EPA v. Polluters – Senators Begich & Murkowski on the Wrong Side
Alaskans have a (how shall I put this) prickly relationship with the EPA for the most part. You can live most anywhere in the lower 48, and chances are you’ve never had to personally interact with the EPA and don’t know anyone who has. You live in your house, you do your thing, and the only time it comes up is when you hear the Tea Party talk about how all them damn regulations keep mucking things up and killing business and jobs. But in Alaska, the EPA and its involvement in development both big and small seems to…
Palin Emails: Todd is a “private citizen”…except when he’s not…
I have a little bit of personal experience with this Palin email thing. However, mine were so redacted, they were no fun at all. So, like many others, I’ve enjoyed making up my own searches of the awesome 2011 Palin Email Database, courtesy of MSNBC and Crivella West. The REAL fun happens when I’m searching on one topic and stumble upon another quite accidentally. For example, I was doing a search on a lobbyist name or two and found this email from Palin’s assistant/residence manager: From : Erika Fagerstrom [erika_fagerstrom@gov.state. ak.us] Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 1:43 PM To: Governor…
Happy Dump Day! The Palin Emails are Released… Sort of.
~Fox News’ copies of Palin’s emails, Juneau, AK. Photo by ‘Mudflatter D.’ By Jeanne Devon Well, the day we’ve been waiting for has arrived. It only took (looks at watch) two years and change. I refer of course to the emails to and from Sarah Palin that were requested by individuals and news organizations to give them some insight into who this virtually unknown vice presidential candidate was – that which is known today as “The Palin Email Dump.” Well, with all the information now out there, I’m retroactively confident in my choice not to have voted for her. Phew….
It’s 2011 & Your Body Belongs to the State
By Thomas Dewar All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. –Edmund Burke 91 years after the 19th Amendment was ratified and enfranchised female Americans with the right to cast a ballot, we still debate whether or not over half the population should have control over their own physical personhood. On the national level, Republican House members—who campaigned on their Democratic counterparts not having done enough to create jobs—have pulled one doozy of a bait-and-switch once in office. Not only was the economic plight of America’s middle class promptly ignored and forgotten,…
WI GOP Sex, Lies and Ethics Violations: recall senators attempt to avoid elections.
Madison, WI. By Patrick DePula. Showing signs of sheer desperation, three GOP senators up for recall elections on July 12 have now resorted to asking the courts to stop the election citing dubious alleged “irregularities” in the filing of recall petitions.Never mind the wholesale recall petition fraud perpetrated by the Wisconsin Republican Party; substantiated with scores of affidavits and reports of dead people signing their names, felons stealing items while circulating papers, and the involvement of a shady out of state group that helped organize the republican efforts against democrats. From the Wisconsin State Journal: State Sens. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse;…
Governor Sean Parnell and House Forfeit Alaska Sovereignty
By Shannyn Moore I was 8 years old and Frank McMichael was the most curmudgeonly man I’d ever met. He was the first person I’d heard cuss. Oscar the Grouch had Frank McMichael eyebrows. Frank carried a .44 revolver. Instead of a mattress, he slept on stacks of cardboard. At the time, my family was new to setnet fishing. The best memories of my life were on the west side of Cook Inlet — living in a bunkhouse built of cannery crates, with Visqueen windows, an outhouse and a creek. Frank had moved to the west side after World War…
Palin – “The Undefeated”
“Really? You think she’s running?” I’ve been asked this question dozens of times by incredulous-looking people with furrowed brows. Yes. Yes, I do. And today comes the announcement that Sarah Palin, who has been politically written off by anyone who seriously understands how real presidential campaigns are supposed to work; and anyone who is saying to themselves that her numbers are down; and anyone who thinks she doesn’t stand a moose’s chance in September of actually winning, has a “secret weapon.” No it isn’t some kind of magic gas in silver canisters that will be dropped on neighborhoods across America…
Oyster Roundup – Shuck ’em!
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Grab your metaphorical cocktail sauce and belly up to the oyster bar for some tasty news nuggets from Alaska and beyond… Bigfoot Goes to Ketchikan? Stop the presses! Mysterious shaggy grey ape-like creature almost clearly spotted through foliage and almost conclusively captured on shaky video by breathless videographer! Is it or isn’t it? You can watch the video yourself and make the call. This is the first time a Bigfoot has been spotted in Ketchikan, and only the 22nd such sighting in Alaska. And frankly, I think…
The New and Unimproved Debbie Ossiander Scoffs at Democratic Process
So how completely impressed are we with our new Assembly Chair Debbie Ossiander? Just as impressed as we were with her the last time she was Chair. And that would be… not at all. Her ignominious rise to the top spot hinged, apparently, on her loyalty to Mayor Dan Sullivan, and she’s been eager to prove her empty-headed devotion since her return to the throne. First on the list of things to do it seems, was to circumvent that thing we like to call “democracy.” Anchorage is in the middle of redistricting. This is as important as it gets. The…