Repeal SB21 and Take Back Alaska
Here is everything you need to know about the ongoing effort to honor Alaska as an owner state. The time is now to be active, and take our state back from the undue influence of Outside corporations, and the legislators who do their bidding. Complaining is easy. Fortunately, so is acting in a positive way to take control of our future. Gov. Parnell will sign SB 21 on Tuesday, May 21st at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage between 11:30am and 1pm. Be there with a sign to protest the giveaway! Alaska is an owner state. We deserve a fair share of…
Day 12/13 – Greetings from the Banana Belt
After deciding to take Mother’s Day off, SpringWatch continues. One exciting development last night was rain falling on the metal roof. It was a glorious sound, and although I feared that by morning the temps would have dropped and it would be snowing again, it didn’t happen. But the warming trend seems to be missing our fellow Alaskans to the north. The NewsMiner reported: Fairbanks set a new record low temperature of 22 degrees on Monday at Fairbanks International Airport. That broke the old record of 26 degrees in 1938. A strong cold front moved across northern Alaska Sunday night…
Alaska vs. Outside Corporations, the Choice is Ours
By Sen. Hollis French Two recent news items out of Norway caught my attention. The first happened April 30 when Gov. Parnell went there to discuss tax policy. The second was the announcement on May 6 that Norway had decided to make a change to its oil tax laws. Now, I don’t know whether the governor was responsible for the May 6 tax change. But I like to imagine that the Norwegians listened very carefully to the governor’s reasons for lowering taxes here. Being the sober and meticulous people they are, they ran a complex cost-benefit economic analysis on his…
Day 11 – Critters!
Well, today was “Critter Day,” no question about it. First, the long-anticipated swallows have returned to Paradise Valley. Capistrano, eat your heart out. No matter how spectacular your swallows are, or in what infinite numbers they possess, or how “miraculous” they are, or how huge of a fan base they have, there is no swallow on this earth that is more appreciated than the dozen that return every year to Mudflats Mission Command. After I heard their trilling song outside, I laid down on the deck, and just watched them for a long time, swooping in huge circles, and a…
Poll: “Alaskans want Sarah Palin to Run,” Alaskans: UM, NO.
Another week, another set of polls concerning the Alaska Senate race. Last week PPP polled Sen. Begich, this week it’s a poll on the Republican primary ticket… and it’s a bit surprising. Sarah Palin wins the Republican Senate nomination. For those outside of Alaska you might be thinking, “duh… of course.” But for those in the state it’s common knowledge that not too many people are a huge fans Palin, who has come to be known as “the quitter” or the “half-term governor.” In fact she’s so disliked here that according to a PPP poll in February she would lose to Hillary…
Day 10 – The Melt
After hearing the unmistakable strains of running water drifting over the snow from the direction of the creek, I donned my bunny boots, grabbed my camera, and headed down the hill on WaterQuest. The driveway has been making interesting progress. Lake Whatthehell has completely evaporated. And I came across this little snow bridge that just screamed out for some kind of troop of action figures, lined up on a quest, fording the river… But today, I am the action figure, with my trusty sidekick the no-longer-puking noble hound at my side. The little spring that flows into the creek was…
Day 9 – The Puker Returns
I knew I’d forget one. I made a list of springtime indicators on yesterday’s post, and sure enough, I got a reminder. It’s not quite like robins, or bunnies, or adorable woodland creatures, but it probably involves one or more of them. I am speaking, of course, of the dog finding some half-frozen rotting carcass (aka yummy treat) melting out of the snow pack. A few years ago, she came home with a frozen-solid rabbit spine with two appendages still attached, so it looked like a big fuzzy “Y”. They say that insanity is repeating the same thing over and…
Alaska Politicians Uncovered!
If you are a person of symbology, a political mystic, or for any reason believe that anagrams have any kind of hidden meaning, then get out your crystal ball, light a bundle of sage, and wrap your head around these startling divinations. I took it upon myself to use a handy online anagram generator (or two) to share with you the deeper, sometimes darker, and often creepily accurate dimension of (echoey deep voice—->) THE POLITICAL ANAGRAM. Let’s begin with the executive branch: Governor Sean R Parnell = Plane Snarler. Hmmm… I thought that was Sen. Lesil McGuire! Lt….
French, Gara Collect Signatures for SB21 Repeal
Senator Hollis French, and Rep. Les Gara will be gathering signatures on the “Repeal the Oil Wealth Giveaway” referendum Friday, May 10th from 12-1pm at the Barnes and Noble on Northern Lights Blvd in Anchorage. “Reversing the $1-2 billion giveaway will give us the chance to write a better law. Alaskans want a law that encourages production and does not take Alaska off the fiscal cliff,” said Representative Gara. Democratic Legislators offered a tax solution that would have required investment in Alaska, and increased production from companies to qualify for tax breaks. The Republicans’ idea, SB 21, gives billions…