear.

Lots of lichen on the rocks.  And a few ptarmigan.  

The hike along Savage River.

That should do it for today.  

Drive To Denali

 This is going to be quick.  I'm outside the visitor center to get WIFI and the mosquitoes are out.

We see good views of Denali a ways past Wasilla, but clouds were moving in.  When we got to the big view point at Mile 135 it was cloudy.  Was the white cloud on top the peak?  

It was the peak and as we watched, the clouds cleared up a bit and we saw more of the peak.

I just couldn't do this icy lake justice.  It's much more beautiful than the picture.

Near Summit Lake, we saw our first caribou.  We also saw a couple of moose, but I was driving and couldn't get a picture.

It was sunny all the way up, though it started raining slightly here.  The sun is out, but so are the mosquitoes.  

Misleading Headlines: "In A Divided City . . .'

 Most of the headlines in the Anchorage Daily News today are relatively straightforward, probably accurate descriptions.  

"CDC's mask guidance spurs confusion and criticism as well as celebration"

There may be more lurking in this headline than I see, but it seems fairly accurate.  

But let's look at the headline on the ADN's editorial about the election:

"In a divided city, Anchorge's new mayor will face a tough challenge immediately" 

My focus is on "in a divided city."   Sure, there has been an obvious division between at the moment between maskers and non-maskers, between those who put failing businesses ahead of people dying.  But I would note there are also lots of other divisions - racial, financial, educational, religious, for example - that have existed and will continue to exist.  But those aren't what the ADN seems focused on.  They're talking about politically divided.  

This is amplified further on in the editorial.  

"[the election] has left half of Anchorage's residents on one side of a yawning partisan gulf, and the remainder on the other side."

The people who voted - less than 40% of registered voters - are evenly split.  But the ADN editorial board has cited no polls or other evidence to show that those who did NOT vote are so evenly divided.  I don't think they are.  We have had a segment of our population that has been loud and righteous in opposing things like women's rights to choose to handle unwanted pregnancies and LGBTQ rights.  But that doesn't represent the majority of Anchorage residents as our generally progressive Assembly (city council) demonstrates.  

But it's careless to assume we are evenly split.  It mirrors the false impression that our Senate is evenly split, when in reality enough small population states that are Republican disproportionately skew the Senate to the right.  

"But, according to the calculation of Ian Millhiser, writing for Vox, if you add up the population of states and assign half to each of their two senators, “the Democratic half of the Senate represents 41,549,808 more people than the Republican half.”  From MinnPost

Of course, that claim is also misleading because not all the people the Democratic Senators represent are all Democrats either. But then, neither are the constituents of the Republican Senators all Republicans. 

The ADN editorial board does make this point in reminding our likely new mayor, Dave Bronson, that he represents not just his supporters, but also those who didn't support him.  But then further contradicting the Divided City of the headline, they write:

"Fortunately, there's more common ground than the rhetoric of the campaign would lead you to believe, and Bronson knows it.  In meeting with the ADN editorial board, he estimated that he and Dunbar agreed on about 89% of municipal policy. . ."

So we aren't so divided after all?  But conflict draws eyeballs and sells newspapers.

The real concern I have is between those who take it upon themselves to use intimidation and defiance of the law to make their points and to get their  way.  Only the delusional believe still that Trump was cheated out of the the presidency, yet the Republican Party supports that lie in refusing to refute it and in expelling Lynn Cheney for saying those words out lout.  While not censuring representatives who helped the rioters and continue to repeat the lies about the election.  

Senator Dan Sullivan, for example, is a Marine.  He, presumably, was ready to put his life on the line to defend the US Constitution.  Yet he's not ready to put his job on the line to defend the Constitution in the Senate.