New Inspiration From A Long Time Hero

Just in the opening intro to Robert Caro’s Working, I was inspired to take on a project I’d put off for a couple of years now.  Caro reads his audio book and talks about how when writing the Power Broker he realized he needed to document the human cost of all the parkways and bridges and slum clearance Robert Moses built.  I have such a project to pursue in Anchorage.

I guess I’m getting ahead of myself.  My bookclub is reading Working this month, and while the time zones don’t work out for me to zoom in, Caro has been a hero of mine for just about 50 years.  Caro’s first big book - The Power Broker - is about Robert Moses who created  a mesh of overlapping ‘authorities’ - park authorities, transportation authorities, port authorities - that gave him a working income that he controlled and the power to create public works projects that transformed the landscape of New York City.  I should be clear - Caro never found any indication that Moses was in this business to make money, but rather to fulfill his visions of how to create infrastructure that would improve life for New Yorkers.  They money he made through tolls and bonds went to build his vision.  

Caro tells us in the intro that he wanted to understand how Caro had wielded so much power for close to 50 years, power over mayors, governors, and other elected  officials, though he had never been elected to any office.  He talks about advice he  (Caro) got early on about doing research on documents - read every page.  

Caro worked full time on The Power Broker for over five years.  It came out in Fall of 1974 about when I’d finished my Masters in Public Administration and was working on my doctorate.  And I would have read it right after it came out - maybe the Spring of 1975.  And as I started teaching as a doctoral student, The Power Broker, at least parts of it (it’s over 1100 pages) were part of the readings in my intro class until I retired.  One of the questions I had about the book - as did many others - was how did Caro find out all the stuff he had on Moses.  This book answers that question 

I’ve mentioned “Thick Description” several times lately, and as I listened to Caro talking about the need to get the stories of the people Moses displaced with his projects, I realized this was an example of thick description as well.  (I hadn’t thought about that before since I’d been using Caro’s book long before I’d heard about thick description.). https://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/2015/07/who-am-i-who-are-you.

Blood Thicker Than Money And Climate Change

We’re in Mauritius.   I’ve already written about my ethical concerns of flying to Türkiye.  And here I am in Mauritius.  If we weren’t already planning on a Turkish trip, I might not (was going to say probably not, but unsure) be in Mauritius.  But Turkey is a little more than half way to Mauritius.  

And my daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law are living in Mauritius for six months.  My kids don’t like my writing about them, so that’s all I’ll say.  But we’re here in this island in the Indian Ocean that is considered part of Africa, and is about as far away from Alaska as you can go.

I probably should be giving you some insights, like a brief history, but my head isn’t there.  Here’s what the government of Mauritius says.  Today there is a mix of Indians, Africans, Chinese, and Europeans. Mauritian Creole seems to be the language most Mauritians speak, but French and English are also spoken by many.  French is the default language after Creole.  People of Indian descent are the clear majority, their ancestors originally brought over as slaves to work the sugar cane fields.  

Our main goal is to be with our kin and they’re living in a very comfortable place with a great yard.  So I can sit there and watch the birds.     

The red one is a Mauritius Fody, found, as I understand it, only here.  There are lots of them visiting the yard and generally around.  The bright red is easy to see.  (Which would seem to contradict t their endangered rating.)

I’m pretty sure this is a Village Weaver, an African bird that has found its way to Mauritius.  It was taking thread from the palm and flying away - presumably to do some weaving.  

This one, with the distinctive red-orange beak and the red eye shadow is a common waxbill.  Also an immigrant from Africa.

And a Malagasy Turtledove.  There’s a pink pigeon which is endangered and lives only in Mauritius and at first I thought this might be one.  But I think the turtledove id is the right one.  

A prominent landmark in Mauritius is Le Pouce (the thumb) and it’s not far from where we are.  Some books say it’s an easy 3.something km hike, others that it’s a difficult 6.something round trip hike.  Our daughter said it was extremely difficult - what with mud and steepness and sliding and we should definitely take the easier trail which winds around.  But that’s a much longer distance and still we would eventually get to the steep parts.  And my wife, who does her 10,000 steps a day, is not into steep uphill.  So we took a short bus ride and walked to the parking lot from the main road.  The picture to the left is a shot of Le Pouce on the walk to the trailhead.  

We followed my daughter’s advice and took the easy trail.  It was a nice walk - birds, butterflies, frogs, lots of flowers - but we never got near starting up the mountain.  And it wasn’t clear we were still on the right trail.  

Instead of hiking 4 or so kilometers up Le Pouce, we walked that distance back to our daughter’s place.  

We did have a spectacular Creole lunch nearby few days earlier.  And J and I took a one day tour of the sights in Southwest Mauritius, including a volcano crater, an Indian temple at a sacred lake, some waterfalls, a gorge.  A good trip, but not really my style - “Go up the path and take your picture, I’ll wait for you here.”  But it was a good way to

Grand Bassin

see a lot in a short time.  And apparently it's how many tourists here see the island.  We saw the same people at different stops with their drivers.  

I’m constantly reminded why my preferred way to travel is to have a long term stay some place where you have a purpose for being there (besides being a tourist) and a home base from which to wander out to see other places. You have time to slowly figure out how things work, where they are, and how to get around.  But I also get why people like package tours.  The figuring out can get uncomfortable and having someone who knows what they’re doing is much more efficient.  

Our guide Thursday knew all the shortcuts, and didn’t have to think about where things were or how to
squeeze in seven or eight sightseeing worthy stops.    

Subject shift:  When we try to forge an ethical path in life, we have to balance many values. As we toured the other day, we saw a number of signs like the one below, that highlighted things like conservation and maintaining environments that allow native species to survive. 

I know it’s hard to read so let me copy from the black box on the left of the tree:

“The Black River Gorges National Park is the core zone which is legally protected.  It is home to the last remnant of the Mauritian endemic flora and fauna species thus making it a unique ecosystem.  The main focus of this zone is the conservation and restoration of the native biodiversity.  It also promotes education, research and sustainable ecotourism activities.”

At the same time, tourism is a significant part of Mauritius’ economy.  

“Tourism industry in Mauritius

Mauritius tourism industry has experienced drastic growth in the last decade.

The Island of Mauritius had about 18,000 visitors in 1970 and in the last few years this number is almost reaching 1 million visitors to Mauritius annually.

The tourism sector is one of the main pillars of the local economy, and created 30,000 full time job equivalents in 2000 and the number today it is estimated that almost 40,000 has full direct employment in the tourism sector.

Tourists visiting Mauritius are primarily European, mainly French and British.

The amount of resorts and hotels along Mauritius coastline is increasing every year to accommodate the increasing number of tourists visiting the Island.” (From Mauritius Attractions)

It’s hard [for anyone] to lead an ethical life when most of the important measures of individual and national success are reported in dollars or Euros or RMB.  Those resorts and hotels the website above mentions, are, in some cases changing the economy, but also the culture of Mauritius, the second most densely populated country in Africa. 

It’s easy to just say, “screw it, my trip is just a blip in the climate change scenario.” But a million individual trips add up.  We can look at the impact on the climate of Russia’s war against Ukraine, of Trump’s frequent trips, or flying all the US generals from around the world to be lectured to by the defense secretary and the president. And, of course, a trip to Mauritius is something that financially comfortable people can do.  But our airfare was less than the average down payment on a new car or truck ($6,856)

Am I overthinking all this?  Compared to most people, I probably am.  But we should always be considering the ways we use our money affect the environment, other people, and power.  But our purpose on Mauritius is to visit with family who we otherwise wouldn’t see for a year, and I’m comfortable with that.  

Trying To Get Our Bearings In Istanbul

[TECH NOTE:  This post has been delayed because I’m using a new iPad 16 for our trip and the simple way to shrink photo file size on my MacBook doesn’t exist (or at least I couldn’t find it here.)  I’ve looked at a bunch of videos on how to do it plus more written instructions and was even more confused.  Finally I found this one:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAz60h22k6c Which shows a really easy way to do what I’ve needed to do.  Thanks Dan for the video.  Now I can post some pictures of Istanbul (and one from Frankfurt, Germany.]  

[A few minutes later after uploading the first picture.  First Blogger said it couldn’t upload the image.  I did it again.  It uploaded it, but none of the controls (size, right-left-center, etc.) seem to work.  It may be all the pics will be large and centered.  Better than no pics at all.]

Actual post begins here:

After a couple of nights in Frankfurt to catch up on sleep and meet Nik’s sister-in-law and niece, we went on to Istanbul.  (Nik is the Ukrainian who lived in Ketchikan who I tutored in English for about two years over FaceTime.)

                             

Above is the Haupt Bahnhof (main train station) in Frankfurt

By the second full day in Istanbul I was wondering what we were doing here - it was all so overwhelming. 

 [Pic is Istanbul Airport walking and walking and walking to get to passport check and then to baggage.  At least here there were long big open spaces so you can see where you are going.  In Frankfurt you were in smaller spaces turning this way and that way, never quite sure if it was the right way. Not sure how the pic got on the left.]

We were staying in Sultanahmet - the most touristy section of Istanbul from what I can tell. [Because it has the oldest and most spectacular things for tourists to see, like the Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Casıı), the Grand Bazaar, and other notable landmarks.  [Can you tell that I’m stalling here?  

We stayed at the Side Hotel - see the little white circle, middle bottom - in the section called Sultanahmet.  The section on the right is the Asian part of Istanbul

We spent our time just walking around, figuring out where we were, how  to get an Istanbul Card (lets you ride on all the forms of public transportation), getting Turkish Lira from the ATM and trying to figure out how much things are in US dollars (1 Lire is about .024 cents; a dollar is worth 41.58 Turkish Lira.  Quick, they bring you the bill and it’s 1670 Lira, what’s that in dollars?)  It’s been harder than most places for me to be able to ‘feel’ my way around and naturally know which way is North. The hotel map suggests that lots of places are less than a kilometer away. This stalling I’m doing now reflects how I felt, and still feel].   Below is a picture of Turkish Delight.  Below that is a display of teas in a spice shop.

The second day I determined to do something.  Well, of course walking around and looking at things is doing something, but the next day we took the Bosphorus ferry.  The Bosphorus Strait flows from the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea (which eventually connects to the Aegean Sea).  North is the European Side,  South (I think - east of the Sultanahmet section) the Asian side The tour boat went close to the shoreline on both sides.  That helped a lot for getting my bearings and seeing how much more of Istanbul there is.  But from what I can tell, where we are is the real tourist area - lots and lots of places to eat, from food carts to fancy restaurants.  Carpet salesmen lurking like sharks.  Opening line for most seems to be, “Where are you from?”  It’s been in the 70sF during the day (which feels hot in the sun) and into the low 60s in the evening, with a strong breeze.

Most of my Bosphorus pics are on my camera.  I’m not even going to try retrieving those for this post.

We’d been told not to visit the Ayasofia (Hagia Sofia) - the huge mosque about a quarter of a mile from our hotel - not only is it more crowded on Sunday, but we were told there was also a cruise ship adding to the crowd of people who wanted to get in.  So we got our tickets early Monday.  

Above is the exterior of Hagia Sofia and below an interior shot. The link takes

you to the Hagia Sofia museum site and will help you understand the significance of this mosque

The next day we visited the Sultan Ahmet Mosque (the Blue Mosque).  It’s maybe a quarter of a mile away from the Hagia Sofia.  Here’s a link that tells you more, though most of the links are tourist oriented and talk about getting tickets.  You don’t need tickets to enter this mosque.  

Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Mosque) exterior from the roof of our hotel above

And from inside.  Magnificent!

Istanbul folks, according to the guide books and websites, use an Istanbul Card, which functions like similar cards in other cities.  This one may be a bit broader in scope than most - it works on all forms of transportation - busses, trams, trains, subway, funiculars, and ferries.  Even though you can switch the machines to English, it was still a bit daunting to buy our card (more than one person can use the card).  So this day we topped it off to make sure there was enough money in it.  

Machine to get Istanbul Card

And after Sultan Ahmet Mosque we took tram 1.  I wanted to cross over the water into the northern part of Istanbul.  We rode and rode but never crossed the bridge over the Golden Horn.  Eventually we got off and walked around a neighborhood that didn’t seem to have a lot to offer (us anyway). We walked back three stations before we got on the tram to go back.  When I was relating our adventure and lack of water crossing to Emre who works at the hotel, he was confused.  I showed him a picture of the station where we got off.  Eventually he said, “You went in the wrong direction.  You got off in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Istanbul”. 

Riding back on the tram.

I told you I was having trouble getting my bearings.  But getting lost is part of the adventure of traveling. Fortunately this was a test ride.  We didn’t have a specific destination in mind, except to cross the water into the ‘newer’ part of Istanbul.   

I’m done with this post.  Obviously I’ve left out a lot.  But my problems with this iPad and photos has made this one of the most frustrating posts to write that I can remember.  I’m sure there were problematic posts long ago that I don’t remember.  But I’m going to stop here.  

And, by the way, 1670 Lira would be $40.39. (At least at today’s official exchange rate.)

AI Tutor?

Lately, say midnightly, maybely even laterally, my posts, like fence post have gotten cotton weigh more hits, bang bang bang.  Dang.  I mean lots, like big empty peaces of land lots.  From normally counts likely 30s, summer moor. Couple hundreds.  But in  (Spanish speakers have trouble with in on cuz en means both (but you know en doesn’t mean both) back to the inn, the last weeks few posts hitters are like thousands islands dressing.  

Crazy numbers.  Need therapy numbers.  Asked, I did, my sunny who no’s computer stuffing for Thanksgiving much greater than will I ever.  

His brain sent word tongueward:  AI.  They like invaders, Darth Invader.  Sucking up the net inter.  

So his vater, tinks to self.  Gibblitsish should the blogger them feed.  

Does now sensation make to you?  This hole gnu period 4 me bee could.

”. . . we can return to dreams of our long gone riches, our legendary past”

 I’m reading Istanbul by Nobel Prize winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk.  It’s an autobiographical look at the author, Istanbul, and Turkey. (I’m speculating here, because I’m not that far into it.  He’s talking about his childhood when the neighborhood was filled with the dilapidated old palaces of the pashas of the Fallen Ottoman Empire,  I’m not sure what kids learn about in world history these days, but the magnificence of the Ottoman Empire was left out of the history classes I took.  

This is what people in the US might feel in 50 years or more if our current political trajectory continues and the many riches of the US are gutted, and the rest of the world leaves us in the dust.  

“When I watch the black and white crowds rushing through the darkening streets of a winter’s evening, I feel a deep sense of fellowship, almost as if the night has cloaked our lives, our streets, our every belonging in a blanket of darkness, as if once we’re safe in our houses, our bedrooms, our beds, we can return to dreams of our long gone riches, our legendary past.  And likewise, as I watch dark descend like a poem in the pale light of the streetlamps to engulf these old neighborhoods, it comforts me to know that for the night at least we are safe; the shameful poverty of our city is cloaked from Western eyes.”  (p. 35)

“To stand before the magnificent iron gates of a grand yali bereft of its paint, to notice the sturdiness of another yali’s moss-covered walls, to admire the shutters and fine woodwork of a third even more sumptuous yali and to contemplate the judas trees on the hills rising high above it, to pass gardens heavily shaded by evergreens and centuries-old plane trees - even for a child, it was to know that a great civilization had stood here, and, from what they told me, people very much like us had once upon a time led a life extravagantly different from our own - leaving us who followed them feeling the poorer, weaker, and more provincial.” (pp 53-53)

I’m sitting at SeaTac waiting to board our flight to Frankfurt, so that’s it for now.  

Off To Turkiye Soon

The year I studied in Göttingen, Germany, we had most of March and April off.  Hitchhiking was my main means of travel out of town, though in Yugoslavia I ended up taking trains, busses, and a boat.  As you leave Yugoslavia  and enter Greece you could go to Istanbul,Turkey (which is now Türkiye by the way) or to Greece.  I wanted to do both, but I would have to speed through Greece if I also went to Istanbul.  Also, I had five or six names and addresses of people in Greece - the friends and the parents of a Georg, a Greek student I knew in Göttingen.  

So I vowed to return to Istanbul another time.  It’s now 60 years later and I’m finally going to Istanbul.  Though I fully realize the Istanbul I will see now, is not at all the same place I would have seen in 1965. 

So I’ve been playing travel agent for the last six months.  After booking flights, some initial hotel rooms, loading apps, arranging with our house sitter, trying to figure out which eSIMS to use, doing Turkish on DuoLingo, to list just a few things, we’re almost ready.  But I do understand why people take package tours and let someone else do all that work.  

I’m a bit hesitant to take long journeys these days.  We know about carbon footprints, and I was lucky enough to fall into a life that gave me opportunities when I was younger to see much of the world - mostly I had assignments for an extended period of time (like being a student or a teacher or working/volunteering at an organization.)  It’s a great way to get connected into the local community and be more of a traveler than a tourist.  You are there long enough to be able to use at least some of the local language.  

As I say, I have had opportunities to live in other countries and learn what I could from those experiences.  The world has an endless supply of interesting places to visit.  Bit I've also learned there is an endless supply of interesting people much closer to home and I can connect with them to do important things without traveling the globe.  I hope to enjoy this trip, learn from it, share it with you and others in my life, and then settle back home and discover the richness of the people and geography around Anchorage that I haven't discovered yet. And revisit those I already know.  

But I also realize this trip might tempt me to venture out again.  We'll see.  

We haven't taken any overseas trips for a while and our Outside trips have been to see family and friends.  But the impact does weigh on me.

We all have to figure out how to live reasonably moral lives in the 21st Century.  It’s not easy in a system that values money above everything.  Of course it isn't either or - moral or not. It's probably better to think about it on a continuum from something like evil to something like virtuous.  

The basic standard that I think is reasonable for most people is that they give back to the world more than they got.  “Got” doesn’t have to mean being born wealthier than most.  Having loving parents is also a gift.  Having good friends is too.  But in a capitalist society money tends to give you a greater ability to do harm or good.  

I don’t know how one measures one's moral balance precisely - one needn’t give back in the currency one receives.  Being kind to others is one sort of currency.  Contributing to the improvement of other people’s lives also works.  Passing on wisdom works too, though many people think what they have to say is wiser than it probably is.  All we can do is think about the equation of giving back more than we receive and seriously strive for that everyday.  

What's Keeping Me From Blogging?

So much . . .

Weekly trips to pick up our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) [It's a USDA website so go quick before the regime either takes it down because it's too 'woke' or it crashes from neglect or incompetence.]

They use salt - some Alaska salt - and mix it with things for use in cooking, eating, and making your house smell better, like in the simmer pots.  

I've highlighted soap artist (seriously, what she does is art!)  Kit before.  She showed me a prototype of a soap she's working on that will have a Rorschach test on it.  I asked if there are psychiatrist interpretations included.  Those, she assured me, would cost a lot more.  Learn more at MirthAlaska.com. 

There was a long line at the WIC table.  This market is in the lowest income area of Anchorage and the Grow North Farm here - sponsored by RAIS (Refugee Assistance and Immigration Service), a part of Catholic Social Services - is an urban farm worked by refugees.  

It was gray and threatening, but not raining all that day, but it finally came down on the ride home.  It was so light it really only got my clothes slightly damp.  And my odometer with drops.

I've gone past my 1600 km goal for the summer - one reason I guess I haven't blogged as much.  All that biking along Anchorage's green bike paths has been good for my physical and mental health during this disastrous time in US history.  

The picture below was on an earlier ride on the Campbell Creek south trail.  And I'm delaying today's ride to get this post up.

The mushroom isn't connected to anything else in this post, but of course mushrooms and fungus in general are connected to everything underground.  You can't really tell but this one was five or six inches across.  Growing right next to the compost pile.  

  
                                                                      

Again, a somewhat random picture here.  Walking down the steps after a routine doctor visit at Providence, I was greeted with the lovely sounds of live piano music.  The acoustics in the huge atrium entrance are great and the notes pulled me over to listen to the end and thank the musician.

Our power, phone/internet went out during the windstorm a week ago Friday.  This downed cottonwood was the culprit.  Chugach Electric had the power back on the next morning when we woke up.  Alaska Communications took until Tuesday or Wednesday to come out and then they didn't have the equipment to fix it right, so while the phone line and internet are back on, the wire is lying on the ground and about two feet off the ground in some places I have to walk.  In what world is that acceptable?  Alaska Communications is so terrible!  The techs I have to call now and then and those who come out to the house are generally very good.  It's just the management that has promised me fiber every summer since 2023 and not delivered that pisses me off.  And the website that has the circle of death spinning hopelessly when I try to pay online, and then they charge me a %25 late fee because I couldn't pay online.  With no grace period.  None.  Visa emails me three days before to remind me to pay my bill.  ACS emails three days after it's due to say, "We screwed you again."  I'm ready to cut that cord forever.  

Got that off my chest.  

Our neighbor did hook us up to his power with a series of extension cords to power the refrigerator since we didn't know how long it was going to take to get the power back.  We decided to go to Queen of Sheba for dinner that night.  Here's David, the owner and chef, chatting with us after our meal.  

Ethiopian food is truly special and delicious.  Anchorage folks, go eat there and keep them in business.  The prices are reasonable for this day and age.  

It's between Northern Lights and Benson - on Dawson.  

So, probably this should have been three or four blog post spread over the week.  

But I'm not done.  I've been reading several books at once, but I'll just highlight Caraval.  This was a recommendation from my 12 year old granddaughter.  When I told her I was number 25 on the waiting list at Loussac Library, she said, "I told you that you'll never get it."

But I got an email saying it was mine to pick up.  I understand why people read it.  Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger of sorts.  And I think the author has synesthesia, because every feeling is associated with a color, some vibrating.  Lots more descriptions of odors than you normally see too.  And I don't think Nancy Drew ever had chills from the touch of a young man's bare chest leaning against her. 

I'd say this teen fiction is the gateway drug to adult romance fiction.  

Moving along - I'm still overwhelmed with the barrage of outrageous statements and actions spewing from the White House.  Here are a few images that I've saved as I try to find new ways to ask my junior US Senator how long he thinks he can wade in this filth before he is sucked under completely.  He gleefully points at what he sees as 'wins' for Alaska, while the president tramples the constitution by kidnapping people off the streets, invading US cities with our military, ignoring judge's orders, bombing boaters in international waters, gerrymandering Texas to squeeze out Democratic house seats, and on and on and on.  I didn't even mention Epstein.  And Dan Sullivan turns a blind eye to all of that in exchange for some oil drilling permits.  

My previous post was on the normalization of the word normalization.  Nothing could illustrate that point better than this post by His Travesty.   

What previous president could have done something like this and not been impeached?  Some say it's just 'a humorous bit' but I did a paper on government humor once.  What I learned was that government humor that is self deprecating is fine, but government humor that punches down is NOT fine.  

And then his Vice Travesty defends another military operation off the coast of Venezuela:

Has anyone seen any evidence that these are cartel members (just like we haven't seen any evidence that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a member of Tren de Aragua gang)?

I copied this one for Labor Day.  We're back to the time when business owners could call on the government to bring in troops to break up labor unions.  And when I say 'break up' I mean that literally.  But they stood in solidarity until they won their rights which have benefited most of us.  (You know, 40 day weeks, paid overtime, health benefits, the right to grieve bad treatment, etc.)  We have to be as brave and persistent now to prevent what's happening today.  

I don't believe ignorance is greater now than it was.  But the propaganda forces of the fascists have powerfully taken advantage of that ignorance, and the latent fears of white America.  They've taken all the damage to the working classes done by exporting jobs and increasing the income gap and blamed it on Black people and immigrants.  

 I remember when the first polio vaccines became available and we got poked at school.  My small pox vaccine scar no longer really shows, but I was inoculated.  

Public health programs have saved more lives than medical treatment of individuals.   As I look for good links to explain the importance of public health to society, I see that some of the most important public health initiatives - clean water and sewage systems - are so taken for granted that they aren't even mentioned.  But we haven't always had clean water and sewage systems.  And parts of the world still don't have them.  

President Nixon famously had an enemies list.  But no president has ever, so blatantly used the powers of the federal government to go after his perceived enemies.  The president is publicly telling the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute people who oppose him.  And as a blogger, I found this cartoon a bit close to home.  

I tell myself I'm just a tiny voice out in the wilderness and they have much bigger targets than me.  But I also notice that Google says my recent posts have way more hits that I usually get.  Stat Counter has always shown far fewer hits than Google, but they also track individual visitors.  I can't tell if I really have more hits or whether there are more bots.  In times past when there were lots more hits, it looked like someone scraping my blog for content, and more recently for AI.  But when that happens you can see a single user going to thirty or more different pages per day.  So many hits on a single page is different.  

In any case, I want people to stay strong and be engaged in fighting this regime to preserve our democracy (not to mention our health and economy and general well being.)  Do what you can.  And take breaks to laugh, enjoy nature, good friends.   Find like minded people.  And know your rights.  

And a teaser for a post I hope to put up this week.  

From Animalspot.net

The Term "Normalized" Has Become Normalized

Normalize, means to make something seem normal.  It's been used a lot recently to refer to events - like school shootings and outrageous Trump actions - that once would have been seen as totally unusual and demanding serious discussion and action.  

Here's the fourth definition on Merriam Webster's online dictionary:

4: to allow or encourage (something considered extreme or taboo) to become viewed as normal

The word normalize hasn't been used this way for a long time.  

Someone posited the question, "When and where did the new sense of "normalize" begin?" on English.stackexchange.com  (not exactly sure what that is, but the heading on the page is "English Language Usage" and it's dated 2020.)

One part of the answer was:

Merriam-Webster have “recently” addressed this matter of a very recent shift in focus or meaning in their article The New 'Normalize': Is the meaning of 'normalization' changing?:

"It will sometimes happen that a word suddenly appears everywhere. In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, two such words are currently in the ether: the verb normalize and its related noun, normalization."

This would suggest that Trump's behavior after being first elected was so unprecedented, broke so many norms and taboos, that people began using these terms.  

I think the term itself has been used so much itself, that it reinforces the idea that the once taboo is now normal.  

So what's the alternative?  

Everyone needs to contribute answers to this. I'd suggest that journalists simply have to continue acting shocked and adding statistics to show how terrible something is.  And continue to contrast behaviors to how things were in the past and to how things are in other countries.  

"President Trump continues to add to his presidential lying record, leaving all other presidents in the dust.  Today he said . . .Nixon resigned because Congressional Republicans told him he would be impeached after the recordings he made in the Oval Office proved that he had lied to the American people*."

*"Barry Goldwater thought that Nixon’s lying “was the crux” of his failure. That deceit was intended to obscure the overwhelming evidence that he had abused power and obstructed justice." (Source: LA Times)

The same is true of school shootings.  Journalists have to put them in context (so far beyond other nations; 

Source

"In 2019, gun injury became the leading cause of death among children aged birth to 19 years." etc.)  Journalists have to show the impacts on mothers and fathers, siblings, other students and teachers.  

Saying that "defying the courts has become normalized" merely confirms that the behavior is now within the bounds of normal, acceptable behavior.  

These behaviors are not 'normal'.  They still are taboo, even if the Supreme Court corruptly allows Trump to regularly violate the Constitution.  

Object to the word normalize and encourage people who use it   

1. to see that using the word confirms that the behavior is now acceptable, even if that isn't what they meant to do;
2. to call out the behavior as immoral, illegal, unconstitutional, and castigate those who have the power to stop it, but tolerate it - such as GOP members of Congress and the Supreme Court majority

What's Going To Happen To Totem Theaters?

On my bike ride back from the Muldoon Saturday Market at  Chanshtnu Park, I rode through the parking lot of the Totem Theater.  I've passed by several times this summer and noticed that while things look dead, once in a while I see someone go in.  And two weeks ago they said they were showing Freaky Friday on the marquee.  

And today again I saw someone going in..  So biked over to the entrance and the man came out.  I asked what was
happening and he said he didn't really know.  But Totem was pretty much closed down.  I asked about the possibilities I've thought about as I've come by here over the summer.  The individual theaters could be used for church services, for musical events, theater, speakers, weddings, all sorts of things.  Even showing movies.  

He said it was a Regal theater - like the Dimond Mall theaters and Tikahtnu.  That the company is owned by a corporation in England.  

When I got home I looked it up.  Wikipedia has a long piece on them.  

"Regal Cineworld Group (trading as Cineworld) is a British cinema chain and operator. Headquartered in London, England, it is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,139 screens across 747 sites[3] in 10 countries:[4] Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States.[5][6] The group's primary brands are Cineworld Cinemas and Picturehouse in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Cinema City in Eastern and Central Europe, Planet in Israel, and Regal Cinemas in the United States."

There's a long history including being bought by Blackstone private equity company and then later being sold, buying Regal, COVID, bankruptcy, not necessarily in that order.  

Regal, by the way, is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.

"By 2001, Regal was overextended, and went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It became the namesake for the theater chain in which it would be merged into with the Edwards and United Artists chains.[10][11]

When all three chains went into bankruptcy, investor Philip Anschutz bought substantial investments in all three companies, becoming majority owner.[18] In 2002, Anschutz consolidated his three theatre holdings under a new parent company, Regal Entertainment Group.[19] Regal's Mike Campbell and UA's Kurt Hall were named co-CEOs, with Campbell overseeing the theatre operations from Regal Cinemas' headquarters in Knoxville, and Kurt Hall heading up a new subsidiary, Regal CineMedia, from the UA offices in Centennial, Colorado. The Edwards corporate offices were closed."  (from Wikipedia)

The movie theater business has had tough times since Blockbuster came on the scene.  Then streaming video added to the problem and bigger and bigger home screens, and of course, COVID.  

But what happens to a community like Anchorage when big pieces of real estate are owned by far away - Knoxville and London - corporations?  What say do we have?  Who do we talk to and why would they even care?  It doesn't seem to be for sale, yet.  The building and the parking lot are pretty big.  But at the moment we're losing population.  Who locally would buy it?  A developer?

The man I talked to said that the Totem theater was his first job when he was 16 years old.  He stayed with the company until he was 19, when they first got bought out.  That there were a lot of changes all at once so he decided to leave and try something else.  

One day, he said, the general manager, who was also his good friend, called and jokingly asked if he wanted to work at the Totem again, and the he surprised his general manager friend by saying yes.  That was when he was 21. 

He said he is 26 now and that he literally 'grew up here" in the building and that he's sad to see it go.  

"I'll always appreciated the buiding and what it stood for."

Talking to him I was convinced - vibes as much as words - that he's a serious worker, takes the job to heart, and if I had a position, I'd hire him in a minute.  

Then I went over to get a picture of the marquee and I see that across the street from the Totem,  the Wayland Baptist University, has a For Sale sign up.  If you want to buy it, the number is 907 762 5801.

An Alaska Business magazine article begins:

"Texas-based Wayland Baptist University (WBU) is emptying its Alaska classrooms and transitioning to online instruction only. The school’s campus in Anchorage will be sold, its leased location in Wasilla vacated, and classrooms at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson Air Force Base returned to military service."

How many low cost housing units could be built on the Totem's big parking lot?  How many empty buildings like WBU do we have now?  I say we should look at these as opportunities to reimagine how they can be used and not just let them rot.  

[I had almost finished this last night, but left it for today.  I noticed that the Anchorage Daily News mentions the closure of the Totem in its story today on businesses that have recently opened and closed.]