A couple Mudflatters over at the Mudflats Forum made a suggestion that your humble Muckraker apply for a scholarship to attend this year’s Netroots Nation conference. Formerly known as Yearly Kos, this year’s NN will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home of the very first Mudstock meetup! So I did some thinking and planning and [...]

What do Ted Stevens and Sarah Palin have in common? Popular high-level Alaska politicians?  Check. Republican?  Check. Like to go fishing?  Check. Used to like each other?  Check. Intense dislike of the media?  Check. Included in the deck of Alaskan Outlaws playing cards?  Check. Legal defense fund?  Check. Book deal?   Looks like another check. “Curmudgeonly [...]

More fun with my macro lens.  This is a piece of moss and the tiniest little fiddlehead fern (or similar flora) that I’ve ever seen.  The moss is the kind eveyrone is familiar with, and this one is about the width of a pencil eraser.  Both these little treasures were growing out of a tree [...]

Well, looks like Palin got expelled.  No, not Bristol.  Sarah. Tonight is the graduation ceremony for Wasilla High School, and Bristol Palin is graduating.  This did surprise me a little.  Back when I was a youth, if your hind end was out of the chair for more than 18 days out of the 180 day [...]

You realize, of course, that actually trying to choose the best of your entries to put into a poll is an impossible task. I guarantee I have not listed many titles that left me in stitches! But a poll can only be so long, and this one is ridiculously long as it is with 113 entries.  Why [...]

After reading all the comments on the Name That Book thread, I can honestly say I’m in pain. I laughed until I thought I could laugh no more. I’m going to check in tomorrow morning, and pull out a few more, and then post…..the poll. The monstrous poll. The mile long poll. The poll with [...]

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy UPDATE:  Shannyn was great, as always, and will be back on the air again soon.  I’ll keep you posted.  Meanwhile, during her segment tonight, Shannyn told Mr. Olbermann about the book titles she and I were discussing today.  The title of my recent post on Palin’s book [...]

The Red Cross in Fairbanks is helping flood victims in the Interior.  Anyone who is interested and wants to do something for those in Eagle, and the Tanana area is encouraged by the Red Cross to send “comfort kits” composed of toiletry items such as: shampoo, soap, wash cloths, etc.  Remember, those flat-rate boxes from the [...]

I solicited book name ideas in my original post, but it seems that I wasn’t clear enough, so hopefully the title of this new post will redeem me, and give you all some fun. What is your idea for the title of Palin’s new memoir? Please don’t post anything in the comments of this thread [...]

Got these lovely photos in my inbox the other day, and they gave me a great smile. The mudflats along Cook Inlet can be very goopy and dangerous. There are several horrible stories of people getting stuck there, which I won’t repeat. These signs are posted for the benefit of those who may not know [...]

Well she’s gone and done it.  She’s had them written about her, she’s tried to get some pulled off library shelves, but now the Governor will have one of her very own.  A book! Reports are now out that Sarah Palin has signed a deal with HarperCollins. “There have been so many things written and said [...]

There are frustratingly few details on the story that broke today about Coast Guard Captain Mark Hamilton.  The Anchorage Sector Commander was abruptly relieved of duty yesterday morning for “alleged misconduct and loss of confidence in the officer’s ability to command,” according to the press release issued by the Coast Guard. Reached Monday night, [Rear [...]

I thought I’d introduce you to one of the other inhabitants of Mudflats Central.  It’s MudMouse.  Often it is the squeaky sound of the spinning of the mouse wheel that is the background noise while I type posts, particularly in the evening.  Mudmouse has a pretty good life.  He’s generally either sleeping in his little [...]

I wanted to share an occasion of great celebration I attended on Friday night.  Helen Nienhueser had a gathering of family and friends to celebrate her 50 years in Alaska, as Alaska itself celebrates its 50th Anniversary. Helen is an absolutely remarkable woman who I am pleased to call a friend. She is one of those [...]

So, here’s the scenario:  Sarah Palin praises the Obama administration.   Yes, this has actually happened.   Palin did it once before, when she praised Obama’s energy plan.  But that was before her nomination as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, after which she did a turnabout quicker than you can say “Drill, Baby Drill!” But now it has happened [...]