Open Thread: BP Continues to Leak [only water…]
I found this photo on reddit titled “Water bottle leaked and ruined my laptop. Definitely should’ve seen that one coming…” It made me think about the fact that while all the Federal Parks are closed to normal citizens, they’ll continued to be open to drilling. From ThinkProgress: ….because Congress allocates resources to federal agencies through a complex mix of funding sources, public lands and waters would likely remain open to most oil, gas, and mining operations. This is even true for national parks. Drilling is currently happening in 12 national parks, including in Padre Island National Seashore in Texas and…
Half-Term Governor Palin Speaks on ‘Barrycades’
Half-Term, The Quitter – there are many things that Alaskans call former Governor Sarah Palin. She quit our state for warmer climates but – the one thing that she just can’t quit is opinion-ating on everything. As a person that quit government completely, and ‘shutdown’ her own term of office I find it interesting that she has an opinion to share on the government shutdown. But, of course she does. Here’s an excerpt of stupid: My Call For Civil Disobedience Around The “Barrycades” It’s beyond shameful to see Barack Obama disrespect and mistreat our World War II veterans so blatantly. Obama’s…
The GOP “Shut that whole thing down”
It’s official. The federal government has been shut down as of midnight, October 1. House Republicans decided they were so mad at voters, the law of the land, the Supreme Court, and the way the country works that they have thrown a stone in the gears. The Senate passed a clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open, but the House responded by stomping their feet and passing a Continuing Resolution that guts women’s health care, and adds a special amendment to block contraceptive care. That’s right, it’s all because of lady parts. There are few things quite so scary…
Death Threats, Swear Words and Hostage Negotiations… Alaska’s Republicans on Social Media
Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young are both in an odd position during the government shutdown – both oppose ‘ObamaCare,’ but not enough for the crazies in their party. Nothing outside of strapping c4 to your body with a dead mans trigger is enough for them. But at the same time, they’re staying the Republican course and not speaking out against the extremists with whom they share their representative bodies, and trying to figure out how to shift the blame to the other party. It’s not working well for them, and their social media pages are showing it. I’ve had…
The Frozen Ground – Interview with Director Scott Walker
The Frozen Ground is now available on DVD, on-demand, and on iTunes. We here at The Mudflats can’t recommend it enough – it’s dark, well-acted and written, and features John Cusack in one of his best and most terrifying roles ever. Shannyn Moore interviewed the director a while back in a must-listen-to interview. The director, Scott Walker (no, not that Scott Walker), explains how he extensively researched this Alaskan true-crime story, and fought to film it in Alaska. Trailer for The Frozen Ground
UPDATED: Breaking the Law for Lisa Murkowski
[Updated 4:13pm AK Time] So it seems that Lisa is not breaking the law… just being really slimy about it. She has claimed her staff as ‘excepted’ aka essential. Thus they need to show up to work – but don’t get paid until the shut down is over. Mean while 800,000 Federal Employees are deemed non-essential – and don’t get paid at all. Here are some people that are considered “non-essential” – while the person that get’s Lisa’s coffee is considered essential. The Doctors at the Center for Disease Control that run the flu program Employees that run the Department…
Negotiating With Healthcare Terrorists
We’re just a few days from launch for critical portions of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Republicans in Washington, D.C., are so freaked out they’ve taken the economy hostage and threatened to shoot it. Conservatives with “support the troops” on their car bumpers have no problem cutting off paychecks to soldiers in a doomed bid to “protect” Americans from affordable health care. I’ll bet the list of things they want before they’ll agree to pay the nation’s debts was made by cutting words out of magazines and pasting them on a piece of paper. In case I’m being too subtle, this…
Mobile Alabama: A Tar Sands Mecca in the Making – Julie Dermansky
Mobile Alabama: A Tar Sands Mecca in the Making (via Desmogblog) It took a while for the Alabama public to understand that their state is being transformed into a tar sands Mecca. Proposals for rail and pipeline transport and tar sands storage facilities were first presented in 2010, and by 2012, most were rubber…
Alaskan Politicos Weigh In On Climate Change
In an article today in the Anchorage Daily News written by Lisa Demer our outstanding representatives were reached for comment on several different questions pertaining to climate change. While none of them out right denied what 95% of scientists now agree on – that climate change is caused by man… they’re answers danced around the truth. Mike Chenault’s was my favorite. When asked by the ADN. “Do you believe there is a human-caused element to climate change? House Speaker Mike Chenault slyly answered: “I think that there is. To what extent there is, is the argument, I believe.” Ok, Mike….
Foodie Heaven at Salmonstock
We keep finding more photos from our trip to the awesome 2013 Salmonstock – this round is all about the food. Which was fan-freaking-tastic. I think that Jeanne and I must have had about 7 meals the one day that we were there, and we barely even scratched the surface of this foodie heaven in the middle of Ninilchik, Alaska. For more info – go to Salmonstock.com and like their facebook page!