Time for a Well Regulated Gun Lobby
In Alaska, many of us need guns to fill our freezers, but if you need a 30-round clip I’d say you’re a pretty poor hunter. If you are hoarding automatic (yes, they are legal) or semi-automatic weapons, you need Viagra. Oh, that’s right, it’s about the “well-regulated militia.” The Second Amendment was written by men who had fought alongside men who didn’t survive their revolt against tyranny. They had the assistance of the French government. They used muskets. If you think it is your right or duty to overthrow the government at this point in time, you’re going to need…
The Weekend Off: News You Missed
Alaska NYTimes- Polar Bears’ Path to Decline Runs Through Alaskan Village KAKTOVIK, Alaska — Come fall, polar bears are everywhere around this Arctic village, dozing on sand spits, roughhousing in the shallows, padding down the beach with cubs in tow and attracting hundreds of tourists who travel long distances to see them. ADN – Fire destroys building at Ice Alaska park in Fairbanks A large Fairbanks building was destroyed by an hourslong fire Friday morning, drawing dozens of firefighters but no reports of any injuries. Alaska Public Media – Fracking in Alaska: Who should weigh in? The state agency that oversees oil…
2nd Amendment Overreach
Regulations are killing my freedom to blow myself up with a gas container. When I was a kid, gas containers were not much more than red buckets with a spout and a usually missing black cap. Yeah, some gas sloshed out when you carried the can in and out of the boat or off into the woods with the chainsaw, but that was just the way it was. No big problem. These days, I need nuclear codes to get the spout to open enough for a dribble of gas. And the spout has some kind of magic slot that apparently…
NRA Chooses Trump – Photos from the Convention Floor
This year TheMudflats returned to the NRA with a much smaller crew, namely just me. Unlike in 2015 when nearly every single one of the Republican primary candidates made a speech this time there was only one big name at the show – The Donald. The presumptive presidential nominee for the Republican Party took to the stage with a standing ovation from a crowd of thousands of gun lovers that packed the Freedom Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The somewhat non-surprise surprise was that the National Rifle Association was to endorse Mr. Trump. National Rifle Association executive director Chris W. Cox with…
More Guns, Less Budget in Juneau
Last month a woman took her own life on the steps of the Courthouse in Juneau. The Legislature went on lockdown — after ushering aides and press out of the room. As a result, the Legislature is considering new protocols to keep their own precious souls safe from any gun violence that might befall them while at work. I get it. The Capitol building is a no-gun zone. But what I find truly remarkable is that Sen. Pete Kelly will even go to work in a “gun-free zone.” According to the “logic” in his op-ed on SB 174, the Legislature…
Photos: TheMudflats at the Right Wing CPAC Conference
It’s been an odd couple of months for me. Usually I’m covering the fringes of politics – from OWS to Ferguson protests to civil rights marches. Maybe a third party candidate or an environmental struggle that no one will care about for another couple years. But so far this past year, I’ve covered Presidential Candidates, Koch Brothers conferences (Americans for Prosperity), NRA conventions and now CPAC. CPAC, if you don’t know the initials, it stands for the Conservative Political Action Conference. It’s an annual conference where all of the biggest names in conservative politics get together and conspire for good or evil…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska MSN – Powerful Alaska Storm to Rival Strongest on Record A potent storm that will cross the Aleutian Islands of Alaska this weekend could become the strongest recorded storm to impact the region. Audubon – The Inside Story of Shell’s Arctic Assault A months-long investigation shows how the energy giant pressured the Interior Department during the company’s gung-ho Arctic push—and got most of what it wanted (except oil). ADN – Fairbanks couple’s Internet-controlled Christmas lights are back (even I need some light hearted news now and then) For six years, Ken and Rebecca-Ellen Woods have set up Christmas lights at their home in…
Mudflats Meets the NRA (Video)
The Mudflats’ Zach Roberts, Marcus DiPaola and I were in Nashville recently, submersing ourselves in the gun culture at the NRA convention which was held this year in Nashville, Tennessee. We’re busy processing what we saw, and will have some more posts coming soon about our experiences there. Here’s a little preview of the convention for your amusement.
Photos: The NRA Takes Nashville
Three days in the center of gun country celebrating the Second Amendment – we saw big rifles, small handguns, Presidential candidates and so much more. Here’s a selection of photos from myself and Jeanne Devon of our time at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting – this year in Nashville, Tennessee.
NRA Leaders Speechify – Aloha Akhbar?!
For a weekend conference designed to celebrate and protect Americans’ second amendment rights, the Leadership Conference at the annual convention of the National Rifle Association sounded a whole lot more like a fire and brimstone tent revival to quash the political aspirations of future Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana “The leader of the vast left wing conspiracy will be announcing her candidacy,” said Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, during an unscheduled moment with the press before the event started. Jindal described this event in vague terms as an unholy alliance between big business and the Hollywood elite….