Odds & Ends
1 12 2009Show Up for Wildlife TONIGHT!
You’ve got just enough time to grab dinner and head out for the Anchorage Fish & Game Advisory meeting tonight at 6:30. It will be at the Rabbit Creek Rifle Range in the building on the north side of the lot. There will be many issues discussed involving the wolves of Denali Park. Denali provides one of the few last remaining rare places on earth that 450,000 visitors a year have an opportunity to see wolves in the wild. The economic importance of each of these animals for viewing purposes is worth millions of dollars compared to the $250.00 from a pelt, that is received by benefits a single individual.
Public testimony is being taken, so show up and speak up for these incredible animals. More details HERE.
ATTENTION D.C. MUDFLATTERS!
Are you interested in attending the Fairfax, Virginia book signing for Going Rogue this Saturday? Wait, before you answer that you’d rather have a red hot poker shoved in your ear… there will be other Mudflatters there. Join the gathering and get details be dropping an email to virginiavoter4(at)gmail.com better known to Mudflatters as “FW.” FW would like some witty sign slogan ideas, so even if you can’t be there, feel free to make suggestions in the comments!
Governor’s Office Requests Extension….Again.
If I’m correct, and if you’ve been counting on your fingers the number of times that the Governor’s office has requested an extension for turning over records requested by members of the public during the brief but eventful Palin administration, you’ll have to move to counting on your toes soon. The Alaska Public Records Act requires that documents are turned over within 10 days. At least for one citizen (Andree McLeod) it has been not 10 days, not 20 days, not two months, or six, but more than ONE YEAR since her requests were filed.
Here is the link to the .pdf of the extension request —> perezletter
A Good Day for Belugas!
This just in from Cook Inletkeeper!
“The federal National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) today took an important step toward protecting critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the Cook Inlet beluga whale in Alaska by proposing to designate more than 3,000 square miles of the imperiled whale’s habitat for protection. The overdue proposal comes after a 2007 petition by various local and national groups to NMFS to list the beluga under the ESA, and on the heels of a formal notice of intent to sue by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Once habitat is designated, federal agencies are prohibited from taking any actions that may “adversely modify” it. Species for which critical habitat has been designated have been found to be more than twice as likely to be recovering, and less than half as likely to be declining, as those without it.”
December 1st, 2009 at 4:46 PM
You know, it is one thing to claim you need a little extra time to review these requests, but when you are well over a year and are still requesting additional months, when the time frame allowed or given is 10 days, there is something seriously wrong with the system and it needs to be changed.
It smacks of obstruction and attempts to hide matters that should be brought to the attention of the public. It should not take YEAR/S to complete a records request, and the fact that this is not only allowed but encouraged (and the fact that no one in an administrative capacity is doing anything to change how things are handled means it is being encouraged) is just dirty business.
December 1st, 2009 at 4:52 PM
Are you interested in attending the Fairfax, Virginia book signing for Going Rogue this Saturday? Wait, before you answer that you’d rather have a red hot poker shoved in your ear… there will be other Mudflatters there. Join the gathering and get details be dropping an email to virginiavoter4(at)gmail.com better known to Mudflatters as “FW.” FW would like some witty sign slogan ideas, so even if you can’t be there, feel free to make suggestions in the comments!
_________
FW, there were a ton of sign suggestions on Bree Palin’s blog from lynnrockets and many others here:
http://breepalin.blogspot.com/2009/11/protest-sarah.html#comments
December 1st, 2009 at 4:52 PM
More than dirty business, it’s a full fledged cover up.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Since I have no access to personal email at the moment perhaps someone could forward this suggestion for a sign:
My other bus is a Gulfstream
As to the emails, that is a case of obstruction pure and simple.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:22 PM
They are already setting up their next extension request. Would love for the AG to show some spine, but doubt it. At some point the records request will take longer than quittypants was in office. There are only two choices, absurdly inept, or cover up. I sense a computer failure of some type losing the data, or a dog eating it.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:55 PM
I have been curious about these emails from the standpoint of Sean Parnell coming out of this administration unscathed by Sarah. The January 29th extension is 3days before the close of the first APOC reporting period. I imagine this date will come and go with no emails released. I would think this administration would want to show competency unless….
December 1st, 2009 at 5:55 PM
I’m guessing that the lawyer assigned to review the e-mails has had a whole lot of emergency, drop everything now! work dropped in her lap. And she will continue to be the busiest lawyer in the Dept. of Law at least until Parnell leaves office.
Or else that file has been re-assigned several times, and each lawyer is directed to review everything to get up to speed. Then, oops, it gets reassigned again.
Or a combination of the two “strategeries”, also too.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:55 PM
Just imagine telling the IRS, “So sorry but I just haven’t had the time to get all those pesky tax records together, but I’ll pay really, really, really soon…I promise!”
While there needs to be some measure of flexibility because of the diversity of records being requested, there should also be some penalty for being unable to produce the records within the time designated by law.
Of course, in this situation, it’s clearly an unwillingness to produce them, not an inability. However, they have obviously underestimated the tenacity of the requestors if they think they can stall long enough for everyone to give up!
December 1st, 2009 at 6:10 PM
I know I sound like a broken record, but they aren’t going to produce anything until someone files suit. And all that money ain’t never gonna get returned, neither.
December 1st, 2009 at 6:35 PM
Unless someone sues the state for these records….they will never see the light of day…………sigh…….
December 1st, 2009 at 6:56 PM
Here is my reply to Linda Perez’s request for an extension:
=============================================
Dear Linda.
I strongly object to yet another extension. It’s been well over a year since I submitted my public record request. The Alaska Public Records Act mandates a 10-day turn-around for public records request. These continuous extensions are totally unacceptable and outrageous!
I understand Sean Parnell ordered his staff to purge anything and everything from the governor’s office that had to do with Sarah Palin upon taking office this past July. If it’s good enough for Sean Parnell to have closure with things that relate to Sarah Palin in his office, it follows that the people who submitted public record requests re: Sarah Palin’s tenure in the governor’s office should have closure as well.
Why are Sean Parnell and Dan Sullivan protecting and defending an ex-governor who quit on Alaskans when their sworn duty is to protect Alaskans and the public’s best interests?
Why do Sean Parnell and Dan Sullivan want to keep secrets about the Palin/Parnell administration?
What is the (Palin)/Parnell/Campbell administration hiding from the public?
Shame on every public official who is involved in this ill-crafted scheme to thwart public records laws and breach the intent of the AK Public Records Act.
Sincerely,
Andrée McLeod
December 1st, 2009 at 7:03 PM
The state would release the emails if the people of Alaska stood together and demanded it.
But, let’s be honest…. most people don’t give a crap.
We deserve who we elect.
December 1st, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Those emails should be released and it speaks volumes that they have not been released after a YEAR!!
Actions speak louder than words, and in this case, the fact that the emails are still sequestered tells me there are issues with them. Ms. Palin is no longer the Governor and this information should be accessible.
******************
As for signs for “FW”. How about:
“You Lie”
“What have you done for AK since you quit?”
“Just go home, sit down and SHUT UP!!”
“Where are the Emails?”
“How’s That AK Fund Trust Working Out for Ya!”
Good luck to FW aka Virginia Voter!!! Can’t wait to see your write-up!
December 1st, 2009 at 8:44 PM
http://www.sarahwatch.org/
December 1st, 2009 at 8:59 PM
My dearest Cook Inletkeeper,
This is great news! I am so thrilled for you and for us, as what you do impacts us all now and most certainly in the future. I am so grateful for your work…Thank you so very much for preserving the lives that are so important to our world. We cherish them all.
My deepest thanks.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:19 PM
OT, but my husband is having fun with Serror…
http://cheezburger.com/View.aspx?aid=2908810496
December 1st, 2009 at 9:29 PM
You have to at least get some entertainment value from — on the one hand — Quitty Twitty explaining how she quit because of the vast expense incurred by the Department of Law in dealing with the various ethics complaints, and — on the other hand — the fact that the Department of Law hasn’t been able to review emails at a rate faster than about three per day.
The delay is already so absurd that I suspect Andree will have to sue the state to obtain compliance. I’m good for $50.
December 1st, 2009 at 9:31 PM
Going Rouge coming to store shelves and Amazon
snip]
From Tuesday this week, via a rights deal with the publishers HCI, “Going Rouge” will be available for the first time through bookstores and on Amazon. Our hope is that the efforts we have made to draw attention to the book, which includes coverage in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine and NPR’s On the Media, will have laid the groundwork to drive customers into the stores.
read more @ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/colin-robinson/sarah-palin-book-making-p_b_375166.html
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:47 AM
Andree- well said, and I agree with others here. Alaskans need to get behind this and sue the state. Andree has been taking a lot on her own for too long. Back the lady up (o:
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:52 AM
Andree–it’s obvious you will have to sue the state to get anywhere. And NOW is the time to do it, when the media will pick up ANY news about $arah. One would hope that just the threat of a lawsuit would make the state stop dragging its feet. I would contribute, as I’m sure many others would. I hope you are planning a suit soon.