BP’s Greenwashing
You may have noticed a new PR campaign by British Petroleum carpetbombing our airwaves. Its laughable, self-congratulatory commercials attempt to portray one of the most notorious polluters in human history as a sort of Jaques Cousteau. Unbeknownst to those of you constrained by reality, there is apparently an alternate universe wherein BP is all about abundant marine life, crystal blue waters, and photogenic young families frolicking amid aquatic activities. To hear them tell it, BP is the best thing to have ever happened to the Gulf Coast it devastated. You know, kind of like OJ Simpson introduced us to the…
Pozonsky-gate. The Plot Thickens.
But wait, there’s more! Not only did the hiring scandal of former Pennsylvania Judge Paul Pozonsky into the Parnell administration touch strange corners of Alaska politics, it seems that the Judge’s checkered history in Pennsylvania is not just limited to destruction of evidence in 17 drug cases, but it now appears he’s been doing some inappropriate favors for frackers in the name of keeping information from the press and the public by inappropriately sealing records. Are we shocked? No, we are not. Alaska politics are such that it takes a lot to consider something scandalous, let alone a soap opera….
Alaska Readies for Voter Photo ID Bill
Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, the chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, reportedly plans to introduce a voter photo ID requirement in the Alaska Legislature. He says this photo ID law isn’t based on the so-called “model statute” developed by the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council, a national organization that promotes conservative model legislation. Even though Lynn is a member of ALEC. In state where village residents, who famously vote Democratic, don’t have or need a photo ID, this law will provoke a lawsuit before the ink is dry on Captain Zero’s signature. It’s all about equal protection. If you have a photo…
Pozonsky-Gate Demands Answers
I hate messy breakups, and boy did we have one this week. Former Pennsylvania Judge Paul Pozonsky resigned as a workers’ compensation hearing officer for the State of Alaska Thursday, just days after I started asking exactly how he got hired. Pozonsky apparently got the job after a closed application process was reopened just long enough for him to apply. For some reason, the fact that the former judge was under investigation by a Pennsylvania grand jury for ordering the destruction of evidence in 17 court cases, and that he resigned from the job last June after being stripped of…
The Audacity of Failure – She’s Back!
She ran for governor of Georgia in 2010 and lost. Then she took one of the most beloved and successful non-profits on the planet, set it on fire, and shoved it out to sea like a viking funeral pyre, before resigning in disgrace. Then she wrote a book with the painfully prosaic title “Planned Bullyhood,” in which she called members of Planned Parenthood “a bunch of schoolyard thugs.” So, what’s next for Karen Handel, disgraced and ostracized former head of the Susan G. Komen foundation? She’s considering a run for the U.S. Senate, of course. If she ran, she would…
Weed, Serial Killer & Berlusconi!
Egyptian President Muhamed Morsi has decided he likes democratic reform when it brings him to power, but finds dictatorship preferable once there. Speaking of “same as the old boss,” disgraced Italian Casanova Silvio Berlusconi is poised to make the most implausible political comeback since Bibi Netanyahu Richard Nixon. Don’t make us come over there, Syria. Mining companies in Canada are discovering these renewable forms of energy are pretty nifty, especially when they’re the only ones available to you. Oh, the irony. Colorado and Washington went to pot a month ago, and now Uncle Sam has to decide how firmly…
Latinos Roll The (R)s
Off The Cliff And Into The Fire President Obama plans to push for comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship, early in the new year. The LA Times reports that this will be the President’s legislative priority once we’ve resolved the fiscal [insert metaphor of choice here]. If you think the debate over taxing the top 2% has put the GOP in a bind and on the wrong side of public opinion, just wait until the party has to confront immigration reform. Post-election navel gazing by Republicans has boiled down to content-free variations of “we have to do a…
Recycled Orchestra
If I had the words for this, we wouldn’t need music. —Brandi Martin My dad was a big fan of the Bach Cello Suites, but I’ve never heard them played in quite this context. Prepare to have your mind blown by one of the best things ever.
Alaska the Swing State?
Well, here’s something to sink our collective teeth into. Nate Silver, god of numbers, statistical wizard, and Grand Political Prognisticator has just written a piece on his blog at the New York Times entitled… are you ready for this… Alaska: Future Swing State? I started. I caught my breath audibly. My brain revved furiously. Was this a trick? Nope. All looked well, as I skimmed through at Evelyn Wood Speed Reading pace. Silver has several interesting points. First, he notes that Alaska showed the most improved performance for President Obama since 2008. He also rightly notes that Sarah Palin…