Crude Awakening – Intro and Discussion for Your Reading Pleasure
I had great fun hosting Firedoglake’s book salon yesterday. Authors Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger were there to answer questions about their new book/stocking stuffer Crude Awakening – Money, Mavericks and Mayhem in Alaska. For those of you who weren’t able to make it, below is my introduction with a link to the conversation at Firedoglake at the bottom. Enjoy! ************************* “Only in Alaska.” We hear that said up here in the Last Frontier all the time. In the case of the rise of Sarah Palin, the fall of Bill Allen and the larger-than-life legacy of Ted Stevens, it is…
Open Thread – Crude Awakening Book Salon TODAY!
Join me and author Amanda Coyne of Alaska Dispatch today at firedoglake.com for a book salon featuring the new release Crude Awakening – Money, Mavericks and Mayhem in Alaska by Coyne and co-author Tony Hopfinger. Details below. Hope to see you there! [Cross-posted from Alaska Dispatch] Jeanne Devon, AKA AK Muckraker, who runs the popular Alaska-based website The Mudflats, is hosting an online discussion Sunday, Nov. 13, of “Crude Awakening: Money, Mavericks and Mayhem in Alaska.” The discussion will be held at Firedoglake Book Salon. “Crude Awakening” was penned by Alaska Dispatch founders Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger. Coyne will…
Corrupt Bastard Doesn’t Like Being Corrupt Bastard – Sues
Just when you thought it was over… Convicted Corrupt Bastard Vic Kohring, doesn’t much like being called a corrupt bastard. So, he’s is suing fellow corrupt Bastard Bill Allen, federal informant and former CEO of oil services company VECO for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and damage to his business and personal reputations. He has also named CH2M Hill, the company that purchased VECO in the suit. Vic Kohring, as you may recall, is the former Republican legislator from Wasilla who pleaded guilty during his October 21 retrial for accepting bribes to keep oil taxes low in Alaska. The…
Vulture’s Picnic – My Home is Now a Strange Place (Installment 3)
[This is the third installment of Chapter 7, My Home is Now a Strange Place from Greg Palast’s Vulture’s Picnic. Many thanks to Mr. Palast for providing The Mudflats with an exclusive of this story that is so critical to the state of Alaska, and reveals so much about the corporate interests that still dominate here.] By Greg Palast PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND, ALASKA, 1989 State Inspector Dan Lawn, grabbing a fast launch from Valdez, was the first to reach the shipwrecked tanker, risking the ride through the sickening fumes and fountains of crude that could explode with the touch…
Oyster Roundup – Bears, Bones and a Brrrricane!
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Enjoy today’s dose of random stuff on the half-shell! Links in the titles. Brrrrrricane Makes Landfall The Bering Sea megastorm that made landfall yesterday on the West Coast of Alaska did damage to buildings, caused massive erosion in some areas, and flooding in others. So far, thank goodness, there have been no reports of injury or loss of life. Hardy and sensible coastal Alaskans prepared well, and the Coast Guard rode out the storm with no distress calls to answer. The storm surge is expected to continue…
Open Thread – Re-elect Senator Bettye Davis!
Oh that dastardly redistricting board… We knew that there would be several Democrats who had a challenging time of it in 2012 once the new lines were drawn, and legislative districts were reshaped. Senator Bettye Davis, champion of children’s health care is one of those who will need some extra support this year. Davis is a true stalwart, and a fantastic senator. And she also knows how to throw a fundraiser! ~Senator Bettye Davis speaking out for children in need You can join her, and the R&R Island Reggae Band who will be playing live music at Club…
Megastorm Batters Nome and West Coast of Alaska
[NOAA Satellite image of massive Bering Sea Storm] For those following the megastorm that made landfall in Western Alaska last night, check out the #akstorm hashtag on Twitter. There are at least a few folks out there who are tweeting the latest information from the ground, which is being picked up by news organizations, and those wanting to know the latest information about conditions and safety of the residents there. @akscojo is tweeting from Nome and reports that flying debris from the library knocked out power lines, leaving part of the city with no power, but that most is restored…
Open Thread – Crude Awakening Book Salon Sunday
I’ll be hosting the Firedoglake Book Salon this coming Sunday, November 13. The book is Crude Awakening: Money, Mavericks and Mayhem in Alaska, by Amanda Coyne and Tony Hopfinger, both of the Alaska Dispatch. It focuses on three larger-than-life Alaskan politicos – Ted Stevens, Bill Allen and Sarah Palin. Regular readers of The Mudflats will know all three, but the book gives a fascinating in-depth look at how each shaped a fledgling state that barely had its feet on the ground before its Crude Awakening – the discovery of oil in Prudhoe Bay. Check in at firedoglake.com on Sunday from…
Vultures Picnic – My Home is Now a Strange Place (Installment 2)
By Zach Roberts It’s weird where life takes you. In 2006, I started working for Greg Palast. He was one of my heroes. Most people know him for breaking the story of the stolen 2000 election. That was how I was introduced to his work as well, but the story that made me want to work for him was one of the lesser known ones from his best-seller The Best Democracy Money Can Buy “A Well-Designed Disaster: The Untold Story of the Exxon Valdez.” It blew me away. Everything I knew about one of the most important events in American history…