Pride Weekend – Joy and Sadness
~The Empire State Building in rainbow colors last night to celebrate marriage equality I, like many Americans, sat last night riveted, watching the New York State Senate debate and vote on a bill for Marriage Equality. I watched while Senator Ruben Diaz monopolized the floor talking about how his rights were being violated by having to stick to a 2 minute time period for comment. He wanted to make sure he had three times the time of anyone else to talk about how God had already made the decision about gay marriage, and it wasn’t Albany’s place to…
Open Thread: Saturday in Fairview — The Joint is Jumpin’! (by LKB)
If you missed your invitation from about 100 different sources on Facebook or didn’t read one of the news articles or blog posts, there’s a block party going on in Fairview today! The events are listed on the flyer above. For a larger copy, just click on it. As it turns out, something that could have put a damper on the day seems to have given the party PR a much bigger reach than it would have on its own. From Bent, Alaska (one of my favorite neighborhoods!): If you’ve seen the flyers for the Fairview Block Party and you’re…
Oyster Roundup!
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Derby Day! That’s right. Today with your plate of tasty oyster news nuggets, you can also enjoy a mint julep. (pause while that sinks in) OK, maybe not the best combination, but you understand my metaphorical drift. It should be an interesting race today. There are 19 horses in this year’s race, and there’s a great summary in the Wall Street Journal (linked above) for those of you looking for a quick primer. It’s been a long, strange trail to the 137th Kentucky Derby, which gets underway…
Oyster Roundup!
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more and more! A Mudflatter recently asked me what an “Oyster Roundup” was, and I thought it might be time to give a refresher. In the epic poem “The Walrus and the Carpenter” from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the two main characters walk along the beach and entice young naive oysters from their beds to “take a walk”. (Pay no attention to the buttered bread and pepper, oysters!) As Carroll describes the exodus of the oysters from the sea, he says “Thick and fast they came at last, and…
University of Alaska Will Decide Whether to Include Sexual Orientation in Non-Descrimination Policy
~In summer of 2009, proponents of the expanded equal rights ordinance stand in front of those wearing red in opposition. Remember in 2009 when mayor Dan Sullivan vetoed the Assembly’s vote to include sexual orientation and gender identity in Anchorage’s non-discrimination policy for employment, housing, education, and use of public facilities? Many of us do. We sat and watched more than 20 hours of public testimony about it. We rejoiced when the Assembly did the right thing and voted 7-4 to accept the language, and we cried when the mayor decided to embrace bigotry instead of the 21st Century. Fast-forward to 2011….
Alaska’s View from the Hill With Senator Mark Begich
Once again Matt Felling of KTVA sits down for a conversation with a member of Alaska’s congressional delegation. This time it’s Senator Mark Begich (D). He remarks about the surprisingly low turnout in Alaska’s election and the large number of Alaskans who remained undecided until the last moment. He’s calling the race for Murkowski. “I think she’ll have a small drop off, maybe 5 percent, maybe 10 percent — what you see is an end result of an election where she still wins.” He talked about how the money given to Murkowski by Native Corporations had impact, and has some…
Open Thread – Spirit Day
Teenagers who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT) are four times more likely than straight teens to commit suicide. 9 out of 10 gay teens are bullied, verbally or physically abused. After several recent incidents of the bullying of GLBT youth who ended up taking their own lives, supporters are participating in Spirit Day by wearing purple to bring attention to this tragedy. You can even wear purple for the day on your Twitter avatar, or your Facebook profile by going HERE! RIP Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg,Eric Mohat, Meredith Rezak, Raymond Chase and Billy Lucas….