Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Full House

Well, another week...and a fairly eventful one at that.  Tons of medical appointments...just got back from taking mom to one and we have another in an hour - so this will be quick.  Nothing really ominous - just lots of different stuff.  On Thursday mom will have some more injections in her back - her arthritis is quite bad.

Last Thursday evening my pal, Joan, arrived with her little dog Maddy.  Joan started work today.  Last evening Enrique and Nikki the Dog arrived all the way from New York.  They were both mighty tired.  Enrique is working at El Sombrero today and has his first rehearsal for the new play tonight.  So...the Lindstrom B&B is full at the moment and I'm delighted to have the company.  Last night was like a family reunion - Enrique had previously stayed at Joan's house on 10th Street.  So everyone knows everybody and gets along well.

Not much in the way of pics this week.  Alison, Joan, Maddy and I walked the dike trail yesterday but aside from a few common ducks there wasn't much bird action.  Should be picking-up soon however.

On the other hand my backyard is quite the gathering spot for winged creatures.  I'm filling the bird feeders regularly and they just keep hoovering it down.  The Chestnut-backed Chickadees are hoarders.  They will pack-off one seed at a time.  The Pine Siskins are gluttons.  They just strap-on the feed bag and starting mowing...


Pine Siskins are little piggies

The Common Redpolls convene under the feeder to collect dropped seeds.  I have yet to get a really good Common Redpoll pic but I am working on it.

Will try to post again shortly.

TallyHo! 

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Double-Down

Well, it ain't spring; but you can feel that it's just around the corner.  Alison and I have been out birding a fair amount and our feathered friends are definitely feeling like it's time to make more birdies.  Love is in the air...

Lots of Harbor Seals sunning themselves at Auke Bay

One of our late Uncle Ted's airport wind profiler gizmos.  Also a great perch...

A female Common Goldeneye in the pond by Fish Creek

She was very cooperative as a subject...

The Mallards not so much...

Tons of Mallards out Fish Creek as well as a fair number of American Wigeons, Barrow's Goldeneye, and Surf Scoters.  The Northwestern Crows are plentiful and noisy as hell...  We saw a Belted Kingfisher and, of course, Bald Eagles.  All of these guys are locals...don't think there are any migrants passing through yet; but I may be wrong.  We will keep you posted on the bird front...

In other news, I just finished reading an interesting article in the current addition of Foreign Affairs titled:  'God and Caesar in America - Why Mixing Religion and Politics is Bad for Both.' 

The article makes a number of interesting points including a reminder of how recently the marriage of religiosity to political conservatism was consecrated.  Who remembers that back in the 1960's Democrats were more likely to be church goers than Republicans?


The most fascinating point of the article however is the suggestion that the latest American religious awakening may well be past its prime and there is substantial evidence that the millennial generation (persons under the age of 30) are increasingly turning their back on religion generally.  In 2011 over one third of Americans in their early 20's self-identify as having no religious affiliation.
The best evidence indicates that this dramatic generational shift is primarily in reaction to the religious right.  Politically moderate and progressive Americans have a general allergy to the mingling of religion and party politics.  And millennials are even more sensitive to it, partly because many of them are liberal (especially on the touchstone issue of gay rights) and partly because they have only known a world in which religion and the right are intertwined.  To them, "religion" means "Republican," "intolerant," and "homophobic."  Since these traits do not represent their views, they do not see themselves - or wish to be seen by their peers - as religious.
The authors also suggest that at least some clergy have come to recognize the trend.
Indeed, one of the most significant differences between our 2006 and our 2011 data was the drop-off in political activity within U.S. religious congregations.  In 2006, 32 percent of Americans who belonged to a congregation reported hearing sermons with political content "once every month or two" or "several times a month."  By 2011, that figure had fallen to 19 percent.  The trend held among those of all religious traditions, in all regions of the country, among conservatives and liberals, young and old, and urban and rural.  Presumably, clergy across the country have sensed what we see in the data, namely, Americans' growing aversion to blurring the lines between God and Caesar.  So they have opted to stick with God.
As I said - an interesting article.  On the other hand, something too good to be true is often not true.  And at least one major denomination has, for the moment at least, apparently elected to double-down on their political activity.

From a March 9, 2012 Associated Press article:
Pope Benedict XVI waded deep into U.S. campaign politics Friday, urging visiting U.S. bishops to beef up their teaching about the evils of premarital sex and cohabitation, and denouncing what he called the “powerful’’ gay marriage lobby in America.

As debate over health care coverage for birth control rages in the United States, Benedict said there was an urgent need for Catholics in America to discover the value of chastity — an essential element of Christian teaching that he said had been subject to unjust “ridicule.’’

U.S. bishops are currently locked in an election year battle with the Obama administration over federal funding for birth control.
Two days later the U.S. Catholic bishops announced  a major campaign to fight the proposed mandate that all private employers must provide contraceptive services as part of employee health plans.

The bishops may well win the contraceptive coverage battle. But it will do nothing to help them win the hearts and minds of the young among their flock.

Last week there was also an interesting article in The Economist on sex education in the UK that raised some of the same points as in the Foreign Affairs article.
Some pupils at Catholic schools in Lancashire recently received a sex education pamphlet entitled "Pure Manhood:  How to become the man God wants you to be".  This offers such pearls as "safe sex is a joke" and "the homosexual act is disordered, much like contraceptive sex between heterosexuals."  To that, youths are likely to respond:  whatever.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Yankees Go Home

I almost felt sorry for the Republican Presidential hopefuls this weekend.  Here they are looking for votes in the reddest of red states and they just can't seem to get the pander patter down right.  I was hugely amused by the recent article in the Washington Post documenting their discomfort.

Larry, Curly and Moe talk cheesy grits

Mr. Romney, perpetually ill at ease with us 99 percenters, seems particularly uncomfortable among the southern corn pone and moonshine crowd that is the heart and soul of the Republican political base.
Romney’s efforts to connect focused on food. “I got started right this morning with a biscuit and some cheesy grits,” he said in Jackson, Miss. “I’ll tell ya — delicious.”
One suspects that Mr. Romney's religious beliefs may also be a headwind in this neck of the woods - although at least one thoughtful voter seemed willing to overlook this shortcoming.
 “I wished he wasn’t Mormon. I wished he was Christian.” Then, she said, she recalled Mormons doing good work in the community. “I thought about it, and I never had any problem with Donny Osmond being Mormon.” 
Mr. Santorum, his Christian bona fides notwithstanding, seemed equally ill at ease.
He [Santorum] recalled a story about the time that a political opponent had trash-talked Pennsylvania, by saying it was “Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but Alabama in between.”

The crowd laughed softly and seemed to understand that this was not a compliment to Alabama.
Mr. Gingrich, a tireless promoter of himself as an intellectual and a Yankee by birth, but a long-term resident of Georgia, also struggled.
Showing off his superior knowledge of grits, he declared in Dothan, Ala.: “I like grits. I like cheese grits. I like grits with gravy. There’s a number of ways you can have grits.”

But Gingrich also fumbled. He railed against the Chevy Volt, calling the electric vehicle too liberal — an “Obama car” — because “you can’t put a gun rack in a Volt.”

The line fell flat. a Volt can accommodate a gun rack according to the manufacturer. But you probably wouldn’t want to install one in a sedan — the familiar kind of gun rack is better in a truck.
The polls show tonight's southern primaries too close to call.  I may actually watch the returns - should be good entertainment if nothing else...

In other news, Alison and I took a nice walk yesterday and the Auke Bay harbor provided an opportunity for observing a number of waterfowl.

Pic of the day - A Common Mure

I do believe there is a stirring of spring lust in birdland

Not a great pic - but here are three Red Breasted Mergansers (male on right) and a female Long-tailed Duck

We also spotted several loons and a Pigeon Guillemot (we think) but sadly they were too far away for decent pictures.

So there you have it!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Winter's Last Gasp (I Hope)

The old adage that 'March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb' is often true here in Southeast Alaska.  And today the lion has most certainly dropped-in for a visit.  I woke-up this morning to a foot of snow in the driveway and just got finished shoveling here and at mom's.  It's supposed to turn to rain by tonight and should be rainy for the rest of the week so perhaps the stage will be set for the timely arrival of our lamb friend.  I am ready for spring!

Yesterday was quite nice in the morning and then the weather deteriorated as the day progressed.  Alison, Carol and I went for a walk on the Fish Creek wetlands.  It was spitting snow a bit; but the wind wasn't yet blowing very hard and we had a very pleasant time.  A surprising number of ducks - mostly Mallards - but also a fair number of Common Goldeneye, Barrow's Goldeneye, Surf Scoters, and even a few American Wigeon.  I assume they were all locals although it won't be long before our migrating feathered pals make an appearance...

We also spotted a Northern Shrike - a bird I have not previously seen - or at least not previously recognized.  No particularly great pics...but still a nice outing.

A Northern Shrike

Surf Scoters - Note the female at right dining on a clam

Alison and Carol - Retirees having fun!

On the backyard bird front, Dark-eyed Juncos have now joined the Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Common Redpolls, and Pine Siskins.  I have to replenish the feeders most days.

In other news, on Sunday I attended a fund raiser for Senator Mark Begich and then the annual Juneau Democrats Jefferson/Jackson Dinner.  It was pleasant enough.  

I particularly enjoyed chit-chatting with Katie Hurley, one of the few surviving participants in the Alaska Constitutional Convention.  Katie served as Chief Clerk at the convention and in the 1980's served in the State House of Representatives representing Wasilla and vicinity.  She just turned 91.  Katie was originally a Juneau gal - graduated from Juneau High School in 1939.  She was married to Juneau photographer, Joe Alexander.  She played the piano at my parents' wedding.  She's a sweetheart.

On a less pleasant note, I shuddered all weekend as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee annual panderfest produced ever more strident calls for war with Iran.  And Senator McCain took to the floor of the Senate to demand that we start bombing Syria too.  The party that clamors for reducing the federal budget deficit doesn't seem to think that spending on military adventures counts.  Just put it on the national bar tab...