Vote Tuesday – Critical Elections in Fairbanks and Mat-Su!
Fairbanks! Mat-Su! This Tuesday, Vote Like You Mean It. You know how sometimes you stand there in the voting booth, squint your eyes, and vote for the lesser of the two evils. You’re half tempted to close your eyes, make a big circle in the air with your pencil, stab it down on the ballot and pick whichever Assembly member you come closest to. This is definitely not your problem if you live in Fairbanks or the Mat-Su Valley. In Fairbanks, the Tea Party is well represented among Borough Assembly incumbents like talk radio host Michael Dukes. Predictably, assaults on…
Voices from the Flats – Gus the Stud Muffin
By Wickersham’s Conscience WC’s house is the home to two owls, a Boreal Owl and a Great Grey Owl. They aren’t a huge inconvenience, once you get used to the frozen mice thawing in the refrigerator. But last night for Alaska Bird Observatory’s Owlapalooza, WC and Mrs. WC hosted two visiting owls from Anchorage, Gus the Great Horned Owl and Ghost, a Snowy Owl. Gus went into the deck owl mew. Ghost stayed in a kennel in the house. At about full darkness, Gus started calling. And called all night. About 1:00 AM, Gus started getting a response. In fact,…
Diebold Voting Machines Can Be Hacked for $10, and How This Could Save Your Thanksgiving.
I roll over lazily, stretch, yawn, and open one eye… I do a combined gasp/shriek, recoil a little, and bury my face in the pillow. Yes, my strange bedfellow is still here. I thought he left after the 2010 election, but apparently not. Given that you all know how I feel about former U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller, that I agree with virtually none of his political philosophy, and that I am grateful every day that he is not in Washington, D.C., he does bring up an interesting point to the readers of his website. The topic of the article…
Don Young Wants to Annihilate the Last 20 Years of Federal Regulation.
Don Young… what can you say? He’s Alaska’s one and only congressman, and he’s been Alaska’s one and only congressman since 1973. That’s 38 regular years, which feels like 95 in Don Young years. He defies explanation. He’s sort of a combination of the old curmudgeon in the neighborhood that sits on the porch telling the local kids to get off his lawn; the crazy uncle you see at family gatherings that drives you nuts, but loves dressing up like Santa; and the monkey with the typewriter who occasionally types a word, but the rest of the time flings poo. …
Governor Sean Parnell: Lord of the Flaming Pants
Former director of government relations in Alaska for ConocoPhillips, Sean Parnell made an announcement on Tuesday. Some of you may know him by his other job working for the lobbying firm that represented ExxonMobil against Alaskans in the matter of a little oil spill that happened in Prince William Sound. Some of you may also know him as Captain Zero, or Caribou Ken, or SeanocoParnellips. However you know him, he also currently wears the mantle of Governor of the State of Alaska. But it’s been difficult for Sean to turn against his old bosses. He’s a loyal foot soldier, and…
If You Pay Her, She Will Run – The Latest on Palin 2012 from SarahPAC
Do you think she’ll run? Will she or won’t she? Well… she might, but then again she might not. She’ll decide soon. But it’s too soon now. She could wait… or she could decide now, if she wanted to. But she doesn’t want to right now. She’s not ready. She’s thinking. She’s scoping out the other candidates. She’s assessing. Maybe she’s being foolish to wait so long. Maybe she’s waiting so long because she’s crazy like a fox. Maybe everyone else is playing tiddly-winks and she’s playing pick-up-sticks. Will she run as a Republican, or a third party candidate? Would…
Baldwin and Warren – Ready to Reframe What it Means to Be a Woman in Politics
I don’t think there’s a progressive woman out there who hasn’t at one time found it more than a little frustrating that the women in politics who seem to get all the press, and who seem to represent the gender in general are… how shall I put this kindly … nuts. Not to name names, but I’m sure if you rub your temples and empty your mind you’ll be able to summon up a couple images without too much trouble. That’s it! Keep going. Well done. I knew you could do it. With those images assaulting us endlessly in the…
The Swindling of Our Wounded Warriors — A Request for Assistance *UPDATED*
By Linda Kellen Biegel Those of you who live in Anchorage may have heard about a fundraiser put on by Arkansas transplant politico and drag performer Caleb Pritt for an organization called “Homes for Our Troops.” The money was supposed to be designated towards a home for Latseen Benson and his family. Latseen lost both of his legs in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq and required a more adaptive home to successfully complete everyday tasks. Homes for Our Troops was (is) in the process of building him one. It was still a few thousand dollars from completion when Caleb…
Alaska Court Rules in Favor of Lesbian and Gay Families
You don’t hear THAT every day. But today, we did. It seems that the exclusion of same-sex couples from the property tax exemption that benefits seniors and disabled veterans violates that amazing document known as the Alaska Constitution. Glory be. The ACLU was on the case and challenged the exclusion of same sex families on behalf of three Alaska couples who had been denied $150,000 in property tax exemptions. These couples are in committed relationships with a same-sex domestic partner, but until now have been treated as “roommates” rather than families. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Frank Pfiffner ruled in favor…