Don Young Wants to Annihilate the Last 20 Years of Federal Regulation.
Don Young… what can you say? He’s Alaska’s one and only congressman, and he’s been Alaska’s one and only congressman since 1973. That’s 38 regular years, which feels like 95 in Don Young years. He defies explanation. He’s sort of a combination of the old curmudgeon in the neighborhood that sits on the porch telling the local kids to get off his lawn; the crazy uncle you see at family gatherings that drives you nuts, but loves dressing up like Santa; and the monkey with the typewriter who occasionally types a word, but the rest of the time flings poo. …
Open Thread – Wall Street Occupation Continues (PHOTOS)
Zach Roberts, our NY Bureau Chief has been providing ongoing coverage of the Wall Street occupation. The mainstream media is all but ignoring the demonstrations, so the photographic and video record of this event will have particular historical significance. Zach’s photos have been picked up by more than one of the very limited outlets who have had some amount of coverage on the subject.
On Justice and Forgiveness
~Troy Davis By Shannyn Moore My Pop has always said there’s a big difference between grace and mercy. Grace is when you get something good you don’t deserve. Mercy is when you don’t get something bad you do deserve. I’ve been blessed to have been afforded both in my life. It’s difficult to pass it out as freely as it’s given, but something to always strive for. This week, I called and emailed judges, a governor and parole board. I wasn’t sure if it was grace or mercy I was seeking for a man I’d never met. I had no…
Governor Sean Parnell: Lord of the Flaming Pants
Former director of government relations in Alaska for ConocoPhillips, Sean Parnell made an announcement on Tuesday. Some of you may know him by his other job working for the lobbying firm that represented ExxonMobil against Alaskans in the matter of a little oil spill that happened in Prince William Sound. Some of you may also know him as Captain Zero, or Caribou Ken, or SeanocoParnellips. However you know him, he also currently wears the mantle of Governor of the State of Alaska. But it’s been difficult for Sean to turn against his old bosses. He’s a loyal foot soldier, and…
Photos from Wall Street
On September 17, hundreds of protestors descended on lower Manhattan to publicly denounce the nation’s current financial system. The demonstration’s organizers plan to continue occupying the area around Wall Street for weeks or even months—however long it takes to change a system they say benefits the rich and powerful at the expense of middle-class and poor Americans. We’ll be following the protests and will continue to update the following stream with the latest images from the center of the financial world. The Mudflats’ New York Bureau Chief and photojournalist Zach Roberts is in New York City, and has been covering…
Baldwin and Warren – Ready to Reframe What it Means to Be a Woman in Politics
I don’t think there’s a progressive woman out there who hasn’t at one time found it more than a little frustrating that the women in politics who seem to get all the press, and who seem to represent the gender in general are… how shall I put this kindly … nuts. Not to name names, but I’m sure if you rub your temples and empty your mind you’ll be able to summon up a couple images without too much trouble. That’s it! Keep going. Well done. I knew you could do it. With those images assaulting us endlessly in the…
The Koch Brothers Invade Alaska: Nation, Guard Your Salmon
I was checking out the #nopebble hashtag on Twitter the other day, to see what links or comments had come in addressing what would be the continent’s largest open pit copper and gold mine situated at the headwaters of the world’s largest red salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska. It doesn’t take a fisheries expert or a biochemist to know that a project that would require 700 foot tall earthen dams in one of the world’s most active seismic zones to completely hold back lakes of deadly toxins forever, is a recipe for disaster. Our Hero Alaskan fishermen and thinking…
9/11 10 Years On
By Jim Wright It’s been ten years now. A decade today. And frankly, I think that’s about enough. There comes a point where you have to stop reliving horror over and over. There comes a point where you have to say enough, this and no more. I think a decade is enough time. Now, don’t get me wrong, the events of September 11th, 2001 were traumatic on a national scale. 911 was a shock like no other in American history, hell, maybe even in world history. The modern Information Age saw to that, bringing it right into our living rooms…