Hey, Ohio! Get Your Own Mountain.
Let’s bust out the tiny sad violin for Ohio today, shall we? Apparently, Ohio is still all butt-hurt that Alaska took our mountain back. I speak, of course, of the former Mt. McKinley named after our 24th President who neither saw the mountain, nor went to Alaska. *Fun fact: The mountain had a name thousands of years before it got “named” McKinley. Denali is Athabascan for “the Great One.” Which it is. Other Alaska Native names for the mountain by people in the region were: Deenaalee, Deenadheet, Deenadhee, Diineezi, Denaze, Dengadh, Dengadhi, Denadhe, Dghelaay Ce’e, Deghilaay Ce’e, Dghelay Ka’a, and…
Epic Non-Apology for ‘Serious Retaliation’ from Wasilla Senator
You’ll all be pleased to know that the Alaska legislature is still the best reality show on the internets. And as per history, Wasilla Republicans continue to deliver the goods. For those of you who need a little background, I’ll try to make this as quick and painless as possible. Senator David Wilson (R-Wasilla) was outed on the AK Landmine for committing a weird and distasteful display of vulgarity and all-around inappropriate creepiness to a well-respected high-level staffer. We’ll call her Ann Smith [not her name]. The bottom line is that Wilson was trying to get a listen to a…
The Return of Bird of the Week — Osprey
For about three years (187 weeks, in fact) WC featured a Bird of the Week post on Saturdays that was cross-posted here at The Mudflats. The idea was to share bird photos with readers, maybe provide a little mostly accurate information about birds, and perhaps sell some bird photos and help pay for WC’s expensive avian photography habit. The series stopped when WC ran out of Alaska bird photos that were decent enough to share. That was about a year ago. After a massive, sometimes tedious review of a chunk of WC’s library of bird photos, WC is feeling inspired. Bird…
Someone Tell Trump: We Aren’t Going Back
It’s been almost 10 years since I opened a package mailed to me care of a long-ago radio station. “Thank you for your voice. We found this in my father’s house after he died. He’d removed it from a restaurant many years ago. Don’t forget about us.” Inside was a sign. “No Dogs. No Natives.” There were plenty of signs hung around Alaska to remind everyone who was at the top of the genetic food chain. It’s shameful. “No Indians.” “We cater to white trade only.” and “Meals at all hours — All white help.” There are still many wounds…
Return of the Truth Squad!
I know what you’ve been wondering for the last 10 years. What ever happened to Ed O’Callaghan? On the off chance you haven’t been wondering this for the last 10 years, let me refresh your memory. Way back in 2008, another very stable Republican with a new executive branch seat was under investigation for abuse of power. Yes, I speak of the once half-governor of Alaska who was then running to become the Vice President of the United States. At the time, we thought that would be the worst possible ever thing to happen – why, she’d be a heartbeat…
The Magic of Christmas
There is a magic about Christmas. We get to peel off our layers of broken promises and broken hearts to watch it through the eyes of the children close to us. There was a time I had to explain to my daughter that Santa wasn’t Jesus’s dad and this wasn’t a big birthday party. The Santa at Nordstrom also had to explain to her that he did not know me well enough to get her a baby brother or sister for Christmas. Christmas is about seeing things with new eyes and finding joy and understanding. Oh, just so you know,…
Dean of the House, Don Young Talks Horses**t
.@repdonyoung: “Thank God I’m wearing my cowboy boots today. You know why cowboys wear cowboy’s boots? To keep their damn pants clean from the horse manure that comes from people that don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.” pic.twitter.com/fcXH2H4vdg — CSPAN (@cspan) December 13, 2017 “Thank God I’m wearing my cowboy boots today. You know why cowboys wear cowboy’s boots? To keep their damn pants clean from the horse manure that comes from people that don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.” The (now) Dean of the House of Representatives and perpetual embarrassment to the State of Alaska…
Fred Dyson’s Alaska Winter Driving Safety
Special Guest Post from Assemblyman Fred Dyson (Eagle River) WHEN THE ROADS GET SLICK AND THE FOOLS ARE OUT DRIVING (ADVICE FROM AN OLD RACE CAR DRIVER) The first snowfall of the year brings a rash of ditch divers and car crashes. My kids and I used to have a game of rating the wrecks when we drove between Eagle River and Anchorage. The ditch divers, whom we scored as a 10, managed to cross four lanes of traffic, clear the guardrail, do a complete roll or summersault, and land on their wheels without hitting another car. You can come up…
The History of Alaska is Liberal
I have to say, it’s often a wonderful thing to have folks quote lines back to me that I’ve written in this paper. It seems most often they are quips or parables from Pop Moore, but sometime they are little turns of phrase that come back to me. It’s a nice confirmation that you, dear reader, take some of this beyond your Sunday morning coffee time. A particular line from a columnist that ran last week has been stuck in my head, but not in a good way. “Liberalism is, after all, a genetic defect,” he wrote. I don’t remember…
This Is Just The Beginning…
A dozen years ago I had an opportunity I never sought out or wanted. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I’d sit across from an admitted sex offender and discuss his crime. It wasn’t on my radio or television show. It wasn’t for an essay, until now. First, a little background. I was assaulted at an early age by a teacher at my Christian school. He hurt the older girls much worse, but it was enough to make me keep a secret, and stew on it, and harm myself in ways I wasn’t conscious of. It happened again…