Connecting the Dots from PA to AK
~Paul Pozonsky, right I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. When someone does something that looks bad, I usually assume incompetence rather than conspiracy. That said, follow along with me and see what you make of this. The job of Hearing Officer for the state of Alaska is a pretty important job. In other states, hearing officers are called judges and wear black robes. Talis Colberg, a former Alaska attorney general, went on to serve as a Hearing Officer for the Department of Labor after leaving the AG job. Hearing Officers decide the fates of Alaskans every…
Gender Gap Widens
Democrats are poised to shatter two more notable glass ceilings in the coming year. Fresh off their success in adding women like Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin to the US Senate in last month’s election, the nation’s two largest cities are both a good bet to elect their first ever female mayors in 2013. Incumbents Mike Bloomberg of New York and Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles are both termed out next year, with the former likely to be replaced by NYC City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and odds being the latter will be succeeded by either LA City Councilwoman Jan…
What are they up to?
Let’s do a quick check-in, and see what people are up to during the lull at the holiday season between the election, and the beginning of the next legislative session Mark Begich – Mark Begich is busy getting gold stars. The latest is for voting for the Feinstein Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which takes steps to end allowing the indefinite detention of American’s in the United States. Lisa Murkowski Lisa Murkowski is “outraged” about the Benghazi incident. And “she has no patience for the constantly changing stories coming out of the White House and even less for…
Drummond. There Can Be Only One.
Well, this is a fine fix you’ve gotten us into, Harriet Drummond! One of our favorite Assembly members had the temerity to win the State House seat for her district. She also had the horrible lack of foresight to not stretch side to side until she divided like an amoeba in a spectacular display of binary fission, creating two Harriet Drumonds so both positions could be filled. More’s the pity. Now we have an issue – an empty Anchorage Assembly seat. By January 15, the first regular Assembly meeting of the new year, and until the next Municipal election (what…
Recounting the Vote
Just when you thought it was over, it looks like two close races will be counted again. Ah. Ah. Ah. Senate candidate Bob Bell from Anchorage has requested a recount of his race with Hollis French. Bell lagged by 54 votes, and Senator French wasn’t surprised by the request, saying he’d probably do the same thing if the situation was reversed. [Side Note: I finally figured out why the name Bob Bell rings a … well, you know. Bob Bell was also the name of the actor who played Bozo the Clown from 1960 to 1984. I’m not necessarily saying…
Kim Jong Un – Sexiest Man Alive!
It happens every once in a while, and it’s always good for a chuckle. Someone reads The Onion, the greatest news satire site on the web, and thinks one of the stories is real. But it isn’t often that they fool an entire news outlet. China got onioned. BEIJING – The online version of China’s Communist Party newspaper has hailed a report by The Onion naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as the “Sexiest Man Alive” — not realizing it is satire. The People’s Daily on Tuesday ran a 55-page photo spread on its website in a tribute to…
Oyster Roundup!
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Here’s an almost half dozen as the country awakens from its Thanksgiving tryptophan coma… Fox Retreats Quickly Under Sniper Fire “Hey! How did that guy get in here?” You could almost hear the collective WTF from Fox News. National security journalist Tom Ricks appeared on Fox News to blast the network’s incessant coverage of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. After saying that “Benghazi was hyped, by this network especially,” Ricks went on to say that “the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political, partly…
The War on Christmas is a Civil War
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you…
Sitting Legislator Calls Opponent “A-hole”
The votes in the state’s two closest legislative races are in. Senator Hollis French will return to Juneau after winning his race against Bob Bell by 54 votes. And 24-year old Democratic candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins managed to eek out a victory in the District 34 House race by only 32 votes, meaning that his opponent Republican Bill Thomas can ask for a recount if he wants one. Kreiss-Tomkins whose mother is a beloved physician in the district, ran an assertive person-to-person campaign, visiting all the small islands that comprise most of the district, and really getting to know his constituents….
Votes Shift To Kreiss-Tomkins in Nailbiter Race
More absentee ballots were counted in the Alaska House District 34 race on Monday. When the day began, the race was a tie. At the end of the day, the 24-year old newcomer, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, led the entrenched Republican incumbent Bill Thomas by 28 votes. Absentee ballots will be counted until Wednesday, the final day they will be accepted. Insiders say that there are only 26 possible ballots to come in. So, even if they all go to Thomas, Tomkins will retail a 2 vote lead. The number of votes separating the two will determine whether Thomas will be…