Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
The divorce lawyer is trying to run out the clock
Hiding behind the "question" of "accurate write-ins" is the awful spectre of Jim "How did that nigger get elected" DeMint who waits in the the wings for Lisa Murkowski's seat on the Senate Energy amd Natural Resources Committee. DeMint has been shoveling money like it's K-Y Jelly and poppers at Miller in an effort to bribe him into maintaing legal challenges against the election until after the Senate goes into its next session. The result? In my view, if Lisa isn't certified the winner in time she very well could lose her seniority - and the seat DeMint covets so dearly.
The Fairbanks divorce attorney and apparent stud horse cares not a whit about Alaska. He is, I predict, gonna take all his chips and run back to Kansas (free tank 'o gas at Tok, on Me, for the Olds Vista Cruiser on the way out, Joe. Just don't forget those unconstitutional passports.)
The money keeps rolling in, and Joe and his tribe of idiots don't seem to want to budge an inch.
The Fairbanks divorce attorney and apparent stud horse cares not a whit about Alaska. He is, I predict, gonna take all his chips and run back to Kansas (free tank 'o gas at Tok, on Me, for the Olds Vista Cruiser on the way out, Joe. Just don't forget those unconstitutional passports.)
The money keeps rolling in, and Joe and his tribe of idiots don't seem to want to budge an inch.
Monday, December 06, 2010
An Alaska Girl We Can All Be Proud Of
She's from Wasilla. Her husband works on the North Slope. She has a national television show.
She say's she is a follower, but she is no quitter.
She rides a horse.
She drives truck.
Lisa Kelly proved that Alaska Girls Kick Ass on History Channel's IRT Deadliest Roads last night as she stepped up and singlehandedly delivered a load of jet fuel to a helo base midway up the Himalayas when her two fellow drivers decided they didn't have the time.
A couple of things were evident about driving conditions in Northern India. First, they suck. Second, the distances aren't exactly astronomical. The best way to look at it is the Taylor Highway washed out all the time without guardrails. It takes a lot - like 2 feet of snow, or a rockslide - to close those Himalaya highways. The distances - straight line - weren't that great. It's the hillclimb that counts!
I found the show pretty interesting, a lot more interesting, quite frankly, that the original IRT seasons. Except the Canadian shows do tell an important lesson - if anyone finds a Kimberlite Pipe in Alaska, KEEP YOUR DAMN MOUTH SHUT. We certainly don't want to become the new Republic of DeBeers.
Lisa showed the stuff we know Alasakn women are made of and we couldn't be prouder of her.
She say's she is a follower, but she is no quitter.
She rides a horse.
She drives truck.
Lisa Kelly proved that Alaska Girls Kick Ass on History Channel's IRT Deadliest Roads last night as she stepped up and singlehandedly delivered a load of jet fuel to a helo base midway up the Himalayas when her two fellow drivers decided they didn't have the time.
A couple of things were evident about driving conditions in Northern India. First, they suck. Second, the distances aren't exactly astronomical. The best way to look at it is the Taylor Highway washed out all the time without guardrails. It takes a lot - like 2 feet of snow, or a rockslide - to close those Himalaya highways. The distances - straight line - weren't that great. It's the hillclimb that counts!
I found the show pretty interesting, a lot more interesting, quite frankly, that the original IRT seasons. Except the Canadian shows do tell an important lesson - if anyone finds a Kimberlite Pipe in Alaska, KEEP YOUR DAMN MOUTH SHUT. We certainly don't want to become the new Republic of DeBeers.
Lisa showed the stuff we know Alasakn women are made of and we couldn't be prouder of her.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
If you don't have the guts to vote, then don't bitch about the government
from this morning's edition of her fanboy website comes this comment from an obviously Patriotic America:
Doug White, 42, of Covedale, said ifPalin twwwstlij does run, it would inspire him to register to vote – for only the second time in his life. The first, he said, was to vote for President George H.W. Bush in 1992.
“I voted for Big Bush and didn’t check another name on the ballot – and haven’t voted since,” he said. “If she goes in 2012, I’ll do the same for her. She’s real. She speaks her mind. This country needs someone like that.”
Doug White, 42, of Covedale, said if
“I voted for Big Bush and didn’t check another name on the ballot – and haven’t voted since,” he said. “If she goes in 2012, I’ll do the same for her. She’s real. She speaks her mind. This country needs someone like that.”
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Mmmmm, Arsenic...
Well, it's not exactly earthshaking news, but nevertheless it does raise more than a few questions about how life might exist in places we might think would be inhospitable...
Not coincidentally (or maybe conincidentally) astronomers just increase the number of stars in the visible universe to a number that has 23 zeros after it: 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Yeah, I am now utterly convinced that little 'ol Earth (or Urantia, depending on what you read) is the only life-inhabited planet anywhere.
Not coincidentally (or maybe conincidentally) astronomers just increase the number of stars in the visible universe to a number that has 23 zeros after it: 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Yeah, I am now utterly convinced that little 'ol Earth (or Urantia, depending on what you read) is the only life-inhabited planet anywhere.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Is this why Congress and the Administration can't keep a straight face?
MEDIA ADVISORY : M10-167 NASA Sets News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery; Science Journal Has Embargoed Details Until 2 p.m. EST On Dec. 2
WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.
The news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov.
Participants are:
- Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington
- Felisa Wolfe-Simon, NASA astrobiology research fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.
- Pamela Conrad, astrobiologist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
- Steven Benner, distinguished fellow, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Fla.
- James Elser, professor, Arizona State University, Tempe
WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe.
The news conference will be held at the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St. SW, in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website at http://www.nasa.gov.
Participants are:
- Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington
- Felisa Wolfe-Simon, NASA astrobiology research fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.
- Pamela Conrad, astrobiologist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
- Steven Benner, distinguished fellow, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Fla.
- James Elser, professor, Arizona State University, Tempe
I wish I could write like this
From our good friends right across the Bering Straits:
Spankin' Sarah Palin: A clown short of a circus
"I have already called Sarah Palin a pith-headed bimbo from the back of beyond, in this column. I shall now go one step further. By attacking the democratically elected President of the United States of America at a sensitive time in her country's history, she shows the tact of a boorish drunkard bawling obscenities at a funeral.
"If Sarah Palin is not some kind of a massive political joke in the USA, wheeled out to liven up the political scene from time to time with nonsensical and pastiche (one hopes) displays of sheer and utter ignorance, then it is worrying. It is even more so if anyone other than a manic depressive suffering from a chronic lack of lithium takes this...female...seriously.
"Hockey Mum Sarah ex-Governess of Alaska is famous for her shrill shrieking style, displaying a pitifully shallow persona which one hopes is stage-managed to give the rest of the world a good chuckle at the Americans' ability and unique quality to make fun of themselves, a real-life female version of Homer Simpson-cum-Belching Barney at Mo's, giving us ever-more hilarious soundbites as she sets herself up as the dumbest woman on Earth.
"Just occasionally, one encounters a bar-room idiot whose party piece is belching loudly before falling backwards off his stool, bouncing off the floor on his backside with a background provided by guffaws of laughter, yet who winks knowingly as he is carried out with his feet scraping along the ground and says "Don't worry son, most of it is an act".
"The act. It reminds one of Marilyn Monroe putting on the act of the dumb blonde. But an act it was, a character projected by a shrewd, intelligent and charismatic woman with the ability to invent a persona. Sarah Palin, however, is the real-life thing. And it is becoming patently obvious that it isn't an act.
"Sarah Palin, the one famous for ludicrous statements such as "I want to help clean up the state that is so sorry today of journalism. And I have a communications degree"; she is after all someone who "must have lived such a doggoned sheltered life", Sarah "We're all Arizonans now" Palin, cracking down on immigrants when the US of A is after all a country formed by...whom?
"And now she turns not only against the fibre and backbone of her country, but against its democratically-elected President, accusing him of being incompetent for not stopping Wikileaks. Where was she and where was her GOP before and during the 9/11 attacks? She accuses President Obama of not taking "steps" to assure the leaks were not published. What "steps"?
"Sinister Sarah Palin then goes on to insinuate that she is an advocate of cyber terrorism, questioning "Did we use all the cyber tools at our disposal to dismantle WikiLeaks?" Surely a more sensible question would have been why the material for the leaks was provided in the first place...and this has nothing to do with President Obama, but indeed speaks volumes about the State apparatus itself which goes beyond party politics. Her question also speaks volumes about her own inability to perform logical and strategic thinking.
"President Obama after all knows the difference between North and South Korea, he knows that Hawaii is the largest US island and not Kodiak and he does not use the expression "refudiate".
"If anything is a threat to the national security of the United States of America, it is this screaming, unrefined oaf with as much class as a searing release of flatulence followed by hysterical giggling at a state banquet. Is this what the people of the USA deserve?
"To attack the President of the country at a time when the USA needs to close ranks and stand together to consolidate the enormous strides his intelligent and respectful approach has achieved in building bridges, when her party's period in government bombed them, Spankin' Sarah Palin comes across as a pitifully inadequate anachronism from the times of the Far West.
"The United States of America has evolved. She has not."
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda.Ru
Spankin' Sarah Palin: A clown short of a circus
"I have already called Sarah Palin a pith-headed bimbo from the back of beyond, in this column. I shall now go one step further. By attacking the democratically elected President of the United States of America at a sensitive time in her country's history, she shows the tact of a boorish drunkard bawling obscenities at a funeral.
"If Sarah Palin is not some kind of a massive political joke in the USA, wheeled out to liven up the political scene from time to time with nonsensical and pastiche (one hopes) displays of sheer and utter ignorance, then it is worrying. It is even more so if anyone other than a manic depressive suffering from a chronic lack of lithium takes this...female...seriously.
"Hockey Mum Sarah ex-Governess of Alaska is famous for her shrill shrieking style, displaying a pitifully shallow persona which one hopes is stage-managed to give the rest of the world a good chuckle at the Americans' ability and unique quality to make fun of themselves, a real-life female version of Homer Simpson-cum-Belching Barney at Mo's, giving us ever-more hilarious soundbites as she sets herself up as the dumbest woman on Earth.
"Just occasionally, one encounters a bar-room idiot whose party piece is belching loudly before falling backwards off his stool, bouncing off the floor on his backside with a background provided by guffaws of laughter, yet who winks knowingly as he is carried out with his feet scraping along the ground and says "Don't worry son, most of it is an act".
"The act. It reminds one of Marilyn Monroe putting on the act of the dumb blonde. But an act it was, a character projected by a shrewd, intelligent and charismatic woman with the ability to invent a persona. Sarah Palin, however, is the real-life thing. And it is becoming patently obvious that it isn't an act.
"Sarah Palin, the one famous for ludicrous statements such as "I want to help clean up the state that is so sorry today of journalism. And I have a communications degree"; she is after all someone who "must have lived such a doggoned sheltered life", Sarah "We're all Arizonans now" Palin, cracking down on immigrants when the US of A is after all a country formed by...whom?
"And now she turns not only against the fibre and backbone of her country, but against its democratically-elected President, accusing him of being incompetent for not stopping Wikileaks. Where was she and where was her GOP before and during the 9/11 attacks? She accuses President Obama of not taking "steps" to assure the leaks were not published. What "steps"?
"Sinister Sarah Palin then goes on to insinuate that she is an advocate of cyber terrorism, questioning "Did we use all the cyber tools at our disposal to dismantle WikiLeaks?" Surely a more sensible question would have been why the material for the leaks was provided in the first place...and this has nothing to do with President Obama, but indeed speaks volumes about the State apparatus itself which goes beyond party politics. Her question also speaks volumes about her own inability to perform logical and strategic thinking.
"President Obama after all knows the difference between North and South Korea, he knows that Hawaii is the largest US island and not Kodiak and he does not use the expression "refudiate".
"If anything is a threat to the national security of the United States of America, it is this screaming, unrefined oaf with as much class as a searing release of flatulence followed by hysterical giggling at a state banquet. Is this what the people of the USA deserve?
"To attack the President of the country at a time when the USA needs to close ranks and stand together to consolidate the enormous strides his intelligent and respectful approach has achieved in building bridges, when her party's period in government bombed them, Spankin' Sarah Palin comes across as a pitifully inadequate anachronism from the times of the Far West.
"The United States of America has evolved. She has not."
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda.Ru
The few, the proud, the moderated
I tossed this off in Mudflats (knowing noone reads THIS blog) and to my suprise, and pride, it says. in italics, Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Mark Springer says:
If anyone really doubts that her fanboy website isn’t pure and deliberate satire should consider the following statement from this article-
“For practically everyone, the written word is noticeably more coherent than the spoken word. Undoubtedly this general rule is due to the fact that when writing, there is sufficient time to develop cogent arguments and weave them into a logical narrative.”
The article is a long-winded rant against some guy Scarbourough (honest, I’m not sure who he is but I guess he is on the teevee) but the opening graf seems SOOOOOO apropos.
Her fanboy website really deserves a look now and then just for a laugh at the fine conjunction of loyalty and insolence which becomes more apparent with each passing day.
Mark Springer
Bethel
Mark Springer says:
If anyone really doubts that her fanboy website isn’t pure and deliberate satire should consider the following statement from this article-
“For practically everyone, the written word is noticeably more coherent than the spoken word. Undoubtedly this general rule is due to the fact that when writing, there is sufficient time to develop cogent arguments and weave them into a logical narrative.”
The article is a long-winded rant against some guy Scarbourough (honest, I’m not sure who he is but I guess he is on the teevee) but the opening graf seems SOOOOOO apropos.
Her fanboy website really deserves a look now and then just for a laugh at the fine conjunction of loyalty and insolence which becomes more apparent with each passing day.
Mark Springer
Bethel
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Hurrah, WikiLeaks!
The United States has developed into a society of state secrets, and i won't deny that there is a past as long as mankind where governments and hierarchy's depended upon secret knowledge to maintain their power and position.
"The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic poison which alienates the possessor from the community" Carl Jung
via Tony Gosling
I agree completely.
So, to WikiLeaks and its leakers, bravo for a job well done.
The New York Times, as usual, has breaking coverage of the now-public availability of this goldmine of US diplomatic cables.
Also, watch Cryptome for linked commentary and reviews.
"The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic poison which alienates the possessor from the community" Carl Jung
via Tony Gosling
I agree completely.
So, to WikiLeaks and its leakers, bravo for a job well done.
The New York Times, as usual, has breaking coverage of the now-public availability of this goldmine of US diplomatic cables.
Also, watch Cryptome for linked commentary and reviews.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
And the apologists view
well, supporter (read drooler) for sure, if not apologist.
It seems the website to which I link has taken it upon itself to "represent" in some incomprehensibly "intellectual" fashion the wwwstlij's own feeble inability to appear even the least bit coherent on any topic at any time.
It seems the website to which I link has taken it upon itself to "represent" in some incomprehensibly "intellectual" fashion the wwwstlij's own feeble inability to appear even the least bit coherent on any topic at any time.
Friday, November 26, 2010
An opportunity missed
Traditional Thanksgiving greetings from people a lot of other people listen to are usually of the uplifting sort. Despite the optimism shown in the retail sector, America still has plenty to worry about, and we often look to our leaders, and others, to deliver a message that will make us feel hopeful, or at least review a year fast passing.
Here is the FACE (tm pend.) book holiday message from twwwstlij.
Here is the FACE (tm pend.) book holiday message from twwwstlij.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
A picture of diversity
I am sitting here, turkey done and now I have to make everything else but while everyone else is out of the house I am able to skip the cartoons on cable and watch a little CSPAN.
To my delight, and I trust to the delight of many, the UK Youth Parliament is convened for debate in the UK House of Commons debating the war in Afghanistan.
If you get a chance to watch this on reruns, take a look.
It IS a rainbow of diversity, which England particularly has become over the decades, and the breadth and intellect of these young people is absolutely breathtaking.
To my delight, and I trust to the delight of many, the UK Youth Parliament is convened for debate in the UK House of Commons debating the war in Afghanistan.
If you get a chance to watch this on reruns, take a look.
It IS a rainbow of diversity, which England particularly has become over the decades, and the breadth and intellect of these young people is absolutely breathtaking.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Give it up, Kansas
Listen to your Elder and pack up your game and go back home to securitycam-ville.
You got beat, admit it and hope there is no shortage of divorce cases for you in the Golden Heart City.
You got beat, admit it and hope there is no shortage of divorce cases for you in the Golden Heart City.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
This is where the "elite" will meet
Thank Congress for this piece of work
- - - - - - -
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release January 11, 2010
Section 1. Council of Governors.
(a) There is established a Council of Governors (Council).The Council shall consist of 10 State Governors appointed bythe President (Members), of whom no more than five shall be ofthe same political party. The term of service for each Member appointed to serve on the Council shall be 2 years, but a Member may be reappointed for additional terms.
(b) The President shall designate two Members, who shall not be members of the same political party, to serve as Co-Chairs of the Council.
Sec. 2. Functions.
The Council shall meet at the call of the Secretary of Defense or the Co-Chairs of the Council to exchange views, information, or advice with the Secretary of Defense; the Secretary of Homeland Security; the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement; the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs; the Commander,United States Northern Command; the Chief, National Guard Bureau; the Commandant of the Coast Guard; and other appropriate officials of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, and appropriate officials of other executive departments or agencies as may be designated by theSecretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security.Such views, information, or advice shall concern:
(a) matters involving the National Guard of the various States;
(b) homeland defense;
(c) civil support;
(d) synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and
(e) other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.
Sec. 3. Administration.
(a) The Secretary of Defense shall designate an ExecutiveDirector to coordinate the work of the Council.
(b) Members shall serve without compensation for their work on the Council. However, Members shall be allowed travelexpenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, asauthorized by law.
(c) Upon the joint request of the Co-Chairs ofthe Council, the Secretary of Defense shall, to theextent permitted by law and subject to the availability ofappropriations, provide the Council with administrative support,assignment or detail of personnel, and information as may benecessary for the performance of the Council's functions.
(d) The Council may establish subcommittees of theCouncil. These subcommittees shall consist exclusively of Members of the Council and any designated employees of a Member with authority to act on the Member's behalf, as appropriate to aid the Council in carrying out its functions under this order.
(e) The Council may establish a charter that is consistent with the terms of this order to refine further its purpose,scope, and objectives and to allocate duties, as appropriate,among members.
Sec. 4. Definitions.
As used in this order:
(a) the term "State" has the meaning provided inparagraph (15) of section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002(6 U.S.C. 101(15)); and
(b) the term "Governor" has the meaning provided inparagraph (5) of section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(5)).
Sec. 5. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair orotherwise affect:
(1) the authority granted by law to adepartment, agency, or the head thereof; or
(2) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary,administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistentwith applicable law and subject to the availability ofappropriations.
more
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,January 11, 2010.
###
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release January 11, 2010
EXECUTIVE ORDER
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 1822 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-181), and in order to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State governments to protect our Nation and its people and property, it is hereby ordered as follows:Section 1. Council of Governors.
(a) There is established a Council of Governors (Council).The Council shall consist of 10 State Governors appointed bythe President (Members), of whom no more than five shall be ofthe same political party. The term of service for each Member appointed to serve on the Council shall be 2 years, but a Member may be reappointed for additional terms.
(b) The President shall designate two Members, who shall not be members of the same political party, to serve as Co-Chairs of the Council.
Sec. 2. Functions.
The Council shall meet at the call of the Secretary of Defense or the Co-Chairs of the Council to exchange views, information, or advice with the Secretary of Defense; the Secretary of Homeland Security; the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement; the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs; the Commander,United States Northern Command; the Chief, National Guard Bureau; the Commandant of the Coast Guard; and other appropriate officials of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, and appropriate officials of other executive departments or agencies as may be designated by theSecretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security.Such views, information, or advice shall concern:
(a) matters involving the National Guard of the various States;
(b) homeland defense;
(c) civil support;
(d) synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and
(e) other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.
Sec. 3. Administration.
(a) The Secretary of Defense shall designate an ExecutiveDirector to coordinate the work of the Council.
(b) Members shall serve without compensation for their work on the Council. However, Members shall be allowed travelexpenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, asauthorized by law.
(c) Upon the joint request of the Co-Chairs ofthe Council, the Secretary of Defense shall, to theextent permitted by law and subject to the availability ofappropriations, provide the Council with administrative support,assignment or detail of personnel, and information as may benecessary for the performance of the Council's functions.
(d) The Council may establish subcommittees of theCouncil. These subcommittees shall consist exclusively of Members of the Council and any designated employees of a Member with authority to act on the Member's behalf, as appropriate to aid the Council in carrying out its functions under this order.
(e) The Council may establish a charter that is consistent with the terms of this order to refine further its purpose,scope, and objectives and to allocate duties, as appropriate,among members.
Sec. 4. Definitions.
As used in this order:
(a) the term "State" has the meaning provided inparagraph (15) of section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002(6 U.S.C. 101(15)); and
(b) the term "Governor" has the meaning provided inparagraph (5) of section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(5)).
Sec. 5. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair orotherwise affect:
(1) the authority granted by law to adepartment, agency, or the head thereof; or
(2) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary,administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistentwith applicable law and subject to the availability ofappropriations.
more
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,January 11, 2010.
###
Friday, November 12, 2010
Jesse Ventura versus FEMA, et al
Yup, Jesse the Body aka Governor Ventura takes on the Federal Emergency Management Agency on his show Conspiracy Theory tonight.
Now, I wasn't down with the HAARP hatchet job he did last year, and in general his show bats .500 on overall accuracy. Tonight, however, on "Police State" he brings out a few things that I either hadn;t noticed or just ignored.
Outside a huge Corrections Corporation of America's T. Don Hutto "residential facility" in Taylor, Texas the Governor had a chance to call CCA the scumbag outfit they are but instead just glosses over the fact that he is standing outside a Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility (complete with swingsets for those dangerous undocumented children.)
Heres the best thing you can see on the CCA website.
Now, I have always know FEMA was the secret arm of government. The first time I heard about "secret detention camps" was from an itinerant US Postal Service maintenance man who came to Hooper Bay to work on the old post office. He said he helped build some big facility in the woods behind Fort Rich. Remember, this was nearly 20 years ago.
Ventura took a good shot at "Fusion Centers" which he then went on to describe as "control centers for concentration camps."
Makes some sense.
Hopefully sometime in the future he'll take off after Continuity of Government, one of the most secret activities the Federal Government engages in.
During his show he had one of his "investigators" looking aorund the LA area for reported "FEMA Camps" and there was soem lovely footage of him being rousted by eithe cops or security dogs at LA's Terminal Island shipping facility, but as usual Ventura doesn;t give his viewers much to go on as to what it was that was found or seen.
One thing Ventura DID bring up was a US House bill, HR645 National Emergency Centers Establishment Act which might seem inocuous until you mix in President Obama's bizarre idea, the Council of Governors.
This executive order proposes to give 10 State Governors more power than they ever imagined.
Hey Teabaggers- Why aren;t you getting excited about this instead of health care? Make all your Governor buddies sign a pledge, in public that they will not accept appointment to Obama's "Council of Governors" and keep the National Guard in state control where it belongs.
Here are a couple of blogs to look at:
George Washington's Blog
Investigation into Whether or not America is still a Constitutional Government
Jesse (he deserves to be called "Governor") Ventura's show tonight:
Now, I wasn't down with the HAARP hatchet job he did last year, and in general his show bats .500 on overall accuracy. Tonight, however, on "Police State" he brings out a few things that I either hadn;t noticed or just ignored.
Outside a huge Corrections Corporation of America's T. Don Hutto "residential facility" in Taylor, Texas the Governor had a chance to call CCA the scumbag outfit they are but instead just glosses over the fact that he is standing outside a Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility (complete with swingsets for those dangerous undocumented children.)
Heres the best thing you can see on the CCA website.
Now, I have always know FEMA was the secret arm of government. The first time I heard about "secret detention camps" was from an itinerant US Postal Service maintenance man who came to Hooper Bay to work on the old post office. He said he helped build some big facility in the woods behind Fort Rich. Remember, this was nearly 20 years ago.
Ventura took a good shot at "Fusion Centers" which he then went on to describe as "control centers for concentration camps."
Makes some sense.
Hopefully sometime in the future he'll take off after Continuity of Government, one of the most secret activities the Federal Government engages in.
During his show he had one of his "investigators" looking aorund the LA area for reported "FEMA Camps" and there was soem lovely footage of him being rousted by eithe cops or security dogs at LA's Terminal Island shipping facility, but as usual Ventura doesn;t give his viewers much to go on as to what it was that was found or seen.
One thing Ventura DID bring up was a US House bill, HR645 National Emergency Centers Establishment Act which might seem inocuous until you mix in President Obama's bizarre idea, the Council of Governors.
This executive order proposes to give 10 State Governors more power than they ever imagined.
Hey Teabaggers- Why aren;t you getting excited about this instead of health care? Make all your Governor buddies sign a pledge, in public that they will not accept appointment to Obama's "Council of Governors" and keep the National Guard in state control where it belongs.
Here are a couple of blogs to look at:
George Washington's Blog
Investigation into Whether or not America is still a Constitutional Government
Jesse (he deserves to be called "Governor") Ventura's show tonight:
"Police State" – NEW!
Premieres Fri, November 12 at 10P
It's been said the government has a plan to declare martial law and round up millions of United State citizens into concentration camps. Jesse may have found a conspiracy in plain sight as he investigates the proliferation of law enforcement Fusion Centers around the country. And they may be connected to hundreds of detention centers ready to accept prisoners at the stroke of a Presidential pen. TV-PG-L
Where the hell was THIS last month, numbnuts?
This mysteriously appears now on his website. Guess his retarded tea bag weblackey is back in Jim DeMint's powder room.
Rural Alaska
Joe Miller, will be a U.S. Senator for all Alaskans. Alaska’s rural needs are critical to the long-term success of the state. As your U.S. Senator, he will ensure that you have a true advocate in Washington, D.C. committed to work toward a resolution of subsistence issues, ensure that the Indian Health Service’s needs are met, and to promoting economic policies that will grow and sustain entrepreneurial opportunities in rural Alaska.
He will work to improve the quality of educational opportunities for all Alaskans by supporting policies that put parents and local educators in the driver’s seat.
Violent crime and suicide rates in rural Alaska lead the nation and are unacceptable. Physical assault, sexual assault, crimes against our children, and domestic violence must change now because they are destroying our families.
Law enforcement capabilities and the rural judicial system infrastructure fall short, and there is plenty of room for improvements to be made.
As a former judge, I understand the inadequacies of Alaska’s rural justice system and the need for a stronger rural judicial system that better serves all residents.
High energy costs throughout rural Alaska have crippled the economy in our rural communities. It is appalling that in 2010, Alaskans still face significant transportation and communication inadequacies that inhibit sustainable growth and prosperity. The Denali Commission has created opportunities for many rural communities and is a critical piece of the puzzle, but other solutions need to be considered as well. In order to propel Alaska to success in the future, we must understand the proper role of the federal government. We need to protect local control and not relinquish our rights and responsibilities to bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. Joe will fight for your rights and priorities, and together we will shape the future of Alaska and increase opportunity for all.
ENERGY & TRANSPORTATION
The future of Alaska’s economic engine resides in rural Alaska. We are a state rich with resources and capable of responsibly developing those resources. As federal monies begin to decline, we must have a sustainable economic infrastructure in place. And we must continue to build economic opportunity for Alaskans so families in rural Alaska can thrive.
SUBSISTENCE
The complexity of the subsistence conflict in Alaska deserves serious attention. We must offer real solutions that address the pressing issues faced by rural Alaskans. We must look at the subsistence option that has the greatest benefit for all Alaskans. I recognize that Alaska Natives have aboriginal ties to the land, but we also have Alaskan citizens who are non-natives who have similar needs and who must be included in any discussion regarding solutions. Frustration with the lack of finding a solution to our subsistence problem does not justify inviting the federal government to take control over management of Alaska’s fish and game resources. Alaska must maintain control of its own resources.
8(a)
Three Alaska Native Regional Corporations are already leading the way towards reform of the 8(a) program by proposing changes of their own rather than waiting for Congress to act. Section 8(a) under the Small Business Act (SBA) is broken and needs to be repaired. It was intended to foster business ownership for “individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged.” The program is also designed to “promote the competitive viability” of these firms by “providing contract, technical, and management assistance.” But awarding “no bid” contracts is simply wrong, whether the recipient is Native or non-Native. Instead, 8(a) contracts should be about promoting quality work, competitiveness and opportunities. Rather than awarding no bid contracts that fail to provide incentives to increase competitiveness, reform of 8(a) should be refocused on its stated mission to provide training, education and infrastructure support. Reform of 8(a) does not mean eliminating a program that has provided many deserving opportunities for Alaska Natives. It does mean empowering Alaska Natives to compete for federal contracts in their own right.
EDUCATION
The future of rural Alaska depends on improved educational opportunities. Together we must focus on learning and preparing our youth to lead this great state towards a better tomorrow. We must work for the repeal of “No Child Left Behind” so that Alaskans can determine how to address the needs of Alaska’s diverse cultural, linguistic and geographic uniqueness. Alaskans should decide when and how to allocate educational resources, not some D.C. bureaucrat looking through the lens of a one-size-fits-all mandate.
HEALTHCARE
The Indian Health Service is a federal obligation that has been forced to provide services to Alaska Natives with an inadequate funding model that does not account for population growth, medical inflation, required pay raises and other built-in costs. Adequate Funding of the Indian Health Service is paramount to improving services and meeting the basic needs of Alaska Natives. The IHS has maintained a flat funding level for years while inflation, cost of service, and population growth have been on the rise. ObamaCare is bad for the Indian Health Service. It will add millions to an already strained medical system and will divert focus and funding away from the IHS. ObamaCare must be repealed.
He will work to improve the quality of educational opportunities for all Alaskans by supporting policies that put parents and local educators in the driver’s seat.
Violent crime and suicide rates in rural Alaska lead the nation and are unacceptable. Physical assault, sexual assault, crimes against our children, and domestic violence must change now because they are destroying our families.
Law enforcement capabilities and the rural judicial system infrastructure fall short, and there is plenty of room for improvements to be made.
As a former judge, I understand the inadequacies of Alaska’s rural justice system and the need for a stronger rural judicial system that better serves all residents.
High energy costs throughout rural Alaska have crippled the economy in our rural communities. It is appalling that in 2010, Alaskans still face significant transportation and communication inadequacies that inhibit sustainable growth and prosperity. The Denali Commission has created opportunities for many rural communities and is a critical piece of the puzzle, but other solutions need to be considered as well. In order to propel Alaska to success in the future, we must understand the proper role of the federal government. We need to protect local control and not relinquish our rights and responsibilities to bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. Joe will fight for your rights and priorities, and together we will shape the future of Alaska and increase opportunity for all.
ENERGY & TRANSPORTATION
The future of Alaska’s economic engine resides in rural Alaska. We are a state rich with resources and capable of responsibly developing those resources. As federal monies begin to decline, we must have a sustainable economic infrastructure in place. And we must continue to build economic opportunity for Alaskans so families in rural Alaska can thrive.
SUBSISTENCE
The complexity of the subsistence conflict in Alaska deserves serious attention. We must offer real solutions that address the pressing issues faced by rural Alaskans. We must look at the subsistence option that has the greatest benefit for all Alaskans. I recognize that Alaska Natives have aboriginal ties to the land, but we also have Alaskan citizens who are non-natives who have similar needs and who must be included in any discussion regarding solutions. Frustration with the lack of finding a solution to our subsistence problem does not justify inviting the federal government to take control over management of Alaska’s fish and game resources. Alaska must maintain control of its own resources.
8(a)
Three Alaska Native Regional Corporations are already leading the way towards reform of the 8(a) program by proposing changes of their own rather than waiting for Congress to act. Section 8(a) under the Small Business Act (SBA) is broken and needs to be repaired. It was intended to foster business ownership for “individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged.” The program is also designed to “promote the competitive viability” of these firms by “providing contract, technical, and management assistance.” But awarding “no bid” contracts is simply wrong, whether the recipient is Native or non-Native. Instead, 8(a) contracts should be about promoting quality work, competitiveness and opportunities. Rather than awarding no bid contracts that fail to provide incentives to increase competitiveness, reform of 8(a) should be refocused on its stated mission to provide training, education and infrastructure support. Reform of 8(a) does not mean eliminating a program that has provided many deserving opportunities for Alaska Natives. It does mean empowering Alaska Natives to compete for federal contracts in their own right.
EDUCATION
The future of rural Alaska depends on improved educational opportunities. Together we must focus on learning and preparing our youth to lead this great state towards a better tomorrow. We must work for the repeal of “No Child Left Behind” so that Alaskans can determine how to address the needs of Alaska’s diverse cultural, linguistic and geographic uniqueness. Alaskans should decide when and how to allocate educational resources, not some D.C. bureaucrat looking through the lens of a one-size-fits-all mandate.
HEALTHCARE
The Indian Health Service is a federal obligation that has been forced to provide services to Alaska Natives with an inadequate funding model that does not account for population growth, medical inflation, required pay raises and other built-in costs. Adequate Funding of the Indian Health Service is paramount to improving services and meeting the basic needs of Alaska Natives. The IHS has maintained a flat funding level for years while inflation, cost of service, and population growth have been on the rise. ObamaCare is bad for the Indian Health Service. It will add millions to an already strained medical system and will divert focus and funding away from the IHS. ObamaCare must be repealed.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Thursday, November 04, 2010
I'd like to think we are more "fair 'n balanced" than the New Yorker
I also wish I could afford - or work for - Koch Industries media machine. Fair is fair, we pisstak them here and we post their link, too.
Killers Indicted
A Bethel Grand Jury yesterday handed down True Bill Indictments against the accused killers of 19-year old Benjamin Kaiser of Hooper Bay.
Two Bethel men now stand accused of First Degree Murder, Second Degree Murder, Kidnapping and Evidence Tampering.
In addition, an individual employed by the Alaska Court System as a law clerk now is indicted on two felonies, Fisrt Degree Hindering of Prosecution and Evidence Tampering.
My view: Benji Kaiser was the victim of an Organized Crime execution.
Two Bethel men now stand accused of First Degree Murder, Second Degree Murder, Kidnapping and Evidence Tampering.
In addition, an individual employed by the Alaska Court System as a law clerk now is indicted on two felonies, Fisrt Degree Hindering of Prosecution and Evidence Tampering.
My view: Benji Kaiser was the victim of an Organized Crime execution.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
OK, I was wrong
What a shock, eh?
Yes, Senator (still) Lisa Murkowski will actually pick up about 10 places in seniority, putting her in the high 40's after the new Congress begins.
And Alaska's junior senator will pick up a few places, too running him into the 80's.
Yes, Senator (still) Lisa Murkowski will actually pick up about 10 places in seniority, putting her in the high 40's after the new Congress begins.
And Alaska's junior senator will pick up a few places, too running him into the 80's.
Finally, it's Wednesday
If you want punditry listen to NPR. Michael Carey hit the nail pretty hard on the head.
Today is Grand Jury for two men who brutally, tortorously murdered a 19 year old boy from Hooper Bay, Benji Kaiser, the Uncle of three of my grandchildren last week.
RIP.
Today is Grand Jury for two men who brutally, tortorously murdered a 19 year old boy from Hooper Bay, Benji Kaiser, the Uncle of three of my grandchildren last week.
RIP.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Monday, November 01, 2010
MARKing MY ballot
I am not afraid to vote, and I'm not afraid to tell you HOW I am going to voteVOTED.
I know I have a couple of readers who won't be happy with some of what I have to say, but as I told a close friend and political confidante today, I am being philosophical this year.
Obviously my feelings on at least one race have been all over my sleeve in the past couple of months. I have no use for the Republican "nominee". My vitrol towards him knows no particular bounds as the astute reader has noted. Tonight, election eve, some bimbo named Michelle Bachman called my house on his behalf and accomplished little more than exacerbating my chronic bilous nature.
We are voting for Governor of Alaska this year. the choice is clear: a milquetoast and a millionaire or a Hahvaad man and a wonderful Tlingit woman.
Harvey Caspar Milquetoast, self-styled man of action (wore a cape as kid, did you?) and few words demonstrated his strict adherence to a one-issue line when he payed a mysterious visit to the Family Research Council earlier this year. Interestingly, my read, espoused to a few in my circle was that the upshot of that visit would be the readiness of a last minute infusion of campaign cash whenever he needed it. Well, it turns out that the last minute campaigning in this election clycle was against Chief Justice Dana Fabe. Harvey Caspar, you gonna sit there with a straight face and tell us you knew nothing about this? I doubt that.
The millionaire I have met in a past life, when Wally sent him up to North Pole to provide a little adult supervision for Jack's Senate campaign against Pappy Moss. The Treadwell/Ausman tag team kept me and Elizabeth Ziegler (still with the Department of Law, I wonder?) relatively in line along with the two rich kids who were helping out.
I got no gripe with Treadwell and I hope he beats Begich in four years.
My vote for Governor: The guy who is running with Diane Benson.
We vote to retain Judges in this State, and since I personally believe (always have, always will) that Judges are the most powerful officials in Alaska, I have always voted NO on most of them, just to keep them honest. This year however there a rea couple of game changers. The first is Judge Posthma. I don't know him, but since everyone from "Handcuffs" Millers' wife to court administrators want us to vote No, I am voting YES.
Second off, of course, is Chief Justice Fabe. What a cheap shot you assholes are taking against her, last minute, big money, trying to intimidate one of the last independent judiciaries in the Untied States. Screw You right wing " 'pro life' unless they are over the age of 5 mintes then they can fend for themselves" jerks.
I am voting YES to retain Chief Justice Fabe.
Don Young. Congressman for All Alaska. Always has been, always will be. Nuff said.
I had coffee with him in Jack's kitchen, him in a a t-shirt telling us how he whacked Emil the first time around. Good times, man, good times.
Ballot Measures: Yes to the Mt. Edgecumbe swimming pool. I have one more kid to send there and plenty of grandchildren. Yes to Vets. And, I guess, Yes to the dress... I mean the extra legislative seats. Maybe the Lower Yukon will finally get out from under the thumb of Front Street, Nome Alaska.
Lets see, is there anything else?
Oh yeah.....
I see the commercials. All the Corporation executives saying 'write in" but I don't really see any Villagers. I don't see any elected community leaders. I don't see any young people. I suppose it is a function of who is spending the money but even so.
I like her, I really do. I've met her, shook her hand, had my picture taken with her and introduced my Son, a Marine Corps veteran to her. I even sold her a pair of earrings at CAMAI.
I talk regular to members of her staff and have never felt like I didn't have access, useful access at a certain level that has allowed me to at least feel that my concerns, as farcical as they might be (domestic servant visa's while she was on Foreign Relations, for instance) might actually get pushed upstairs.
On the other hand, I was shocked, dismayed and totally pissed off at her characterization of Hooper Bay in a Senate Hearing. Arne Duncan has been to Hooper Bay. She never has.
Be afraid she doesn't win, they say. Look at all we will lose.
You know what, I am not afraid. I've been around a while and I know whats what and whos who.
Seniority is nice, but you know, it seems to me that if she wins she will be ostracized by the GOP leadership despite what she says about "them" hoping she beats "him." She says if she gets elected (by write in) that she will have a new portfolio from Alaskans. I can't see it. I really can't. She is gonna be put on notice by the GOP Leadership that if she wants to retain her rank (not her seniority) she will have to continue to play ball with their obstructionist games.
I am yet to hear ANY Republican candidate explain how we are going to bring jobs back to the United States. Not one. It's all repeal this, impound that and subpeona him. This election cycle has been utterly devoid of policy discussion and she has been just as guilty.
Am I scared what might happen if she doesn't get returned to office? Only if the Republican ON the ballot wins, and right now I think thats a far-fetched idea.
I have looked him in the eye, asked him tough questions and been sickened at the thought that he is the best Randy Ruderich and his pals (and anti-pals) could come up with. I am frightened that he is the embodiment of a political philosophy driven by the dreams of even more profit of a small circle of self-styled Capitalists (with a Capital C) who by their thoughts and deeds do more to bring discredit on the nobler aspitations of mankind than any patent evildoer.
Am I afraid what might befall the republic without her there, in the halls of the greatest debating society on Earth? Well, if it could still maintain that claim I might answer my own question. But it is no longer a debating society. It is no longer a deliberative body. "Loyal Opposition" was replaced with "How in hell did that Nigger get elected?" Yes, Jim DeMint, Yes Mitch McConnell. How in hell, indeed. Where was the Supreme Court when you needed it? If you can't lynch him from a tree, then lynch his agenda. Same difference, isn't it?
Am I afraid that without her "moderate" voice things might be worse in Washington? Quite frankly, the answer is no. I know she does not share the hateful attitudes of what Senators are forced to call their "Leadership" but by the same token the ascent of the Tea Party movement (not a bad thing, actually in some ways) will put absolutely undue pressure on Republican Congressmen (except Don Young) and Republican Senators in what used to be the Grand Old Party, the Party of Individual (even in the Bedroom AND the Doctors Office) Liberty to stay in lockstep with the wizard Karl Rove, witout question, without debate, without regard to what might actually be GOOD for the American People and the world.
Am I afraid that losing a Senator with a seniority number of 58 (and no real upward movement in sight for at least a few years) with one in the low 90's might have a negative impact on Alaska? Well, personally, No. What, Mark? Are you f-ing serious? Dude, you really need to sign a narcotics agreement...
No, I am not on drugs. I am being painfully pragmatic. For the reasons I have stated above, I am terribly afraid that she will be treated like a low-number Senator by the Leadership. After all, if she wins they will consider that she double-crossed the party. And besides there are a lot of Uncle Ted scores to be settled and it doesnt matter WHO is in the Senate, Alaska has a price to pay. If you don't think twwwstlij* hasn't been spilling her guts to McConnell, et al about all those evil government programs in Alaska and all the places that should be investigated by everyone from IG's to the FBI, then YOU are the ones who need to sober up.
No, I am not scared. I think if anyone needs to "man up" its the entire State. The gravy train is over. The 5 or 6 or 7 pro-skater lobbyists who make their quite adequate livings representing "Alaskan Interests" by dint of their connections to her are the ones panicking. Should we as voters GIVE A RATS ASS about them? Hell no.
If you don't uderstand the legislative process, go out and buy a Schoolhouse Rock dvd and watch it with your kids.
States don't get shortchanged because of the make up of their delegations. Change in Washington is a natural process. It happens. it's happened to Alaska.
Yes, we are a young State. Yes, we need more infrastructure (but does it all have to be on-base?) Those fine folks at the Association of General Contractors are worried, but as long as they remain friendly with the AFL-CIO they are OK. More concrete will be poured (on base) and the work will keep on coming. Congress doesn't bankroll box stores (please, don't tell me I am wrong on that) and if the oil industry REALLY wanted ANWR open, it would have happened already.
I really feel bad wriitng this and if it comes back to haunt me, so be it. We'll know tommorrow night or Wednesday morning. And Lisa, it isn't personal, ITS ABOUT ALASKA.
I'll vote for the man I ate lunch with in the hospital cafeteria, and I won't be afraid to do it.
Scott McAdams is on the ballot and I'll just fill in the oval.
I'm not afraid.
*the woman who was supposed to live in juneau
I know I have a couple of readers who won't be happy with some of what I have to say, but as I told a close friend and political confidante today, I am being philosophical this year.
Obviously my feelings on at least one race have been all over my sleeve in the past couple of months. I have no use for the Republican "nominee". My vitrol towards him knows no particular bounds as the astute reader has noted. Tonight, election eve, some bimbo named Michelle Bachman called my house on his behalf and accomplished little more than exacerbating my chronic bilous nature.
We are voting for Governor of Alaska this year. the choice is clear: a milquetoast and a millionaire or a Hahvaad man and a wonderful Tlingit woman.
The millionaire I have met in a past life, when Wally sent him up to North Pole to provide a little adult supervision for Jack's Senate campaign against Pappy Moss. The Treadwell/Ausman tag team kept me and Elizabeth Ziegler (still with the Department of Law, I wonder?) relatively in line along with the two rich kids who were helping out.
I got no gripe with Treadwell and I hope he beats Begich in four years.
My vote for Governor: The guy who is running with Diane Benson.
We vote to retain Judges in this State, and since I personally believe (always have, always will) that Judges are the most powerful officials in Alaska, I have always voted NO on most of them, just to keep them honest. This year however there a rea couple of game changers. The first is Judge Posthma. I don't know him, but since everyone from "Handcuffs" Millers' wife to court administrators want us to vote No, I am voting YES.
Second off, of course, is Chief Justice Fabe. What a cheap shot you assholes are taking against her, last minute, big money, trying to intimidate one of the last independent judiciaries in the Untied States. Screw You right wing " 'pro life' unless they are over the age of 5 mintes then they can fend for themselves" jerks.
I am voting YES to retain Chief Justice Fabe.
Don Young. Congressman for All Alaska. Always has been, always will be. Nuff said.
I had coffee with him in Jack's kitchen, him in a a t-shirt telling us how he whacked Emil the first time around. Good times, man, good times.
Ballot Measures: Yes to the Mt. Edgecumbe swimming pool. I have one more kid to send there and plenty of grandchildren. Yes to Vets. And, I guess, Yes to the dress... I mean the extra legislative seats. Maybe the Lower Yukon will finally get out from under the thumb of Front Street, Nome Alaska.
Lets see, is there anything else?
Oh yeah.....
I see the commercials. All the Corporation executives saying 'write in" but I don't really see any Villagers. I don't see any elected community leaders. I don't see any young people. I suppose it is a function of who is spending the money but even so.
I like her, I really do. I've met her, shook her hand, had my picture taken with her and introduced my Son, a Marine Corps veteran to her. I even sold her a pair of earrings at CAMAI.
I talk regular to members of her staff and have never felt like I didn't have access, useful access at a certain level that has allowed me to at least feel that my concerns, as farcical as they might be (domestic servant visa's while she was on Foreign Relations, for instance) might actually get pushed upstairs.
On the other hand, I was shocked, dismayed and totally pissed off at her characterization of Hooper Bay in a Senate Hearing. Arne Duncan has been to Hooper Bay. She never has.
Be afraid she doesn't win, they say. Look at all we will lose.
You know what, I am not afraid. I've been around a while and I know whats what and whos who.
Seniority is nice, but you know, it seems to me that if she wins she will be ostracized by the GOP leadership despite what she says about "them" hoping she beats "him." She says if she gets elected (by write in) that she will have a new portfolio from Alaskans. I can't see it. I really can't. She is gonna be put on notice by the GOP Leadership that if she wants to retain her rank (not her seniority) she will have to continue to play ball with their obstructionist games.
I am yet to hear ANY Republican candidate explain how we are going to bring jobs back to the United States. Not one. It's all repeal this, impound that and subpeona him. This election cycle has been utterly devoid of policy discussion and she has been just as guilty.
Am I scared what might happen if she doesn't get returned to office? Only if the Republican ON the ballot wins, and right now I think thats a far-fetched idea.
I have looked him in the eye, asked him tough questions and been sickened at the thought that he is the best Randy Ruderich and his pals (and anti-pals) could come up with. I am frightened that he is the embodiment of a political philosophy driven by the dreams of even more profit of a small circle of self-styled Capitalists (with a Capital C) who by their thoughts and deeds do more to bring discredit on the nobler aspitations of mankind than any patent evildoer.
Am I afraid what might befall the republic without her there, in the halls of the greatest debating society on Earth? Well, if it could still maintain that claim I might answer my own question. But it is no longer a debating society. It is no longer a deliberative body. "Loyal Opposition" was replaced with "How in hell did that Nigger get elected?" Yes, Jim DeMint, Yes Mitch McConnell. How in hell, indeed. Where was the Supreme Court when you needed it? If you can't lynch him from a tree, then lynch his agenda. Same difference, isn't it?
Am I afraid that without her "moderate" voice things might be worse in Washington? Quite frankly, the answer is no. I know she does not share the hateful attitudes of what Senators are forced to call their "Leadership" but by the same token the ascent of the Tea Party movement (not a bad thing, actually in some ways) will put absolutely undue pressure on Republican Congressmen (except Don Young) and Republican Senators in what used to be the Grand Old Party, the Party of Individual (even in the Bedroom AND the Doctors Office) Liberty to stay in lockstep with the wizard Karl Rove, witout question, without debate, without regard to what might actually be GOOD for the American People and the world.
Am I afraid that losing a Senator with a seniority number of 58 (and no real upward movement in sight for at least a few years) with one in the low 90's might have a negative impact on Alaska? Well, personally, No. What, Mark? Are you f-ing serious? Dude, you really need to sign a narcotics agreement...
No, I am not on drugs. I am being painfully pragmatic. For the reasons I have stated above, I am terribly afraid that she will be treated like a low-number Senator by the Leadership. After all, if she wins they will consider that she double-crossed the party. And besides there are a lot of Uncle Ted scores to be settled and it doesnt matter WHO is in the Senate, Alaska has a price to pay. If you don't think twwwstlij* hasn't been spilling her guts to McConnell, et al about all those evil government programs in Alaska and all the places that should be investigated by everyone from IG's to the FBI, then YOU are the ones who need to sober up.
No, I am not scared. I think if anyone needs to "man up" its the entire State. The gravy train is over. The 5 or 6 or 7 pro-skater lobbyists who make their quite adequate livings representing "Alaskan Interests" by dint of their connections to her are the ones panicking. Should we as voters GIVE A RATS ASS about them? Hell no.
If you don't uderstand the legislative process, go out and buy a Schoolhouse Rock dvd and watch it with your kids.
States don't get shortchanged because of the make up of their delegations. Change in Washington is a natural process. It happens. it's happened to Alaska.
Yes, we are a young State. Yes, we need more infrastructure (but does it all have to be on-base?) Those fine folks at the Association of General Contractors are worried, but as long as they remain friendly with the AFL-CIO they are OK. More concrete will be poured (on base) and the work will keep on coming. Congress doesn't bankroll box stores (please, don't tell me I am wrong on that) and if the oil industry REALLY wanted ANWR open, it would have happened already.
I really feel bad wriitng this and if it comes back to haunt me, so be it. We'll know tommorrow night or Wednesday morning. And Lisa, it isn't personal, ITS ABOUT ALASKA.
I'll vote for the man I ate lunch with in the hospital cafeteria, and I won't be afraid to do it.
Scott McAdams is on the ballot and I'll just fill in the oval.
I'm not afraid.
*the woman who was supposed to live in juneau
I'm proud of my Atikluk, want to see it?
One of these days I need to put up a few pictures of not only the lovely Atikluk, or summer Kuspuk I have, but my Oomingmak collection and my cool sealskin parka by Elena Evan.
Tommorrow I will wear my Atikluk, which everyone here will call a kuspuk or even a jacket, and I am quite sure that, true to form, its understated quality and gorgeous design will attract the occasional compleiment.
Well in tribute to its maker, Janie Snyder of Barrow, I point you to this great article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
I do have to tell the story of how I got my kuspuk from her...and Janie, come back to Bethel this spring! I want another one!
Tommorrow I will wear my Atikluk, which everyone here will call a kuspuk or even a jacket, and I am quite sure that, true to form, its understated quality and gorgeous design will attract the occasional compleiment.
Well in tribute to its maker, Janie Snyder of Barrow, I point you to this great article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
I do have to tell the story of how I got my kuspuk from her...and Janie, come back to Bethel this spring! I want another one!
R.I.P. Tom Busch
We received a text this afternoon telling us that Tom Busch, former General Manager and currently Financial Officer for KNOM in Nome was called to the Lord in his sleep today.
For everyone in Western Alaska who enjoyed listening to KNOM, 780 on your AM Dial, "Yours for Western Alaska" this comes as very sad news.
I met Tom once, for just a few minutes, at the Station during one of my two ever trips to Nome. He was in the middle of getting ready for Iditarod coverage (KNOM wrote THAT book) and didn't have time to talk.
Tom was an incredible fundraiser for the station, responsible for a copmplete rebuild of everything except the tower.
He also kept the station on an even keel through some very rough times which those from the region know about.
Tom was on the air regularly, as was his lovely wife Florence, originally from Saint Mary's on the Yukon River.
They raised two children, whom Tom never missed an opportunity to brag about on the air. He and Florence had retired to Anchroaeg, but Tom reamined very active with the Station from providing engineering support to maintaining the active fundraising needed to keep it ont he air.
KNOM remains a beacon of "Music, News and Inspiration" for all its listeners up and down the Bering Sea Coast.
I haven't been much of a listener since I moved to Bethel, but when I do tune it in is is still the same, highly professional yet right next door operation I first heard when I went to Hooper Bay in the summer of 1979.
So, Tom, here's a "Dear D.J., Hi and Hello" and a "Waqqa, Camai, Cangaciit" to you.
God Bless You and your Family, and everyone who ever worked for you or knew you. We'll all miss you!
Pirrua!
For everyone in Western Alaska who enjoyed listening to KNOM, 780 on your AM Dial, "Yours for Western Alaska" this comes as very sad news.
I met Tom once, for just a few minutes, at the Station during one of my two ever trips to Nome. He was in the middle of getting ready for Iditarod coverage (KNOM wrote THAT book) and didn't have time to talk.
Tom was an incredible fundraiser for the station, responsible for a copmplete rebuild of everything except the tower.
He also kept the station on an even keel through some very rough times which those from the region know about.
Tom was on the air regularly, as was his lovely wife Florence, originally from Saint Mary's on the Yukon River.
They raised two children, whom Tom never missed an opportunity to brag about on the air. He and Florence had retired to Anchroaeg, but Tom reamined very active with the Station from providing engineering support to maintaining the active fundraising needed to keep it ont he air.
KNOM remains a beacon of "Music, News and Inspiration" for all its listeners up and down the Bering Sea Coast.
I haven't been much of a listener since I moved to Bethel, but when I do tune it in is is still the same, highly professional yet right next door operation I first heard when I went to Hooper Bay in the summer of 1979.
So, Tom, here's a "Dear D.J., Hi and Hello" and a "Waqqa, Camai, Cangaciit" to you.
God Bless You and your Family, and everyone who ever worked for you or knew you. We'll all miss you!
Pirrua!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Yeah, Binky
Did you watch Quyana Alaska Thursday night? Well that was my daughter Binky (aka Theresa) MC'ing with Andy Angaiak. She did a great job.
I also had another daughter and granddaughter dancing with the UAF group.
Proud night watching RATNET
I also had another daughter and granddaughter dancing with the UAF group.
Proud night watching RATNET
Its getting ridiculous
So now we have "official" lists of "write-in candidates" being posted in polling stations and voting booths and no one seems to think its electioneering. Except the Alaska Democratic Party. Everyone else thinks it a nice way to help confused votes note get "disenfranchised."
Well let me say this about that. I was disenfranchised. I got (still have, somewhere) a letter from the Division of Elections telling me my question ballot was not counted. Not in this election but fairly recently.
Lets see...
Oh yeah...I told a Division of Elections Director she was fired, once. True story. Ask me and I might tell.
Enough of this tit for tat on the ADN, too. Kill that damn thread off.
Well let me say this about that. I was disenfranchised. I got (still have, somewhere) a letter from the Division of Elections telling me my question ballot was not counted. Not in this election but fairly recently.
Lets see...
Oh yeah...I told a Division of Elections Director she was fired, once. True story. Ask me and I might tell.
Enough of this tit for tat on the ADN, too. Kill that damn thread off.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Remember Jim Sykes?
He ran for Governor as the Green Party of Alaska candidate in 1990.
AFN held a Governor Candidate Forum.
Jim Sykes basically explained to the AFN Convention that the GPoAK Platform and his own beliefs were about 100% aligned with Alaska Native and Tribal interests.
I was in Hooper Bay watching it on RATNET and was spellbound by the thought that AFN Delegates FINALLY had a candidate who was entirely in their court.
Then Tony Knowles came up.
Bla bla bla.
Well, before you could say "eh-yah-ah" there was a motion for the Convention to endorse Tony.
A little debate and there you had it, Jum Sykes tossed under the sled runners after making the best pitch AFN had ever heard and Knowles endorsed.
Now, it was a long time until AFN endorsed another candidate...until last month.
AFN held a Governor Candidate Forum.
Jim Sykes basically explained to the AFN Convention that the GPoAK Platform and his own beliefs were about 100% aligned with Alaska Native and Tribal interests.
I was in Hooper Bay watching it on RATNET and was spellbound by the thought that AFN Delegates FINALLY had a candidate who was entirely in their court.
Then Tony Knowles came up.
Bla bla bla.
Well, before you could say "eh-yah-ah" there was a motion for the Convention to endorse Tony.
A little debate and there you had it, Jum Sykes tossed under the sled runners after making the best pitch AFN had ever heard and Knowles endorsed.
Now, it was a long time until AFN endorsed another candidate...until last month.
Her AFN Board Endorsement in hand, no need for others to appear with Lisa at Convention
or so conventional wisdom would hold.
The news speedily made the rounds this afternoon that the Alaska Federation of Natives Board of Directors, composed of Corporation and Village representatives voted to cancel Friday's scheduled 3 pm US Senate Candidates Forum.
Senator Lisa Murkowski will address the annual Statewide Gathering of Alaska Natives in Fairbanks' Carlson Center at 2:05 pm on Friday.
The AFN Convention is televised statewide and carried in radio broadcast as well, so Alaska Natives and anyone else interested will be watching and listening.
The Agenda is set by the Board, but changes can and have been made from the floor.
It should be an interesting weekend.
The news speedily made the rounds this afternoon that the Alaska Federation of Natives Board of Directors, composed of Corporation and Village representatives voted to cancel Friday's scheduled 3 pm US Senate Candidates Forum.
Senator Lisa Murkowski will address the annual Statewide Gathering of Alaska Natives in Fairbanks' Carlson Center at 2:05 pm on Friday.
The AFN Convention is televised statewide and carried in radio broadcast as well, so Alaska Natives and anyone else interested will be watching and listening.
The Agenda is set by the Board, but changes can and have been made from the floor.
It should be an interesting weekend.
twwwstlij* tells us why not to vote for Koch-n-cake
"Our Senate is the most prestigious deliberative body in the world. One vote there has consequences extending far beyond that chamber."
Words of wisdom from a most unexpected source.
*the woman who was supposed to live in juneau
Words of wisdom from a most unexpected source.
*the woman who was supposed to live in juneau
Monday, October 18, 2010
Mickey or Mighty....
Mouse, that is.
Early reports form a Gubernatorial (took two tries then spell check to get THAT right) this evening in Anchorage show that the "briefs or boxers" style of questioning leaders and wannabe's by the Youth of Today is alive and well.
In a three-way discussion of favorite cartoon characters sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Sean Parnell said his favorite Disney Character was well known cartoon cocaine user Mighty Mouse. Oh wait, this just in, it seems the one "to save the day" was actually snorting "crushed flowers."
Early reports form a Gubernatorial (took two tries then spell check to get THAT right) this evening in Anchorage show that the "briefs or boxers" style of questioning leaders and wannabe's by the Youth of Today is alive and well.
In a three-way discussion of favorite cartoon characters sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Sean Parnell said his favorite Disney Character was well known cartoon cocaine user Mighty Mouse. Oh wait, this just in, it seems the one "to save the day" was actually snorting "crushed flowers."
A Matt Nicholai Story
One day Frank Murkowski, when he was Governor, stopped by the building I work at to visit the boss and a few other people. For one reason or another I stepped into what might be politely called "protocol duties" and got to greet Frank on the stairwell.
Since I knew he was coming that day I, very out of character, wore a necktie (actually I look good in a tie).
Well, Frank had to make a "head call" so I led him down the hall towards the 3rd floor bathroom. For some reason, Matt Nicholai was tagging along. Getting to the mens room, we found it was in the process of being cleaned (we have an extraordinary housekeeping staff where I work, God Bless 'em, some of the hardest workers in the firm). Anyway, I started leading Frank even FARTHER down the hall towards the back stairs so we could go to the Second Floor bathroom, when Matt pipes up and says
"Take him to (the big boss's) bathroom."
I stopped dead in my tracks and said "What?"
He repeated his original statement that we go to my CEO's "private" bathroom.
Well never had I taken so much pleasure in contradicting someone and never have I been so proud to work for the company I do when I was able to tell Matt Nicholai, in front of the Governor, that my CEO certainly had no executive washroom, in no uncertain terms.
We lost him at the top of the stairs.
The second floor mens room was clean and open and Frank went to do his business.
I was standing by the sink and in walks our then-Contracts Officer.
He looks at me, in my tie and says, "Hi Mark, what's with the tie? Is the Governor here or something?"
Suddenly Frank, without missing a beat pipes up, "Yeah, and he's taking a piss."
Frank was cool that way.
Since I knew he was coming that day I, very out of character, wore a necktie (actually I look good in a tie).
Well, Frank had to make a "head call" so I led him down the hall towards the 3rd floor bathroom. For some reason, Matt Nicholai was tagging along. Getting to the mens room, we found it was in the process of being cleaned (we have an extraordinary housekeeping staff where I work, God Bless 'em, some of the hardest workers in the firm). Anyway, I started leading Frank even FARTHER down the hall towards the back stairs so we could go to the Second Floor bathroom, when Matt pipes up and says
"Take him to (the big boss's) bathroom."
I stopped dead in my tracks and said "What?"
He repeated his original statement that we go to my CEO's "private" bathroom.
Well never had I taken so much pleasure in contradicting someone and never have I been so proud to work for the company I do when I was able to tell Matt Nicholai, in front of the Governor, that my CEO certainly had no executive washroom, in no uncertain terms.
We lost him at the top of the stairs.
The second floor mens room was clean and open and Frank went to do his business.
I was standing by the sink and in walks our then-Contracts Officer.
He looks at me, in my tie and says, "Hi Mark, what's with the tie? Is the Governor here or something?"
Suddenly Frank, without missing a beat pipes up, "Yeah, and he's taking a piss."
Frank was cool that way.
This One's for You, Joe
A tip or the Drudge-like fedora to UAA Music Professor Phil Munger for pointing to this classic of patriotic song.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Oh, except the rent a agent says he KNEW he was a reporter
"Koch n cake's" account previously notwithstanding, the rent an agent involved in kidnapping (look it up in the Alaska Statutes, kiddies) tells Craig Medred he knew he Hopfinger was a reporter:
Miller guard says editor refused to leave private event
Miller guard says editor refused to leave private event
Yeah, Whatever
Liberal Blogger "Loses It" at Town Hall Meeting
Obsession with Republican Nominee leads to physical assault, publicity stunt
Anchorage, Alaska. October 17, 2010 -- Joe Miller released the following statement:
"While I've gotten used to the blog Alaska Dispatch's assault on me and my family, I never thought that it would lead to a physical assault. It's too bad that this blogger would take advantage of a "Town Hall" meeting to create a publicity stunt just two weeks before the election."
The Miller campaign was required by the facility to provide security at the event. Even though Joe had spent nearly an hour freely answering questions from those in attendance, the blogger chased Miller to the exit after the event concluded in an attempt to create and then record a 'confrontation' with the candidate. While Miller attempted to calmly exit the facility, the blogger physically assaulted another individual and made threatening gestures and movements towards the candidate. At that point the security personnel had to take action and intervened and detained the irrational blogger, whose anger overcame him. It is also important to note that the security personnel did not know that the individual they detained was a blogger who reporting on the campaign. To them, the blogger appeared irrational, angry and potentially violent.
###
Obsession with Republican Nominee leads to physical assault, publicity stunt
Anchorage, Alaska. October 17, 2010 -- Joe Miller released the following statement:
"While I've gotten used to the blog Alaska Dispatch's assault on me and my family, I never thought that it would lead to a physical assault. It's too bad that this blogger would take advantage of a "Town Hall" meeting to create a publicity stunt just two weeks before the election."
The Miller campaign was required by the facility to provide security at the event. Even though Joe had spent nearly an hour freely answering questions from those in attendance, the blogger chased Miller to the exit after the event concluded in an attempt to create and then record a 'confrontation' with the candidate. While Miller attempted to calmly exit the facility, the blogger physically assaulted another individual and made threatening gestures and movements towards the candidate. At that point the security personnel had to take action and intervened and detained the irrational blogger, whose anger overcame him. It is also important to note that the security personnel did not know that the individual they detained was a blogger who reporting on the campaign. To them, the blogger appeared irrational, angry and potentially violent.
###
Good Luck
You shaved head punks of "Drop Zone Security" must be off-duty GI's or something, wanna be Secret Service HAHAHAHA.
If you ARE GI's, you might recall that you swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Well, news flash. ear-piece wearing poseurs...you might find yourselves culpable in violating your oaths for cuffing a reporter carrying out HIS constitutional right,nay, duty, to hold a public figure accountable.
And by the way, be sure and mention todays little incident on your future applications to three and 4 letter agencies. HR screeners all need a good laugh these days.
If you ARE GI's, you might recall that you swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Well, news flash. ear-piece wearing poseurs...you might find yourselves culpable in violating your oaths for cuffing a reporter carrying out HIS constitutional right,nay, duty, to hold a public figure accountable.
And by the way, be sure and mention todays little incident on your future applications to three and 4 letter agencies. HR screeners all need a good laugh these days.
Questions of veracity may persist
The Lying Koch-Worshiper raises far more questions than he answers on his UNITED STATES SENATE FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT
FOR NEW EMPLOYEE AND CANDIDATE REPORTS.
Now I am neither a lawyer nor an accountant, but I sure as shit can add.
On page 2, Earned and Non-Investment Income, he claims he earned:
1 Law Offices of Joseph Miller, LLC Fairbanks, AK Salary / Distributions $59,348
2 Fairbanks North Star Borough Fairbanks, AK Salary $38,056
So, a princely sum, eh?
BUT, and here is where my mad math skilz come into play, look at PART X. COMPENSATION IN EXCESS OF $5,000 PAID BY ONE SOURCE which is on Pages 9, 10 and 11. Apart from being a list of his clients, it also lists COMPENSATION ON EXCESS OF $5,000 PAID BY ONE SOURCE.
There are 15 lines on each page. Two pages are full, page 11 has 6 clients listed. Lets see...36 times 5,000 is... $180,000. Wow. Show us da money, mister big time yalie lawyer.
Oh yeah, apart from a West Point Diploma is there anything uglier and more unreadable than a Yale Law degree?
FOR NEW EMPLOYEE AND CANDIDATE REPORTS.
Now I am neither a lawyer nor an accountant, but I sure as shit can add.
On page 2, Earned and Non-Investment Income, he claims he earned:
1 Law Offices of Joseph Miller, LLC Fairbanks, AK Salary / Distributions $59,348
2 Fairbanks North Star Borough Fairbanks, AK Salary $38,056
So, a princely sum, eh?
BUT, and here is where my mad math skilz come into play, look at PART X. COMPENSATION IN EXCESS OF $5,000 PAID BY ONE SOURCE which is on Pages 9, 10 and 11. Apart from being a list of his clients, it also lists COMPENSATION ON EXCESS OF $5,000 PAID BY ONE SOURCE.
There are 15 lines on each page. Two pages are full, page 11 has 6 clients listed. Lets see...36 times 5,000 is... $180,000. Wow. Show us da money, mister big time yalie lawyer.
Oh yeah, apart from a West Point Diploma is there anything uglier and more unreadable than a Yale Law degree?
From Joe Miller's Calendar
Town Hall Anchorage
When Sun, October 17, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
Where 1405 E street Central Middle School (map)
Description Why: Because your friends, colleges, family, acquaintances, neighbors, need to be informed and hear Joe Miller speak for himself. Don't let the media skew your views. Make the decision for yourself. Help send Joe to DC!
Soooooo... We have an open invitation to the public, in fact all comers to attend this event.
Tony Hopfinger, editor of the Alaska Dispatch shows up and what happens?
Take a wild guess:
Miller's "security detail" (a fetish for big, strong men, anyone?) handcuff his ass!
OK, Mr. Constitutional Fucking Attorney pipsquak scumbag phony son of a bitch. Explain it to us.
When Sun, October 17, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
Where 1405 E street Central Middle School (map)
Description Why: Because your friends, colleges, family, acquaintances, neighbors, need to be informed and hear Joe Miller speak for himself. Don't let the media skew your views. Make the decision for yourself. Help send Joe to DC!
Soooooo... We have an open invitation to the public, in fact all comers to attend this event.
Tony Hopfinger, editor of the Alaska Dispatch shows up and what happens?
Take a wild guess:
Miller's "security detail" (a fetish for big, strong men, anyone?) handcuff his ass!
OK, Mr. Constitutional Fucking Attorney pipsquak scumbag phony son of a bitch. Explain it to us.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Why I am proud to be an American (didn't we invent the parenthesis?)
What a filthy, socialist regime we find in Switzerland. That impoverished, disarmed, culturally euthanized nation of unemployed clockmakers ruled by a cabal of Obama/Frank-loving "rollers over" to the "concept" of "international banking regulation" just recently "celebrated," in a manner consistent with their new masters in Havana and Caracas a milestone (no pun intended) in the frightening march towards one world economy and, worse, toward the opening (again, no pun intended) of a route for international terrorists (whether of the Baeder Meinhoff set or, even weorse, those Jesus-hating Musselmen that we were warned so clearly about in that classic of Western Literature ((often unheeded in todays troubled times)) - Edward Gibbons' The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire).
I have no doubt that Joe "We can have Koch and cake for lunch...wait, there's no cake!" Miller read it during his studies at the United States Military Academy.
So join me in both rueing the fate of the Swiss, and their TAXPAYER FUNDED railway tunnel and bemoaning their serfdom to the rest of Europe (picture, if you will, trains full of swarthy Europen holiday makers speeding along at 120 miles per hour (sorry, your Both Barrels Editorial Board STEADFASTLY REFUSES to follow the lead of the properly moribund and soon to be shut down National Aeronautics and Space Administration in adopting the marx-inspired metric system) from Italy in the South to Denmark in the North and points in between and let us not forget the literally thousands of Turkmen who will be forced out of their honest labor driving truck along the scenic highways and biways of Switzerland as TRAINS, those most socialist of carriages, haul millions of tons of trans-European cargo through this vile hole in the Earth, all the time the honest bankers and cheese curdlers of Yodelland struggle to pay the nearly $1,300 every Switzer owes to pay for this outlandish project. Can you say "Soverign Debt Crisis"?
But THERE IS HOPE!
The courageous Governor of one of the original 13 Colonies, in an action no less bold than Mussolini's firm hand in making the notorious Italian Railway system run on time, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, that jewel of the Atlantic Coast (in the interests of disclosure, the author went to US Coast Guard Boot Camp in sunny Cape May) took the side of suffering taxpayers in his State and put the kibosh on a tunnel that would have done little more than allow residents of New Jersey to get to that center of human degredation, that sewer of every sort, Manhattan in much quicker fashion. We need look no further than the unqualified support for this project, no doubt a favorite of the socialist Musslemen in the (no, I shan't say it) - the "Executive Mansion" on Pennsylvania Avenue - no, we need look no further than the unqualified, even lubriquious support of one Paul Krugman to give good cheer to Governor Christies' upholding of the principles so clearly espoused by such founders as Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
I have no doubt that Joe "We can have Koch and cake for lunch...wait, there's no cake!" Miller read it during his studies at the United States Military Academy.
So join me in both rueing the fate of the Swiss, and their TAXPAYER FUNDED railway tunnel and bemoaning their serfdom to the rest of Europe (picture, if you will, trains full of swarthy Europen holiday makers speeding along at 120 miles per hour (sorry, your Both Barrels Editorial Board STEADFASTLY REFUSES to follow the lead of the properly moribund and soon to be shut down National Aeronautics and Space Administration in adopting the marx-inspired metric system) from Italy in the South to Denmark in the North and points in between and let us not forget the literally thousands of Turkmen who will be forced out of their honest labor driving truck along the scenic highways and biways of Switzerland as TRAINS, those most socialist of carriages, haul millions of tons of trans-European cargo through this vile hole in the Earth, all the time the honest bankers and cheese curdlers of Yodelland struggle to pay the nearly $1,300 every Switzer owes to pay for this outlandish project. Can you say "Soverign Debt Crisis"?
But THERE IS HOPE!
The courageous Governor of one of the original 13 Colonies, in an action no less bold than Mussolini's firm hand in making the notorious Italian Railway system run on time, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, that jewel of the Atlantic Coast (in the interests of disclosure, the author went to US Coast Guard Boot Camp in sunny Cape May) took the side of suffering taxpayers in his State and put the kibosh on a tunnel that would have done little more than allow residents of New Jersey to get to that center of human degredation, that sewer of every sort, Manhattan in much quicker fashion. We need look no further than the unqualified support for this project, no doubt a favorite of the socialist Musslemen in the (no, I shan't say it) - the "Executive Mansion" on Pennsylvania Avenue - no, we need look no further than the unqualified, even lubriquious support of one Paul Krugman to give good cheer to Governor Christies' upholding of the principles so clearly espoused by such founders as Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Friday, October 15, 2010
How Many Votes Will Lisa Murkowski Get in Kivalina
Editors Note:
I am lifting this whole from Mudflats cuz Elstun is my buddy.
His opinions are not necessarily those of myself or the Both Barrels Editorial Board.
However, I do believe in the importance of open dialoogue, and I welcome a response by Senator Murkowski which would be published in whole.
Ed.
By Elstun Lauesen
William Takak from Shaktoolik understands the impact of climate change. The Alaska Native Science Commission quotes him in a survey of the impact of climate change[1]. “Last Spring we only got six walrus because of the weather and the ice moving out to quick. A long time ago it used to be real nice for weeks and even sometimes for months. Now we have a day or two of good weather and this impacts our hunting. The hunters talk about the ice getting a lot thinner. It is going out too quick.”
Hannah Miller of Nome: “The seasons are getting very fast and are all mixed up. The last few years my grandmother was living she said that there was not enough time to put things away like there used to be. When we are done with the willow leaves then comes the sourdocks. These seasons are in too much of hurry now.”
In 2006, the Alaska Legislature established The Alaska Climate Impact Assessment Commission. In March 2008, the Commission delivered its report[2]. Among other findings, the Commission notes:
“In Kotzebue, the Commission recorded insights into coastal erosion in the region, relocation issues at Kivalina and Shishmaref…”
The report talks about the challenges of community relocation while techniques such as the use of armor rock are evaluated, citing “…As many as twenty other Alaskan Villages may suffer from similar strategic shortcomings”
While the Villages struggle with the consequences of global climate change, politicians in Washington DC have been struggling for years to develop a public policy to deal with the issue. Lisa Murkowski has changed on this issue in a dramatic way.
LISA THE GOOD. 2006-2008
In an article for Mother Jones Magazine[3], Journalist Kate Sheppard documents this change. Sheppard notes that in 2006 Murkowski broke from her Republican colleagues and stated that she not only believes that global warming is a fact, she also believed “…it is a reality that man is contributing to the current warming trend. Accordingly, it is appropriate and, quite frankly, our responsibility to take steps to curb the growth of greenhouse gases”
For the next year, Lisa worked with Senators like Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) on the issue and became a co-sponsor of Bingaman’s cap-and-trade bill, the Low Carbon Economy Act.
During this period Lisa was aware of and moved by the plight of rural communities. In her introduction to the REFRESH Act aimed at reducing manmade impacts of climate change she noted“In Alaska, we have certainly seen firsthand the effects of a warming climate in recent years.”[4]
With this kind of profile it is little wonder that Environmentalists were encouraged by Lisa Murkowski The Good to believe that, with the election of BarackObama and a strong Democratic Majority in congress, real progress could be made on climate change policy. But sometime after the inauguration of President Obama, Senator Murkowski turned bad.
LISA THE BAD
The turning of Lisa Murkowski was just one-more by-product of John McCain’s appointment and ruination of Sarah Palin (I have written elsewhere that I thought Sarah was a pretty good socialist governor). When McCain-Palin lost the election, Sarah returned to Alaska as a celebrity with a national following and fund-raising power. The punditry at the time widely speculated that Sarah would have an easy shot at Senator Murkowski in the Republican primary. As a senator, Sarah would establish her bona fides (the lack of which helped pull down McCain’s candidacy) for a run against Obama in 2012 or perhaps 2016. The victory of Mark Begich over Ted Stevens provided additional trauma to Lisa who was suddenly ‘on her own’ as a Senior Senator. Lisa assumed a leadership role with the McConnell team (no doubt facilitated by Uncle Ted) and, according to the rules of that structure, she had to play ball and, in turn, would face any potential Republican challenger with a strengthened hand of plum committee assignments and national gravitas.
Unfortunately, the playbook the McConnell team was running was obstructionism and Lisa has to move hard to the Right. That meant no more maverick Global warming stuff. While Lisa was increasing her health and armor, as a gamer might put it, she still lacked the weapons and kill points to fend off an assault by Sarah and her Troll Army. This required money—and lots of it. Sarah, after all, now had a national cult following.
So Lisa turned to the only source for amassing a war chest that she knew: PACs, industry PACs including the ever-willing energy PACs. But PACs also mean quid pro quo. For Lisa, who came to the game equipped with both brains and a conscience, this had to be framed in terms of some ‘greater good’ rationalization. Given the narrow set of options open to her, it is easy to guess how her self-justification worked: oppose my own values in the short run and I can do good in the long run; an earmark here, a bill there.
But as the anti-Obama rhetoric stepped up, the McConnell team had to match that heat with political initiatives that fed raw meat to the political mob. For Lisa, her actions were defined according to both her leadership and her committee assignments. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee, for example, became her venue for hitting the “undo” button on cap-and-trade, which she once co-sponsored.
Most shocking to the liberals and moderates who had followed her political career was her direct assault on the regulation of the very greenhouse gases that she once said had to be reduced. Most notable was Lisa’s amendment to bar the EPA from using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide. The Los Angeles Times[5]noted at the time,
Those lobbyists, particularly one named Jeffrey Holmstead, were major facilitators of campaign donations to Lisa for her re-election.
A Washington Post Story[6]also mentioned above notes working relationship between Lisa’s staff and the lobbyists:
“The maneuvering comes as The Washington Post has confirmed that two Washington lobbyists, Jeffrey R. Holmstead and Roger R. Martella, Jr., helped craft the original amendment Murkowski planned to offer on the floor last fall…In an interview, Holmstead said of the Murkowski amendment, “I certainly worked with her staff” on the exact phrasing of the measure in September.”
Politico[7] was even more descriptive of the working relationship:
“Jeffrey Holmstead, head of the environmental strategies division at Bracewell&Guiliani, and Roger Martella Jr., a partner at Sidley Austin, walked Senate staffers through the details of the amendment, via speakerphone, during a meeting held at 8:45 a.m. in Room 370 of the Hart Senate Office Building on Sept. 23, 2009…”
LISA THE UGLY, AND THE CASE OF KIVALINA
Lisa Murkowski filled her war chest with $124,500[8] from the clients of the lobbyists who helped her staff draft the so-called “Dirty Air” amendments to the Clean Air Act. Ultimately, of course, Lisa ended up facing not Sarah Palin, but a much weaker surrogate, Joe Miller,who, despite Lisa’s Right-Wing correctness makeover, beat her. Obviously the base didn’t buy it.
The question Alaskans, particularly Alaskans living in the villages along the coast have to ask is if Senator Murkowski sold you out then, will she do it again? Let’s be clear, Lisa Murkowski did sell out rural Alaskans on the global warming issue, and she did it for both power and money. A Government Accountability Office report found global warming was immanent and threatening as many as 31 Alaska villages because of coastal erosion flooding and climate change. The cost of relocation of those villages could be as high (in current dollars) as $2.4 Billion. These are public costs that will be borne by state and federal governments because, in part, the companies who so generously donated to Lisa Murkowski’s political reelection have been polluting for decades and wish to continue to do so.
What is particularly ugly about Lisa’s write-in is the manner by which it cleaves the interests of coastal villages. The write-in campaign, which is most certainly going to fail, has now pitted most well meaning Alaskans against each other in service to her hunger for power. An example of this cleaving can be seen in the example of the Village of Kivalina, a community located within the NANA region. Many of the residents of Kivalina are shareholders of NANA Corporation, an ANCSA Corporation now committed to the write-in campaign of Lisa Murkowski.
A super-PAC of ANCSA corporate donors has been formed to plow a million dollars of advertising on Lisa’s behalf. I doubt that the Corporation discussed this with their shareholders in Kivalina.
In 2008, the Village of Kivalina filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, BP and more than 20 other oil and power companies alleging that their contribution to global warming is threatening to destroy the village [Kivalina v. ExxonMobil et al (2008)].Some of the defendants, including Duke Energy, are clients of Jeffrey Holmstead. The lawsuit, from what I can tell, was dismissed in September 2009 at the District Court level in California for a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Village tried to appeal to the 9th Circuit Court but was turned down. Ironically, the argument by the defendants (in part) was that the lawsuit violated the Article III prohibition of federal Court jurisdiction over matters of politics. The issues in contention, Global Warming and its causes and solutions, were matter to be decided by Congress and not the Courts. The Court agreed. The Irony, of course, is that once the federal District Court in California agreed with the defendants, Mr. Holmstead et al began working to stanch Kivalina in congress. They blocked their liability in court but now they had to wound any congressional urges in the same direction as Kivalina and Lisa Murkowski became their vehicle. She was perfectly suited for all of the reasons discussed above, past credibility on the issue and facing political jeopardy from her conservative base. The political assault on clean air and global warming policy was perfectly aligned with the anti-government sentiment ignited by the corporate-funded tea party insurgency. Lisa could benefit greatly by climbing aboard and she did. In a word: Lisa threw Kivalina under the bus.
Since Lisa got donations from most of the defendants in that lawsuit, including Duke Energy, one of Holmstead’s clients, I wonder how many votes she will get in Kivalina?
[1] www.ser.org/files/ppt/Elaine%20Abraham%20PPT.pdf
[2] www.housemajority.org/coms/cli/cli_finalreport_20080301.pdf
[3] http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/lisa-murkowski-climate-change-double-agent
[4] http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=267610
[5] http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/01/murkowski-greenhouse-gas-emissions-epa.html
[6] http://views.washingtonpost.com/climate-change/post-carbon/2010/01/murkowski_and_her_lobbyist_allies.html
[7] http://climateprogress.org/2010/01/15/politico-lobbyists-led-meeting-on-murkowski-epa-amendment-alaska/
[8] http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=341F1A70-18FE-70B2-A8834AE647A29686
__________________________________
Elstun Lauesen is a lifelong Alaskan who has worked for 30 years as a rural develpment specialist, including in Western Alaska.
I am lifting this whole from Mudflats cuz Elstun is my buddy.
His opinions are not necessarily those of myself or the Both Barrels Editorial Board.
However, I do believe in the importance of open dialoogue, and I welcome a response by Senator Murkowski which would be published in whole.
Ed.
By Elstun Lauesen
William Takak from Shaktoolik understands the impact of climate change. The Alaska Native Science Commission quotes him in a survey of the impact of climate change[1]. “Last Spring we only got six walrus because of the weather and the ice moving out to quick. A long time ago it used to be real nice for weeks and even sometimes for months. Now we have a day or two of good weather and this impacts our hunting. The hunters talk about the ice getting a lot thinner. It is going out too quick.”
Hannah Miller of Nome: “The seasons are getting very fast and are all mixed up. The last few years my grandmother was living she said that there was not enough time to put things away like there used to be. When we are done with the willow leaves then comes the sourdocks. These seasons are in too much of hurry now.”
In 2006, the Alaska Legislature established The Alaska Climate Impact Assessment Commission. In March 2008, the Commission delivered its report[2]. Among other findings, the Commission notes:
“In Kotzebue, the Commission recorded insights into coastal erosion in the region, relocation issues at Kivalina and Shishmaref…”
The report talks about the challenges of community relocation while techniques such as the use of armor rock are evaluated, citing “…As many as twenty other Alaskan Villages may suffer from similar strategic shortcomings”
While the Villages struggle with the consequences of global climate change, politicians in Washington DC have been struggling for years to develop a public policy to deal with the issue. Lisa Murkowski has changed on this issue in a dramatic way.
LISA THE GOOD. 2006-2008
In an article for Mother Jones Magazine[3], Journalist Kate Sheppard documents this change. Sheppard notes that in 2006 Murkowski broke from her Republican colleagues and stated that she not only believes that global warming is a fact, she also believed “…it is a reality that man is contributing to the current warming trend. Accordingly, it is appropriate and, quite frankly, our responsibility to take steps to curb the growth of greenhouse gases”
For the next year, Lisa worked with Senators like Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) on the issue and became a co-sponsor of Bingaman’s cap-and-trade bill, the Low Carbon Economy Act.
During this period Lisa was aware of and moved by the plight of rural communities. In her introduction to the REFRESH Act aimed at reducing manmade impacts of climate change she noted“In Alaska, we have certainly seen firsthand the effects of a warming climate in recent years.”[4]
With this kind of profile it is little wonder that Environmentalists were encouraged by Lisa Murkowski The Good to believe that, with the election of BarackObama and a strong Democratic Majority in congress, real progress could be made on climate change policy. But sometime after the inauguration of President Obama, Senator Murkowski turned bad.
LISA THE BAD
The turning of Lisa Murkowski was just one-more by-product of John McCain’s appointment and ruination of Sarah Palin (I have written elsewhere that I thought Sarah was a pretty good socialist governor). When McCain-Palin lost the election, Sarah returned to Alaska as a celebrity with a national following and fund-raising power. The punditry at the time widely speculated that Sarah would have an easy shot at Senator Murkowski in the Republican primary. As a senator, Sarah would establish her bona fides (the lack of which helped pull down McCain’s candidacy) for a run against Obama in 2012 or perhaps 2016. The victory of Mark Begich over Ted Stevens provided additional trauma to Lisa who was suddenly ‘on her own’ as a Senior Senator. Lisa assumed a leadership role with the McConnell team (no doubt facilitated by Uncle Ted) and, according to the rules of that structure, she had to play ball and, in turn, would face any potential Republican challenger with a strengthened hand of plum committee assignments and national gravitas.
Unfortunately, the playbook the McConnell team was running was obstructionism and Lisa has to move hard to the Right. That meant no more maverick Global warming stuff. While Lisa was increasing her health and armor, as a gamer might put it, she still lacked the weapons and kill points to fend off an assault by Sarah and her Troll Army. This required money—and lots of it. Sarah, after all, now had a national cult following.
So Lisa turned to the only source for amassing a war chest that she knew: PACs, industry PACs including the ever-willing energy PACs. But PACs also mean quid pro quo. For Lisa, who came to the game equipped with both brains and a conscience, this had to be framed in terms of some ‘greater good’ rationalization. Given the narrow set of options open to her, it is easy to guess how her self-justification worked: oppose my own values in the short run and I can do good in the long run; an earmark here, a bill there.
But as the anti-Obama rhetoric stepped up, the McConnell team had to match that heat with political initiatives that fed raw meat to the political mob. For Lisa, her actions were defined according to both her leadership and her committee assignments. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee, for example, became her venue for hitting the “undo” button on cap-and-trade, which she once co-sponsored.
Most shocking to the liberals and moderates who had followed her political career was her direct assault on the regulation of the very greenhouse gases that she once said had to be reduced. Most notable was Lisa’s amendment to bar the EPA from using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide. The Los Angeles Times[5]noted at the time,
Those lobbyists, particularly one named Jeffrey Holmstead, were major facilitators of campaign donations to Lisa for her re-election.
A Washington Post Story[6]also mentioned above notes working relationship between Lisa’s staff and the lobbyists:
“The maneuvering comes as The Washington Post has confirmed that two Washington lobbyists, Jeffrey R. Holmstead and Roger R. Martella, Jr., helped craft the original amendment Murkowski planned to offer on the floor last fall…In an interview, Holmstead said of the Murkowski amendment, “I certainly worked with her staff” on the exact phrasing of the measure in September.”
Politico[7] was even more descriptive of the working relationship:
“Jeffrey Holmstead, head of the environmental strategies division at Bracewell&Guiliani, and Roger Martella Jr., a partner at Sidley Austin, walked Senate staffers through the details of the amendment, via speakerphone, during a meeting held at 8:45 a.m. in Room 370 of the Hart Senate Office Building on Sept. 23, 2009…”
LISA THE UGLY, AND THE CASE OF KIVALINA
Lisa Murkowski filled her war chest with $124,500[8] from the clients of the lobbyists who helped her staff draft the so-called “Dirty Air” amendments to the Clean Air Act. Ultimately, of course, Lisa ended up facing not Sarah Palin, but a much weaker surrogate, Joe Miller,who, despite Lisa’s Right-Wing correctness makeover, beat her. Obviously the base didn’t buy it.
The question Alaskans, particularly Alaskans living in the villages along the coast have to ask is if Senator Murkowski sold you out then, will she do it again? Let’s be clear, Lisa Murkowski did sell out rural Alaskans on the global warming issue, and she did it for both power and money. A Government Accountability Office report found global warming was immanent and threatening as many as 31 Alaska villages because of coastal erosion flooding and climate change. The cost of relocation of those villages could be as high (in current dollars) as $2.4 Billion. These are public costs that will be borne by state and federal governments because, in part, the companies who so generously donated to Lisa Murkowski’s political reelection have been polluting for decades and wish to continue to do so.
What is particularly ugly about Lisa’s write-in is the manner by which it cleaves the interests of coastal villages. The write-in campaign, which is most certainly going to fail, has now pitted most well meaning Alaskans against each other in service to her hunger for power. An example of this cleaving can be seen in the example of the Village of Kivalina, a community located within the NANA region. Many of the residents of Kivalina are shareholders of NANA Corporation, an ANCSA Corporation now committed to the write-in campaign of Lisa Murkowski.
A super-PAC of ANCSA corporate donors has been formed to plow a million dollars of advertising on Lisa’s behalf. I doubt that the Corporation discussed this with their shareholders in Kivalina.
In 2008, the Village of Kivalina filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, BP and more than 20 other oil and power companies alleging that their contribution to global warming is threatening to destroy the village [Kivalina v. ExxonMobil et al (2008)].Some of the defendants, including Duke Energy, are clients of Jeffrey Holmstead. The lawsuit, from what I can tell, was dismissed in September 2009 at the District Court level in California for a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Village tried to appeal to the 9th Circuit Court but was turned down. Ironically, the argument by the defendants (in part) was that the lawsuit violated the Article III prohibition of federal Court jurisdiction over matters of politics. The issues in contention, Global Warming and its causes and solutions, were matter to be decided by Congress and not the Courts. The Court agreed. The Irony, of course, is that once the federal District Court in California agreed with the defendants, Mr. Holmstead et al began working to stanch Kivalina in congress. They blocked their liability in court but now they had to wound any congressional urges in the same direction as Kivalina and Lisa Murkowski became their vehicle. She was perfectly suited for all of the reasons discussed above, past credibility on the issue and facing political jeopardy from her conservative base. The political assault on clean air and global warming policy was perfectly aligned with the anti-government sentiment ignited by the corporate-funded tea party insurgency. Lisa could benefit greatly by climbing aboard and she did. In a word: Lisa threw Kivalina under the bus.
Since Lisa got donations from most of the defendants in that lawsuit, including Duke Energy, one of Holmstead’s clients, I wonder how many votes she will get in Kivalina?
[1] www.ser.org/files/ppt/Elaine%20Abraham%20PPT.pdf
[2] www.housemajority.org/coms/cli/cli_finalreport_20080301.pdf
[3] http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/lisa-murkowski-climate-change-double-agent
[4] http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=267610
[5] http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/01/murkowski-greenhouse-gas-emissions-epa.html
[6] http://views.washingtonpost.com/climate-change/post-carbon/2010/01/murkowski_and_her_lobbyist_allies.html
[7] http://climateprogress.org/2010/01/15/politico-lobbyists-led-meeting-on-murkowski-epa-amendment-alaska/
[8] http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=341F1A70-18FE-70B2-A8834AE647A29686
__________________________________
Elstun Lauesen is a lifelong Alaskan who has worked for 30 years as a rural develpment specialist, including in Western Alaska.
What do you get
When you put Joe Miller in bed with the Koch brothers?
Oh wait, he already is in bed with them.
Oh wait, he already is in bed with them.
Paul Jenkins sometimes hits it RIGHT ON THE HEAD
We've been saying it all along. Joe "rhymes with Koch" Miller has been bragging just a little too much about his stupid Bronze Star. For crying out loud, they were included in the MRE's during the brief "conflict" in Kuwait.
Paul Jenkins, a respectable journalist (despite his flacking forays, but it seems every scribbler gets more than ink on their hands these days) said this recently in the Anchorage Daily News:
"A friend asked me why I have such a low opinion of Joe Miller, the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate. It's not because of his ideas, which range from naive to uninformed to flaky. It's not his "It was good enough for me; it's unconstitutional for you" hypocrisy. I'm offended by his Bronze Star, or, rather, the constant, shameless touting of his Bronze Star. It is unseemly, and I'm embarrassed for him.
Virtually everything written or said about Miller quickly turns to that medal. His campaign ads. The New York Times, Time magazine, even Wikipedia and radio idiots. All of them. It is presented in such a way that the average person certainly could be forgiven for believing it was awarded for battlefield valor. Miller's was not. It was for "meritorious achievement" from Jan. 17, 1991, to March 6, 1991, during Operation Desert Storm."
Read the entire piece here.
Paul Jenkins, a respectable journalist (despite his flacking forays, but it seems every scribbler gets more than ink on their hands these days) said this recently in the Anchorage Daily News:
"A friend asked me why I have such a low opinion of Joe Miller, the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate. It's not because of his ideas, which range from naive to uninformed to flaky. It's not his "It was good enough for me; it's unconstitutional for you" hypocrisy. I'm offended by his Bronze Star, or, rather, the constant, shameless touting of his Bronze Star. It is unseemly, and I'm embarrassed for him.
Virtually everything written or said about Miller quickly turns to that medal. His campaign ads. The New York Times, Time magazine, even Wikipedia and radio idiots. All of them. It is presented in such a way that the average person certainly could be forgiven for believing it was awarded for battlefield valor. Miller's was not. It was for "meritorious achievement" from Jan. 17, 1991, to March 6, 1991, during Operation Desert Storm."
Read the entire piece here.
Is it Wednesday Yet?
November 3rd, that is...
Yeah, that was my thought today, that this frickin' bad dream would just get over and I'd wake up to find it's Wednesday the 3rd.
Maybe if I take a couple of extra Atenolol's I might get lucky and sleep for two weeks.
Yeah, that was my thought today, that this frickin' bad dream would just get over and I'd wake up to find it's Wednesday the 3rd.
Maybe if I take a couple of extra Atenolol's I might get lucky and sleep for two weeks.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Another Unsung Heroine of World War II Passes On
from the New York Times, Eileen Nearne, Wartime Spy, Dies at 89
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Boomers Rule
My favorite morning read is Cryptome because I never know what John Young will have up next.
I particularly enjoy his Eyeball Series which features satellite and other imagery of places we pay up the ass for in taxes but never get to see...
Like CIA Training Center Camp Peary.
This morning I was absolutely as delighted as many must have been absolutely aghast to see this YouTube video linked. Like nukes? Then enjoy. There will be a quiz afterwards...
I particularly enjoy his Eyeball Series which features satellite and other imagery of places we pay up the ass for in taxes but never get to see...
Like CIA Training Center Camp Peary.
This morning I was absolutely as delighted as many must have been absolutely aghast to see this YouTube video linked. Like nukes? Then enjoy. There will be a quiz afterwards...
Friday, September 17, 2010
twwwstlij* supports anti-Alaska Native candidate in Arizona
from Politico it appears that the Alaska dentists union has not ended their opposition to the Dental Health Aide Program which puts trained para-professional dental care providers in rural Alaska clinics serving under-served Alaska Natives. They have enlisted the woman who was supposed to live in juneau to further their cause. Assholes.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Where were we on 9/11?
I remember September 11, 2001 quite vivdly. At the time I was the City Administrator in Hooper Bay, a small Yup'ik Eskimo village on the coast of the Bering Sea. The aftermath was several days of dead quiet skies with no planes coming and going, and the same shock and uncertainty every American shared.
I remember exactly where I was when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, and I remember when and how I first heard the news.
This evening, September 11, 2010 on the 9th anniversary of the sneak attack by a few religious zealots who would not have given a whit nor changed theur plans if the airliners they hijacked were filled with devout Muslims, tonight familes gather around their television sets to watch documentary after documetary about a day which no school child will ever forget for the next 100 years.
And, tonight, in Anchorage, a couple of todays popular cultures biggest stars took the stage to reminisce about this day of tragedy and unbelievable herosim.
One of these stars was probably wide awake, watching it live.
The other was probably (figuratively, not literally) in the same place I was:
The only place most forturne cookies make any sense:
The place MOST Alaskans were when the planes crashed:
IN BED.
Oh yeah- Alaska is four hours behind time-zone wise. 8 am EST is 4 am Alaska time.
So, during these reminisinces this evening, at least according to news reports, the woman who was supposed to live in Juneau (twwwstlij) said she got a call from the Chief of Police of the fair city of Wassilla, and she turned on her tv to watch. OK, sounds fair. I called MY Chief of Police and told Him to turn on his TV.
But heres the interesting thing. She says the next thing she did was close down the City Hall and headed to church. I am not questioing that she went to church - many Americans headed right there. But unless she had her own key to the church, she would have had to wait until at least 8 am Alaska time to close City Hall (as soon as it opened?).
I set my alarm clock for 5:54 am so I can hear news first thing in the morning. That morning I woke from a very strange dream, hearing confused voices and cries, and then I was awake... a few minutes before my clock radio came on.
Then there was KNOM in Nome and it was weird because over the normal pre-6am music was the Associated News Radio feed and they were talking about one of the World Trade Center towers collapsing and planes crashing into both of them.
Well, we didn't have a tv at the time so I called my neighbor, the Chief of Police, woke him up and told him to turn on his tv...."How come," he asked...I told him I'd be over in a few minutes.
Now, as City Administrator I was responsible for the safety and well being of my community. The City Office opened on schedule and I wasted no time in checking the State Division of Emergency Services e-mail. People expected the City to be functioing, and it was. Sure, we listened to the radio constantly, but we sure didn.t shut down.
Besides, I couldn.t have shut it diwn at 8 am Eastern Statndard Time...I was still home asleep.
I remember exactly where I was when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, and I remember when and how I first heard the news.
This evening, September 11, 2010 on the 9th anniversary of the sneak attack by a few religious zealots who would not have given a whit nor changed theur plans if the airliners they hijacked were filled with devout Muslims, tonight familes gather around their television sets to watch documentary after documetary about a day which no school child will ever forget for the next 100 years.
And, tonight, in Anchorage, a couple of todays popular cultures biggest stars took the stage to reminisce about this day of tragedy and unbelievable herosim.
One of these stars was probably wide awake, watching it live.
The other was probably (figuratively, not literally) in the same place I was:
The only place most forturne cookies make any sense:
The place MOST Alaskans were when the planes crashed:
IN BED.
Oh yeah- Alaska is four hours behind time-zone wise. 8 am EST is 4 am Alaska time.
So, during these reminisinces this evening, at least according to news reports, the woman who was supposed to live in Juneau (twwwstlij) said she got a call from the Chief of Police of the fair city of Wassilla, and she turned on her tv to watch. OK, sounds fair. I called MY Chief of Police and told Him to turn on his TV.
But heres the interesting thing. She says the next thing she did was close down the City Hall and headed to church. I am not questioing that she went to church - many Americans headed right there. But unless she had her own key to the church, she would have had to wait until at least 8 am Alaska time to close City Hall (as soon as it opened?).
I set my alarm clock for 5:54 am so I can hear news first thing in the morning. That morning I woke from a very strange dream, hearing confused voices and cries, and then I was awake... a few minutes before my clock radio came on.
Then there was KNOM in Nome and it was weird because over the normal pre-6am music was the Associated News Radio feed and they were talking about one of the World Trade Center towers collapsing and planes crashing into both of them.
Well, we didn't have a tv at the time so I called my neighbor, the Chief of Police, woke him up and told him to turn on his tv...."How come," he asked...I told him I'd be over in a few minutes.
Now, as City Administrator I was responsible for the safety and well being of my community. The City Office opened on schedule and I wasted no time in checking the State Division of Emergency Services e-mail. People expected the City to be functioing, and it was. Sure, we listened to the radio constantly, but we sure didn.t shut down.
Besides, I couldn.t have shut it diwn at 8 am Eastern Statndard Time...I was still home asleep.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Joe Miller on Armed American Radio
Listen to the ex-borough attorney Here.
Asked by a caller about elections he said of Alaska "We've got fantastic Division of Elections. It has integrity we know that every vote is going to get counted, its going to be accurate" (We'd be hapy to link to some of his published paranoia about Alaska's elections system, but it seems to be gone from his website!)
I did appreciate his comments on Diebold, et al when he advised, "Just fundamentally reject electronic voting" and said "we've got to have tangible ballots." Hard to disagree with "any of the jurisdictions moving to just purely elecronic votes, thats just really bad news."
On the Social Security front, he told the show's host's Dad calling in from Florida that his own parents in Kansas are wholly dependent on Social Security and Medicaid, and that that "contract" should be honored.
Hovever, in typical fashion he claims that his payments into the Social Security Trust Fund "has been stolen from me. That Trust Fund is empty. Well, I shouldn't say empty. It's full of IOU's."
Those IOU's are, of course based on the full faith (he said "good faith") and credit of the United States, which it appears Mr. M has little faith in.
"It's a better answer to privatize," he said.
The interview starts at minute 16 but the real dog meat is right there at the end.
Asked by a caller about elections he said of Alaska "We've got fantastic Division of Elections. It has integrity we know that every vote is going to get counted, its going to be accurate" (We'd be hapy to link to some of his published paranoia about Alaska's elections system, but it seems to be gone from his website!)
I did appreciate his comments on Diebold, et al when he advised, "Just fundamentally reject electronic voting" and said "we've got to have tangible ballots." Hard to disagree with "any of the jurisdictions moving to just purely elecronic votes, thats just really bad news."
On the Social Security front, he told the show's host's Dad calling in from Florida that his own parents in Kansas are wholly dependent on Social Security and Medicaid, and that that "contract" should be honored.
Hovever, in typical fashion he claims that his payments into the Social Security Trust Fund "has been stolen from me. That Trust Fund is empty. Well, I shouldn't say empty. It's full of IOU's."
Those IOU's are, of course based on the full faith (he said "good faith") and credit of the United States, which it appears Mr. M has little faith in.
"It's a better answer to privatize," he said.
The interview starts at minute 16 but the real dog meat is right there at the end.
Dan "Who's My Daddy" Sullivan Speaks Out
and endorses, of all people, the ex-Fairbanks North Star Borough attorney.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Lets hope THESE numbers hold
Joe Miller's Dollah Thermometah
However, my guess is 1. It is not a true interactive indicator of receipts and 2. It sure as heck won't show the anticipated dollars from K Street.
However, my guess is 1. It is not a true interactive indicator of receipts and 2. It sure as heck won't show the anticipated dollars from K Street.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Glenn Beck's Gallows
I know all it took for me was to see the stage under construction to think "lynching gallows." Certainly anyone who has seen photos of mass hangings cannot help but see the imagery in this particular photograph.
Noone ever accused Glenn Beck or his comrades as being very subtle.
Friday, September 03, 2010
Lets have another look, shall we?
Ohhhhh...There are SO MANY REPUBLICANS ON K STREET UNHAPPY WITH LISA MURKOWSKI.... Well, WTF they SHOULD be unhappy with her. That means she wasn't at their beck and call. That makes ME HAPPY and should make every other Alaskan happy.
Joe Miller on the other hand seems to be so relishing the thought of being their towel-wrapped turkish bath butt boy that he can't wait for the checks to start flowing in. I wonder how much it will cost to get that towel off. There are plenty of chicken hawks on K Street just looking for a bear cub like Joe. And you know what? Thats about the best he can call himself.
Yup, the lobbyists of Washington can't wait to get Joe there, behind closed doors, maybe a scotch or two and a fine cigar, a cutie keepin' 'em coming while they discuss the vital importance to the Founders of tax cuts for the Koch Brothers (owners of the groundwater polluting North Pole Refinery) and various other matters pertaining to the very survival of the Republic while Joe tries to remember what it was Vic Kohringtold asked Bill Allen... Oh yeah, "Say Brother, can you spare a few bucks?" "Why sure JoeVic we sure can spot you a few bucks. Lets go over there by the mantle where the firelight casts its glow on the fine carpet in the panelled room where only men of power belong and we are sure happy your "folks" back there in Alaska decided to send you here. We are sure looking forward to working with you, JoeVic."
Oh yeah, its gonna be a gravy train for you, Joe. A real moneymaker, especially when you shake yours!
Joe Miller on the other hand seems to be so relishing the thought of being their towel-wrapped turkish bath butt boy that he can't wait for the checks to start flowing in. I wonder how much it will cost to get that towel off. There are plenty of chicken hawks on K Street just looking for a bear cub like Joe. And you know what? Thats about the best he can call himself.
Miss Me Yet?
Yup, the lobbyists of Washington can't wait to get Joe there, behind closed doors, maybe a scotch or two and a fine cigar, a cutie keepin' 'em coming while they discuss the vital importance to the Founders of tax cuts for the Koch Brothers (owners of the groundwater polluting North Pole Refinery) and various other matters pertaining to the very survival of the Republic while Joe tries to remember what it was Vic Kohring
Oh yeah, its gonna be a gravy train for you, Joe. A real moneymaker, especially when you shake yours!
Didn't Take Long for Him to Take the Pipe Between His Lips
Seems Joe Miller has put on the kneepads.
CQ Politics reports tonight on its blog that little known Fairbanks ex-assistant borough attorney Joe Miller has decided God's help isn't enough in getting plain 'ol folk to open their purses and has hired a "prominent D.C. fundraiser" to help him lose to Scott McAdams.
Headed Alaska: Miller Getting Serious About Fundraising and sporting such quotes as an anonymous source saying "There are many Republicans on K Street so unhappy with Lisa that this is a step up," this source said. "It's a winnable seat, and there's no way that Republican leadership is going to allow this to go south."
We agree. The Republican leadership should hold on to whatever dignity it might have after the job it did on Lisa, and NOT allow "this" (scum) to "go south".
Unless it is back into the VistaCruiser back to Kansas.
Yeah, Joe, let me tell ya, the musky aroma of that long K Street is just waiting for you.
No corporate funds, he say. He lie like Jim.
CQ Politics reports tonight on its blog that little known Fairbanks ex-assistant borough attorney Joe Miller has decided God's help isn't enough in getting plain 'ol folk to open their purses and has hired a "prominent D.C. fundraiser" to help him lose to Scott McAdams.
Headed Alaska: Miller Getting Serious About Fundraising and sporting such quotes as an anonymous source saying "There are many Republicans on K Street so unhappy with Lisa that this is a step up," this source said. "It's a winnable seat, and there's no way that Republican leadership is going to allow this to go south."
We agree. The Republican leadership should hold on to whatever dignity it might have after the job it did on Lisa, and NOT allow "this" (scum) to "go south".
Unless it is back into the VistaCruiser back to Kansas.
Yeah, Joe, let me tell ya, the musky aroma of that long K Street is just waiting for you.
No corporate funds, he say. He lie like Jim.
Two Legal Reviews of Miller's Loony Look at Alaska's Federal Lands
Wickersham's Conscience does a bang-up job of expaining the completely misguided belief of the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate that Alaska can take back Federal lands in Joe Miller Ignores the Law.
Next up is Mudflatter Legal Eagle who presents a very fine analysis that goes by the title of Joe Miller - Liar, or Idiot? A Legal Analysis.
Blog del Narco
Rumour (just rumour) has it that a drug dealer has moved into my neighborhood. I hear that he pays his mule's $2,000 for an ass-full of oxy's. Bet THAT's an uncomfortable plane ride!
Well, for those of you interested in the latest news from South of the Border it seems a brave young man in Mexico is blogging. Here's a recent news report (in English) about Blog del Narco (in Spanish. Plenty of gruesome photos of dead people and pics of piles of bales of dope, too.)
Fun way to bone up on that old high school espanol, eh?
Well, for those of you interested in the latest news from South of the Border it seems a brave young man in Mexico is blogging. Here's a recent news report (in English) about Blog del Narco (in Spanish. Plenty of gruesome photos of dead people and pics of piles of bales of dope, too.)
Fun way to bone up on that old high school espanol, eh?
But when is his live call-in on KYUK?
Joe's Schedule
Sunday, September 5
4:00pm Armed America Radio Network *Listen Live*
When Sun, September 5, 4pm – 5pm
Where KBYR 700AM KSRM 920AM (map)
more details
Sunday, September 5
4:00pm Armed America Radio Network *Listen Live*
When Sun, September 5, 4pm – 5pm
Where KBYR 700AM KSRM 920AM (map)
more details
Sweet Touch of Love
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