Oyster Roundup – Shame Fail, Salmon Fail & More
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more!
Some news nibbles. Eat ’em raw.
The Commissioner of Fish & Game has rejected a petition signed by more than 6,000 Alaskans asking for a law that would prohibit coal mining activities that destroy salmon streams, because right now, that doesn’t exist. Commissioner Cora Campbell says that her department could already do that, if they felt like it. In Upper Cook Inlet, PacRim Coal is currently submitting permit applications that would create the state’s largest coal strip mine. “PacRim’s plan would set a historic precedent in Alaska as the first project in state history to remove miles of wild salmon streams from bank-to-bank, down hundreds of feet.”
The rejection happened on the same day that Gov. Sean Parnell signed legislation designating an official “Mining Day” in Alaska.
Now that days are getting longer, the calendar promises summer in a couple flips of the page, and everyone’s fancies turn to thoughts of summer travel, the FAA estimates that “arrival rate at some airports could be reduced as much as 30-40%,” according to Alaska Airlines Spokesman Paul McElroy. One of the automatic budget cuts triggered by the 2013 federal sequestration is a nationwide furlough of air traffic controllers by the Federal Aviation Adminstration, including the control tower employees at Anchorage’s Ted Stevens International Airport. The furloughs for control tower workers went into effect Sunday, April 21. No one has lost their job, but workers are working fewer days.
According to McElroy, flights which have the greatest chance of being delayed as a result of the furloughs are Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Newark, or Ft. Lauderdale.
Mark Begich and the other four Democratic Senators who voted to prevent a vote on background checks for gun purchases are now under fire from several groups including Organizing for Action (formerly Obama for America), the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and Mayors Against Illegal Guns. PCCC is taking out full-page ads in local papers, and MAIG has been robo-calling since last week.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said lawmakers who voted against the gun plan should be ousted.
“They have to be replaced,” she said on San Francisco’s KQED radio. “The people have to say no, this isn’t right.”
Alaska is a “gun-toting state” and Begich would only lose politically by changing his stance, said Jerry McBeath, a professor of political science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
“Would it be Democrats who are going to put money in the race against Begich so he’ll be defeated, so the Democrats will lose the Senate?” McBeath said. “They’re blowing smoke.”
Katelyn Campbell’s high school in West Virginia recently brought in an “abstinence educator” who said taking birth control can lead to becoming “sterile or dead.”
Katelyn decided these lies shouldn’t go unchallenged. So she talked with the local newspaper, and even went on CNN to expose what she and her fellow students were being told.
How did her principal George Aulenbacher respond? He called her into his office to berate and intimidate her, even threatening to call her future college to tell them she has “bad character.”
Fortunately for Katelyn, her future college happened to be Wellesley, a women’s college in Massachusetts, whose notable alumnae include Madeleine Albright, Hillary Clinton, and Nora Ephron. Here was their response when learning of the incident:
How’d that last legislative session work out for you? How bout that one party control? Pretty amazing stuff, right? Here’s what it got you in 2013:
A Multi-Billion Dollar Oil Giveaway: Exxon, British Petroleum and other outside oil companies were given roughly $1 – $1.5 billion a year in Alaska’s oil wealth – with no requirement to increase production or even invest in Alaska.
Dirtier Cruise Ship Waste Laws: The GOP-led Legislature and Governor made it easier to dump dirtier wastewater in your fishing waters.
A 4th year of Educational Cuts: Cutting school staff for the fourth year in a row moves education and opportunity backwards, not forwards. Democrats responsibly pushed to erase the last four years of school staffing cuts. Republicans blocked these efforts along party lines.
If this irritates you, throw some coin to the House Democratic Campaign Committee, and say thanks to House Dems who stood up in the face of overwhelming odds to keep fighting for YOU.
Time for Parnell, Cora Campbell, Alaska’s Board of Game, Department of “Roads” that are clueless about ferries, and this administration that does not practice “choosing respect” for Alaskans or public process to hit the road.
Begich is good on many issues, but on guns, neither he nor Murkowski demonstrated the leadership that this nation needs and wants. Alaska’s senators need to hear more from Alaskans on this issue. Perhaps the newspaper ads will be part of that process.
Mark Begich has twice made the national Australian news, named in a group of “frightened” senators. How proud he makes Alaska.
FAA traffic controlers could put a priority on all flights except private corporate jets. When The Romney’s horse has to wait on the ground for an hour to get clearance to take off, we might see some movement to tax the wealthy at a reasonable rate. Or they might build their own traffic control system and then we would all be in trouble.
Excellent oysters this evening. Thanx.
Having worked for a FAA contractor, I expect pretty real chaos with the flying x-country. I do not like the way this sequester thing went down. However, when the inconvenience, cost, time or other finally effects the “economy”, come May weird things could happen. If one just looks at an air traveler, who are they? 1/3 private business (+/-), 1/3 government, 3/6 planned tourist, 3/6 incidental. Two thirds of airline travel could take care of business from their home port. Remember that wonderful word, boondoggle. !! Tourists may or may not really need to get on a plane. Vacation closer to home, rearrange the furniture, read a book. Use some imagination.!! Emergencies exist each day/night. Provide service. All of that is easy. Available traffic controllers can handle that. Corporate & government subsidized airlines could save mega-bucks. We do NOT need government subsidized airlines, no more phone calls. Crisis averted. n
with the time it takes to get to the airport, go thru security and hour ahead of flight, and then do it all again for the flight back, We’ve been driving to SoCal rather than fly… cheaper and literally an hour faster ! and we don’t have to rent a car when we get there!
hhhmmm MPG divided by distance Santa Cruz to Juneau at $4/gal…..
1577 approx. miles by vehicle x’s $4.00/gal. – hmmm, is that driving in the heat or cold? Is the $4.00 supposed to be average throughout trip? How old is the vehicle, has it been maintained and does that include flats, if you’re carrying alot of weight? Last time I tried L.A. to Anchorage-it took 4 1/2 days of driving…but we did have to run it up on a curb and beat the oil pan back into some sort of semblance with a rock…and the stop at a local to calm down when the log truck just ahead of us, started slipping it’s chains…and the night changing the tire, again, when the night sky filled up with auroras and it sounded like bacon frying. All in all, a good trip. We made it…that time. 🙂