A Six-pack of Stupid. Happy Monday!
It’s Monday, so we thought we’d start your week off like this. Here’s a compendium of stupidity from across the nation. Full stories are linked in the titles. Oh, Florida… In an effort to ban all internet cafés (because why wouldn’t you), it seems that the hastily thrown together Florida legislation will make all cell phones, tablets, laptops, and every 40-pound PC owned by every retiree in the state illegal, because apparently they are the same as slot machines. You just know it’s only a matter of time before some red southern state is going to slip up and ban…
North Pole Dentist Won’t Go Away
BY SHANNYN MOORE I was hoping the Alaska Republican Party would self-correct. The GOPers have had more than a month to make things right but haven’t yet seen a need. Oh, I know, they’re just as busy as the rest of us, getting ready for guests, looking for the top of the pressure cooker, wondering if sunburned mosquito bites were worth that day at the Slide Hole. (They were.) See, there’s a bad penny that keeps showing up in Alaska politics. I wonder why Republicans don’t get rid of him, because sooner or later someone will write a story or…
This Week in Equality – The Right Wept.
This was a huge week for America. The reaction of the Right Wing has been curious to me. I wonder if we aren’t watching the suicide of a political party. The Supreme Court agreed there is discrimination against certain citizens who want to vote, but a slim majority of justices were okay with that. Seriously? Yes. Not a shocker. With few exceptions, the Roberts Court has been a recurring disaster for everyone except the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. I guess Republican senators felt better about approving a path to citizenship for undocumented people — now that it will be easier…
“Racist Dentist” is New GOP Vice Chair
The Alaska Republican Party has been trying desperately to get its house in order while undergoing a civil war. And they’ve been doing just about as well as you might expect. The latest brilliant strategy move was voting in the man known as the “racist dentist” to hold the #2 spot in the Republican Party of Alaska. A coup of sorts took place when long time party chair Randy Ruedrich retired. The Ron Paul/Tea Party crowd overtook the convention and installed newcomer Russ Millette as Chair. The old guard panicked and rerouted the treasure chest to a Republican group in…
Alaskans March Against Monsanto (PHOTOS)
More than 300 demonstrators turned out on a beautiful Memorial Day weekend to join groups across the world marching in protest against Monsanto, and genetically modified foods. For an issue that crosses political boundaries, the enthusiasm was clear and loud. Local activists organized the event to bring attention to threats to our food supply,to support local Alaska farmers, and to raise general awareness about the effects of genetically modified foods on farmers, and our health. Marchers also carried signs warning against genetically modified “frankenfish,” a salmon-eel hybrid that could damage wild stocks. “We want safer food, we want to know…
March Against Monsanto
Monsanto shouldn’t be immune from the U.S. justice system. That’s why I’m co-sponsoring legislation to eliminate the Monsanto rider. The Monsanto rider stripped the courts of their power to halt the planting of genetically modified crops that could be dangerous to people or the environment. I will keep working on this issue because genetically modified crops can be just as dangerous as genetically modified fish. I’ve always opposed Frankenfish—and I oppose special legal exemptions for Frankenfruit companies too. ~Senator Mark Begich, D-AK Anchorage will be making history when we participate in the first ever global March Against Monsanto! Join over…
GOP’s Slash & Burn Values
“Family values.” It’s something we hear a lot around election season from the Republican Party. It’s code for “queers are bad and ladies are baby ovens.” It has nothing to do with healthy families. Case in point: This past week, the Republicans in the Alaska House of Representatives, on some sort of “look-how-fiscally-conservative-we-are” display, slashed and burned the state operating budget. The hypocrisy of their campaign stances comes into pure light when you see how they are spending our money. Pre-kindergarten education was slashed, as was funding for Best Beginnings early education and the Parents as Teachers program. A two-year…
$8.3 Million to be Cut from Health Budget
In its ongoing quest to make Alaska an unpleasant place to live, the House Health & Social Services Finance Subcommittee has recommended an $8.3 million reduction to critical Behavioral Health Services. The Republicans are trying to teach us slow-learners that the best way to deal with a problem is to ignore it, and then it will go away. If we don’t allow abortion, women just won’t have them. If we don’t fund public schools, then we can all just be rid of them and send our kids to church 6 days a week. And, if we don’t fund local, community…
They Think We’re Idiots. Are We?
BY: SHANNYN MOORE I will admit to outrage fatigue. The “Shock and Fraud” campaign in Juneau is working. Legislators, drunk on one-party power, are trying to jam so much crazy through — well, it’s mind-boggling. We’ve just passed the halfway point of the session — think of it as solstice; Alaska’s future only gets darker from here. We had it too good for too long and didn’t even realize it. The petty, preposterous, personal-issue bills were ignored for years. But now that we’ve solved our energy issues, jobs are plentiful and every education challenge is behind us, the Legislature has…
Sen. Coghill Needs a Doctor STAT!
John Coghill can’t seem to find credible doctors to attack Alaskan women’s reproductive health. Imagine that. In a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, not a single doctor from Alaska was allowed to testify for or against a bill that would restrict access to safe and legal abortion for low-income women in our state. Gems of wisdom from the out-of-state doctors that the bill’s sponsor Senator John Coghill chose to testify on SB49 include these debunked falsehoods: “Abortion exacerbates existing mental health illness,” and “Women who have an abortion have an 81 percent increased risk for mental health problems.” –Dr….