‘Full of madness!’
SEVEN LEGISLATORS ATTEND COVID DISINFORMATION PARTY The site of the latest COVID disinformation campaign was not the Anchorage Assembly chambers this time. The usual crew of maskless testifiers, along with their de facto leader, Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, migrated to Change Point, a local conservative mega-church, to listen to speakers who disagree with the vast majority of medical providers and science. The event had been hyped as featuring a “Mystery Guest” who turned out to be the Mayor himself. Greeted with cheers by those who’d arrived to hear about how vaccines are bioweapons designed to alter your genes, Bronson made the…
Good Guys on Fire; Bad Guys Face Plant
PROXY BATTLE WON, NOW LET’S WIN THE WAR The press called the special election attempting to recall Anchorage Assembly member Meg Zaletel a “proxy battle” and it was – between those who support and respect good governance in the face of adversity, and the anti-science bullying mob that took over the Assembly chambers earlier this month. An emergency mask mandate put forward by Zaletel enraged the anti-mask, anti-vax crowd. They tried, with the assistance of Eagle River Assembly member Jamie Allard to draw out testimony day after day, but ultimately failed. They tried Nazi arts and crafts in the Assembly…
The Whole State Has Gone Mad – a Tour.
This week has been particularly mind-boggling everywhere from the Capitol in Juneau to the Anchorage Assembly chamber, to the Kenai Peninsula, Fairbanks, and the Mat-Su. All I can say is suit up, because we’re going to take a dive and look at it all. IN JUNEAU The Special Session took a crazy turn Wednesday night. The legislature was slated to vote on what was shaping up to be an $1100 PFD, to fund scholarships, and get it done, and the floor session was ready to start… But 18 of the 38 legislators who were in the Capitol decided not to show up. Taking into…
Misfire and $$ Down the Toilet
SHOW ME THE MONEY It’s budget time in Juneau, and we’re looking at a strange set of circumstances that is complicating the process. Weirdly, it’s a giant influx of cash! You were not expecting that, were you? Joe Biden’s amazing American Rescue Plan means Alaska will receive about $1.1 billion, plus hundreds of millions more for education from K-UA, tribes and local governments, and infrastructure projects. You’ll recall Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Sullivan, and Rep. Young all voted against this bill. Guess they are not interested in bringing home the bacon anymore. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Now, the Alaska House and Senate must determine how to legally invest the money for the greater good of all Alaskans. Thankfully, there…
‘Where do they find these people?’
TODAY IS THE DAY! If you’re in the Anchorage Municipality, don’t say we didn’t tell you this one is important! You get to decide whether Anchorage has a responsible, decent mayor or a homophobic Alaska Family Council homeless-hating right winger. (yikes!) You also get to decide whether you get thoughtful, intelligent school board members, or ones who joke about corporal punishment and obsess about racism not existing on their social media posts. And if you’re in Midtown you get to pick between keeping Felix Rivera, a caring hard-working Assembly Chair, or letting a bunch of Q-azy, anti-masking, storm-the-Assembly-chambers wackos turn out to vote…
Governor’s Appointments – Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration The Governor’s appointments and how they went down THUMBS UP/THUMBS DOWN Well, that was a whopper. The governor’s appointees to commissioner positions and to boards and commissions were up for confirmation yesterday, and the joint floor session with members of the House and Senate took 7 hours and 48 minutes to wind up. At the end, all of the governor’s picks for Commissioner positions (even the most controversial) were passed with a majority of votes, but 6 appointees to the many boards and commissions in the state were rejected. And…
The Commies did it!
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Babcock/Dunleavy administration The Commies did it edition (Re-posted with permission by the Alaska Democratic Party) I DIDN’T THINK ANYONE WOULD SEE ME ON THE INTERNET Well, the latest float in the parade of caustic, hyper-partisan, and ill-advised appointments by Governor Babcock has already come and gone. Tammy Randolph, we hardly knew ye. Yes, she has removed her name from consideration to be appointed to the University of Alaska Board of Regents. She said she was shocked and surprised that anyone would see her “private” (not private) Twitter account. We need…
Alaska Republican AWKWARD!
Republicans have called for a “Unity Celebration” in Fairbanks on the very night after the opposition Unity Ticket launched in Anchorage. Well, that’s awkward.
Dunbar Beats Young in Straw Poll
Don Young lost. That hasn’t happened since 1972 when he lost to Congressman Nick Begich, who had already been killed in a plane crash. OK, this time it wasn’t an election proper, but it’s good news for those who are no fans of “the Congressman of everyone who voted for me.” Young has been in the halls of power since 1973, and at least for the thousands of attendees at the Tanana State Fair in Fairbanks last week, that’s long enough. In the final results of the fair’s straw poll announced by the League of Women Voters of the Tanana Valley, Democratic challenger Forrest Dunbar…
My Militia Weekend
Friday, June 20, 2014 17:00 hours Anchorage, Alaska The Holiday Station Superstore Paper towels! I knew I forgot something. The sales clerk tried to talk me into the “Buy Two, Get 50 Cents Off” Duck Dynasty lighters at the checkout, but I already had my ice breaker – a 1918 German Luger from World War I that my dad brought home from the war that followed. My strategy reminded me of when I went to France as a teenager and my host family kept wanting to barbecue everything all the time. Americans like barbecues, so we barbecue! You want to…