Mudflats’ Top 13 of 2013
Since it’s two millennia plus a baker’s dozen on the calendar, we thought that it seemed appropriate to give a nod to the top 13 Mudflats stories of 2013.
We noticed that six of the top 13 posts are about a certain former half governor who used to steer Alaska’s ship of state. We’re not quite sure what to make of this. We’re not ones to pat ourselves on the back, but that option is less horrifying to us than thinking that Sarah Palin is still all that important. We prefer instead to believe that she has simply morphed, devolved if you will, into nothing more than frivolous entertainment and that we’ve been able to capitalize on your sense of political relief by providing some chuckles. If we Alaskans bear some amount of collective responsibility for introducing her to the country, we can at least entertain you with our take on her slow and inevitable demise. We may not be entirely responsible for her, but if you’re looking for someone to make you laugh about it, it ain’t gonna be John McCain.
13) The Real Nazis (Jeanne Devon)
American soldiers in the Battle of the Bulge in the Hurtgen forest, December 1944.
A bit of a surprise. This repost of a piece I’d written a few years ago went a little bit viral this Veterans’ Day. It’s a personal story of my father’s time in a prisoner of war camp in Germany in World War II, and how I’ve pretty much had it with people squawking about Obama being just like Hitler. Sadly, its relevance remains timely.
12) Greed ‘n Guns – A Very Palin Christmas (Jeanne Devon)
This was the first piece in the series of blogs on Sarah Palin’s Christmas book Good Tidings and Great Joy. There’s even an audio clip for the kind of people who run up mountains just to see if they can.
11) Mr. Balls vs. Fukuppy the Fukushima Egg (Jeanne Devon)
This piece was fun to write, and covers two of the biggest, most horrifying marketing fails in the history of time. Really.
10) Good Tidings and Great Pain – Chapter 1 (Jeanne Devon)
The first word sets the tone of the tome, and it’s all down hill from there… It doesn’t even help to read it through a glass of cognac.
9) Good Tidings and Great Pain – A Palin Xmas, Intro (Jeanne Devon)
Decisions, decisions. In retrospect, perhaps I should have gone with the Zombie’s Guide to the Holidays. This is the blog covering the introduction. It’s all you could ask for – Eskimo Bingo, guns for Christmas, agonizing gift hunts, and guns for Christmas.
8) Palin’s Book & My Christmas Pilgrimage to Wasilla (Jeanne Devon)
Zach Roberts and I used the buddy system for safety, and went on a road trip north. We thought we were going to take pictures of the northern lights, but instead we made an impromptu pilgrimage to the location of what may very well be the weirdest and creepiest nativity scene in the nation, in Wasilla, Alaska. It wasn’t quite what Palin described in her book.
7) Palin, Ducks & Free Speech (Zach Roberts)
The Duck Dynasty racist, homophobic disaster of a patriarch had the right up in arms, but they had it all wrong. The First Amendment – we don’t think it means what they think it means.
6) Assemblyman Admits Backroom Shenanigans (Linda Kellen Biegel)
The AFL-CIO’s Vince Beltrami got up in front of the Assembly and laid out for the audience the dastardly and craven plan of the mayor and his supporters with their latest election shenanigans. And one of the most conservative assembly members thanked him for his honesty! Shazam! All caught for you as it happened.
5) Duck Dynasty Duplicity? (Jeanne Devon)
Seems everyone wanted to take a peek at the reverse elitism of the Duck Dynasty crew.The offspring of the racist, homophobic “patriarch” had a pre-TV show penchant for the clean-shaven East coast J. Crew look. Go figure. Let’s hope these guys fade away in 2014.
4) TX Armed Group Identified & Running for Congress (Zach Roberts)
Here’s a follow up to the post that made it to #2.
3) Good Tidings & Great Pain – Top 10 Atrocities, Chapter 4 (Jeanne Devon)
I continued blogging Palin’s book despite the viral kudos to Dan Savage for his review of only the Introduction. His husband chucked the book in the trash before he’d even started Chapter 1. I had no such luck. Dan Savage himself got a kick out of the piece, tweeted the story and said, “Jeanne Devon of The Mudflats is a better woman than I…” I am humbled, and yes I will finish the book before the 12th day of Christmas.
2) Moms Group in “Armed Ambush” (Zach Roberts)
Zach Roberts was one of the very first to cover this emerging story about a moms’ group for gun control in Texas getting “ambushed” at their meeting by a group of armed 2nd amendment activists.
1) TPP 101 in Less Than 4 Minutes. Go. (Jeanne Devon)
Our biggest story of the year wasn’t a Palin piece, and wasn’t even an exclusively Alaskan piece. It’s perhaps the most important issue that most people have never heard of. The TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) is a global trade agreement that is so staggeringly bad it’s got legislators across the spectrum – Tea Party, moderate Republicans, Dems, Greens, all engaged and fighting hard against it. If you think it’s too wonky, or wish you knew how to speak about it intelligently, but don’t know where to find accurate, understandable and fast answers, read this and watch the video.
Less than 4 minutes, and worth your time. The fact that this is our #1 post of the year, by almost double the readership of #2 gives us hope that people are engaged in the world, and willing to learn what they need to learn to make it a better place.
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All of us here at The Mudflats would like to thank you for your enthusiasm and support over the last five years. During that time, which has been mostly a volunteer labor of love, we have done our best to inform you, outrage you, make you laugh, show you the beauty of our great state, get you engaged in politics from the municipal to the state and national level, and cause you to think. It is a pleasure every day.
If you believe we’ve added to your online experience in 2013, we would gratefully welcome a few coins in the tip jar for things like gas, filing fees, server charges, time, and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. —–> CLICK
May you all have a safe, healthy, and gratifying new year. Chins up, and chests out, Mudpuppies! There’s a lot to do.
Rolling Stone has a list of the fifty dumbest things right-wingers said during 2013.
Our own Don Young is awarded third place for this deeply compassionate and insightful statement: “My father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 to 60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes.”
That should help draw the Hispanic vote, right?
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/lists/50-dumbest-things-right-wingers-said-in-2013-20131204/don-young-19691231#ixzz2pHaakk6a
😀 😀 😀
Happy New Year, mudpups. Jeanne, you have four days to finish that book review …
http://thedisplacedplainsman.blogspot.com/
I know you all have been waiting patiently for this and here it is. You are defined politically by what you imbibe in the form of booze. Branch water(my mainstay) isn’t listed so that makes me an independent.
😀
I dunno mikey.
I don’t see me on there at all and I’m an ultra high turnout Democrat ( who will never leave the party until Andrew Jackson’s ghost begs forgiveness , which ain’t gonna happen- that murdering genocidal fool)
I don’t see a 1 pint dark beer/year, 1 Irish coffee/year, and 2 sips of Kahlua / year dot anywhere on there…
Everybody else buys whole bottles??
Your sounding better.:) 🙂
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/11/ann-romney-its-too-bad-the-election-isnt-today/?iref=obinsite
Here’s hoping for rilly bitter,sour grapes for Ann Money Boo Boo for 2014. We’ve moved on from the election,but……..
I’m glad your “Real Nazis” post made it to so many people this last year, AKM. It was/is a stunning piece.
I’m confused about the whatzername posts garnering more interest than some of the extra fine work you did this year but maybe some of those stories were too Alaska centric for broad appeal.
I am glad it is obvious to so many now that whatzername’s star has come crashing down round her… had to chuckle at the tired old “envy” “hater” remarks from FB commenters in recent days- I guess there a few holdouts out there 🙂
You wound up your coverage of the Schaeffer Cox et al trials and allowed us a bit of the back story from the informant there, You covered that whole thing so well!!!!
You did , over and over again, excellent columns on the Legs and Cap’n Torpedo’s dismal sashay of stoopidity during session.
There’s bunches more!!
And I pretty much enjoy the bird of the week dealie- clear back to the first one of the Sharp-tailed grouse.
So – thank you, thank you to you and the MF crew! Looking forward to the next year!
2014 started off positively as c4p’s favorite author in the category of-as ghost-written by-didn’t make the list of must read books for the new year. Hope this is the last time it’s name passes my keybored for the rest of my life. For what it is worth,I order everyone to have better health,starting yesterday-no exceptions. My resolution is to become a better hater in the war against the bad guys and we all know who they are. I’m off acid reflux meds for a couple days(blame insurance and holidays) and I have plenty of bile stored up to spew. Makes for the mizery-skitters when I want to watch/listen to my beloved iowa Hawkeyes play football today. I wish you peace.(thanks to Patti Davis before she got rilly weird again).
Happy New Year, AKM. Here’s the a much better 2014!
/WC
MKR: Regardless of your valiant attempts to make sense of that book, your choice of the ’13 story of greatest importance is ‘right arm’. Like so many treatises with which we are bombarded, the TPP is a new low. Hope you will keep us up to date.
Happy Newest Year, dearie !!! Fair winds and following seas. n
2013 was my “annus horribilis” – worst year of my life!
I spent January – April dealing with a possible heart condition ( chest pains-failed stress test- heart catherization- heart monitor for 30 days)….turned out no problem. HOOORAY!
In August, after routine mammogram, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a bilateral mastectomy in September. I had reconstruction on December 17 – my Christmas presents!
I CAN NOT WAIT for this year to be over!!
Happy New Year to all the ‘Flatters. Hope 2014 is better for all!
hoo boy. I got sick right after Christmas, rill sick, still have some fever, but I can’t get over feeling sad for the poor owner of the nativity dealie in Wasilla.
I think we should take up a collection to buy a new baby Jesus( one that doesn’t look like it has its finger in a light socket), and get faces repainted on the rest of them, including a warm wheat colored skin wash.
I think I better go lie down for a bit… I must be losing my mind…forget what I said here…
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Will have to come back tomorrow and read all this more carefully.
happy New Year AKM, Mudpups, and hushpups!
I mean the Grotto Iona nearby there has a lovely nativity. It is a place of peace and respite whether one is a believer in the Christ story or not.
This one…uh…
Shut up Pi…
Alaska Pi, I disagree. Let those effigies rise or sink as they are. As an (artistic) installation I hate to admit I see some free expressionism particularly with the faces. It could also be that there was too much clay and those heads just got distorted by gravity.
Let that sink in peace. n
PS: just as I was ready to post this a horrible thought came into my head. Was this monstrosity on the same frozen lake where the Anchorage barrista was found? Horrible, horrible..
Nope. The Wasilla manger scene is in the park next to Wasilla Lake.
The body of Samantha Koenig, the missing Anchorage barista, was found under the ice in Matanuska Lake — about six miles SE of Wasilla Lake.
The serial killer, Israel Keyes, was one scary dude. He staked out a trailhead which I use occasionally. And the FBI is still looking for tips about other victims.
For my dearest friend with bears,a little something to hopefully make you feel better.
http://sdakotabirds.com/calendar_main.htm
No bears here.
That is a lovely calendar 🙂
Thank you!
No matter how sucky a year has been I always get caught up in dreaming about all the wonderful creatures and plants which will return now as the light returns- birds are amongst the top 10.
Stoopid bears are at the bottom of the list after their long dang fooling around this fall into winter before napsies stuff.
(and influenza can take a flying leap into the flames of hell, also too, even and as well )