More Than a Million Wisconsinites Want to Quit Scott Walker
More than a million signatures (that’s 3,000 pounds worth) were gathered and delivered today to ensure that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker would face a recall election later in the year. That’s what happens when you push policies that effectively eliminate most collective bargaining rights for many public employees. Just to play it safe organizers overshot the number of required signatures by about 460,000. There’s nothing like making an unambiguous statement. Also targeted were Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and a handful of Republican legislators, all well-exceeding the number of signatures required to generate a recall election. Kelly Steele, a strategist for…
Extremist Lies — Why One Anchorage Needs Volunteers to Spread the Truth!
by Linda Kellen Biegel When “One Anchorage” was preparing to file their now-successful petition with the city to place their initiative on the April 3rd ballot, most supporters and those experienced with similar campaigns agreed that it would be very difficult to provide a rational argument against the initiative itself. As it states on the website: “The One Anchorage Initiative simply provides to gay and transgender Alaskans the same legal protections that we already provide to other persons in Anchorage in employment, financial practices, housing, and restaurants, department stores and other businesses.” In other words, to fight against the language…
Open Thread – Please Help if You Can
According to the Anchorage Daily News: Dozens of dogs, cats and parakeets seized by authorities in two unrelated animal cruelty cases over the weekend have packed the Anchorage animal shelter and prompted a plea for donations of food, blankets and kitty litter. One case involves 22 cats, the other 39 dogs and more than 40 parakeets. Details are available by clicking the link above. The shelter is in need of the following items: • Non-clumping cat litter, preferably a clay litter • Parakeet food • Small, clean blankets and towels • Canned dog and cat food • Dry Science Diet…
The Comeuppance of a Gopher Choker – Corey Rossi Busted for Illegal Bear Hunting
Corey Rossi, director of the Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation, who has just resigned in scandal after being snared (as it were) engaging in the illegal hunting of bears. Mudflatters may remember past coverage of Corey Rossi, referred to by others as “the gopher choker.” Rossi began his ignominious political career by being friends with Chuck and Sally Heath, parents of then-Governor Sarah Palin. And really, what else do you need? In those days, being BFFs with the Palins was like being dealt a royal flush. Palin high school pal and former real estate agent Franci Havermeister was given the…
Open Thread – Happy MLK Day
Whether you have the day off today, or not, may your thoughts turn at some point to Dr. King, who envisioned a beautiful future he would not see in his lifetime. May we see it in ours.
Bigotry is Not “In His Name.”
~Jim Minnery of the Alaska Family Council By Shannyn Moore I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent in church, but it’s a lot. I guess it doesn’t matter since they’re not counted as frequent flier miles for admission into heaven. Some of my greatest life lessons were learned at the foot of a pulpit. Some I missed, and had to learn the hard way. One lesson was particularly memorable. It may have been the shock of delivery, but it stuck. I’d always believed the commandment “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain” had something to…
Dispatches from the Congo – A Journey of Love (Part 22)
By Erin Pohland Returning to Alaska was hard, knowing that I would leave again for good. It was also overwhelming, as I attempted to pack for a cross-country move with a toddler. Poor Andrew had already been through a lot of change in his life, and he got increasingly clingy with each box that I packed. My boxes certainly weren’t anywhere near as well-packed or organized as they were when I had moved to Alaska, but I had more important things on my mind. Saying goodbye was beyond difficult, particularly for my two closest friends in Alaska and their…
Mitt Romney’s French Connection
By Jim Wright What do you call a man who speaks multiple languages? A polyglot. What do you call a man who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call a man who only speak one language – and poorly at that? An American. Goddamned right. There’s only one language worth knowing and that’s English American. Speak it loud, speak it proud. Speak it really slowly so that that natives will understand. Turns out that Mitt Romney speaks French. Can you believe it? French. Of all the languages that are not the biblically musical angelic language of Heaven, i.e. English American, Romney chose French. The language of beret wearing socialist surrender…
Voices from the Flats – Things We Do for Free
Things We Do for Free: An Open Letter to Russ Feingold Dear Russ, Today is the 60th and final day of signature collection in the effort to recall Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch. This day marks a milestone in a historic victory for all of us, and for me personally in a huge way. I’m a United Wisconsin coordinator for Dane County and a grassroots organizer for the Sun Prairie Action Resource Coalition (SPARC), a local progressive group. And I just finished the hardest political work I’ve ever done or thought I’d do. Yesterday was the final day of signature…