Alaska… You Crazy! Election Recap
On election night, one state in the nation voted to legalize marijuana, raise the minimum wage, and add an extra level of environmental protection for sensitive ecosystems facing development. It’s largest city also voted to overturn an anti-labor ordinance which was the brain child of a Mayor (running as a Republican for Lt. Governor) who appears to be about to go down in flames to a non-partisan gubernatorial ticket. That’s like a cool, edgy progressive place to live, right? What if I told you that this very same state has elected by a comfortable margin, a majority in the legislature…
EXCLUSIVE Don Young Caption Contest
Of course it’s EXCLUSIVE. You think just anyone gets their mitts on a photo of the longest serving member of Congress smoking a cigar on a boat, seemingly about to menace a rubber panda man with a shotgun? And yes. This is real. It was taken this summer, and there is no photoshopping. Let’s be serious. If we were going to make up a photo with Don Young in it, even we wouldn’t have come up with this. And now… it’s all yours. Leave your caption in the comments, and we’ll meme the best ones.
Primary Post Mortem
Alaska’s primary election night is over, but the election itself is not quite done. About 14,000 absentee ballots remain to be counted, and the final results will not be known for days. That said, it will be a tough hill to climb for the passage of Ballot Measure 1, which would reinstate the ACES oil tax system put in place by former Governor Sarah Palin and a bipartisan coalition in the Alaska legislature. Sean Parnell, former ConocoPhillips lawyer and lobbyist, and Palin’s former Lt. Governor dismantled ACES with Senate Bill 21 which would give billions from Alaska’s treasury to the…
Parnell & Crew “Summit” Mt. Hypocrisy
Two weeks ago I wrote about the upcoming, state-sponsored “Federal Overreach Summit.” Well, Alaska, they dug to the bottom of the barrel and managed to make a meeting of it — trotting out all the usual tea party nonsense about how tapping Alaska resources without having to answer to the feds on environmental issues is the embodiment of democracy. But this summit wasn’t just a pathway to pillaging resources. It was a dog-whistle concert for every wing nut they could get in the door. The governor’s policy director, Randy Ruaro, said there had been a funding request for “proactive science.”…
Sarah Palin Top Choice for Senate?!
Stay calm. Just sit for a minute. If you’re an Alaskan, do not start loading up the motorhome for your political asylum road trip to Canada. If you are from the Lower 48, do not stop reading here and put a big red Sharpied ‘X’ over Alaska on your desktop globe. Let me explain. A few weeks ago, the ex-half-governor unhinged her maw, and some words fell out. Seemingly, she is considering a run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Mark Begich. Pollsters tilted their heads to the side like a dog who hears a whistle. Then they got…
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…
Bedtime in Alaska – Odds & Ends
Don Young Twitterjacked! Oh, the Twitter fun just never ends. Not only is the good governor tweeting up a storm on her brand new Twitter account, but so is Don Young…..or so we thought. Turns out that according to Young’s office an imposter has been tweeting weird stuff using the name and image of Don Young, and Palin was briefly taken in and followed the scoundrel on her own Twitter account! Now that the jig is up, he’s been un-followed. And on an amusing note, Mudflats, too, was briefly on the governor’s “follow” list and then removed. Interesting… The Dirty Truth About…