Fuglvog Pleads Guilty to Falsifying Fish Records – Heads for Canada
For background on this story, read The Mudflats’ previous post HERE. What better way to spend a sunny summer morning in Anchorage, than to attend a nice arraignment in the Federal Courthouse. Today’s defendant is the man who is quickly becoming known as Alaska’s most infamous fish crook – Senator Lisa Murkowski’s top fisheries adviser, Arne Fuglvog. There were about a dozen observers in the courtroom, mostly media, and Fishermen’s News Magazine was hooked up via telephone. No electronics are permitted in the court room, so you’ll have to rely on the drama and accuracy of my courtroom sketch. I think…
New Oil Rigs Shipped to Alaska Cause Pants to Ignite!
~Shiny new oil rigs bound for Prudhoe Bay, Alaska If you listen to the oil companies, their lobbyists, and the cadre of legislators and elected officials they’ve purchased over the years, you’d think it’s the end of the world. They run in circles, hair on fire, rending garments, pounding their own foreheads with their palms and wailing, “Nobody wants to invest in Alaska anymore! It’s too hard! We’re too regressive! The poor oil companies can’t make a living! They’re going to go somewhere else if we don’t give them everything they want! Aaaaaaaa!” It’s an ugly sight. First, of course,…
D Student in Economics Knew it All Along – the Wit and Wisdom of Sarah Palin
~Sarah Palin, the future financial prophet, in college. Her economics themed attire reads: “I may be broke, but I’m not flat busted.” Yes, those fancy spectacles that may or may not have prescription lenses certainly gave the former governor 20/20 hindsight. You see, she predicted the United States’ credit downgrade all along. Yes, she did. Alaska’s half-term fiscal prognosticator knew it the whole time. She used her favorite social media tool, her Facebook page, to deliver the lengthy “Told Ya So!” to the nation about Standard and Poor’s smack down that took the nation from a AAA to a AA+…
State of Alaska Supports Pebble Partnership’s Attempt to Silence Alaskans
~The original Captain Zero Before I go off on some rant about how my forefathers fought the British to birth a country that could VOTE, and how siding with the British to take away the right of Americans to vote should be called treason, I’ll take a deep breath and explain a few things. Since one has been filed on your behalf, Alaska, you may want to know what an amicus brief is. Commonly known as a “friend of the court” brief. An amicus brief provides individuals or organizations (such as government agencies or disability organizations) without a direct stake…
Mystery Goo Identified! Sort of…
For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath regarding the mysterious orange slime that washed up on the shores of the remote Northwestern Coast village of Kivalina, Alaska, the algae experts have spoken. It’s not algae. This is why we need such folk, ready to analyze and evaluate on a moment’s notice. It turns out that the mystery goo is actually zillions of microscopic eggs. What kind of eggs? Nobody knows. They’ve never been seen before, and nobody has any clue what they are, or what affect they may have on local flora and fauna, or what…
Something’s Fishy in Senator Murkowski’s Office
In the light of Anthony Weiner resigning over a personal problem affecting his professional life, it would seem that someone actually guilty of a professional misdeed affecting her professional life might be called to account. If Mark Begich had been faced with the situation Lisa Murkowski was faced with this week, we’d likely hear the monkeys howling for his resignation. It’s not uncommon for me to get an email or phone call from someone punctuated with “Have I got a story for you!” December 2008 was no different. I was resting up after a particularly busy and historic election year….
Parnell Smacks Down Treadwell… Battered Lt. Governor Syndrome?
It’s time for another episode of “Elephant on Elephant Violence.” Grab the popcorn Alaska progressives. In our daily slog through the muck of the state’s politics, and to take a much needed mental hiatus from frustration, let’s take our joy where we can. We hear all the time about the cycle of violence – abused children become abusers; freshman who are the victims of hazing become the senior bullies… So perhaps this syndrome extends as well to the position of Alaska Lieutenant Governor. Remember when Sarah Palin was gnashing her teeth over having to run on the ticket with Sean…
To Pray or Not to Pray…
In a political homage to Texas Governor Rick Perry, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell has joined with him today, Saturday, August 6, in a day of prayer for the nation. He won’t be taking Governor Perry up on his invitation to go pray with him in Houston, but he did issue a proclamation here at home stating that Alaskans should “seek God’s face” and pray because we are at war, facing economic hardship and natural disaster. He also asks us to pray for the strength and wisdom of leaders – presumably like those who give hat tips in proclamations blurring the…
What’s it all about…. Algae?
~Chinese children swim along the algae-filled coastline of Qingdao, in eastern China’s Shandong province on July 17, 2011. (STR – AFP/Getty Images) So, last week I was captivated by a story out of China. Apparently for the fourth time in as many years, China has an algae problem. I read about the new and mysterious “green blob” of algae, but the pictures of it were truly stunning. The blob, it seems, has covered more than7400 square miles and has blanketed China’s east coast. The algae itself is not toxic, but depletes the water of oxygen, endangering marine life, fisheries and…
If at First You Don’t Succeed…
Sean Parnell is trying again. The thing he seems to be having trouble with is appointing the newest member of the Alaska Judicial Council. The council vets applicants for judicial vacancies, and evaluates judges’ performance on the job. Last time governor SP 2.0 gave it a shot, he picked Don Haase. Mr. Haase as you may remember was not particularly fond of… er… um… “romantic relations” that fall outside the legal union of marriage. He was all about criminalizing adultery, and possibly even premarital sex. He did not indicate whether stoning until dead would be the method of punishment, or…