Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish
via GIPHY There have been plenty of years that people wanted to show the door, but 2016 seems to be in a class of its own. During a holiday gathering, friends and family chatted about the years events and the eldest attendee said, “Well, I’m sure other ’16 years were worse.” Looking it up was an attempt to make myself feel better. I’m ready to close out this miserable year. My best friend died and my country is beating the door down to fascism. I’m ready to get a restraining order against cancer. There’s a petition online asking for 2016…
The War Against Women Is On
“What’s wrong with this generation of women?! Why aren’t they out burning their bras like we did? Why are they lying down for all these attacks on their reproductive freedoms? Don’t they understand their economic freedom is their reproductive freedom? They are the same!” I should probably set the scene before I launch into this week’s thoughts on America’s fall from grace. My neighbor had cut a rather pitiful Christmas tree and I was in attendance to witness the merriment. I’m not much of a holiday person, but I was doing what I could to assist in securing the lopsided…
Thanksgiving Goes into Overtime
I’m hoping your Thanksgiving was peaceful. I know there was a lot of anxiety about it and how the holiday season is going to go. If there was a “Thanksgiving Bingo” game I would have won after hearing the term “vaginal overreach” in a conversation. We had a lot on our plates to talk about, as well as plenty of food. I’ve been trying to figure out where the Venn diagram overlaps are between our divided camps, and concentrate on them. Our similarities aren’t always obvious. Truth be told, the idea of the president-elect succeeding in his agenda could really…
The Manchurian Newscaster
I think winter has come. I’m not sure I mean that in a seasonal way, or a “Game Of Thrones” way. The waterline has officially frozen from the pond and the lines have been drained. If my little bay was a snow globe, someone has definitely shaken it. I made friends with an ermine when he was still brown. He’s white now and all I have to do to see him is walk out on the porch and call him. “Herman? Herman?” He stays pretty close and I’m happy to have him for a neighbor. He kills shrews and other…
I’m not being racist here, but…
Have you ever noticed right before someone says something racist, they say, “I’m not being racist here, but…”, and then they say something racist. You know what’s coming. A Denali tour pilot wrote something racist online and he’s feeling the brunt of many Alaskans who are tired of racism against Native Alaskans. Among other things, the pilot said “no Natives.” I realize he’s an out of stater, but part of the historical shame that magnified his comments were the “No Dogs, No Natives” signs that used to hang in too many of businesses. One of the commenters on the article…
The Still Before the Electoral Storm
If you’re paying attention, right before a storm comes, it gets really, really still. The blue herons and kingfishers seem to be the only birds still fishing. I wonder if it’s easier for them to see their tiny silver meals through the surface of the water when it is so quiet. From the porch you can hear whales surfacing and their tails whacking near to the channel. If you wait, you’ll see the wake ripple to the beach from their antics. The air smells like summer died. I have more devil’s club in my flesh than the devil does and…
Battle for Survival Doesn’t Stop at Home for Veterans
Some weeks are spent spinning wheels, reading documents and APOC reports, listening to terrible talk radio recordings, trying to make sense of candidates who just don’t add up. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out the hinky nature of a South Anchorage Senate candidate, Natasha von Imhof. Why is the governor’s office being so super secret about the tax settlement with her business and why was it announced the day after the primary? Why does her story keep changing? I have a table full of flowcharts, and none of it makes a lick of sense. I first…
What took you so damn long?
We all have different breaking points. I realize mine may be very different than yours, and Sens. Lisa Murkowski’s and Dan Sullivan’s, when it comes to our tolerance levels of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Both Murkowski and Sullivan recently came out condemning Trump after a tape came to light with the candidate bragging about sexual assault. He was quite proud of grabbing women in their genitalia and thought it was funny they wouldn’t do anything about it. Not all U.S. senators share the disdain of Trump’s statement. Alabama’s Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions thought the language used by Trump was…
America: love her when she’s right. Right her when she’s wrong.
In 2006, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder was killed in Iraq. The Westboro Baptist Church picketed his funeral because according to them ‘God Hates Gays’ more than he hates war. Albert Snyder, Matthew’s father, sued the “church” and it went through the courts. Snyder lost his case and was ordered to pay all court costs. When the ruling came down I was sitting in the radio studio and I was livid. “What the hell is wrong with this country? This isn’t justice!” My producer, Dave, just shook his head at me through the glass. We went to a break. He opened…