The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska
Alaska Public Radio – Unusual Weather Prompts Concerns Over Early Fire Season Possibilities
Alaska wildfire mangers are anticipating the possibility of an early season. This winter’s unusual weather is prompting concerns.
Bloomberg – Alaska’s Hidden Billionaire
Just south of the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Anchorage, Alaska, there’s a seven-block mobile home park named Four Seasons, where rentals start at $1,300 a month.
It’s one of at least 40 multifamily properties in the area, or about 12 percent of the city’s entire rental market, owned by Weidner Investment Services Inc.
ADN – Denali’s squeaky-clean air best among all US national parks
Fairbanks air turns bitter every winter as Alaskans fill it with woodsmoke and other things, but just down the road Denali National Park has the clearest air measured among America’s monitored national parks.
Scientists at Colorado State University have taken a close look at Denali air as captured near the park entrance. A monitor there pulls air through a set of four filters, getting samples every third day. A park employee then mails the filters to the Lower 48.
National
NY Times – Ferguson Became Symbol, but Bias Knows No Border
If the shooting of Michael Brown had taken place about 500 yards to the southeast, he would have died not in Ferguson, Mo., but in the neighboring city of Jennings. The court system there, which is overseen by a white judge but has almost exclusively black defendants, routinely sends people to jail for failure to pay minor traffic fines, a new lawsuit alleges.
NPR – Photographer Helped Expose Brutality Of Selma’s ‘Bloody Sunday’
This month Selma, Ala., will mark the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” That’s the day police beat demonstrators attempting to march to Montgomery in support of voting rights. Some of the most iconic images of that day were captured by a white photographer — the late Spider Martin.
LA Times – Sen. Robert Menendez, likely to face corruption charges, denies wrongdoing
The Justice Department is likely to file criminal charges against Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) for allegedly using his office to help a contributor, according to two sources familiar with the case.
Menendez has been the subject of an investigation for two years centering on his relationship with Dr. Salomon Melgen, a South Florida ophthalmologist.
International
Vice – Boko Haram Pledges Allegiance to Islamic State
The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, pledges allegiance to the ISIS group in a new audio recording posted on the group’s Twitter page, according to the BBC and the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist propaganda. VICE could not independently verify the recording.
The message is just the latest evidence of how the Nigerian militant group has apparently been influenced by the Islamic State.
BBC – Nemtsov killing: Russia court charges two men with murder
A Moscow court has charged two men in connection with the murder of Russian opposition activist Boris Nemtsov. It said one of the men, Zaur Dadayev, had admitted involvement in the shooting on a bridge near the Kremlin on 27 February.
The Guardian – Women’s equality isn’t a zero sum game. It’s vital for peace and prosperity
There is a plethora of data which demonstrates that women’s economic participation grows economies, creates jobs and builds inclusive prosperity. As essential as women’s equality is for growth, it is often stymied by discriminatory laws, customs, and structural barriers that restrict women from full participating in the formal economy. In no country is the gender equality gap completely closed.
http://dakotafreepress.com/2015/03/21/dakota-access-stockpiling-canadian-steel-in-brown-county/#comment-1607
Here is some of the pipe wingnuts claim will bring American jobs for the latest oil pipelines in South Dakota. Notice the country of origin. Not USA you say. Nevermind that,there are thousands of good paying jobs to be had, Wonder if this is why wingnuts blocked provisions in KXL pipeline bill that pipes had to be made of US steel in the USA?
iowa is Numero Uno!. We did it! With iowa’s win over Davisdon in the NCAA BB tourney the last of the perfect brackets went up in smoke. No on can claim the bazillion dollar prize this year. Yeahhhhhhhh!!!
http://juanitajean.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/tmclo150317.gif
Letter to Japan’s Emperor Hirohito about the Japanese surrender in 1945.
Rumour floating around one of the Cheney clan did Playboy magazine. Let us pray that Dick kept his clothes on.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/0318/Dick-Cheney-s-Playboy-interview-5-things-to-know
http://juanitajean.com/louie-said-that-he-really-did/
Screwy Louie Gohmert of Texas says it is not evil to cut food stamps because some recipients are obese and these cuts will help them-lose weight or starve. I made the last part up,but Louie is the newest incarnation of Michele “one L” Bachmann mated with iowa wingnut “Cantaloupe Calves” King.
Louie Gohmert for President: “When You’re Poor, Less is More.”
Hide the women and children and be sure to leave the wingnuts at the curb in case wolves go crazy Friday.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/solar-eclipse-spring-equinox-supermoon-trio-celestial-events/story?id=29727161&google_editors_picks=true
Sure to be some kind of zombies running around after all this happens.
I don’t think we missed this news yet cuz it just happened… 🙂
Two women in top 5 Iditarod finishers today.
Way to go ladies!
About right for our numbers instate.
Congrats to all in the race- especially and mostly the puppers!
http://iditarod.com/race/2015/standings/
http://sunshineweek.rcfp.org/go-ahead-take-closed-government-personally/
It is better than alright-open gubmint is better gubmint. Demand your right to an open gubmint. Cities,towns,counties boroughs,state and federal. It is your gubmint,demand access to it.
Rand Paul said today he will announce he is running for president on April 7, which means he announced his intent to run today, March 18. Really tired of these stupid, predictable games politicians play. When are we going to see real people with real solutions, instead of reruns of stale behaviors and ideas?
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/03/son_of_alabama_chief_justice_r.html#incart_most-read_news_article
A son of Aladamnbama’s Cheap Justice of the Supreme Court got busted for drugs(again) and is blaming the media and crooked cops trying to get at his Dad. Puhleassssssse,Skippy. Three arrests for drugs,probation and a youthful offender program later you got caught again. This guy’s family is as bad for grifting as the Wasilla hillbillies. The whole state of Alabama was listed on e-bay today for a dollar bid. Bidding is closed. No one seems to know if it got bought or what.
Beauty queen and ethically challenged Illinois wingnut congresscritter has resigned. Latest ethics complaint was he used Karl Rove’s math formula to seek federal reimbursement for 172,000 miles on his personal vehicle that only had 80000 miles when he got rid of it.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/aaron-schock-resigns-116153.html
The nation’s fittest congressweasel is unfit to serve Illinois.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/03/16/deja-vu-sinking-oil-prices-sinking-gasoline-prices/24846455/
Crude oil is at a six year low. Why is gasoline spiking?????
I certainly hope Alaskans will demand, insist, and require Dan Sullivan, who has been a senator barely sixty days, to explain why he is one of the signatories of the Iran Letter.
OMG! The left hooker Bristol is engaged tyo a Medal of Honor winner named Dakota Meyer. First chilkd up will be called Dump or Dumb. That would be Dakota Uzi Meyer Palin or Dakota Uzi Meyer Bristol.
🙂
Belated Happy Pi to you Ms Pi! 🙂
Belated Happy Pi Day to you,Ms Pi. I fixed it. Upper 60s today. Colder weather coming overnight.Been absolutely lovely weather this week. Geese are flying everywhere. nikey could be happier but then some fool wingnut will spoil it for me,so why bother.
😉
We’re in the 40s again .
Tulips and daffs and tiny early iris are all up- those iris are blooming!
Waterfalls off the mts are running like mad- icefalls are long gone.
Weird, early springlike happenings.
Just enjoy it there and ignore the wackdoodle wingnut budget crap. Spring is more durable and reliable than the wingnut horsepunky.
On the brighter side of life,it is 65 degrees here with freakin’ robins and blackbirds everywhere. The only snow left is in the bigger drifts in road ditches and on the shady,north side of bigger buildings.Not a wingnut in sight or smelling distance.
Okay people- for six straight years wingnuts have done everything under the sun to subvert the Republic in which we live and to undermine the twice legally elected BLACK MAN in the WHITE HOUSE!!! Is there ever going to come a time when you say enough of this bullshit is enough?
It is the purview of the executive branch of our government alone that negotiates treaties. The Potus and his appointed diplomats are constitutionally enshrined to handle that job. The senate’s role is to advise and consent-not disrupt and undercut the Potus. That is,at the very least,a treasonable offense. They now claim,since they are getting criticized by their own party they weren’t all that serious. A wingnut’s idea of a joke gets American servicemen and women killed in foreign countries for no good reason. John McCain says wingnuts were in a hurry to skip town because of a snowstorm and didn’t take time to read the letter before signing it. Is that the kind of people you want ruining your country? If so,keep right on voting for rethuglicans. Gawd I get so sick and tired of wingnuts violating the constitution and the laws of this land and not being held accountable!
Mike:
You ask if they are the kinds of people Americans want running and ruining our country. Given that the majority of Americans who voted ensured both houses of congress and several states would be controlled by Republicans, the answer is yes. A majority of voters got exactly what it wanted.
“The end of these negotiations isn’t an unintended consequence of congressional action. It is very much an intended consequence. A feature, not a bug, so speak,” Cotton said in January, speaking at a conservative conference hosted by the advocacy group Heritage Action for America [Ryan Grim, “Senator Who Organized Letter to Iran Has Said He Wants to Sabotage Negotiations,” Huffington Post, 2015.03.09].
Carpetbagger Barbie Sullivan signed the letter to Iran. Murkowski did not. Both my wingnuts buffoons did.
As a liberal, my natural inclination is to try to understand the opinions of the opposition and to work toward compromise if possible. More and more, the republican party is represented by an element so extreme and so inflexible that compromise is no longer reasonable. A party dedicated to the destruction of unions, vehemently opposed to healthcare protections, opposed to a minimum wage, opposed to science, opposed to voting rights, and a whole host of other draconian ideas is repugnant. For me, the open letter to Iran erases any consideration that I would ever vote republican. I realize there are some republicans whose views are not morally and ethically despicable, but voting to increase a majority led by extremists is not in the best interests of this nation, Extremist republicans thrive on fear and war. They pose a threat to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/file-charges-against-47-us-senators-violation-logan-act-attempting-undermine-nuclear-agreement/NKQnpJS9
Will you sign the petition?
187000 have signed the petition against wingnuts.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/09/47-republican-senators-send-letter-to-iran-with-veiled-threats/
Time for wingnuts to stand trial for treasonous activities. Waaayyyyy past time they were stood up against a wall and shot for treason. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of wingnut scumbags.