Palin Slams GOP Successor in Alaska
Hey, Alaska! Sarah Palin is back. She left our state’s politics in the dust after quitting office in 2009, but yesterday she returned to her favorite local media platform—The Bob & Mark Radio Show—to slam her successor and one-time Lt. Governor, Republican Sean Parnell. The bone she had to pick with him relates to her signature legislation as governor, Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share (ACES). The oil tax system that ushered Alaska’s bank account into golden days of plenty, with a savings of more than $17 billion, ACES funded subsequent investments in roads, schools, and critical infrastructure projects. Under ACES,…
Time for Another Alaskan Debunking
It’s in all-to-common phenomenon to see articles written about Alaska by people who are not from here. Or, at least, with this one in particular I have to assume the author is not from here because she got so many things wrong. The piece I am referring to was published in a real estate blog called “Movoto,” and claimed to detail “22 Things You Need To Know About Anchorage Before You Move There.” Setting aside the grammatically challenged approach to capitalizing every word in the headline, as I read the piece, I started seeing some errors. 1. “To State the…
Open Thread: Alaska Girls
A friend sent me this intriguing movie poster the other day. Which of course meant that I had to find out about this movie, it looks fantastic. Unfortunately after spending far too long investigating I came up with no such film. There was a film called “Dragstrip Girls” staring Fay Spain who IMDB describes as “your typical B-movie drive-in bad girl – sometimes blonde, sometimes brunette, always bodacious.” After doing a reverse image search I found the awesome movie poster below, which someone photoshopped. Also, the fantastic sounding trailer… which I think we need to do a remake of.
TransCanada Says Tar Sands Flowing to Gulf in Keystone XL South
For First Time, TransCanada Says Tar Sands Flowing to Gulf in Keystone XL South (via Desmogblog) Mon, 2014-05-05 10:33Steve Horn TransCanada admitted for the first time that tar sands oil is now flowing through Keystone XL’s southern leg, now rebranded the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project. The company confirmed the pipeline activity in its 2014 quarter…
Bird of the Week – Bonaparte’s Gull
A couple of folks asked what WC meant by saying gulls had lots of different plumages. We’ll use today’s bird, the Bonaparte’s Gull, to illustrate the point. Here’s an adult Bonaparte’s Gull in breeding plumage: Note the deep black hood extending to the back of the skull, the black bill and the pale grey back. If you could see the legs, they’re fire engine red. Then there’s this bird: This is the same species, except the adult is in non-breeding plumage. The head is white, except for a small black spot behind the ear; the bill is solid black. The…
Palin: Waterboarding is Baptism for Terrorists
It was reported a couple weeks ago that Sarah Palin, speculating on the whereabouts of the still-missing Malaysia Airlines plane, said it had “flown straight to heaven.” It turned out she hadn’t said that at all. The quote was part of an article written on one of the infamous news satire websites that continually dupe unsuspecting users of the internets. The good ones hit so close to the mark, it’s hard to tell. A couple days ago, Sarah Palin was quoted speaking on the United States’ CIA torture program saying, “If I was in charge, they’d know that water boarding…
First Comes Exxon, Then Comes God – Mayflower Arkansas hit by Tornado
Mayflower: Deadly Tornado Sweeps Through Arkansas Town That Endured ExxonMobil Tar Sands Pipeline Spill in 2013 (via Desmogblog) Mon, 2014-04-28 16:59Steve Horn On March 29, 2013, ExxonMobil’s Pegasus tar sands pipeline ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas, sending hundreds of thousands of gallons of diluted bitumen (“dilbit”) pouring down the town’s streets. Now, just over a…
Arctic Oil Spill Readiness Virtually Nonexistent
Report: Arctic Oil Spill Readiness Virtually Nonexistent (via Desmogblog) Thu, 2014-04-24 11:16Farron Cousins Sea ice in the Arctic Circle is currently melting at a pace far greater than scientists had originally projected. While this is bad news for the planet — sea ice helps reflect the sun’s rays and keeps the arctic…
Sexual Assault in Nat’l Guard: Parnell Knew
On Feb. 28, 2014, our governor, Sean Parnell, wrote a letter asking the Department of Defense to investigate “reports of sexual assaults and other behavior creating a hostile environment and culture within portions of the Alaska National Guard.” He explained that he was compelled to request the investigation by “information I recently learned.” That was not true. In fact, it was very far from the truth. Military officers had risked their careers to tell the governor personally that female soldiers had been sexually assaulted by other Guard members and that those assaults were not only not investigated, they were covered…
Bird of the Week – Glaucous-winged Gull
WC is an unabashed Laridophile, a gull lover. And in coastal Alaska, one of the most common Alaska gulls is the Glaucous-winged Gull. The Glaucous-winged is a four-year gull, meaning it takes four years to reach maturity. Each year, each young bird goes through at least two different plumages, as do adults. So you have at least eight different-looking gulls, that are all Glaucous-winged. It can make gull identification a challenge. Adult breeding Glaucous-winged birds are fairly straightforward: a large gull, with no black in the wings or tail, and medium grey wings. Hard core birders also note the small…