Politicizing the Anchorage School District
Now that the Town Hall meetings in Anchorage are over, and Senator Mark Begich has left the state for Washington D.C., what’s a poor bored wingnut to do? Well, after drumming their fingers for 24 hours, waiting for new marching orders, they’re off and running again. Trying to get everyone health care is bad enough, but behold the latest ‘moral outrage’ that President Obama is inflicting on the poor innocent children according to the conservatives. On Tuesday, September 8th, that man is going to be on the TeeVee, in schools across the nation telling the children that education is important…
Voices from the Flats – John Aronno from the Planned Parenthood Booth at the Alaska State Fair
Planned Parenthood in the Mat-Su Valley by John Aronno I’ll start off by answering your question: 15 minutes. 15 minutes is the time that it takes from the moment you sit down at the Planned Parenthood booth, to the moment where an older woman calls you a Nazi and alleges that you kill babies. At least that was my experience. I suppose it takes a lot more time to let sink in the fact that we passed out, easily, forty or fifty condoms to teens in a state that left the rest of the nation in the dust in terms…
CRUDE. Another Example of Why You Should Never Ever Trust Chevron.
As if we needed another reason to remind us what big trans-national oil companies will do when they can. Right here in Alaska, Chevron allowed six million gallons of oil to sit unchecked on the shores of Cook Inlet in the path of an erupting volcano. Bob Shavelson of Cook Inletkeeper described it on Mudflats. Despite months of warning, there was no actionable plan in place to address a catastrophic spill from the facility. The spill contingency plan required by laws passed after the Exxon Spill didn’t address a 6 million gallon spill, and it didn’t even envision oil from…
Voices from the Flats – Oil Lust & Dodging Bullets
Bob Shavelson is a reformed attorney with backgrounds in biology, chemistry, and environmental sampling and compliance. He was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Oregon’s Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, and has considerable experience in toxics, the Clean Water Act, and Right-to-Know issues. Prior to joining Inletkeeper in 1996, Bob worked in the United States Senate, Oregon’s Senate Majority Office, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium, and the University of Oregon’s Ocean & Coastal Law Center. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the National Waterkeeper Alliance and the Cook Inlet…
Odds and Ends
Getting Those Damn Rats Out of Alaska No, not those kind of rats. And not really the whole state…but still, it’s a victory. I’m talking about actual four-legged, snaggle-toothed, beady-eyed, bird-killin’ varmints. The ignominiously named “Rat Island” appears to now be completely rat free. I’ve been following this story for a while, so I was glad to hear that the latest news was good. The down side to the rat eradication is that the poisoned pellets used to kill them also killed gulls and bald eagles in the process. Since Rat Island has been infested with rats for 230 years,…
Alaska “Deathers” Heckle Sick People (Updated with Photos)
I am taking a break. This was a strange and disturbing morning. I started the day with a big cup of coffee, and an 8:30am arrival at The Egan Center in downtown Anchorage. That’s where the special session of the Alaska State Legislature is meeting today. They have two things on their plate – voting on whether to overturn ex-governor Sarah Palin’s rejection of the stimulus money for energy efficiency, and whether to confirm Craig Campbell as Lt. Governor. The joint session convenes at 1:00, so I had time to pop over and attend a press conference Organizing for America held…
Pebble Mine, Dirty Gold, and the Corporate War on Alaska’s Salmon.
[This article is cross-posted at The Huffington Post] A lawsuit was filed today claiming that all Pebble Mine’s state permits violate the Alaska constitution. Skulduggery surrounding Pebble Mine? Imagine that. On the receiving end of these legal accusations is the State Department of Natural Resources. The suit was filed today on behalf of eight communities in the Bristol Bay area by plaintiffs including Vic Fischer, one of the drafters of the Alaska Constitution, and Bella Hammond widow of the revered Governor Jay Hammond who had previously said “I think Jay would first and foremost think of protecting that area, mainly the fish and…
Boots on the Ground in Fairbanks – Sarah Palin’s Quitspeech
I was very pleased to have some great “boots on the ground” in Fairbanks for Sarah Palin’s big Quitspeech at Quitfest on Quittyday. Thank you to Mudflatter Alaska Don who did a fabulous job reporting! There are also more pictures coming to entertain you later from other Mudflats “photobloggers.” Truly this was a day and a speech that will live in infamy. ********************* July 26th, 2009. Abdication Day. The sun rose north by northeast of Fairbanks today at 4:30 AM, having set in the north by northwest last night shortly after 11:30 PM. It was mostly clear, with billowing dark…
Palin’s Farewell Address – Full Transcript
Sunday July 26, at 3pm Alaska time, Governor Sarah Palin stepped down from her position as governor. This is the transcript of her farewell address. Yup, I took one for the team. It took three hours, but I made it. I’d been meaning to transcribe her rambling crazy “I’m not quitting, I’m just leading in another direction” lakeside babble-fest, but I never seemed to get around to it. And as crazy and rambling as that one was, I think this one is even better. Boots on the ground from Fairbanks coming soon! *************************** What an absolutely beautiful day it is,…
Shoveling Through Kristan Cole’s Press Release…
Boots? Check. Shovel? Check. Aspirin? Check. Flask? Check. OK, looks like we’re ready to go on a field trip, and shovel our way through yesterday’s press release from Kristan Cole, trustee for The Alaska Fund Trust (aka Sarah Palin’s legal defense fund). Stick with me and don’t get separated, or we may never find you in there. It’s easy to get lost in the histrionics, the whining, and the unrelenting spin. Ready? First off, we learn that the conclusions reached by Mr. Daniel are “unprecedented in the history of our country.” Yes, never in 223 years and two weeks has there…