Alaskans – For the Win!
Alaskans are busting their buttons this week. I couldn’t let these wonderful accomplishments pass without a little hat tip to the folks that made their fellow Alaskans proud as peacocks. Brian Schmidt An Australian-based astrophysicist, Brian Schmidt, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics is a product of the Anchorage School District, having graduated from Bartlett High School! He originally had dreams of being a meteorologist and worked for a time at the National Weather Service in Anchorage. When that career path proved to be less challenging than he had hoped, he was on to bigger and better things,…
Occupy Anchorage!
This afternoon in Anchorage, several hundred people gathered in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protesters. A crowd this size was a fantastic turnout for an event that was promoted largely on Facebook and by word of mouth. The weather cooperated beautifully. It was a gorgeous sunny autumn day in the 50s, and spirits were high. The crowd was full of families with kids, and dogs, young adults, and seniors. There was a great contingent from the Native community as well. Anyone who wanted to could sign up to speak, but the main event was former Mayor of Sitka and…
Mudflix – Bristol Bay and the Threat of Pebble Mine
Seven minutes and 23 seconds. This is one of the best short videos I have seen on the proposed Pebble Mine. It’s a fantastic tool for those who are not familiar with the issue, and even though I am, I found it riveting. Interviews with local residents at the end are wonderful, and moving. The images of the region are breathtaking. I sincerely hope that all of you take that seven minutes and 23 seconds to get informed, or stay current on this issue that is so very important to Alaskans, and to anyone who cares about the preservation of…
Oyster Roundup – Rats, Scented Candles, Pebble Mine and more…
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more… A half-dozen slurpable stories for your consumption. All titles are links. Eat up! Westboro Baptist Church to Picket Jobs Funeral Yes, apparently the most hateful, vicious, mean-spirited group of “religious” wingnuts, who made famous the “God Hates Fags” slogan, will be picketing the funeral of Steve Jobs. Why? Because he “served self, not God” and “encouraged his neighbors to sin.” How do we know they will be doing this? (Wait for it) Because they tweeted it from an iPhone. Yes, really. No worries about Westboro appreciating this…
Pebble Mine and the Foreign Fox in Alaska’s Legal Hen House
By Shannyn Moore We take the 49th star on our nation’s flag for granted. That was a hard fight, and statehood wasn’t won on the first pass or even the second. The tipping point and fuel came in large part from the “We-don’t-like-being-bossed-around-by-outsiders” attitude of Alaskans. It’s a bit ironic when we look at ourselves 50-plus years later. This week at the Alaska Energy Council luncheon, oil lobbyists and Republican lawmakers sat side by side at the head table. I guess I should be grateful they’re fraternizing in public instead of in a room at the Baranof. I long for…
Actor’s Disappointing Role: Pebble Shill
By Shannyn Moore As much time as we spend watching movies, it’s easy to believe that actors take jobs because they identify with some part of a film. The wool was ripped from my eyes this week. I’ve watched actor Wes Studi in films for years — “Geronimo,” “Dances with Wolves” and “Avatar,” to name a few. He’s beautiful — a classic, stoic American Indian; a noble face absent of fear and seemingly full of ancient knowledge. He’s only acting, and I shouldn’t be disappointed. I got my movie ticket’s worth. But that’s why we buy tickets in the first…
The Koch Brothers Invade Alaska: Nation, Guard Your Salmon
I was checking out the #nopebble hashtag on Twitter the other day, to see what links or comments had come in addressing what would be the continent’s largest open pit copper and gold mine situated at the headwaters of the world’s largest red salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska. It doesn’t take a fisheries expert or a biochemist to know that a project that would require 700 foot tall earthen dams in one of the world’s most active seismic zones to completely hold back lakes of deadly toxins forever, is a recipe for disaster. Our Hero Alaskan fishermen and thinking…
The Only Reason to Stop Pebble is to Keep Fish, Says Pebble Supporter.
Ah, Paul Jenkins. You may remember him as one of our “odd bedfellows” during the reign of Sarah Palin. Normally, wildly off the mark, Mr. Jenkins was actually spot on about Sarah, and surgically shredded her in the Anchorage Daily News on a regular basis. He did this not because he had suddenly seen the error of his political ways, but because she stuck it to the oil companies. And Mr. Jenkins and his oily, resource extractin’ at any price pals were not amused. It’s sad, because Mr. Jenkins is not stupid, nor is he a bad writer. And during…
Open Thread – Top 2 AK Bumperstickers
This Dodge pickup truck that I spotted yesterday was picture worthy. Why? Because it is sporting probably the two most ubiquitous bumper stickers in Alaska. The No Pebble sticker is more recent, and the other (talking about whether to have an all-Alaska gas pipeline route) was more common a few years ago. But as many of both of them as there are, I’ve never seen them snuggled up quite so nicely.