15 Things Northern Exposure Got Right
My wife Michelle was born in Anchorage, attending high school at Bartlett High. At about the time I was attending college, when the show “Northern Exposure” started to air, she was splitting her time between Anchorage in the summer and the school year in college in Austin. She doesn’t like “Northern Exposure,” maintaining adamantly that it was an inaccurate depiction of life in Alaska. Her chief complaint? Bagels. She found the notion that Alaskans would not know what a bagel is in 1990 (the year the show began) a bit preposterous. On a very technical level, I can agree with…
This Week in Equality – The Right Wept.
This was a huge week for America. The reaction of the Right Wing has been curious to me. I wonder if we aren’t watching the suicide of a political party. The Supreme Court agreed there is discrimination against certain citizens who want to vote, but a slim majority of justices were okay with that. Seriously? Yes. Not a shocker. With few exceptions, the Roberts Court has been a recurring disaster for everyone except the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. I guess Republican senators felt better about approving a path to citizenship for undocumented people — now that it will be easier…
The Your-State-Is-Small Generator
Dear everyone Outside, You’re small. Yes, I’m talkin’ to you too, Texans. You may be tired of hearing Alaskans talk about how big Alaska is, and how awesome our seafood is, and how gorgeous our sweeping mountain vistas are. And how we have more coastline than the rest of the country, and 3 million lakes, and spectacular wildlife, and aurora borealis. But be kind to us and let us have our due. Remember that our political leadership is taking us back to the dark ages, and we have no public transportation to speak of, and we’re a minimum of a…
Bird of the Week – Great Horned Owlet
The owls are branching. They aren’t capable of real flight yet. But they have moved away from the nest, still dependent on their parents for food. Among owls, at least the technical term for this phase of development is “branching.” If you find an owlet in the woods, even on the ground, it isn’t “lost” or “orphaned,” and hasn’t fallen out of its nest. It’s branched. Its parents are nearby. It doesn’t need rescuing. It needs to be left alone. Technical stuff: f9.0, 1/30, ISO800, handheld (the image stabilization on the Canon 1D-X is very good). More bird photos at…
Why Your Well-Intended Comments Won’t Work
Editor’s Note: The deadline looms for submitting comments to the EPA about the proposed Pebble Mine. You may be thinking that you’ve already done that. But your comments may be off the mark. It’s not too late to save your opinion from the scrap heap. Here’s what you can do. And do it BEFORE SUNDAY! In the upcoming days, you will see a frantic flurry of e-blasts, Tweets and Facebook posts urging you to tell the EPA to stop the Pebble Mine, to “help save jobs” in the commercial fishing industry. But these calls for action are not what the…
Day of Decision – Anchorage, Alaska
Celebrations of the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act sprang up across the country yesterday, and Anchorage joined in. A happy and boisterous group gathered in front of the Federal Courthouse downtown to hug, and wave flags, and be present with each other. Despite Alaska’s dubious honor of being the first state to discriminate against marriage for all people in its Constitution, the LGBT community and its allies are strong and committed to equality for all. Christians for Equality had a large banner, and there were rainbow flags everywhere. I was struck by how many honks and waves the…
SCOTUS Sticks it to Alaskans
Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court of the United States decided on a 5-4 vote to gut the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has a central provision, Section 5, that requires some state and local governments, mostly in the South, and also in Alaska, to get permission from the Justice Department or a federal court before making changes in their voting laws. Indeed, it was the Voting Rights Act that was at the heart of successful efforts to stop states attempting to cut back on early voting hours and instituting voter identification laws that would have dramatically affected minority…
Another One Bites the Dust
Well, there’s one less big, awesome, incredible animal in the world to worry about. Thanks, humans. Apparently the last time this magnificent creature was spotted in the wild, and not mounted on someone’s wall was in 2006. Africa’s western black rhino is now officially extinct according to the world’s largest conservation network – the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which maintains a Red List of Threatened Species. There is both good and bad news for other animals under the watchful eye of the IUCN. Africa’s northern white rhino, and Asia’s Java rhino are teetering on the brink of extinction also. “In…
Shills Get Physical
If you wait long enough you’ll have agreed and disagreed with just about everyone. I’m no different. I’ve found myself defending people I wouldn’t walk across the street to slap on a good day when it came to certain issues. It’s just what happens. This time, I’m walking across the street. The same Alaska GOP that subverted the will of Alaskans through an illegal gerrymandering of the state Legislature and brazen attempts to prevent Alaska Natives from voting apparently now has a new tack for undermining the public will: paid hacks are verbally and physically interfering with Alaskans who are…
Bird of the Week – Horned Puffin
Alaska’s other puffin, the Horned Puffin, is nearly as elegant as its Tufted Puffin cousin. This is another photo from the Seabird Aviary at the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward, Alaska. WC is advised the bill pointing is a dominance display. Technical stuff: aperture f6.3, shutter speed 1/640, ISO 1600.