A very satisfying week in American democracy

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a day when you could move away from the news with a smile on your face. This was a whole week of that despite the sadness of the funerals for nine people gunned down in that church in Charleston, South Carolina.

At the beginning of the week it at least appeared that symbol of slavery, the Confederate flag was coming down from the capitals of the South. While it's about time, I thought the effort was a nice bait and switch on the part of the NRA to shuttle the outrage away from gun control and toward taking down a flag. Did anyone else notice the NRA officials pretty quiet about the flag issue, probably happy the issue shifted that way. Nonetheless, probably all right to see that symbol discarded. Did you know that design was never used during the Civil War? It became popular during the civil rights era, used by the Ku Klux Klan. So much for Confederate pride.

Then came Thursday and the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act. It's legal and constitutional. And those six million people who use state exchanges won't lose their health insurance. Big win for President Obama and his administration and the millions of people who previously could not afford an acceptable level of health insurance.

But the Supremes weren't finished yet. Friday came the decision making same-sex marriage the law of the land. The best thing I saw written about that came out of Hillary Clinton's campaign, saying after years of state-by-state, court-by-court progress it turned out the answer was there in the Constitution all the time. From now on it will be just simply "marriage."

Those two decisions tend to renew a person's faith in the American system. How much do you remember from your high school history class? I don't know why, but this one thing (among others) stuck with me all these years. I remember an American history teacher telling us the authors of the Constitution had made appointments to the Supreme Court a lifetime proposition. That was to assure, because it would be the last job they held, the justices might be immune to pressures and political influences and give them the opportunity to think and judge objectively. For the most part over the years it has worked except maybe for the pressure and conflict of interest Clarence Thomas seems to enjoy from his public relations wife.

I had to laugh at the clueless Republicans after those decisions. Mike Huckabee says he doesn't accept the decision. I think that means he cannot honestly take the oath of office if he were elected president as that oath pledges upholding the Constitution. Ted Cruze called for a way to recall or vote justices off the court. That's exactly why the framers made the appointments lifetime so some ding-dong politician cannot influence the justices. It goes on. There's a minister who said he would set himself on fire if gay marriage was allowed. So far he has remained cool.  Several others have threatened to move to Canada. Good luck with that; same sex marriage has been legal north of the border for ten years.

Over all it has been one hell of a week for the overall health of our democracy and our citizenry. The capper came Friday when the President of the United States delivered the eulogy for a minister slain in that church in Charleston. At the end of his speech, a man in the office that anoints him leader of the free world, unhesitatingly launched in the traditional funereal song "Amazing Grace" and was soon joined by the huge audience who stood as one and sang with the president. It was a moving moment and one that may stand along with his speech for a long time in the history of the country.

Overall it had to be a satisfying week for those who cheer as American democracy advances toward the lofty ideals it was founded upon and one to renew the faith in the process of that democracy to persevere.



President Barack Obama leads the congregation in "Amazing Grace."

President Obama's complete eulogy

Seasons change and so do I

Alaska lore preaches that when the fireweed blossoms reach the top of the stalk there's only six more weeks until winter.

My friend Tom Walker who lives farther north noticed some flowers pretty high on the stalk near his house yesterday. So today I looked around the yard and found this one.

Higher on the stalk earlier than either of us has seen it before this year. This could put the start of winter in mid August.

Maybe it isn't just a random coincidence that today, two days after the solstice marking the start of summer, I got the urge to clean up around the wood pile in anticipation of new firewood.

Of course that solstice also marks when days start getting shorter, another reminder of the long decline into winter. I wonder if the unusually hot spring didn't fool the fireweed into thinking summer is farther along than it is supposed to be.

One simple fact Sea World cannot refute

Killer whales belong in the open ocean.

Ever since CNN broadcast the documentary Blackfish,  Sea World's public relations department has inundated social media and television advertising with a campaign defending itself.  The onslaught comes in waves, peaking just before the network repeats the program.

The campaign is most obvious on Twitter where the company posts comments often several times a day, defending its practice in the care and display of killer whales or highlighting some incident where Sea World did some good in the world like participating in the rescue of a stranded or injured sea creature.

Almost every one of their posts, at least the ones involving whales, attracts a wave of comments from the folks who want to set those whales free or at least stop Sea World from holding them.  It's like the lines from the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth" "… singing songs and carrying signs,  mostly say hooray for our side …"

Sea World also responds to every criticism the company receives pointing to the positives but in the process often shading the truth and even lying outright; The back and forth into sometimes minute detail tends to bury the underlying problem in a quagmire of claims and counter claims. The public relations department writes about what the whales are fed, how they respond to sunlight and to noise; Sea World says it doesn't separate mothers from offspring yet proof exists that they do. For every criticism there is a response and for every response there is a new criticism.

My favorite by far is this one defending the enclosures:

"SeaWorld ‏‪@SeaWorld‬ Apr 9

Please read this information on how our killer whale habitats are some of the largest in the world: ‪http://bit.ly/1GiI0I3 ."

Consider the word "habitat" for a moment.  Natural killer whale habitat covers all oceans and how Sea World can say any of their "habitats" compares with that is simply ludicrous. Of course, they are referring to habitats for captives, but that's what is wrong, and that's where the basis for Sea World criticism lies.

The company can attack its critics in excruciating detail and the critics can respond in kind but nothing anybody says can change the fact that Sea World confines huge whales in what amounts to swimming pools. No matter what they feed, no matter how good the care is, no matter how healthy they are, the whales, who normally range over thousands of miles and swim in depths measured in fathoms instead of feet, live their lives in what comparatively amounts to a human's back-yard pool.

That is the simple truth of what is wrong with Sea World and nothing the company does or says is ever going to justify that tragic practice.

Whale watching. Who's watching whom?

The singing whales of Alaska's Prince William Sound

Blackfish
More posts about whales

What a difference a day makes

Squash Day 2

Squash Day 1

Yesterday I put up some garden photos showing the growth in the raised boxes so far. Under the picture of the one showing the box with all squash plants I mentioned while they had blossoms on them, the plants in general have always looked a little sickly. In the picture the ground looks very dry, but sticking a finger in the earth would show that there was moisture less than a fingernail deep.

However a friend, commented that they looked very dry and suggested a little more water. I have been watering the same way I always have, really soaking the ground in the evening once the sun is off the plants, but that's all. This is a different year. Two weeks now of temperatures in the 70s and 80s with bright sunlight probably make a difference.

So, on my friend's advice, I did a little extra watering. I went out there in mid afternoon and watered, keeping the flow aimed low so as not to create lenses on the leaves and gave it a good soak. Later after the sun moved off, I went out and watered again. Then, early today I gave it another watering and then another in late afternoon.

What a difference in just 24 hours.  From now on I do not intend to let the ground go dry again. This also helped some sickly looking onions and green bean plants, which now have good color and more blossoms.

My gardens have always been experimental with a little guidance from knowledgeable friends, many of whom over the years have said the biggest mistake many people make is overwatering. As far as the experimental blundering, as my old friend Gary used to say, "What's the fun of doing something if you know how?" Well, part of my not knowing how was finding the happy medium between underwatering and overwatering. I've probably gone too far in the "over" category, but seeing such improvement in one day tells me I am going in the right direction.

Onions, these look better today too.

Lettuce and spinach

The spruce cones are from something I learned on the internet one day. Someone was suggesting recycling materials to use in the garden and suggested pine cones for mulch. They seem to work.

Squash blossom.

Potatoes.

So, thank you Sharon. And, too, thank you Jerrianne; I will thin the lettuce as soon as I can think of a good place to take the produce.

Taped? Filmed? Really?

Here's a little word exercise and anyone who has an idea, comments are welcomed.

How many times a day do we read or hear that something is "on tape" or "taped" or "film" or "filmed?" How many of those are actually taped on tape or filmed on film. Probably none of them. So that begs the question about accuracy and literal definition.

Almost all of what we see these days is digitally recorded with the exception, I understand, for commercial movies.

To my mind the language has to change, or at least the syntax. I've thought of some possibilities but it seems to me an all-encompassing word is still out there somewhere. "Video" serves as a noun but appears clumsy as a verb. "Recording" as noun or verb works, but it leads the mind to music rather than video.

So that's where it stands. Many writers can't seem to get past "taped" and "filmed" and maybe they can be considered to have spread their meaning to digital recording, but they seem archaic in 2015. And while we're on the subject, what does "footage" mean any more?

Suggestions?