Alaska Supreme Court Finds Redistricting Board Gerrymandered A Second Time

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Thursday May 26, 2022 · 7:32 PM PDT

2022/05/26 · 19:32

The Alaska Redistricting Board doesn’t get much attention because Alaska has only one House seat. Our redistricting is only for State and House seats. But as partisan politics expands to state and local levels, it does matter.

The Board has five members. Two appointed by the Governor, Conservative Republican Mike Dunleavy. He appointed a Juneau lawyer, who said in a deposition, he was appointed because there aren’t many Republicans in Southeast Alaska (not quite true.) His wife is heavily active in the Alaska Republican party. (And the Alaska Constitution prohibits selecting Board members based on party.) The Governor’s second choices was the CEO of the Alaska Policy Forum, a Libertarian Koch franchise. The Republican President of the State Senate appointed another Republican and former State Senator. The Independent Speaker of the House appointed an Alaska Native woman who is head of a local Native organization. The non-partisan Chief Justice appointed another Alaska Native woman who’s the attorney for a state wide Native organization.

They got most of the state taken care of without much dispute. All the meetings were publicly accessible by phone, any by video conference, and in person. The Executive Director did a yeoman job with the website and getting audio, video, and sometimes even transcripts up quickly. And making all the litigation information and key documents available. He also put up all the public testimony, generally within 24 hours.

But the clash came over Anchorage Senate pairings. The three Republican appointed members held firm for a map which gave Eagle River, a conservative, suburban, wilder (geographically), white area that’s part of the Municipality of Anchorage, but about 12 miles north with two military bases and state park in between. There were two Eagle River house seats, but instead of pairing them for the Senate seat, they paired one with a diverse, lower income neighborhood in Anchorage that was only connected by state park land. When a similar Senate district was created in the 2011 redistricting, the only black State Senator was knocked out of office by the Eagle River voters who’d been added to the district. The other Eagle River district was paired with a district that had 2/3 of its population living on Joint Base Elmendorf Fort Richardson (JBER), and 1/3 living off base in north urban Anchorage. Again, a much more diverse and lower income district than the Eagle River district it was paired with. The two Alaska Native women Board member refused to sign the Proclamation Plan until it was rewritten to say “Disapprove” on the signature page, and they made statements at the meeting calling out the plan as partisan gerrymandering.

Long story short, the map was challenged and the Superior Court judge and then the State Supreme Court ruled the challenged of the Eagle River/East Anchorage Senate district to be unconstitutionally (Alaska constitution) gerrymandered and ordered the Board to remap.

They did. The choices were narrowed down to Option 2, a map drawn by the plaintiffs who had sued originally. That map paired the two Eagle River districts together. The other final map, Option 3B, was drawn by long time Alaskan Republican operative, former head of the Alaska Republican Party, and a participant in the previous two redistricting processes (to be clear, that’s all describes just one person.) That map decoupled one of the Eagle River house districts from the East Anchorage district and paired it with a district in South Anchorage. Their boundary was in one of the largest state parks in the country. You can walk a mountainous trail for 25 miles or so, to get ‘directly’ from one district to the other. Or you can drive further through several other districts. They left the military base/downtown district paired with the other Eagle River district. There are no direct roads the public can use to get from one side of that Senate district to the other either.

Again the Republic majority approved the option that split Eagle River into two Senate seats.

The two Alaska Native women again loudly protested and again got the signature sheet to designate “Disapprove” where they signed.

And again it was challenged and again the Superior Court judge found it to be unconstitutional gerrymandering and ordered the Board to choose Option 2 as the interim plan for the 2022 election (deadline for candidates to file to run in June 1.)

The two members of the Board minority even privately hired an attorney this time so they could be amicus curiae, arguing the Board’s response to the lawsuits was invalid because it had been done by the two person ‘litigation committee’ in private and the decision to approve it hadn’t been made by the whole Board in public as required by the Alaska Public Meetings Act. The Supreme Court collectively raised their eyebrows, and the Board met on Sunday May 22, 2022 to again approve the Option 3B map and to reaffirm the litigation subcommittee by 3-2. The Supreme Court then turned down the amicus request.

Two days later, Tuesday, May 24, 2022, the Alaska Supreme Court agreed with the lower court. On Wednesday, May 26, the Board met again and voted 5-0 to adopt the interim plan Option 2, which pairs the two Eagle River districts together, as ordered by the courts.

The Supreme Court still has to write out its more detailed decisions and give the Board instructions on how to resolve the maps for the rest of the decade. It’s hard to imagine the Board majority trying to split up Eagle River again, and I’m assuming the interim map will become the permanent map. But no guarantees.

Some observations.

While there are more Republicans than Democrats, in the Alaska Legislature, the Republicans aren’t united. The House is run by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats with a minority Republican caucus. The Senate was also last time. So the kind of Republicans who get elected makes a difference.

Alaska is one of about 14 states that chooses judges using a merit based nominating process enshrined in the Alaska Constitution. People apply for open judge positions. The Alaska Judicial Council surveys judges, attorneys, jurors, police, social service workers, and court observers. Then the Council identifies the ‘most qualified’ and forwards three or four names to the Governor. It means that decisions are far more based on the law than on partisan or personal beliefs of the judges.

While the two Board minority members were belittled by Right wing social media, they refused to be silenced, argued their position, and eventually prevailed.

I’ve been covering the Alaska Redistricting process closely since December 2020. An annotated index of all my 2020-2022 posts is at whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/...

Is Facebook Trying To Steal Your Library Records?

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday June 07, 2020 · 12:28 PM PDT

2020/06/07 · 12:28

Screenshot of Anchorage Library page with Facebook dropdown window asking to track my library activity

It was my understanding that librarians were zealous about keeping library patron's reading habits private. Here is the first part of the American Library Association's Privacy and Confidentiality Q&A at their website:

From the American Library Association:

"In a library, user privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others. Confidentiality exists when a library is in possession of personally identifiable information (see No. 2. “What is personally identifiable information“) about users and keeps that information private on their behalf. Confidentiality is a library’s responsibility. This responsibility is assumed when library procedures create records including, but not limited to closed-stack call slips, computer sign-up sheets, registration for equipment or facilities, circulation records, what websites were visited, reserve notices, or research notes.

Libraries should limit the degree to which personally identifiable information is collected, monitored, disclosed, retained, and transmitted while fulfilling their duty to comply with their state’s library confidentiality statute. Libraries involved in training volunteers, new employees, student assistants, or trustees should inform them of the requirements that they not abuse confidentiality and that they protect library users’ rights of privacy.

For ALA’s privacy policies and “Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights,” see the web site, 'Privacy and Confidentiality.'”

So when I got an email from my local library (Loussac in Anchorage) saying I could pick up some books on hold under their new post Corona lockdown policy, I checked how to do it. You have to set up an appointment - like picking up groceries you've ordered online.

So I clicked on the video. Immediately there was a drop down window (See image at top)

Do you want to allow "facebook.com" to use cookies and website data while browsing "anchoragelibrary.org"?

This will allow "facebook.com" to track your activity.

Don't Allow Allow

When I hit "Don't Allow" the video wouldn't start. The window sits there waiting for you to click on "Allow." And I'm sure a lot of folks will. The video wasn't that important to me (I can't think of anything important enough for me to allow Facebook to track my library record. But I get it that they are probably tracking a whole lot more than I realize.)

I figured out if I did nothing, the video starts, but when I hit Don't Allow as the video is running it would stop. This is clearly set up to get people to hit "Allow"

I immediately emailed the head librarian - with this image - and she quickly thanked me for the alert.

That was three days ago and it's still happening at this page as I write this.

So I'm just warning folks about this. If this is really Facebook trying to sneak into people's library records, it's horrendously outrageous. It's like a backdoor around the American Library Association policies.

Or perhaps it could be some hacker using Facebook as a cover. Either way, I'd strongly warn people to avoid hitting the Allow button.

I don’t know if this is happening to other libraries, but thought I should alert people about this.

Originally posted at What Do I Know?

Lincoln Under House Arrest, Sanctuaries for Soldiers, Police Unions

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday June 03, 2020 · 2:18 PM PDT

2020/06/03 · 14:18

The images from yesterday’s protests have impacted me like they have everyone else. Here are some thoughts.

The media framed Martha Raddatz’ photo as soldiers protecting the Lincoln Memorial, as if protesters were going to attack and damage it. I couldn’t help think they were locking Lincoln in so he wouldn’t join the protestors. Imagine a giant marble Lincoln marching with the crowds.

Then I saw this video exchange between a protestor and a soldier which led me to think that we need to set up sanctuaries for military who find themselves ordered to confront and attack American citizens peacefully protesting. We need safe places with good attorneys so they can put down their weapons and refuse to participate in Trump's war on his critics. Nuremberg surely offers them legal protections from obeying unlawful orders.

Watch all of this. pic.twitter.com/YHq0QhXrnw

Ã¢ÂÂ Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBC) June 2, 2020

Finally this thought was presented by Mica Herskind on Twitter and people weren't getting his point:

liberals have learned to call racism "systemic" but then suggest exclusively non-systemic fixes like police trainings as solutions
Ã¢ÂÂ micah herskind (@MicahHerskind) June 2, 2020

They wanted to know what was wrong with police trainings as solutions. Well, this is something I know a little about.

1. Police training aims at changing individual attitudes & behavior

2. Systemic reform changes structures and procedures in institutions that reinforce racist attitudes and behavior

Trying to 'train' people out of racism when the system they're in continues to reward racist behavior and punish people who fight racism just doesn't work. How do police systems structurally support racism? The police code of silence punishes police who inform on corrupt, violent, and racist behaviors of their fellow officers. Less than transparent “human resources” rules such as selection and promotion procedures are greater obstacles for minorities than for whites.

My first direct encounter with this was while I was doing research in the City of Pasadena for my doctoral dissertation many years ago. I was interviewing department heads on the privacy practices for personnel files. I was taking notes as the city's doctor - who did physical exams on applicants, particularly for the police and fire departments - showed me how the files were managed. At some point he showed me some X-rays he used to screen out applicants. One had a different curvature in the spine from the others. If they have this curve, he told me, they are going to have back problems in the future, so we screen them out now. Then, almost as an afterthought, he mentioned that all blacks have that curve. He'd known me all of maybe 45 minutes and just assumed I would see nothing wrong with that. He didn't know that the new City Manager was questioning me every day about what I was finding.

More recently I served as an expert witness for a fire fighter who sued the Municipality of Anchorage because of discrimination when he failed the subjective part of the promotion exam several times. He scored well on the objective parts, but not in the part where the all white panel makes judgments about people's 'moral' strengths. He won a $700,000 judgment. But only after taking the significant career and financial risks of hiring an attorney and suing his employer. I'd note the Fire Fighters union also found nothing wrong with the process when he went to them for help, but then they represented the members of the promotion panel too. It was then I began to see that police and fire fighter unions make large contributions to mayors and council candidates. Police reform is hard when the union is made up of 80 or 90 percent white officers. I strongly believe in the importance of unions, but I also see where they can perpetuate racist systems. Mayors are reluctant to make significant changes that would negatively impact the members of unions that make large donations to their campaigns.

Changing these hidden parts of the system, which few people understand is what we mean by systemic or institutional change.

[Original version posted at whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/...]

The Knees Of Candidates

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 18, 2020 · 11:40 AM PST

2020/02/18 · 11:40

LA County District Attorney candidates at debate

Really? Women are still expected to bare their knees and walk on stilts while men are allowed to walk on more solid shoes and cover their whole legs? This is 2020. The ERA has been ratified by 38 states. Men should have to compete fairly. Since we call these political 'races' why don't we require all male racers to compete in the same racing uniform as the women?

I put the picture up because we are so accustomed to seeing women and men dressed like this that we don't even SEE the disparity. It’s just how things are. I'm hoping readers will start really seeing this sort of thing in the future.

Women candidates are expected to dress 'like women.' They are allowed to dress like men to the extent they may wear pants. But if they wore a man’s suit and tie and shoes, it would be weird. It’s all the media would write about. Male candidates would never show up to a debate dressed like the female candidate in this picture. That alone tells us a lot about male/female equality and power. It’s ok for women to dress a bit more like a man, but not the other way around.

I think candidates in a debate like this should be asked about what they are wearing, how they chose their clothing, why, and how their outfit reflects the power of men and women in our society and in elections.

I suspect everyone responds, viscerally, a little differently. Do the bare legs enhance the woman's appeal to voters? Distract from what she says? How would the man wearing shorts affect voters? There's a lot more to unpack from this picture.

[The photo, by Irfan Khan, is from the LA Times print version of the story (the online version has different pictures) and is of Jackie Lacey and George Gascón both running for Los Angeles County District Attorney.]

[Adapted from a post at What Do I Know?]

Dear Senator Dan Sullivan, I Recommend John F. Kennedy's Profiles In Courage

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday October 31, 2019 · 10:15 AM PDT

2019/10/31 · 10:15

Dan Sullivan in Republican Primary Debate August 2014 — Alaska's Junior US Senator Dan Sullivan

You served in the Marines and still do part of the year. The Marines are known as fearless fighters for democracy.

I don't have any details on how you served on the battlefield. When you were sworn in as a US Senator, you took an oath to

“. . . support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic . . .”

In Congress, I don't see that Marine courage engaged in the fight to protect the US Constitution.

Instead I see you and many other Republican Senators holding back, weighing the personal consequences of doing the right thing, and waiting until enough others step forward first.

That doesn't seem to me to be the Marine we elected to the Senate.

The evidence against the president is overwhelming. Just read, or have your staff read for you, Seth Abramson's Proof of Conspiracy. If that doesn’t convince you, let me know all the places he's wrong.

Just read the Mueller Report. The whole report with the grand jury material as well.

I would also suggest you read John F. Kennedy's slim volume, Profiles in Courage, which is about eight US Senators. (The link takes you to an online version.) I know your time is limited, but sometimes people need to take a break to reflect on their values. Sort of like looking at a moral map to make sure you’re going in the right direction. There's also a free audio version so you could listen while working out.

Kennedy writes:

"This is a book about that most admirable of human
virtues — courage. “Grace under pressure,” Ernest
Hemingway defined it. And these are the stories
of the pressures experienced by eight United States Senators
and the grace with which they endured them — the risks to
their careers, the unpopularity of their courses, the defama-
tion of their characters, and sometimes, but sadly only some-
times, the vindication of their reputations and their
principles.
A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which
in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to
insist upon or reward that quality in its chosen leaders today
— and in fact we have forgotten."

Kennedy, the junior Senator from Massachusetts when he wrote the book, also asked readers to be understanding of the pressures a senator faces. He quotes two former senators and others whose descriptions of the senate are not laudatory. Then he continues:

"I am convinced that the complication of public business and the com-
petition for the public’s attention have obscured innumerable
acts of political courage — large and small — performed almost
daily in the Senate Chamber. I am convinced that the decline
— if there has been a decline— has been less in the Senate
than in the public’s appreciation of the art of politics, of the
nature and necessity for compromise and balance, and of the
nature of the Senate as a legislative chamber. And, finally, I
am convinced that we have criticized those who have for-
lowed the crowd — and at the same time criticized those who
have defied it — because we have not fully understood the
responsibility of a Senator to his constituents or recognized
the difliculty facing a politician conscientiously desiring, in
Webster’s words, “to push [his] skiff from the shore alone”
into a hostile and turbulent sea. Perhaps if the American
people more fully comprehended the terrible pressures which
discourage acts of pohtical courage, which drive a Senator
to abandon or subdue his conscience, then they might be
less critical of those who take the easier road — and more
appreciative of those still able to follow the path of courage."

Senator, this short book tells the stories of

John Quincy Adams
Daniel Webster
Thomas Hart Benton
Sam Houston
Edmund G. Ross
Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar
George Norris
Robert A. Taft

I hope that reading it will remind you of your duty to the Constitution, to truth, to the people of the Alaska and the United States, as you ponder the pros and cons of voting to convict the president, if and when the Senate takes up his impeachment. Also talk to Alaska's senior Senator who seems to know some of this already.

[I'd note that Kennedy cites these Senators for specific acts that displayed great courage. Those acts have not always redeemed other actions these men committed. And perhaps John F. Kennedy's view from the US culture of 1955 would not always be consistent with more modern understandings of American history.]

Argentina Presidential Elections - Mendoza Preview Today, Plus Wos' Canguro Music Video

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday September 29, 2019 · 1:41 PM PDT

2019/09/29 · 13:41

Fountain, Parque San Martin, Mendoza, Argentina

There’s a regional election in Mendoza, Argentina that is likely to give people a better sense of the October 27 national Argentine presidential elections.. I haven’t read much about this election in the US media I generally consume. But since I spent a month in Argentina — and a week of that in Mendoza —this summer, I knew about the election and I was curious and looked beyond my normal media. Perhaps the most interesting — for US readers — is the political trap video that's near the bottom, which is worth a post all of its own. It's very catchy, even without understanding the lyrics. Be sure to watch it. Will this sort of thing be part of the US election in 2020?

So, here’s a very brief overview of the elections first. During our visit in June and July people all agreed they were being squeezed by high inflation and life was getting harder. Argentina is a country with a history much longer than the US and in the early 1900s was one of the wealthiest in the world. People are sophisticated. They have free health care and free university education. Current President Macri has imposed harsh economic restrictions. People we talked to were not shy in voicing their opinions for one candidate or the other.

From AS/COA (Americas Society/Council on the Americas)

"Argentina’s first-round vote on October 27 will see the election of president and vice president, and nearly half of congressional seats (130 deputies and 24 senators). While President Mauricio Macri is in the running for a second term, Argentines chose who else will appear on the ballot in the August 11 primary elections, known as the PASO. The main obstacles to the pro-business president of the Together for Change coalition are Argentina’s economic recession and a peronist front. He polls behind center-left Alberto Fernández, who's running mate is former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Some 33 million Argentines are eligible to cast the compulsory vote, which will go on to a November runoff if none of the presidential candidates wins at least 45 percent, or 40 percent with a 10-point margin over the runner-up."

From Forbes:

"On September 29 the Argentine province of Mendoza will elect its governor and renew one-half of its bicameral legislature. Mendoza is Argentina’s fifth most populous province, and one of only five provinces (out of 24) currently governed by a member of President Mauricio Macri’s Together for Change alliance. A Together for Change victory in Mendoza would provide a glimmer of optimism for a dignified loss by Macri in the October 27 presidential election against Peronist Alberto Fernández (and against Fernández’s vice presidential nominee, former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner) as well as provide hope for some Together for Change down ballot success in congressional races. In contrast, a defeat would foreshadow a potential shellacking on October 27 and demoralize the Together for Change forces even more than they already are. . ."

[This article was written by "Mark P. Jones[who] is the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies and the Director of the Center for Energy Studies’ Argentina Program at Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy."]

Mendoza is in Western Argentina, up against the Andes. There’s very little rain. Most of the water comes from Andes runoff that is elaborately channeled to irrigate the Argentina’s main wine region. The desert conditions give the fountain in the huge Parque San Martin (top photo) added symbolism.

Modern Vistante Winery, Mendoza, Argentina June 2019 — Vistante Winery - Mendoza is the center of the Argentine wine industry — lots of Malbec

Mendoza is also a center for olive oil.

mixing and testing room at Pasrai olive oil factory, Mendoza, Argentina — Pasrai olive oil factory, Mendoza, Argentina

And here's a more personal reporting style from www.americasquarterly.org/...that leads this post to the video below.

"BUENOS AIRES - “He can’t stop coughing/working 12-hour-long shifts/he makes two meager coins a day to support a family of four/and don’t talk to me about meritocracy, don’t be funny, don’t screw with me/because without opportunities/that mierda doesn’t work.”

It’s hard to miss the frustration driving the lyrics of “Canguro,” a song written by 21-year-old Argentine trap star Wos, whose criticisms of the status quo under President Mauricio Macri have struck a chord with many. Debuting just days before the August primary election that delivered a blow to Macri’s reelection prospects, the song quickly climbed the charts and has racked up over 44 million views on YouTube.

Wos is among a cohort of young public figures who have used popular culture and social media to mobilize opposition to Macri among youth. The demographic has been hit particularly hard by the recession under the current government. In the second quarter of 2019, unemployment among ages 14 to 29 rose to 18.6% for men and to 23.4% for women, according to the latest government figures."

Here's Wos' video. With the introduction above you can get a good sense of the power of this song even without understanding Spanish. It says it has (today) 53 million hits since August 8. That's about six weeks.

YouTube Video

And here's a version with the lyrics as he sings.

Below are just the lyrics from Genius.com in bold. I've added a Google Translate English version (take it with a grain of salt) in italics.

[Letra de "CANGURO"]

[Intro]

Hoy no voy a salir y voy a quedarme en la' nube' donde nadie sube

[Estribillo]

(Uah) No vengas a molestar, dicen que está todo mal‚ bueno

(Uah) Yo estoy más que bien acá y no te pienso ni mirar‚ ciego (Ciego)

Vamo'‚ repriman la mierda que tienen guardada en el pecho

Traguen y callen hasta estar desecho', párense siempre derecho

"Cállenlo, sédenlo‚ que haga lo que quiera, pero sáquenlo" y

"Cállenlo, sédenlo‚ que haga lo que quiera, pero sáquenlo"

Ey, háganme caso, ¿o no tienen claro que soy el rey?

Háganme caso que soy la ley, dame mis blíster', mis Parisiennes, wah

["CANGURO" lyrics]:

[Enter]

I'm not going out today and I'm going to stay in the 'cloud' where nobody goes up

[Chorus]

(Uah) Don't come bother, they say it's all wrong ‚well

(Uah) I'm more than good here and I don't even think about you ‚blind (Blind)

Vamo '‚repress the shit they have in their chest

Swallow and shut up until you are wasted ', always stand straight

"Shut it up, know it‚ do what you want, but take it out "and

"Shut it up, know it‚ do what you want, but take it out "

Hey, pay attention to me, or are you not sure that I am the king?

Listen to me that I am the law, give me my blister ', my Parisiennes, wah

[Verso 1]

Patada de canguro, golpe duro

No vamo' a parar con esto, negro, te lo juro

Traje cianuro pa' meterle' en el trago

Cinco minuto' acá y ya estamo' causando estragos

Un mago nos quiere hacer desaparecer

Pero esta plaga rara nunca para de crecer

Somo' de los pocos locos que andan buscando placer

Y aunque quieran vernos roto', no damo' brazo a torcer

No para de toser, trabajando doce hora'

Cobra dos moneda' al mes pa' mantener cuatro persona'

Y no hables de meritocracia, me da gracia, no me joda'

Que sin oportunidades esa mierda no funciona

Y no, no hace falta gente que labure más

Hace falta que con menos se pueda vivir en paz

Mandale gas, no te perdás, acordate dónde estás

Fijáte siempre de qué lado de la mecha te encontrás

[Verse 1]

Kangaroo kick, hard hit

I'm not going to stop with this, black, I swear

Cyanide suit to get him in the drink

Five minutes 'here and I'm already' wreaking havoc

A wizard wants to make us disappear

But this weird plague never stops growing

Somo 'of the few crazy people who are looking for pleasure

And even if they want to see us broken ', I don't dare' arm to twist

He doesn't stop coughing, working twelve hours'

Charge two coins' per month to 'keep four people'

And don't talk about meritocracy, I'm funny, don't fuck me '

That without opportunities that shit doesn't work

And no, you don't need people to work anymore

It is necessary that with less one can live in peace

Send gas, don't get lost, remember where you are

Always notice which side of the wick you found

[Verso 2]

Dice: "What up? Esto pega como coca"

La gente baila loca, el cuello se disloca

La droga en lo' dedo', que vaya de boca en boca

Sentís como te choca, esa vaina subió la nota

Salto como una pulga, empezó la purga

Largo todo fresco como un PXXR GVNG, hijo de…

Otra vez con sed entre fiebres y migraña'

Vuelvo a soñar con un viejo en el medio de una montaña

Me miró y me dijo: "De la vida nadie se salva

Y eso de la juventud es solo una actitud del alma"

Qué virtud extraña, ahora me queman las entrañas

Mi mejor conversación la tuve ayer con una araña

No sé qué hora es, ni me interesa

Acá siempre son 4:20, y estamo' de la cabeza, con simpleza

Birra barata y mala en lata, má' la planta santa esa

La que calma el cuerpo y te lo desestresa

El hood está de fiesta, el culo se te tensa

Entiendo que te molesta, la empatía te cuesta

Y si ahora gritamo' y cantamo' en modo de protesta

Es porque preguntamo' bien y nadie nos dio una respuesta

Se creen dueños, salgan del medio, lo digo en serio

Fuera la yuta que meten al barrio, le tira a los pibe' y le mata los sueño'

Bueno, juego, del underground, del agujero

Estamo' agitando de nuevo, sacando pa' afuera a eso' carroñero', ñero

[Verse 2]

He says: "What up? This hits like coca"

People dance crazy, the neck dislocates

The drug in the 'finger', that goes from mouth to mouth

You feel how it hits you, that pod raised the note

I jump like a flea, the purge began

Long all fresh as a PXXR GVNG, son of ...

Again thirsty between fevers and migraine '

I dream again of an old man in the middle of a mountain

He looked at me and said: "No one is saved from life

And that of youth is just an attitude of the soul "

What a strange virtue, now my insides burn

I had my best conversation yesterday with a spider

I don't know what time it is, nor interest me

It's always 4:20 here, and I'm right in the head, simply

Cheap and bad canned birra, plus the holy plant that

The one that calms the body and unstresses you

The hood is partying, the ass tenses

I understand that it bothers you, empathy costs you

And if now I shout 'and sing' in protest mode

It's because we asked 'well and nobody gave us an answer

They believe they own, get out of the way, I mean it

Out the jute they put into the neighborhood, he throws the kids 'and kills them the dreams'

Well, play, underground, hole

I'm 'waving again, getting out' that scavenger 'outside, ñero

An earlier version was posted at What Do I Know?

This Is Why So Many Establishment Politicians And Their Supporters Hate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 18, 2019 · 10:31 AM PDT

2019/04/18 · 10:31

This Is Why So Many Establishment Politicians And Their Supporters Hate [Attack] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

[UPDATE April 20, 2019] At the suggestion of arper in the comments, I’ve edited the title to more appropriately reflect how the post evolved. He also suggested I could edit the body of the post. That’s true, but I think that the comments section is probably the best place to resolve such things (except obvious typos). I agree with comments that suggest the Democratic response is a more a mix of admiration and a irritation, but certainly not hatred.]

Let me just say it out front. I think AOC is one of the best things to happen in 2018/2019. In this post I'm going to explain why I think she's pissing off so many people in Washington and beyond. But if you aren't interested in that, just scroll down to the bottom for her video and its positive look to the future. When it gets trashed by the president and others, you can come back and see why I think they do that.

So here are of her qualities:

She's smart in the sense that she understands how lots of things fit into the larger macro picture.
She's articulate.
She's able to share her love of life.
She's able to respond to her detractors with wit, humor, dance, and hope.
She's not shy.
She's using her new Congressional seat to actually do things this country needs.
She's savvy with social media.
She's able to give voice for the marginalized: women, people of color, blue collar workers.
She's beautiful. (This isn't something that we're supposed to comment on, but we all know that looks matter.)

And anyone who’s really good at things, particularly someone who has been traditionally marginalized in a society, is not only a personal threat to competitors are traditional power holders, but also a threat to the their world order.

OK, let's take a short side trip. When I was a junior in high school, I delivered the mail as a Christmas break job. I delivered in my own neighborhood, my own street even. I was fast. My supervisor was my regular mailman (there were no ‘mail-carriers’ in those days.) After a couple of days he pulled me aside and said, "Steve, you get paid by the hour and when you finish your route, your time is up. You don’t earn any more money. What's your hurry? Pace yourself. When you get to your house, take a break, have lunch, before starting again."

Later, as a grad student, I learned about 'soldiering' when I read Frederick Taylor'sThe Principles of Scientific Management. He described how workers get into a comfortable pace at work and how frisky new workers (like me delivering mail) upset that comfortable pace. If the new person can do the work so quickly, management would raise their expectations. So the workers first start to subtly hint to the worker (as my supervisor did) to slow down and take it easy. If that doesn't work they get more aggressive, which could lead to sabotage and even physical violence.

I think this is a key reason there's so much negative press about AOC. She's making her co-workers in Congress look bad. (Of course, attacking her personally because her ideas threaten others’ values is important (and related) too.)

For the Republicans it's about everything:

For Democrats the issues are, perhaps, more procedural.

She challenges the speed they are moving toward change in basic issues such as Climate and Health Care, Economic Reform, etc.
Her activity and social media savvy and presence make them look like they're doing nothing.
She brings a bright flash of life to a job they're doing with much less sparkle.
She got elected by defeating one of their inner circle in the primary
She's challenging the way they operate, their rules, their beliefs about what's possible, their strategy

Trump's election showed weaknesses in the Democratic ‘common knowledge.’ He exploited the fact that Democrats championed people of color, women, and LGBTQ folks in a way that made straight white males the enemy. The only terms negatively describing a group of people that Democrats didn't 'ban' were words like hillbilly and white trash. Trump gave that group respect. AOC's parents were poor. They nearly lost their home to the 2008 housing crisis. An event that led her to find out about her congressional rep’s power structure in New York. Like many of today's college grads, she ended up doing minimum wage work. So she's reached out to the Trump voter, whom she knows as someone who has shared their struggle.

Trump also skillfully used social media to by-pass the press and talk directly to his followers. And AOC is even better at using social media. She doesn't just use it, for her it's almost an art form.

And while some Democrats embrace everything she brings to Congress and their party, others see her as interfering with their routine, their way of seeing what's possible and how to get there.

Here's the video. It's a bit of social science fiction.

YouTube Video

It looks to the future, what the world would look like if things got better because of the policies she's pushing. And it's close to how I envision things, though I'm less sanguine about what technology will do for us. Like all predictions there are probably flaws, but the attacks on her New Green Deal seem much harsher than criticisms of other people's predictions of the future, predictions that are less imaginative, more mired in the past.

And the video is beautiful. The artist, Molly Crabapple, does a great job. This format has come a long way since I wrote about The Story of Stuff and then the followup about Victor Lebow.

An earlier version was posted at What Do I Know?

Alaska Governor Announces Koch Funded Americans for Prosperity Orchestrated Public Meetings

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday March 20, 2019 · 1:53 PM PDT

2019/03/20 · 13:53

Watching Governor Chop Up Alaska — Watching the governor chop up Alaska

If you haven’t been paying attention to Alaska politics (and since nothing else is happening I don’t know why not) you don’t know that we have a governor whose brother bought his election and is now, apparently, under the control of the Koch owned Americans for Prosperity (AFP). In fact, just after the election in November, Jeremy Price was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff. According to Must Read Alaska, a blog written by the former communications director of the Republican party in Alaska,

“In 2014, Price was tapped to begin a branch of Americans for Prosperity in Alaska and has since grown the organization to a well-known voice for economic freedom. The group is supported locally and receives organizational support from its national parent, Americans for Prosperity, which is back [sic] by the Koch Brothers.”

BACKGROUND (Those who know what’s happening in Alaska can skip down to ROADSHOW.)

Our natural disaster happened at the end of November when Anchorage had a 7.1 earthquake. We survived that pretty well.

But in February we were hit by an unnatural disaster as the governor sent his budget to the legislature. Below is a summary of the damage we know about.

Screen Shot Budget 2020-02-13 by on Scribd

Scribd Content

Early and K-12 Education — 24% cut

University of Alaska — 44% cut

Health and Social Services — 31% cut

The Alaska Marine Highway (AKA the Alaska Ferry, the basic form of transportation for many places, like our capital Juneau, that aren’t on the road system) essentially shut down. Pioneer Homes (Alaska state assisted living for seniors) monthly costs would more than double for some. The Alaska Psychiatric Institute got an immediate secretly arranged no bid contract to private company Wellpath.

The key people spared cuts were the oil companies who get tax credits for exploration. People estimate this to be about $1.3 billion this year. Yes, we pay oil companies to explore. And that’s pretty close to the deficit the governor wants to fill.

Also the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividends were spared. Plus the Governor wants to restore cuts to the dividends made by the previous governor in recent years to balance the budget when the Republican led Senate refused to talk about taxes — income or sales — as a way to balance the budget.

OK, that’s the background. As people begin to discover how they are being affected, much of the state is up in arms. Though there is a group of people who only want their Permanent Fund Dividends and don’t care if the rest of the state collapses.

ROADSHOW

So the governor announced a road trip: From the Governor’s Webpage:

“Governor Announces Statewide Roadshow to Outline Permanent Fiscal Plan for Alaska
March 18, 2019
Juneau, AK – Today, Alaska Governor Michael J. Dunleavy announced “A Statewide Discussion for a Permanent Fiscal Plan” a series of community focused discussions and meetings to outline a permanent fiscal plan for Alaska, including the vision behind his FY2020 budget proposal and a package of constitutional amendments meant to address the state’s long-term fiscal stability.”

Then there’s a long explanation of why his budget is necessary to save Alaska from deficit — cutting the state functions drastically is ok. Raising any revenues — taxes — is not. (Trump seems ok with a trillion dollar deficit, but Dunleavy will have none of that.) So here’s the posted schedule:

“Upcoming Events and Locations:

Kenai, AK – Monday, March 25, 2019
6pm – Public Event at The Cannery Lodge
Anchorage, AK – Tuesday, March 26, 2019
10am – Talk of Alaska
6pm – Public Event at 49th State Brewery
Nome, AK – Wednesday, March 27, 2019
4pm – Public Event at Old St. Joseph’s Hall
Fairbanks, AK – Thursday, March 28, 2019
8am – Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce
6pm – Public Event at Westmark Hotel
Mat-Su, AK – Friday, March 29, 2019
6pm – Public Event at Everett’s
*Times and locations are subject to change.”

But there aren’t any links to these events on this announcement. The Anchorage Daily News reports that

“JUNEAU — A day after Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced he will hold a series of public meetings across Alaska to discuss his budget proposal and long-term fiscal plan, ticketing arrangements reveal the meetings are being sponsored and managed by the conservative-libertarian group Americans for Prosperity.

That sponsorship was not disclosed when the governor said he would hold public meetings in Anchorage, Nome, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Kenai and Fairbanks next week.”

Well, it’s not exactly clear what’s happening now. I went to Americans for Prosperity website and found six events listed for Alaska Public Policy Forums. I’m posting a screenshot because I don’t know how long this will be there. (The sixth one (another one for Kenai) just didn’t fit easily in the screen shot, but it looks just like the others.)

Screenshot showing five of the six forums AFP are sponsoring about Alaska

Note that these are labeled “AFP Presents: Fortifying Alaska’s Future. So, the public tour for the governor to discuss (that implies two way conversation, right?) the budget with the public, turns out to be a propaganda event organized and paid for by Americans for Prosperity. But clicking on these events gets you to a page that basically says this link doesn’t work.

Screenshot of AFP linked page about Alaska Governor

The ADN article touches on what I would have found at the links, I’m assuming, before the linked pages were taken down:

“The events’ ticketing web pages says [sic], “this is a private, policy focused event dedicated to discussing Americans for Prosperity’s issues,” but that isn’t true, said Ryan McKee, Alaska state director of Americans for Prosperity.

“They are open to the public, absolutely,” he said.”

But

Dunleavy press secretary Matt Shuckerow agreed, adding in an emailed statement that the administration ‘partnered with AFP-Alaska and the Alaska Policy Forum to assist in hosting, organizing, coordinating these events’.”

And there were some restrictions. From a press release from Alaska Senate Democrats

“On the event website, Americans for Prosperity provided a 415-word disclaimer on the terms and conditions of the event which threatens Alaskans if they do not comply with their rules. If you don't follow these set rules, you will be denied admission or forced "to leave the event."

From the terms and conditions document.

“This is a private, policy focused event dedicated to discussing Americans for Prosperity’s issues.”

But the Gov was passing these off as public meetings from the governor’s office. Here is an abbreviated and somewhat paraphrased version of the conditions:

All attendees must register themselves and guests with real names and may be asked to show IDs
No signage allowed, No candidate stickers, pins, t-shirts etc.
By attending you irrevocably consent and authorize AFP to distribute, use, broadcast, or disseminate into perpetuity your likeness in such media for whatever purpose without further approval from you and with no compensation
But you can’t record, reproduce, or transmit by any means any portion of or the entirety of any AFP event without specific written permission.

You can see all the terms at the link. [As I read the terms, I suspect this is a standard AFP document, not particularly written for these events. I’m guessing they stuck it in rather than getting their attorneys to make a special one.]

Mind you, this is how the governor was going to explain his budget to the state, and, since they were called public meetings and discussions by the governor, most of us thought there would be two way communication. Governor's explanation and public responses.

Instead this shows how completely Dunleavy has been bought by the Koch’s to do their bidding. And raises serious questions about how much of Dunleavy’s budget was crafted by Koch and Americans for Prosperity.

Fortunately, unlike in Wisconsin and Kansas and Michigan and other states that have had this sort of attack, in Alaska Gov. Dunleavy doesn’t have a fool-proof supportive legislature. A lot of Republicans in the Senate (which they control), are not happy with the governor’s budget. And somehow — I still have[n’t] figured out how — the Democrats pulled off a coalition of all the Democrats and a number of Republicans in the House.

It’s still not clear to me that this roadshow is going to actually happen, and if it does, how one is to get tickets, or whether the AFP Terms and Conditions can legally apply to ‘public’ events of the governor.

We’ll see. And for folks who have been through this in the last decade in other states, pay attention and let us know who these imported characters — like our ‘visiting budget director’ Donna Arduin — and what they did before they got here. We are doing lots of research, but first hand knowledge is helpful.

And if you want to keep track of what’s happening, long-time Alaska reporter Dermot Cole seems to be the most relentless interpreter of Alaska political events at the moment on his blog Reporting From Alaska.

[Parts of this have also been posted at What Do I Know?]

The Trumps' State of The Union Guests - What Do They Tell Us?

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 05, 2019 · 2:23 PM PST

2019/02/05 · 14:23

Images from WH website except Alice Johnson from CanDoClemency via BBC. — SOTU Guests of Trumps - Images for collage from WH website plus Alice Johnson from CanDoClemency via BBC

The White House has announced 13 guests of the President and First Lady will attend the State of the Union. It's a great way to have viewers connect to the speech, but is there any real substance to it? This post is mostly based on the optics and descriptions the White House is presenting us, though I've done a little bit of further checking. The descriptions are taken from the White House announcement though a couple are abbreviated,

From the pictures and names in the WH release there appear to be:

9 whites
1 hispanic
3 blacks (two of whom are former criminals saved from prison by God &Trump)
6 women (all of whom are there because they are victims of crime, drugs, or illness)
7 men (Four are police or military related, one an ex-con saved by God, one business man, one young bully victim named Trump)

Let's look at the messages Trump is sending out:

“Three generations of women relatives of Gerald and Sharon David of Reno, Nevada, who were tragically murdered in their home in Nevada by an illegal immigrant in January 2019.” [MESSAGE: Illegal Immigrant Menace - We need a wall. But his crime only happened in January 2019, The suspect has not yet been charged with murder according to Snopes which calls this claim "unproven." Alternate message; Guilty without a trial.]
“In 1996, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for selling crack cocaine and other related offenses. While in prison, Matthew found God, completed more than 30 bible studies, became a law clerk, taught GED classes, and mentored fellow inmates. On January 3, 2019, Matthew was the first prisoner released as a result of the First Step Act.” [MESSAGE: I guess this is to the religious right and perhaps African-Americans. See more about the First Step Act below.*]
“At 9 years old, Grace was diagnosed with Germinoma, a germ-cell brain tumor, and in May 2018, Grace started cancer treatment. Throughout the rest of the year, Grace stayed positive and strong, making the rounds in the hospital, cheering up other patients, and always having a smile for the many caring medical professionals who treated her.” [MESSAGE: A feel good "child beats cancer with a smile" story that tells us to smile and not complain. She was a NY Jets honorary captain in August 2019]
“Ashley Evans has struggled with opioid and substance abuse for much of her life. In 2017, she was pregnant and suffered a relapse. Her recovery began with the birth of her daughter along with the help of Brigid’s Path, a medical care facility in Kettering, Ohio. Ashley has persevered and overcome many obstacles to maintain her sobriety.” [MESSAGE: Not sure. A recognition of the opioid crisis? A nod to Ohio, a swing state? BTW, Brigid's Path has not been rated by Charity Navigator, because, "7 years of full IRS Forms 990 are needed to complete a rating"
“Elvin Hernandez is a Special Agent with the Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations division. He has more than 18 years of Federal law enforcement experience investigating narcotics, gangs, and human trafficking. During his current 7-year assignment, Elvin has conducted numerous successful international human trafficking investigations involving transnational organized crime groups.” [MESSAGE: Homeland Security is vital to your safety and we can check off Hispanic on the list.]
“Roy James is the Plant Manager of the Vicksburg Forest Products lumber facility. He had worked at the sawmill for 26 years and become Vice President of Operations when he was told that the facility would close its doors. Thankfully, last year, Vicksburg was designated an Opportunity Zone through provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The plant soon reopened and Roy was hired to oversee the entire facility.” [MESSAGE: Trump is creating jobs, putting people back to work. Another nod to African-Americans. See more below**]
“Timothy Matson joined the Pittsburgh Police Department in 2005 and made the SWAT team in 2016. As a key member of the SWAT team, he would breach the entrance during raids, a very dangerous task. In October 2018, Tim responded to the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds and saved countless lives in that heinous, anti-Semitic attack.” [MESSAGE: Police are our heroes. And an demonstration that Trump is against hate?]
“Judah Samet is a member of the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. In October 2018, he survived the horrific shooting that killed 11 members of his community. Judah is also a survivor of the Holocaust. Judah immigrated to Israel after the war and was present for the declaration of the Israeli State in 1948. He served as a paratrooper and radio man in the Israeli Defense Forces and moved to the United States in the 1960s.” [MESSAGE: This is NOT an anti-gun thing. Probably, “I like Israel.”]
“Joshua Trump is a 6th grade student in Wilmington, Delaware. He appreciates science, art, and history. He also loves animals and hopes to pursue a related career in the future. His hero and best friend is his Uncle Cody, who serves in the United States Air Force. Unfortunately, Joshua has been bullied in school due to his last name. He is thankful to the First Lady and the Trump family for their support.” [MESSAGE: The left is a bunch of bullies.]
“Tom Wibberley is the father of Navy Seaman Craig Wibberley, a Seaman killed on the U.S.S. Cole. Craig grew up in Williamsport, Maryland, and enjoyed fly fishing, snow skiing, and working with his father on old Corvettes. He had a passion for computer science and decided to join the Navy to serve his country and pursue an opportunity to further his training in computers. Craig served aboard the U.S.S. Cole with distinction and was accepted to the Navy Information Technician School. His commander planned to recommend him for Officer Candidate School. However, on October 12, 2000, Craig and 16 fellow members of the crew were killed in a terrorist attack.” [MESSAGE: Thank you for your service.]
“President Trump granted Alice Johnson clemency on June 6, 2018. Alice had been serving a mandatory life sentence without parole for charges associated with a nonviolent drug case. During her nearly 22 years of incarceration, Alice accomplished what has been called an ‘extraordinary rehabilitation.’” [MESSAGE: I listen to my friend Kim Kardashian who said I should do this one.]

So, the men are mostly John Wayne hero types, except for a Black con who was released by Trump and a young kid bullied because his name is Trump. The women are highlighted for their victimhood. Not their achievements. There's a Hispanic hero, but for counterbalance there are three women victims of illegal immigrant crime.

Just introducing this group will take up probably 20 minutes alone. It's going to be a long night.

*The First Step Act - was passed and signed into law in December 2018. The Brennan Center notes:

“While still President-Elect, Trump nominated Jeff Sessions, a vocal critic of any reduction to the U.S. prison population, to be the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. Nonetheless, Grassley and Durbin reintroduced the SRCA again in October 2017 and navigated it through committee in early 2018. The bill looked poised to stall once again due to vocal opposition from Sessions.
But the momentum started to pick up in early 2018, when the White House brokered the Prison Reform and Redemption Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at improving conditions in federal prisons. This bill, which was renamed the FIRST STEP Act after some modest improvements were added, still lacked any meaningful sentencing reform component, meaning it would have done little to reduce the prison population. For the White House, that was part of the appeal: Republican leaders believed that SRCA’s sentencing reform provisions made it a nonstarter among conservatives. But because of that, the Brennan Center and a coalition of more than 100 civil rights groups opposed the bill, arguing that the votes were there for sentencing reform — if only Republican leaders would put a bill on the floor. Nonetheless, the FIRST STEP Act passed the House of Representatives by a wide margin of 360 to 59.” [You can read more at the link, how some Republicans worked hard to block this law.]

**Vicksburg, Mississippi Industrial Wood Products plant. A timber industry journal, Timber Processing, notes that this North Carolina company is taking over an existing facility in Vicksburg and credits $220,000 in assistance from Mississippi. It doesn't mention any federal help, though Vicksburg did qualify for opportunity zones.

Photo Credit — Collage based on images from WH website plus Alice Johnson from CanDoClemency via BBC

[I originally forgot to mention an earlier version of this was posted at What Do I Know?]

Merlí - Netflix Series About Barcelona High School Philosophy Teacher Worth Watching

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday January 10, 2019 · 3:31 PM PST

2019/01/10 · 15:31

Screenshot from Netflix series Merlí - (Francesc Orella) from Season 1 Episode 13

My wife and I finished season one of Merlí last week on Netflix. The last episode pulled together a number of loose ends in a satisfying way.

Episode 1 (I just went back to remind myself) opens with Merlí meeting his ex-wife in a bar across the street from his apartment. As he talks to her about her new job (and boyfriend) in Rome, he watches police vehicles in front of his apartment. He assures her he will take good care of their 17 year old son who’s been living with the mother. Merlí goes across the street to talk to the police about his eviction while the wife goes to pick up the son, Bruno, at his ballet lesson. Merlí packs his stuff and moves in with his mother, a once famous and still performing actress. Shortly after Bruno reluctantly moves in too, Merlí gets a call to fill an opening for a high school philosophy teacher. In Bruno's school.

I'm not giving anything away. That all happens in the first 15 minutes of Episode 1 of 13 nearly hour long episodes. That's probably one reason this series is so good - there is a lot packed into every minute.

Pol%20and%20Bruni%20from%20Merli.jpg — Screenshot — Pol and Bruno (Carlos Cuevas and David Solans)

Each episode is titled after a different philosopher. Episode one is The Peripatetics - and he takes the students for a walk to the school's kitchen. He tells them the Peripatetics thought while walking. A student asks him if everyone can do philosophy. He stops. Ponders for a long time as the students start snickering. Then he tells them that he paused that long so he could think about the answer, and to make the point that people don't respect people who think before they speak.

As he engages the students, he antagonizes the other teachers, particularly one who starts a campaign to get rid of Merlí. The show focuses on about ten of the students - we never find out anything about the black or the Asian student we see now and again in the class. The students all have their own issues - absent parents, over protective parents, poverty, sex, difficulty in school, and one student who has been diagnosed with agoraphobia and never leaves his house. Merlí helps them all through the application of different schools of philosophy.

Merlí is an inspiring teacher, but a difficult human being. His pursuit of women is out of synch with #Metoo standards, yet he genuinely likes women and sex with them and they (at least as the writers portray them) like him. His constant violation of school rules and protocol is exasperating yet it's done in the interest of applying philosophy to help his students. And it usually works, eventually. My sense is that the writers made his transgressions work out way too perfectly.

Nevertheless I enjoyed it all - the acting, the dialogue, the issues, the look at teachers' lives and students' lives, all wrapped up in philosophy lessons as well. We also get to see a bit of Barcelona, though mainly the neighborhood around the school and regular panoramic views of Barcelona.

Speaking of Barcelona, Merlí teaches at Angel Guimera Institute. Wikilpeida tells us:

Àngel Guimerà[a] (6 May 1845 or 6 May 1847[1] or 1849[2] – 18 July 1924), known also as Ángel Guimerá, was a Spanish Nobel-nominated writer in the Catalan language. His work is known for bringing together under romantic aspects the main elements of realism. It is considered one of the principal representatives of the so-called Renaixença,[3] at the end of the nineteenth century.

It goes on to tell us his most famous play was translated and performed internationally, including on Broadway. That he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 23 times, but that Spain prevented a Catalan language writer from getting the prize. Clearly, the name of the school was no accident.

I'm writing this because I know that lots of people will enjoy this show. I can find very little online about the show - basically a Reddit discussion group, but even that is brief. The most comes from one person who summarizes what he's found out from Spanish interviews of the actors who play the roles of Pol and Bruno.

What I've learned is that there are two more seasons. That many think season 2 doesn't keep up the pace of season 1, and I'll leave it at that.

Netflix - and the other streaming channels - are transforming the movie watching experience. We now have available outstanding movies and series from around the world. It used to be that US culture was sent out into the world via films and music and television. Now there's a bit of a two way exchange.

All of you with Netflix, especially those who are in education - students and teachers, — I’d recommend you at least watch episode one.

Note: An earlier version was posted at What Do I Know?

Some Famous People Born In 1919

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 02, 2019 · 8:54 AM PST

2019/01/02 · 08:54

1919 Cohorts *picture sources listed below

Some Famous People Born In 1919

People born in 1919 would be 100 years old this year. There seem to be fewer notable people born in 1919 than in previous such centennial years . World War I had ended in November1918. There had been a big influenza epidemic in 1918 as well. Births dropped significantly in 1919.

US birthrate starting 1909 — from CDC chart

People born in 1919 would have been ten when the stock market crashed, spent their adolescence during the depression, and started their twenties as WW II broke out. Maybe that explains why there are fewer notables compared to other years. They simply struggled more.

I’ve only picked out a few folks born in 1919. What has struck me since I first started doing "famous people born" posts, is thinking about a group of people who would have been classmates had they all lived in the same neighborhood. So try to imagine these people going to school together.

I've listed them below in birth order, from the oldest (at least at birth) to the youngest. It's also sobering to see how some lived much shorter lives than others.

J.D. Salinger — January 1, 1919 — January 27, 2010 (91)

"American writer known for his widely read novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Following his early success publishing short stories and The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger led a very private life for more than a half-century. He published his final original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980."

The first paragraph of Catcher In The Rye.

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them. They’re quitee touchy about anything like that, especially my father. They’re nice and all - I’m not saying that - but they’re also touchy as hell. Besides, I’m not going to tell you my whole goodam autobiography or anything. I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me last Christmas just before I got pretty run-down and had to come out and take it easy. I mean that’s all I told D.B. about, and he’s my brother and all. He’s in Hollywood. That isn’t too far from this crumby place, and he comes over and visits me practically every week end. He’s going to drive me home when I go home next month maybe. He just got a Jaguar. One of those little English jobs that can do around two hundred miles an hour. It cost him damn near four thousand bucks. He’s got a lot of dough, now. He didn’t use to. He used to be just a regular writer, when he was home. He wrote this terrific book of short stories, The Secret Goldfish, in case you never heard of him. The best one in it was «‘The Secret Goldfish.’ It was about this little kid that wouldn’t let anybody look at his goldfish because he’d bought it with his own money. It killed me. Now he’s out in Hollywood, D.B., being a prostitute. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s the movies. Don’t even mention them to me."

Jackie Robinson - January 31, 1919 - October 24, 1972 (53)

"The first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era.[2] Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. When the Dodgers signed Robinson, they heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s.[3] Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.[4]"

YouTube Video

Eva Gabor February 11, 1919 - July 4, 1995 (76)

"Born in Budapest, Eva aspired to acting from the age of 4. She began studying at 15, but her parents thought acting was too vulgar a profession and forced her to withdraw. Two years later, the 5-foot-2-inch beauty met a Swedish-born Hollywood physician at a party. They married in 1939 and moved to California. , ,
Described as the most down-to-earth of the Gabor sisters, Eva nevertheless had a lot in common with her many-times-married siblings, Zsa Zsa and Magda. Eva, who married and divorced at least four times, was said to have coined the phrase, "Marriage is too interesting an experiment to be tried only once or twice."
They were all entertainers. And they all possessed the unmistakably breezy Gabor style. When introduced to President Lyndon B. Johnson, Eva Gabor greeted him in her trademark Hungarian accent: 'Hello, Mr. President, darling.'"

Nat King Cole March 17, 1919- February 15, 1965 (45)

" For a mild-mannered man whose music was always easy on the ear, Nat King Cole managed to be a figure of considerable controversy during his 30 years as a professional musician. From the late '40s to the mid-'60s, he was a massively successful pop singer who ranked with such contemporaries as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and Dean Martin. He shared with those peers a career that encompassed hit records, international touring, radio and television shows, and appearances in films. But unlike them, he had not emerged from a background as a band singer in the swing era. Instead, he had spent a decade as a celebrated jazz pianist, leading his own small group."

YouTube Video

Madalyn Murray O'Hair April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995 (76)

"Madalyn Murray O'Hair (née Mays; )[1] was an American activist supporting atheism and separation of church and state. In 1963 she founded American Atheists and served as its president to 1986, after which her son Jon Garth Murray succeeded her. She created the first issues of American Atheist Magazine.
O'Hair is best known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which challenged the policy of mandatory prayers and Bible reading in Baltimore public schools, in which she named her first son William J. Murray as plaintiff. Consolidated with Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), it was heard by the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that official Bible-reading in American public schools was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court had prohibited officially sponsored prayer in schools in Engel v. Vitale (1962) on similar grounds. Through American Atheists, O'Hair filed numerous other suits on issues of separation of church and state."

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Pete Seeger May 3, 1919 - January 27, 2014 (94)
In 1938, he settled in New York City and eventually met Alan Lomax, Woody Guthrie, Aunt Molly Jackson, Lead Belly, and others. The quality of music coming from this group immediately captured his attention. He assisted Alan Lomax at the Library of Congress’ Archive of Folk Song and was exposed to a wonderful array of traditional American music. Many in this group of musicians eventually formed the Almanac Singers in 1940. In addition to Pete, the group included Lee Hays, Woody Guthrie, Bess Lomax, Sis Cunningham, Mill Lampell, Arthur Stern, and others. They lived in a communal home, “The Almanac House,” in New York. The group performed for gatherings, picket lines, and any place where they could lend their voices in support of the social causes they believed in. Later, after World War II, many of the same people became involved in the musical organizations People’s Songs and People’s Artists.

His best-known songs include "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (with Joe Hickerson), "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)" (with Lee Hays of the Weavers), and "Turn! Turn! Turn!"

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Liberace May 16, 1919 - February 4, 1987 ( 67)
American pianist, singer and actor.[2] A child prodigy and the son of Polish and Italian immigrants, Liberace enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures, and endorsements. At the height of his fame, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world,[3] with established concert residencies in Las Vegas, and an international touring schedule. Liberace embraced a lifestyle of flamboyant excess both on and off stage, acquiring the nickname "Mr. Showmanship".

YouTube Video

Margot Fonteyn May 18, 1919 - February 21, 1991 (71)

Dame Margot Fonteyn, DBE (18 May 1919 – 21 February 1991), stage name of Margaret Evelyn de Arias, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells Theater Company), eventually being appointed prima ballerina assoluta of the company by Queen Elizabeth II. Beginning ballet lessons at the age of four, she studied in England and China, where her father was transferred for his work. Her training in Shanghai was with George Goncharov, contributing to her continuing interest in Russian ballet. Returning to London at the age of 14, she was invited to join the Vic-Wells Ballet School by Ninette de Valois. She succeeded Alicia Markova as prima ballerina of the company in 1935. The Vic-Wells choreographer, Sir Frederick Ashton, wrote numerous parts for Fonteyn and her partner, Robert Helpmann, with whom she danced from the 1930s to the 1940s.

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Sir Edmund Hillary July 20 1919 - Jan 11, 2008 (88)

Best-known internationally as the first man to climb Mt. Everest in May 1953 with Tenzing Norgay, for the last 50 years he has devoted himself to environmental and humanitarian efforts that have made a profound difference to communities in Nepal where his famous summiting was achieved.

George Wallace August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998 (79)

American politician and the 45th Governor of Alabama, a position he occupied for four terms, during which he promoted "low-grade industrial development, low taxes, and trade schools".[1] He sought the United States presidency as a Democrat three times, and once as an American Independent Party candidate, unsuccessfully each time. He is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and populist views.[2][3][4] Wallace famously opposed desegregation and supported the policies of "Jim Crow" during the Civil Rights Movement, declaring in his 1963 Inaugural Address that he stood for "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever".[5]

YouTube Video

I'm offering this video, because I was at this talk. (The actual date is January 10,1964) I came early to be sure to get a seat. The first several rows were already filled with black students. Wallace was known as the racist governor of Alabama who opposed integration. UCLA was a liberalish California college. It was going to be tense. But Wallace used charm and humor to win over the audience quickly - even the front few rows. They didn't agree with him, but laughter created a human connection. It was an important lesson for me about preconceptions, my notions about evil people, and how people who violently disagree on fundamental issues, nevertheless can communicate. It also helped me understand why Alabamans voted for him. I absolutely do not endorse most of the comments under this video on Youtube.

Pierre Trudeau October 18, 1919 - Sept. 28, 2000 (80)

He slid down banisters, dated movie stars and wore a red rose in his lapel. Pierre Elliott Trudeau is arguably the most charismatic prime minister in Canada's history. But he was more than just charisma - Trudeau helped shape Canada with his vision of a unified, bilingual, multicultural "just society." Throughout his 16 years as prime minister, he faced some heavy criticism. But when Trudeau died on Sept. 28, 2000, the nation mourned the man who, in the words of one biographer, "haunts us still."

He was also the father of Canada's current prime minister.

Doris Lessing October 22, 1919, Kermanshah, Persia (now Iran) - 17 November 2013 (94)

Nobel Prize in Literature.

Doris Lessing's body of work comprises around 50 books and spans several genres. Her writing is characterized by penetrating studies of living conditions in the 20th century, behavioral patterns, and historical developments. Her most experimental novel, 'The Golden Notebook', from 1962, is a study of a woman's psyche and life situation, the lot of writers, sexuality, political ideas, and everyday life. Some of Doris Lessing's books reach into the future. Among other things, she portrays our civilization's final hour from the perspective of an extraterrestrial observer.

Here's the first page of The Golden Notebook.

"Anna meets her friend Molly in the summer of 1957 after a separation
THE two women were alone in the London flat. 'The point is,' said Anna, as her friend came back from the telephone on the landing, 'the point is, that as far as I can see, everything's cracking up.'
Molly was a woman much on the telephone. When it rang she had just enquired: 'Well, what's the gossip?' Now she said, 'That's Richard, and he's coming over. It seems today's his only free moment for the next month. Or so he insists.'
'Well I'm not leaving,' said Anna.
'No, you stay just where you are.'
Molly considered her own appearance-she was wearing trousers and a sweater, both the worse for wear. 'He'll have to take me as I come,' she concluded, and sat down by the window. 'He wouldn't say what it's about-another crisis with Marion, I suppose.'
'Didn't he write to you?' asked Anna, cautious.
'Both he and Marion wrote-ever such bonhomous letters. Odd, isn't it?'
This odd, isn't it? was the characteristic note of the intimate conversations they designated gossip. But having struck the note, Molly swerved off with: 'It's no use talking now, because he's coming right over, he says.'
'He'll probably go when he sees me here,' said Anna, cheerfully, but slightly aggressive. Molly glanced at her, keenly, and said: 'Oh, but why?'
It had always been understood that Anna and Richard disliked each other; and before Anna had always left when Richard was expected. Now Molly said: 'Actually I think he rather likes you, in his heart of hearts. The point is, he's committed to liking me, on principle-he's such a fool he's always got to either like or dislike someone, so all the dislike he won't admit he has for me gets pushed off on to you.'"

Mohammad Reza Shah October 26, 1919 - July 27, 1980 (60)

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919-80), king of Iran (1941-1979), was born in Tehran on October 26, 1919, the eldest son of Reza Shah. He completed his primary school in Switzerland. He returned to Iran in 1935, and enrolled in a Tehran military school, from which he graduated in 1938.. . .
He replaced his father, Reza Shah, on the throne on September 16, 1941, shortly before his 22nd birthday. He continued the reform policies of his father, but a contest for control of the government soon erupted between the shah and an older professional politician, the nationalistic Mohammad Mosaddeq. . .
By the mid-1970s the Shah reigned amidst widespread discontent caused by the continuing repressiveness of his regime, socioeconomic changes that benefited some classes at the expense of others, and the increasing gap between the ruling elite and the disaffected populace. Islamic leaders, particularly the exiled cleric Ayatollah Khomeini, were able to focus this discontent with a populist ideology tied to Islamic principles and calls for the overthrow of the shah. The Shah's government collapsed following widespread uprisings in 1978 -1979 and consequently an Islamic Republic succeeded his regime.

Mikhail Kalashnikov November 10, 1919 - December 23, 2013 (94)

Russian soldier, best known as AK-47 inventor. a Russian general, inventor, military engineer and small arms designer. He is most famous for developing the AK-47 assault rifle and its improvements, the AKM and AK-74, as well as the PK machine gun and RPK light machine gun.

An earlier version was posted at whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/…

*Photo sources for collage

J.D. Salinger - https://www.today.com/popculture/biography-j-d-salinger-didnt-want-public-see-auction-2D11632738

Jackie Robinson - www.jackierobinson.com/...

Nat King Cole: https://amazingescapades.com/featured-destinations/do-you-really-know-las-vegas/

Eva Gabor - projects.latimes.com/...

Mohammad Reza Shah - http://iran-times.com/film-on-shah-end-planned/

Madalyn Murray O’Hair - http://www.nndb.com/people/862/000022796/

Pete Seeger - https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pete-seeger-mn0000266160/discography

Liberace - https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130571040

Margot Fonteyn — https://dance.lovetoknow.com/Margot_Fonteyn_Biography

Gen. Kaliahnikov - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/father-ak-47-mikhail-kalashnikov-dead-94-n56

George Wallace — http://www.legacy.com/news/explore-history/article/george-wallace-the-great-divider

Pierre Trudeau - www.cbc.ca/...

Doris Lessing - https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/03/doris-lessing-from-champion-of-free-love-to-frump-with-a-bun/

Sir Edmund Hillary — www.biography.com/...

Every Vote Counts - Alaska House District 1 - Updated 11/26/18

AKSteve

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday November 22, 2018 · 10:47 AM PST

2018/11/22 · 10:47

Alaska House District 1 Results as of Nov 21, 2018 from http://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/18GENR/data/results17.pdf

After the ballots — including absentee - were counted in this Fairbanks district, both candidates — Democrat Kathryn Dodge and Republican Bart LeBon have exactly 2,661 votes. in this Republican leaning district, the Democratic incumbent, Scott Kawasaki, gave up the seat to run for the state Senate, challenging the Senate President, Pete Kelly. After the vote counts went back and forth, Kawasaki is ahead by 173 votes. Wednesday was the two week deadline for international absentee ballots to be in. According to the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, there are no more than 97 ballots that could still come in. But Republican Pete Kelly hasn’t conceded yet and the Associated Press said he’s still contemplating calling for a recount.

The Anchorage Daily News says:

Final certification of the election results is scheduled for Monday, Alaska Division of Elections spokeswoman Samantha Miller said, but the deadline for international absentee ballots to arrive in Fairbanks was Wednesday, and the elections office there concluded counting in the afternoon.

The tie leaves control of the Alaska House of Representatives uncertain. If LeBon wins, a Republican-aligned caucus will control 21 seats, the minimum needed for a majority. Control of the majority allows a caucus to elect the speaker of the House and set the agenda for the two-year legislative term.

In Alaska, ties are resolved by a coin flip. Stay tuned.

UPDATE Nov 26, 2018: The Fairbanks News Miner reported the Division of Elections certified the race as still a tie. However, there is one ballot that may or may not yet count for the Democrat. You can read it all here.

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