UPDATE: Bloomberg’s Cash Goes after Mark Begich – Doesn’t Sway AK Senators
UPDATE: Alaskan Senators Mark Begich (D) and Lisa Murkowski (R) both voted no on the Manchin-Toomey Amendment. Senator Begich was one of only 5 Democratic Senators to vote against the amendment – 4 Republicans voted for it. Quoting TPM: The Republicans who voted for the bill were Sens. Pat Toomey (PA), Mark Kirk (IL), Susan Collins (ME) and John McCain (AZ). Democrats who voted against it were Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (ND), Max Baucus (MT), Mark Begich (AK) and Mark Pryor (AR) — the latter three are up for reelection in 2014. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) changed his vote to no…
UPDATED: Massive Landslide at Bingham Mine – Is this what Pebble will bring?
UPDATE: Quoted from Dow Jones 4/16/2013 RIO Tinto has asked employees to take vacation or unpaid leave after a massive landslide at its Bingham Canyon mine in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley, one of the world’s largest copper producing mines. Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Utah Copper unit said it has asked for workers to volunteer to take leave because the operation isn’t running at full capacity. “The slip has destroyed the main access decline into the pit, so a new decline will need to be constructed before mining can resume. We have no guidance from Rio on how long this will take, but…
OT: Drastic Measures
Mudflats Central just had a foot of fresh snow. And now, the national weather service said another storm is on the way and we can expect another foot at least. This is April. And yes, I know this always happens. But the groundhog promised an early spring this year. Oh, great. And now we have to live with it. Shoveling, plowing, sliding, trudging… It has to stop. We’ve had enough. Steps need to be taken.
Bringing in the Vote – Boxes of Democracy
Last night while everyone was grabbing drinks at Election Central – Anchorage’s hard-working poll workers were finishing their 16-hour long day. Carts piled with boxes, voting machines and ballots were dragged into City Hall to be processed. The City Hall parking lot was packed, so much so that some of the workers had to pay for parking in neighboring lots (one charging $15). Water bottles and chocolates were handed out by volunteers and election officials who were waiting in a line that spiraled throughout the bottom floor of City Hall.
Zach’s Election Central Photos
It was a smaller Election Central than usual on the second floor of the Dena’ina Center but by the end of the night it was packed. It was a night of blow outs with several candidates running unopposed and at least one seat changing hands. The Nick Moe write in campaign was surprisingly successful and at last word was under 100 votes from the incumbent Ernie Hall. I guess it’s not an election in Alaska without at least one recount.
Beast It: A Film for Climate Science
By Paige Brown Tales of a little wonder of a film for climate science are popping up everywhere, from today’s feature story at Louisiana State University, to a recent Guardian blog post, to a Smithsonian story on the film’s stunning visual art. “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” a 2012 film directed by Benh Zeitlin and based on a play written by Lucy Alibar, is a film about loss, courage, climate changes and human perseverance in southern Louisiana. The fictional island in the film, the “Isle de Charles Doucet,” was inspired by real communities in Louisiana’s Terrebonne Parish such the rapidly…
Palin Fiddles While Alaska Burns
Former half-term governor Sarah Palin marches ever-onward toward becoming the Don Rickles of the conservative right. It’s a lofty goal with plenty of competition. Alaskans will remember that even back when Palin was governor, she was never happier than when she was mocking and deriding the Republican establishment. In her home town of Wasilla, it was then Senate President Lyda Green. Later she graduated to throwing tomatoes at Governor Frank Murkowski. Several of those tomatoes were direct hits, resulting in her ascension to the Governor’s Mansion. She was also the presence behind the scenes of an attempted but failed Republican…
Greg Palast asks, ‘How Do You Steal a Dream?’
How Do You Steal a Dream? Supreme Court hears suit to kill Voting Rights Act For Care2.com By Greg Palast, author, “Billionaires and Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps” Video Produced by The Mudflats’ own, Zach D Roberts. Sign the petition to Defend Martin Luther King’s Dream Act – here. Read Shannyn Moore’s piece on how Alaska plays into all this – at the Anchorage Daily News Jim Crow is alive and well — and he has mounted a new attack on the law Martin Luther King dreamed of: the Voting Rights Act. February 27, the…
Senator Micciche: Delusions Of Grandeur
Last Sunday, in my Anchorage Daily News column, I wrote about the conflict of interest of newly minted Senator Peter Micciche. A Republican from Soldotna, Mr. Micciche works for Conoco Phillips and has for decades. He now sits on the Resource Committee — one of the most powerful in the Senate, and not only is he a member, he’s vice-chairman of the special sub-committee reviewing the bill to slash oil taxes. I was hoping the Senator would realize, because of the conflict of his employer, he wouldn’t be allowed on a jury or as a judge. How does he not…
VITAMIN DEMOCRACY! Alaska’s Salmon Need You!
You may think Governor Sean Parnell plays lap dog to oil industry – and you’d be right. He does answer to more than one master. The Miami Mob, the cruise ship industry whistles and he comes running. SB29 and HB80 are the governor’s sweetheart deal to cruise ship industry. You may remember we Alaskans, through a ballot initiative, raised standards on cruise ship water dumping and implemented a head tax several years ago. The governor rolled that back saying visitors to our great state were going to cross a cruise to Alaska off their bucket list because of a $50…