Bird of the Week – White-winged Crossbill
White-winged Crossbills are evergreen cone specialists. You can see that the bill does indeed cross at the tips, allowing the bird to lever open spruce and tamarack cone bracts to get to the seeds. The male is a lot flashier. White-winged Crossbills aren’t always easy to find. They follow the cone crop. When spruce and tamarack cone production is low, the birds will move elsewhere. This is a boreal species; further south, even in Southeast Alaska, the Red Crossbill is more common. Camera geek stuff: f5.6, 1/8000, ISO2500 For more bird photos, please visit Frozen Feather Images.
Alaska… You Crazy! Election Recap
On election night, one state in the nation voted to legalize marijuana, raise the minimum wage, and add an extra level of environmental protection for sensitive ecosystems facing development. It’s largest city also voted to overturn an anti-labor ordinance which was the brain child of a Mayor (running as a Republican for Lt. Governor) who appears to be about to go down in flames to a non-partisan gubernatorial ticket. That’s like a cool, edgy progressive place to live, right? What if I told you that this very same state has elected by a comfortable margin, a majority in the legislature…
Notes from Election Central
Here we go again! 8:30 – No numbers yet. Sitting in a sweet spot with lots of plug-ins and within earshot of the table belonging to Ethan Berkowitz and the Party Planner who are interviewing talk bloviator Dave Stieren who is loudly and intently talking about Mark BAGitch (learn the name!) “Every election is about the next election,” he drops the pearls of wisdom on the floor for us to scramble after. Now something about Joe Miller, and the Democrats sending out flyers for Mark Fish the Libertarian candidate, hoping to split the Republican vote. The Party Planner nods in…
Cruz to Wasilla
Fueled by Jitters coffee and a sugar cookie the size of a frisbee, I was as ready as I was ever going to be. I and two companions were on a political road trip north to the Valley. As we arrived in Wasilla, a small plane flew laps over the AT&T sports center, towing a sign that read “Sullivan for Senate.” In a media market filled to capacity with political ads, this apparently was the only air time left. Inside, Toby Keith, Neil Diamond, Eminem, Corey Hart, and an unlikely play list of songs presumably chosen for themes of freedom, America,…
Whiny Sullivan Operative Must Work in Hellhole
Outside Republican Sullivan operatives haven’t quite figured out how the internets work. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan is having a hard time convincing people he’s from Alaska. Most of his contributions are from Ohio, because… well, he’s from Ohio. And while he may be sticking around Alaska long enough to try to get a Senate job in DC, some of his campaigners can’t wait to get out of this godforsaken hellhole populated by dumb rubes. (Psst! Hey, “RepublicanPolitico,” we can hear you!) Yes, Sullivan’s guns for hire pulled field programs in October because of the weather. Nahhh… nobody does any field work in…
Someone Doesn’t Like Us & We’re Cool With That
Alaska’s premier morality cop Jim Minnery of Alaska Family Action doesn’t like us very much. Nor does he like the Alaska Constitution, apparently. When he’s not busy obsessing about what women do with their constitutional rights and their personal medical decisions, he’s busy obsessing about who is fornicating with and marrying whom. The continual ruminations about what other people are doing with their private parts must be exhausting. Republican Gov. Sean Parnell is lagging in the polls. You remember him, right? He’s the one who rejected additional funds for Denali Kid Care (SCHIP), to provide medical care to low-income pregnant women and children because… it might…
Giant Weed Monster! RUN!
Soon voters will decide whether to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Alaska. Fortunately, Alaska Robotics News in Juneau has reporters on the scene in Seattle and Denver to tell us like what the heck is going on, man? Oh, and if you’re going out can you pick up some Funyuns? Awesome end of the world snack, dude.
Bird of the Week – Glaucous Gull
The Glaucous Gull is Alaska’s largest pale gull. In shape and size, the Glaucous Gull is similar to the more familiar Herring Gull and Glaucous-winged Gull. But the Glaucous Gull has no black in its feathers, is quite pale and has a clear yellow iris. There are other very pale gulls in Alaska, but you won’t usually see them unless you are in Barrow in October. WC has no idea what this north coastal bird was doing at Galbraith Camp, along the Dalton Highway, 200 miles inland. Camera geek stuff: f11, 1/3200, ISO2500. For more bird photos, please visit Frozen Feather…
Nate Silver Calls It For Walker-Mallott
…in a squeaker. The 538 electoral modeling math nerd king was the undisputed champion of the 2012 cycle, correctly predicting 49 of 50 states (and only missing Indiana by 0.1%) While much national punditry is focused on the battle for the US Senate, last night Silver released his model for the 2014 gubernatorial cycle. Projecting Walker-Mallott ahead by a narrow 0.8 percent, Silver gives the Unity Ticket a 56% chance of winning the race. For Mudflatters around the Lower 48, Silver’s model is a mixed bag. Democrats are projected to flip the governorships of Maine, Florida, Kansas and Pennsylvania into…
Alaska Girls Kick Ass & Midterms Matter
If you live in Alaska, you’ve seen that bumper sticker a hundred times if you’ve seen it once. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it when I arrived in the Great Land. As the years passed, I did things I’d never have done if I had stayed in east coast suburbia. I camped in bear country, and wolf country; I sailed in high seas in the Gulf of Alaska; traversed mountain passes with a baby on my back; almost tumbled into a gorge on a 3-wheeler; pulled up my share of halibut from the deep sea; had Thanksgiving in…