Governor on the fire escape. This is not a good sign.
TALL TALES from Juneau (and beyond) Eyes on the Dunleavy/Babcock administration Forwarded from a friend? Join our email list HERE AND THE AWARD FOR BEST DRAMA GOES TO… The House Minority (which is filled with Republicans who refuse to work with their peers in the Majority coalition) shows once again why their Republican colleagues preferred to work with Democrats to actually get things done. Three minority members on the House Education Committee – Josh Revak (R-Anchorage), Ben Carpenter (R- Kenai), and DeLena Johnson (R-Palmer) decided that the vote their committee was about to take on the governor’s austerity budget, was…
Return of Bird of the Week: Brewer’s Blackbird
We’ll take a reprieve break from the unending photos of flycatchers for a bit and celebrate the imminence of spring with a blackbird, specifically the Brewer’s Blackbird. Brewer’s Blackbirds get no respect. They don’t have the flashy colors like their cousins, and the are so common in season that we take them for granted. But the males, in the right light, have the beautiful green iridescence and that attention-grabbing yellow eye. WC doesn’t usually do much high key bird photo work; it seems to distract from the bird as the subject. But this shot of a male doing a courtship display…
Environmental Skulduggery is Afoot in Alaska
TALL TALES from Juneau… and BEYOND! PANTS ON FIRE! Reports are coming from far and wide that the new Senate Majority response to Alaskans who suggest revamping our oil tax credit structure is more or less this: “Oh, we got rid of oil tax credits. They’re gone. They don’t exist anymore. So… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Don’t know what you’re talking about!” Sorry, we call moose nuggets on that one. If anyone tries to flim-flam you with the “we don’t do that anymore” nonsense, here’s the deal. Cathy Giessel, Lora Reinbold, Shelley Hughes and others are regurgitating a bizarre talking point, and…
We found Dallas Seavey! Welcome to the 2019 Finnmarksløpet!
The Finnmarksløpet dog sled race is the longest and northernmost dog sled race in Europe. It takes place in the Finnmark, the northernmost region of Norway, and traverses birch forest, river valleys, and northern fjords from Alta to the Russian border and back. The Finnmarksløpet was established in 1981 by the Alta Trekkhundklubb (Dog Sledding Association of Alta) as a 226 km (140 mile) long race. It was later extended to 1,000 km (621 miles) in 1993, and then to its current distance of 1,200 km (746 miles). In addition to the 1,200 km-long race, there is a 500 km…
Ghosts in the Political Machine. No, really. Ghosts!
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Babcock/Arduin/Dunleavy administration Subscribe to TALL TALES here HOORAY! YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE GAY… Kelly Tshibaka, Gov. Dunleavy’s replacement pick for Commissioner of Administration (after first pick, Jonathan Quick, the “yogurt entrepreneur” was found to be lying on his resume) is certainly qualified for the job on paper. Nevertheless, she has some ideological issues which ought to raise serious concerns for someone wanting a position overseeing a very large and diverse government workforce. In 2002, Tshibaka (under her maiden name Kelly Hartline) wrote the following in the Harvard Law Record about “National…
Return of Bird of the Week: Lemon-browed Flycatcher
Another of the Western Hemisphere’s hundreds of flycatchers, the Lemon-browed Flycatcher is a very handsome bird. It’s also a bit of a specialist, restricted to a fairly narrow zone, between 800 and 1,950 meters elevation on the east slope of the Andes. Lemon-browed Flycatchers inhabit edges and clearings in humid subtropical forest, where they frequently sit on bare twigs and treetops. Like related flycatchers, they sally out to catch insects in flight, often returning to the same perch. They are quite vocal, giving a loud, stuttering “d’d’d’d’eeeeer” that can be heard at a distance. Although the Lemon-browed Flycatcher is widespread,…
Oh no they didn’t… the week in gaffes, goofs and OMGs
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Babcock/Arduin/Dunleavy administration Oh yes, they DID. It’s been a week of face-palm inducing, cringe-worthy, jaw-dropping gaffes and goofs in Juneau and beyond. It’s hard to know where to begin. So, we may as well start with the “beyond Juneau” part. SEN. DAN SULLIVAN The Senate Armed Services Committee recently questioned top generals on President Trump’s “national emergency” declaration along the U.S.-Mexico border. Sen. Dan Sullivan was unsurprisingly supportive of the national emergency. To justify this support, he asked U.S. Northern Command General Terrence O’Shaughnessy how many Americans were killed by opioid…
Alaska’s Fiscal False Choice – Don’t swallow it!
TALL TALES from Juneau Eyes on the Babcock/Dunleavy Administration Open up! FALSE CHOICES ARE YUCKY In case you haven’t noticed, Republicans are holding your nose and trying to shove a spoonful of false choice down your throat. And the false choice goes like this: Would you rather have: A full PFD, and a state with sub-par education, a crippled university, devastated health care and no viable transportation in southeast Alaska, OR A state you want to live in, and give up part of your PFD. But imagine if you will, a different choice, perhaps something like this: Would you rather…
Return of Bird of the Week: One-colored Becard
Among the hundreds of kinds of flycatchers, there is a genus called Becards. They occurs throughout the Neotropics, although one species, the Rose-throated Becard, occurs as far north as the far southern United States. Altogether there are 17 species of Becards. Sometimes WC suspects that ornithologists ran out of imaginative names for birds, and the poor One-colored Becard would be Exhibit A. Seriously, this is handsome bird; “one-colored” is the best ornithology can do? Becards as a group are large-headed birds, and the One-colored is no exception. Males are predominantly blackish, albeit becoming steadily paler over the underparts, and females…
Return of Bird of the Week: Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet
WC wasn’t exaggerating when he said there were dozens of flycatchers; if anything, it’s an understatement. Here’s a species WC was lucky enough to photograph in Panama recently, the Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet. This is a smaller flycatcher, about 4.5 inches long, with a stubby bill and grayish-yellow breast. The wing shows to buffy-yellow wing bars, visible in the second photo. And, of course, the yellow crown that gives the species its name. That’s not always visible, and WC was happy to get a photo that shows it. What’s a bit unusual about this bird is that it doesn’t show the whitish-gray…