Alaska Politicians Exposed – Stooges, Shills & Shenanigans
TALL TALES from Juneau and the DC Debacle AND IT’S ALLLL ON TAPE Sometimes you know things, but it’s nice to have them proven right out loud, through dramatic and surreptitious means. Such is the case with the immediately infamous “Pebble tapes.” If you haven’t heard them, make yourself a beverage and get ready to be a fly on the wall as your beautiful state and all its salmon get sold down the river (not the beautiful blue Nushagak of today – the contaminated, cyanide-filled Nushagak of tomorrow). We now know what our elected Republican leadership thinks of us,…
Governor’s Appointments – Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration The Governor’s appointments and how they went down THUMBS UP/THUMBS DOWN Well, that was a whopper. The governor’s appointees to commissioner positions and to boards and commissions were up for confirmation yesterday, and the joint floor session with members of the House and Senate took 7 hours and 48 minutes to wind up. At the end, all of the governor’s picks for Commissioner positions (even the most controversial) were passed with a majority of votes, but 6 appointees to the many boards and commissions in the state were rejected. And…
Teddy Talks – A Palin Xmas, Pt. 3
OK, kids. Gather ’round, it’s story time again. The cognac is starting to warm my toes, and numb the part of my brain that gets all twitchy when things don’t make sense. That means I’m ready to dive back into Sarah Palin’s book. Before we get to the random series of words, let’s start off with a picture. Here’s my favorite. It’s little Sarah, and I’m not sure, but this photo of Christmas Past may hold a clue as to what went terribly terribly wrong with our young Sarah. Look deeply. And listen… Teddy: Yes. Yes, that’s it, Little Sarah….
Good Tidings & Great Pain – A Palin Xmas, Ch. 1
Good tidings. Great joy! And the miracle of a baby’s birth. Not just a regular baby – the Prince of Peace, the Lamb of God. A baby who would grow into a man who communed with the poor, the outcasts, the wretched, the lost souls. A man who would save them, and heal them, and love them. A giver of second chances, and hope. A bringer of love, compassion, salvation and forgiveness. That’s what Sarah Palin’s book is all about, she says in the Introduction. “Good Tidings and Great Joy – Saving the Heart of Christmas.” It’s not about trivial…
ACLU Investigates Censorship in Juneau
Last week, on two consecutive days, an assortment of government vans from at least two different entities, parked in front of the Capitol building in Juneau, blocking protesters who had come with signs to demonstrate. The protesters had been clearly visible from certain offices in the Capitol. Joe Miller’s blog describes the situation as reported by en eyewitness: “The trucks were parked across the street from the capital building, in the “active loading and unloading zone” and in the road congesting traffic, obviously in answer to a command to block the protesters. There were witnesses at the protest who heard…
Giessel Says Scrutinize Foreign Students
Looks like another piece of legislation is coming from the Xenophobe caucus. Rep. Bob Lynn (R-Anch) has proposed HB1, which will basically turn the DMV into a branch of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and require extra work for multiple state agencies who will now have to process drivers licenses more frequently, attempt to know law that is not their job; and create a bunch of hassle for foreign students in our university system. Yes, this isn’t just any nefarious terrorist threat, this is students. Let’s hear from Cathy Giessel (R-Anch/Turnagain), who proudly never had any of her children in…
AO37 Testimony Ends, Vote May Be Delayed (VIDEO)
Last night was the last round of scheduled public testimony on Anchorage Ordinance 37, which would take away the rights of municipal unions for binding arbitration, the right to strike, and would restrict annual raises. AO37 would also utilize managed competition to outsource city work done by public employees to private companies. For another five-hour session, city workers and supporters of labor stood on the podium and gave their three-minute testimony. Sadly, their opinions and experiences seemed less interesting to the Mayor than his manicure. Ultimately, police officers, firefighters, city employees, and concerned citizens were left standing in line to…
ACLU: Assembly Cannot End Testimony
Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska Foundation submitted a letter to Ernie Hall, Chairman of the Anchorage Assembly on Friday. Mittman cites the Municipal Charter, Assembly Practice, and the rights inherent in public fora to state that any Anchorage citizens still waiting to testify on Ordinance 37 at the end of Monday’s meeting, must have the right to do so, and the Assembly must schedule another meeting for further public testimony. Hall had stated that testimony would be cut off at 11:00pm on Monday, regardless of whether citizens remained in line wishing to testify. Earlier in the…
Post Election Grief from “That Guy”
We’ve seen all kinds of wailing, and sobbing, and rending of garments since Tuesday’s Presidential election. We witnessed Karl Rove’s own mental denial of service attack on Fox News, and we’ve seen whatever right wing Facebook friends we have left indulging in a variety of reactions from head shaking at the idiocy of their fellow Amurrikans, to downright racist screeds about the President. But not until I read through my own emails, and saw this forward of a forward from a friend of a friend, had I seen such a comprehensive, and straightforward regurgitation of right wing gripes, talking points,…
Contacts for Voting Problems
Throughout early voting, I have been receiving emails, Facebook messages and phone calls reporting problems folks have encountered. They have included: — A pollworker demanding to see a voter card in addition to the voter’s driver’s license. (Note: if you do have your voter card, provide that first. It makes things easier.) — A voter was required to vote a question ballot because their address listed on the register was one number off the correct one, which was listed on their voter card. — A voter was listed on their voter card in the wrong district (according to APRN, this…