Obama: Alaska Get Your Act Together on LGBT Protections
So do we need a Federal Overreach Summit on Facebook? I’m sure that Gov. Parnell and his crew will be weighing in on their own social media sites soon. But until then – what do you think Alaskans should we listen to the President and actually protect our citizens who happen to be gay from workplace discrimination. (That’s more of a rhetorical question…) Weigh in over at the mudflats facebook – but you can check out the comments here. The comments so far have been relatively calm and not tea-party-ish but I’m sure that Arizona ‘resident’ Sarah Palin will be…
Palin Disappointed by Potential Clinton Nomination
Red Alert! We have a potential political situation here, people. Perennial thinkin-about-it candidate and Fox News on-again off-again noisemaker Sarah Palin is at risk of being disappointed. Disappointed in YOU, America. That’s right. You may not live up to the expectations of the ex-half-governor. Sit with the shame for a moment. Sit silently. Palin has announced via her megaphone at Fox News that she would be “disappointed” in the American electorate if Hillary Clinton becomes a serious candidate for president in 2016. The woman on whose shoulders Palin stood with her Naughty Monkey pumps, humbly thanking her for putting “16…
Lead Developer Abandons Pebble Mine Plans
Many of us were hopeful when “Cyanide Cynthia” Carroll left Anglo American last year, and my thanks to Mr. Cutifani for his mastery of the obvious. Wrong Mine. Wrong Place. Within hours Northern Dynasty’s stock was falling fast. Anglo didn’t announce the plan on a Friday afternoon to give cover to the remaining partner. Apparently the decision didn’t come until well into the day on Sunday. In 2011, Northern Dynasty had put its 50 percent interest up for sale. It put the plan for the mine online. (I know, that made the whole “we don’t have a plan” thing a…
State Rep: Gay Families Don’t Count
“Special privileges to individuals who have in fact made a Life-Style Choice.” Thus spake Rep. Lora Reinbold (T-Alaska), demonstrating her commitment to efficiency in government by deftly working two played out falsehoods into one sentence. What she’s objecting to, according to a report by Amanda Coyne, is a new rule granting leave to state employees with a same sex partner suffering from a serious health condition. The Eagle River legislator claims LGBT couples don’t count as “family” and have “no legal standing.” The Alaska Supreme Court appears to view matters differently, ruling in 2005 that it is unconstitutional to deny gay couples…
“True Christians?” Hardly.
I grew up in the First Organic Free Range Christian Church of Homer. OK, It didn’t say that over the door, but it seemed like it at the time. I played piano for the congregation and was always asking questions. I know. You’re shocked. Irreverent? I didn’t mean to be. I just wanted to figure it all out. I had patient teachers and living examples and was on the winning Bible Bowl team. I no longer attend a church. I have a hard time reconciling what many churches say with what Jesus said. This week a friend sent me…
Alaska GOP Senate Race – Cirque de SoLame
Politico just ran an article focusing on the Alaska Senate race, but boy did they get the headline wrong. “Fears?” First of all, when you “fear” something, it means you generally don’t want it to happen. Fearing a GOP civil war in Alaska, for some of us, is like fearing the circus, or fearing Christmas. Oh, no! Jugglers, and cotton candy, and entertaining acrobatics! And who is that scary guy stuffing my stocking with gift cards and chocolate truffles?! Hold me! Second, the use of the future tense seems a bit… late. The GOP Civil War “may” be coming to…
Condescension from the Daft
Jon Stewart once said of President George W. Bush that “it’s not that he’s stupid, it’s that he talks to us like we’re stupid.” We have our own kindergarten dialect in the Alaska State Senate. During her last campaign, in a newly drawn district, Sen. Cathy Giessel used a Chamber of Commerce forum in Seward to greet her new constituents by showing the locals a map of their area—pointing out to them where they are, and what towns one passes en route to Anchorage. (Whoa, slow down, Senator! Even though…
Alaska Defends Abuse of First Alaskans
I read a story in the Daily News last week and felt sick. A tribe found a non-tribal man unfit to parent a child from the tribe. The man then proved their judgment sound when he kidnapped the child’s mother and almost beat her to death. The Parnell administration has now swooped in, four years later, to defend the abuser. Why now? Why this guy? Why are state resources going to defend a convicted wife-beater? I realize Michael Geraghty, the state’s attorney general, doesn’t want to explain these decisions to “lay people” like you and me. That’s unfortunate because we…
Mayor Dan Sez, “Let’s Get Started!”
The world is going to Hell. And there’s not a damn thing we can do about it. But, do you know what we can do? We can mock bad campaign literature, that’s what. And at least it will make us feel like we’ve done something. I anticipate doing a lot of this during the next year, because many candidates have Print Shoppe Deluxe™ on their e-machines. And some of them even have the 16-CD set of “1,000,000,001 Clip Art Images You Can Use.” It’s still early, but let’s trot out our first example before the class. You’ll be glad to…
Mudflats Chats: Clare Ross
Rep. Lindsey Holmes, a former Democrat who campaigned as such, gathered donations as such, recruited volunteers and votes as such, and then decided (before she even took her oath of office) that she was going to switch teams and become a Republican. At that moment, Democratic District 19 became a hotbed of political controversy. Clare Ross stepped up several months ago to run for that seat. A newcomer to the political realm, I thought I’d try to get to know her, and her ideas for the district and the state a bit better. We had coffee, and talked about Lindsey…