I had some kitchen tasks to do - preparing some meals, baking a bread - so I asked Netflix for music and they gave me tick tick Boom as the first choice. I loved it when I first watched it; enough to watch it again. And so I put it on a third time. It was still good. Though I'm tempted to blame me not paying enough attention to the bread and screwing it up.
So let me recommend it here for folks with Netflix.
It's musical written by Jonathon Larson, about Jonathan Larson writing an earlier musical that never got performed. It shows the artist with a vision in his head that's keeping him poor because it's taking him years to get it on paper. He lives in a 5th floor walkup apartment in New York with his long time school friend, an aspiring actor.
The movie switches back and forth from Jonathon talking to an audience about the story and the actual events he's telling the audience. Music is never more than a beat away.
Andrew Garfield is amazing as Larson.
But more. Jonathan Larson, if you don't know (I didn't) went on to write Rent next. So we are essentially seeing the story of his struggle to survive in New York writing his musicals, waiting tables at a diner, until he makes it. All the while he thinks in music and lyrics.
Inspiring for people who are feeling despair at today's political situation.
But the music and the story are also captivating. And the dancing.
If you need more convincing, the movie was directed by Lin-Manual Miranda, the genius behind Hamilton! Here's a trailer.
Here are the lyrics of the song at the end of the trailer.
One reason I haven't blogged as much as usual: I'm still having problems loading photos from my to my laptop. After I chatted with an Apple (allegedly a real person in the Philippines), I got it to work. But the very next time it didn't again. Also we were in LA and San Diego for a memorial for a high school friend. I could have done some quick photo posts, but . . . the airdrop wasn't dropping. And yes, I could probably load them onto the blog all on the phone, but I haven't tried doing that.
So Tuesday evening, I brought my Canon camera to the Marston Auditorium to hear about the SAVE Act - presented by the ACLU, the League of Women's Voters, and the Native American Fund. That camera has an SD card and I have an attachment that lets me plug it into the laptop.
Mara Kimel, from the ACLU introduced the first speaker who had just flown up from LA. Xavier Presad outlined key problem areas of the Act
1. People required to prove they are US citizens to register to vote, they'll need:
birth certificate
passport
Voters' ids must have names that are the same as the name on their birth certificates, or be able to prove they officially changed their name. Anyone who has changed their name - adoptees, married women, for example - will need one of the IDs above to register to vote.
While Tribal IDs are listed in the ACT, many, if not most, do not include place of birth and a photo. So they won't be valid.
Real IDs from many states have the same problem.
A significant number of USians do not have passports and getting a birth certificate takes several weeks at least and costs $15 on up, depending on which state. So essentially, anyone trying to prove their nationality will have to get started at least a month before an election or they likely won't get their documentation back on time.
Another section, they said, makes it possible to remove people from the rolls without notification shortly before the election. So people will show up to vote, thinking they are registered, and won't have any of the documentation of their citizenship. And won't be able to vote. See language from the Act below on acceptable ID.
The panel after Prasad's talk
2. Registration has to be done in person. Everyone has to go to an election office to register to vote. This ends automatic registration for people who get a driver's license and registering online or having people authorized to register people at events or in front of the supermarket. For Alaska, it ends automatic voter registration when you apply for a Permanent Fund dividend. This puts a much bigger burden on election offices and on people who do not live near election offices. Alaska has only 6 Election Offices - Juneau, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Nome, Wasilla, and Kenai, which is a satellite office of the Wasilla office. This will make it much harder for rural Alaskans, on or off the road system, to register. Ir would even act like a poll tax for those who have fly to register. People in Tok would have to drive to Wasilla or Fairbanks. And they have to be there during office hours, so it could mean taking off work.
3.
Panelist Heather Annett, League of Women Voters
Criminalization of poll workers
People who do not appear on the precinct rolls who say they are registered but do not have proper identification (proving they are US citizens), can be given a provisional ballot to vote. But the SAVE Act makes it possible to criminally prosecute a poll worker and carries up to five years in prison.
This seems like it's designed to discourage poll workers from giving provisional ballots. It also seems to be a way to intimidate potential poll workers. If you look at the list of acceptable ID's how can an election worker be sure they are authentic, or that the state seal is authentic, or that it was filed with the office responsible to for vital statistics? Finding enough poll workers is already a problem due, in part, to harassment by GOP voters.
4. Unfunded Mandate. The Constitution gives the States some control over elections
Panelist Kristen Gerbatsch, Native American Rights Fund
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators."
But the bill doesn't authorize any funding for the massive changes states will have to make to the ways they register voters, check for proof of citizenship, and training for staff and poll workers on all the new regulations. I couldn't find a cost estimate, though I believe one of the speakers did give one.
Panelist Riza Smith, Action Alaska, Vet
5. Costs for people (especially rural folks) to register. This was alluded to in the section 2 - in person registration, but needs to be emphasized for Alaskans, many of whom live off the road system. They will have to fly or take a ship to get to a location that has an election office. And while some people may visit one of the six towns with an election office during the year, they have to go to the office during regular working hours. So weekends are out. For many this will require taking off work. If they're, say in Anchorage, for medical care, getting to the election office to register could be a real burden. A large number of the people living off the road system are Alaska Natives. For example:
Kayak ad for Anchorage to Dutch Harbor flight $1408 round trip
From the SAVE Act as of April 10, 2025 after passage in the House:
(1)
A form of identification issued consistent with the requirements of the REAL ID Act of 2005 that indicates the applicant is a citizen of the United States.
(2)
A valid United States passport.
(3)
The applicant's official United States military identification card, together with a United States military record of service showing that the applicant's place of birth was in the United States.
(4)
A valid government-issued photo identification card issued by a Federal, State or Tribal government showing that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.
(5)
A valid government-issued photo identification card issued by a Federal, State or Tribal government other than an identification described in paragraphs (1) through (4), but only if presented together with one or more of the following:
(A)
A certified birth certificate issued by a State, a unit of local government in a State, or a Tribal government which—
(i)
was issued by the State, unit of local government, or Tribal government in which the applicant was born;
(ii)
was filed with the office responsible for keeping vital records in the State;
(iii)
includes the full name, date of birth, and place of birth of the applicant;
(iv)
lists the full names of one or both of the parents of the applicant;
(v)
has the signature of an individual who is authorized to sign birth certificates on behalf of the State, unit of local government, or Tribal government in which the applicant was born;
(vi)
includes the date that the certificate was filed with the office responsible for keeping vital records in the State; and
(vii)
has the seal of the State, unit of local government, or Tribal government that issued the birth certificate.
(B)
An extract from a United States hospital Record of Birth created at the time of the applicant's birth which indicates that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.
(C)
A final adoption decree showing the applicant’s name and that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.
(D)
A Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a citizen of the United States or a certification of the applicant’s Report of Birth of a United States citizen issued by the Secretary of State.
(E)
A Naturalization Certificate or Certificate of Citizenship issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security or any other document or method of proof of United States citizenship issued by the Federal government pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act.
(F)
An American Indian Card issued by the Department of Homeland Security with the classification ‘KIC’.
Appendix 2: State Requirements in the Act
(3)
State requirements [this is only partial]
Each State shall take affirmative steps on an ongoing basis to ensure that only United States citizens are registered to vote under the provisions of this Act, which shall include the establishment of a program described in paragraph (4) not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection.
(4)
Program described
A State may meet the requirements of paragraph (3) by establishing a program under which the State identifies individuals who are not United States citizens using information supplied by one or more of the following sources:
(A)
The Department of Homeland Security through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) or otherwise.
(B)
The Social Security Administration through the Social Security Number Verification Service, or otherwise.
(C)
State agencies that supply State identification cards or driver’s licenses where the agency confirms the United States citizenship status of applicants.
(D)
Other sources, including databases, which provide confirmation of United States citizenship status.
I'd note, that the Privacy Act of 1974 requires all agencies that collect personal information from citizens and non-citizens to state on the document how that information will be used. The agencies are not allowed to share that information with anyone or any agency not listed. This would be a complete violation of the Privacy Act.
The Save Act has not been passed by the US Senate. It appears that it will face obstacles in the Senate. But the more people express their opposition the easier it will be for GOP senators to oppose the bill. You can contact your US Senators here.
I'm listening to the live House Rules Committee hearing on the "The One Big Beautiful Bill" (as the Republicans call it) at 10:30 pm Alaska time. That makes it 2:30am in Washington DC. As Democratic and Republican House members take turns; It's as though the Democrats and the Republicans are talking about completely different bills.
“Hey, the elephant is a pillar,” said the first man who touched his leg.
“Oh, no! it is like a rope,” said the second man who touched the tail.
“Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree,” said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
“It is like a big hand fan” said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
“It is like a huge wall,” said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
“It is like a solid pipe,” Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked
like they were getting agitated. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, “What is the matter?” They said, “We cannot agree to what the elephant is like.” Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, “All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched a different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said.”
Giving the best interpretation, the Republicans and the Democrats, are talking about different parts of the bill. One Republican said something like, "The Democrats don't want to support police and fire fighters.." I don't know what those parts of the bill actually say, but if those aren't the parts the Democrats are complaining about.
The Democrats are saying the bill:
1. Destroys medicaid
2. Gets rid of food assistance for children 5 million more hungry Americans
3. So people making over $3 million a year will get hundreds of thousands of dollar cuts in their taxes.
But I'm not sure that conclusion in the blind men story is accurate when it says that everyone is right because everyone is describing a different part of the elephant.
I'm inclined to believe that Democrats are doing a more accurate job of describing this bill. Why? Because this is Trump's bill and Trump lies more than all the previous presidents combined. In just one day. We also know that Trump has pushed hard on Republicans to vote for his bills and to support them. But I know that die-hard Republicans would reject my interpretation. We truly are living in completely different realities. For instance, the Republicans are focused on the fact that Federal employees get a better pensions than private employees. They don't mention that private employees tend to get paid more. And even more importantly, that private companies have been cutting retirement benefits for their employees. And they are succeeding in that because Congressional Republicans have weakened unions for 50 years. And finally, Federal retirement systems should be the aspiration of private sector employees, and that may be one of the reasons private sector employers do not like Federal retirement systems.
I also believe this because I was just at a public meeting hosted by the League of Women's Voters and the ACLU and the Native American Rights Fund, discussing the Save Act. This Act being pushed by Republicans is essentially a voter suppression bill. I'll get to that in the next post.
And Democrats are citing Conservative think tanks like the Manhattan Institute and Moody's lower the US credit rating, that the bill will raise the debt significantly. And they are quoting Republican Senators who say it will blow up the deficit.
For those of you reading from other parts of the world, you can listen in if you find this right away. I don't know if YouTube will leave this hearing up after it's over. If so, you can listen in and evaluate my perception.
I got help from Apple today to fix my problem with AirDropping the pictures on my phone to my laptop. We did it through Chat. They denied being AI and wrote they were in the Philippines. The fix was to go into my phone settings, down to 'transfer or reset phone' and then 'reset'. I was nervous that I'd lose a bunch of things, but so far it seems ok. And when I tried to upload the photos it worked.
The May Day protests in Anchorage were organized by local unions. It was hard to judge the size - we were on a flat area and I could get a position that let me look over the crowd. You could see the people around you but it was hard to tell how far back they went. Walking around I saw lots and lots of people and lots and lots of signs. I'd say at least 2000, probably a lot more. Close to 1% of the Anchorage population. Considering this is the third major rally in a month or so, it was a big crowd. It was also a Thursday afternoon, temperature in the high 40s F, threatening to rain (which it starting doing just after most people had left.)
Unlike the previous one I went to, this one was more than just a mass of people. There were booths of organizations involved in setting this up - various unions, particularly NEA and AFL-CIO.
You could get information about volunteering, about services offered, how to sign up for emails about future rallies.
A key group - along with the unions - was Stand Up Alaska.
One thing I've been thinking about is how these various organizations are coordinating with each other, how they are dividing tasks, how they are contacting the public, and what they are doing beyond having big rallies.
How are they letting people know what kind of action they can take? How do they determine what's most effective?
Are they tracking the kinds of questions people are asking?
My sense is that if things are going to change, the huge block of people who simply did not vote, needs to be mobilized.
As I look at these pictures, I see they're kind of dark and not terribly sharp. These are the ones I took with my telephoto lens. My phone pictures are still on my phone as the AirDrop is being balky again after a couple of weeks of quick and easy AirDrops.
Just trying to get this up. Trying to do too much has kept a number of posts from not making it at all.
Went trouble shooting and found that my MacBook Air Drop was set to "receiving off." Changed that to every ten minutes (not sure what that means in this case) and suddenly AirDrop worked like a charm.
ADDED So here are pics I took with the phone.
The Doormat Dan signs - referring to US Senator Dan Sullivan have been around and are professionally printed. But this display of the sign is someone's personal project.
I tried the Air Drop with just three pics and it worked. But then when I went to add the rest, the old problem came back. Airdrop failed.
[Guide to this post: This post reminds me of the rambling posts I used to do regularly. And it feels good, because the world is tangled up in complicated ways - there are few straight lines. This began as a post about the movie Sinners. But immediately got hijacked by some observations about movie theaters these days. There's a nod to Clarksdale, Mississippi. But then I switch quickly to what I think is a much more important movie - The Laundromat. But that too gets delayed as I talk about Lisa Murkowski's appearance today on Talk of Alaska and her interpretation of her recent "We're all afraid" comment. Which requires some background into what ecumenical means.
If you only want to read one part of this post, I recommend learning about The Laundromat. It's still available on Netflix if you have that. Skip down to that heading - bold and in capitals. Then skip past the part on Murkowski to learn about why I think the film is important.]
We haven't been out to see a movie very often lately. A couple of times while we were in Bainbridge - A Complete Unknown and The Brutalist. Two movies worth seeing.
I'd been hearing about Sinners on Spoutible and BlueSky. Not a lot, but that it was a sleeper big hit, it was a Black themed film. The parts that had me a bit skeptical mentioned horror elements.
Well Monday night is a discount night, as two seniors, we got in for a total of $14!! The tariffs haven't hit Anchorage theaters yet. But our choice of seats was front row or two separate single seats further back. We chose the later. Inside, it was actually pretty empty and we took one of our seats and I sat in the one next to it, my actual seat in the row ahead.
It did fill up a bit more, but no one claimed my seat.
When I say it was full, I probably have to remind folks that the theaters have all been remodeled. There are far fewer total seats, and the ones you get are lounge seats where the head tilts back and the feet up. So a full theater has a lot fewer viewers than in the past.
Later: I didn't finish this. Sinners is a forgettable movie. Except for the music. I don't know what the creators were thinking. We'll do some Black history, but that doesn't sell enough (a dubious premise) so we'll add some great blues music, and to catch today's audience, we'll add in a vampire massacre. And we'll locate it in Clarksdale, Mississippi - the Birthplace of the Blues. (We actually visited Clarksdale and the Blues Museum. Visiting Mississippi was sort of like visiting Albania or North Korea in my mind - a place forbidden and evil. It wasn't our destination, but it was between Chicago and New Orleans by car. But that's a story for another day.)
This feels like one of my old blogposts, that wandered and jumped, as life does and as thoughts do. So let's jump back into the present future.
Why do people say the Democratic party is not really any different from the Republican party? Because deep down, they are both corrupted by money and protection of the wealthy. The Republicans are a lot more open about that. They think rich people are the product of hard work and deserve all they get.
The Democrats are a little embarrassed by their dependence on the rich. They cover this addiction (well it's almost required if you want to have enough money to campaign, thanks to Citizens United) by trying to make the lives of those screwed over by the system a little more bearable. They try to spread a bit of equality to more people, but their hands are just as dirty with money, and they go to parties with lots of people whose wealth comes from less than pristine morals and behavior.
NO, NO, NO, I'm not saying they are the parties are the same, or that life under a Harris administration would have been no different from the disaster of the current Republican Administration. [Someone suggested online today, not to mention his name, but to say Republican Administration instead to make sure all the cowards in the House and Senate are fully implicated in what's going on. After all, they could end this non-violent coups if they chose to. What do you think?)
THE LAUNDROMAT
So, tonight after falling asleep listening to Lisa Murkowski on Talk of Alaska, in what seemed an attempt to clean up her confession to being afraid, that 'We are all afraid' by saying, "It was kind of an ecumenical 'we' . . . When I say Lisa Murkowski is afraid, it's not in a cowardly way." She's not, afraid of things like being primaried, she said. She's hearing from Alaskans who are losing their jobs, from Alaskans whose grant monies and contracts have been halted. "So when I say 'we' I have to include myself as an Alaskan. She also spoke of her oath to uphold the Constitution and her responsibilities under Article 1. "I'm seeing an erosion of the boundaries, if you will, between the Executive and the Legislative branch..." As I say I fell asleep during this and I'm resurrecting her words through the podcast up at Talk of Alaska. (The comments I'm referring to start around 6 minutes in.) And if you are a little confused by her reference to the 'ecumenical we' as I was, here's a little refresher. Maybe she didn't want to say the 'royal we' and 'ecumenical' was the only other 'we' she could think of. Maybe she thought it would imply some sort of bi-partisan message. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, atheists and agnostics, not included I guess.
"The Ecumenical Movement is a key effort in the Christian faith. It works to bring different Christian groups around the world together. Its importance is seen in religious fellowship and the chase of shared goals. The word ‘ecumenical’ comes from ‘oikoumen?,’ the Greek word for “the inhabited world.” Over time, it has gained a special theological meaning. The word’s evolution shows a move from ordinary to sacred, going from a word about geography to a sign of hope to unite Christians.
"The Ecumenical Movement started as an answer to the need for unity in the Christian church. The church was split by arguments over belief and competitive missions. Through history, ecumenical councils played key roles. They helped form the faith’s theology and practices. This includes councils from the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. These meetings show the ongoing effort to find what the Ecumenical Movement is today. This effort is helped by groups like the World Council of Churches and places like Taizé that focus on community spirituality." (From Faithonview.com)
But all th's Murkowski stuff slipped in because I got a bit of a nap this evening so I felt like I could partake in a bit of Netflix and while randomly exploring, found a movie called The Laundromat. It turns out I saw this already on Netflix.
It's an important film for USians to watch to understand why some people say there is no difference between the two political parties. The very rich invite politicians of both parties to their parties, and most politicians accept the invitations. (OK, I'm just saying that. I don't have statistics. But I'm pretty sure it's true in a general sort of way.)
It's not your run of the mill movie. It's a semi-fictional account of a woman whose husband dies in a freak boating accident and she learns that the boating company's insurance isn't going to pay. She is told about shell companies and holding companies and off shore accounts. We also meet a couple of wealthy men, business partners, Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca who tell us their side of the story.
Mossack and Fonseca. Is that ringing any bells? Remember the Panama Papers? When a law firm in Panama got hacked and all their clients and shell companies got exposed? That was Mossack and Fonseca.
It's essentially a movie that attempts to tell us in a down-to-earth way about how the world is rigged against most people by the very wealthy. Generally we just hear stuff that says we're screwed.
" 735 U.S. billionaires hold more wealth ($0.4 trillion more) than the bottom 50% of American households." (I picked this claim because this is from Snopes checking out a statement by Robert Reich, so it was fact checked somewhat.)
The movie tells us a little bit more about how it happens.
Wikipedia says the movie got mixed reviews. But I'm guessing because it's imaginative, clever, and takes a very dry and difficult subject and makes it relatable to the average person. And the only vampires are allegorical blood suckers.
Steven Soderbergh (a very inventive filmmaker) directed it and it stars Meryl Streep as an ordinary USian who wants to know who is screwing her over. Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas play the two Panama lawyers who got hacked.
As Trump is leaning on Congress to pass a huge tax cut for the very rich, this film does give us a glimpse of how slimy it all is.
I've got six post started from the press club. My SF grandkids and their parents were here last week. The world social, political, legal, and economic foundations are being multiple times daily by the current US president.
With the press club posts, I took notes here (on Blogspot), but it didn't seem right to just post notes, yet there were so many panels that I didn't really have time to do the panelists or my readers right, so they are just dangling there as 'drafts.'
While most Anchorage bowl snow was gone when the grandkids arrived, we did find some puddles sealed in sheets of ice, which they had a great time breaking and then holding large pieces. They also liked bouncing sticks off of a still mostly frozen Goose Lake on bike ride to Goose Lake. Then on along
Northern Lights, the back of APU, and home. I knew my grandson would be fine - because he and I did a long bike ride in SF last year. But my granddaughter was also a champ. I'd warned them there might be some snow still on the trail, but by it was all gone, which disappointed my grandson. But he found dirt path that went off into the woods and still had some snow. And off he went. (He's 10 and she's 8.)
We also made it to the bead shop in the Golden Donut mall at Lake Otis and Tutor. There are all kinds of beads and other string able objects like porcupine quills.
At the west end of the mall is the Stars of Alaska Rock Shop. I'd put it on the list of places to take visitors to Anchorage.
It's a crazy crowded shop full of, rocks, of course, but also fossils, and amazing things.
How about a mosasaurus skull. Actually, I don't think that was for sale.
Owner Martin Warfield was unpacking a new shipment of Amonites - 'an extinct cephalopod mollusk' - that lived 280 million years ago.
Here's a closer look at a half of one.
Another big hit was Bosco's, Anchorage's really good comic, games, sports cards, etc. shop. As was Title Wave used book store.
And Wild Scoops Ice Cream shop.
And a hike at McHugh Creek.
We saw the eagle on our hike.
So that's some of what's been going on. Other silly problems, like not having a port in my newish (late last summer) MacBook Air for my SD card from my telephoto lens. Which I corrected today. But that's why I never got up a picture of the April 5 Anchorage demonstration against the Trump administration. But now that I have the card reader, I may put some up. It was crowded.
And I'm still working with my 3rd grader every day as a volunteer at my local elementary school. He's doing well. And I've got 200 km on my bike since we got back in March. So I'm keeping busy.
The Press Club Conference begins. This is the first time I remember a conference when it was snowy.
Let's see how best I can do this.
These are notes from the first panel I went to on how journalists can use AI ethically, by Sage Smiley.
I have consciously resisted AI - getting old?, doing my own thing? resistance to change? just suspicious? - probably all of those. So this was a good chance to hear from someone who has had a Fellowship to learn about AI.
AI is a tool. AI can't be ethical or unethical. It's the users of AI, the people who use it, who will use it ethically or unethically. And given that the majority party in Congress and the occupant of the White House have shown themselves to be ethically challenged, I still have serious concerns here.
Perhaps I could say this panel was about how journalists can be more ethical if they want to be ethical and use AI. And that's what the title of this presentation says: "Ethicallt Using AI as a Journalist"
A questioner at the end said he's strongly opposed to AI, and the response was that this is how journalists can use it, and if they don't use it, they won't understand it. If we are going to write about AI, we have to know what it is and how it works."
There was a lively and helpful discussion.
The rest are my raw notes as I try to give a sense of what's happening here in close to real time, while being able to get on to the next panel. Treat these just as my notes as I took them during the session to give you an idea of what was covered.
Sage Smiley, AI - How to ethically harness the robots
I've been skeptical, environmentally and other ways. Applied for Fellowship to find out more
What do you know?
Use Quad, ??? transcribing interviews, ChatGPT - makes things up.
Places we can use AI, but doesn't replace humans. Can do things we can't but it is infallible.
Paywalls, academic journals, AI legally can't be legally looking at that. People can go beyond that.
Ethics, Tools, Examples
Proprietary AIs - BBC, Financial Times - Building the AI Playground
