The Mudflats

Tiptoeing Through the Muck of Alaskan Politics

Archive for October, 2011

frost10

Open Thread – Fun with Frost!

I went for a walk this morning to enjoy the unexpected photographic gift of a hard frost. It’s definitely a timing issue when you want to get these shots. As soon as the sun hits your target, the clock starts ticking. So, I had fun finding places that were still frosty and hadn’t succumbed to [...]
poubelle

Dispatches from the Congo – A Journey of Love (Part 8)

Bonjour from Kinshasa! Kinshasa used to be known as Kinshasa La Belle — Kinshasa the Beautiful. Now, it’s known as Kinshasa La Poubelle — Kinshasa the Garbage Can. It’s a very apt description. This city is wearing on me a bit. What was new and exciting for the first 5 days or so begins to [...]
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Occupy Anchorage!

This afternoon in Anchorage, several hundred people gathered in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protesters. A crowd this size was a fantastic turnout for an event that was promoted largely on Facebook and by word of mouth. The weather cooperated beautifully. It was a gorgeous sunny autumn day in the 50s, and spirits were [...]
snakeoil

Sarah Palin and the Long, Shiny Road to Irrelevance

Sarah Palin is not running for the presidency. I’d been waiting to hear that since the day after the 2008 presidential election, which is ostensibly when she began running for the presidency. From the moment she “went rogue” on the campaign trail, calling out then-candidate Obama for “pallin’ around with terrorists,” and contemplating an unauthorized [...]
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Mudflix – Bristol Bay and the Threat of Pebble Mine

Seven minutes and 23 seconds. This is one of the best short videos I have seen on the proposed Pebble Mine. It’s a fantastic tool for those who are not familiar with the issue, and even though I am, I found it riveting. Interviews with local residents at the end are wonderful, and moving. The [...]
puppylighter

Open Thread – That’s Just Wrong

I want to know who came up with this one – child-resistant lighters shaped like puppy dogs. They’re just begging for vigorous product testing. What could go wrong?
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Chuitna Coal – Dollars and Sense

It’s time for a little Mudflats Theatre. But this time, you get to participate in the drama! It’s kind of like an improvisation. Let’s pretend we’re doing a business deal. We sit down in a conference room overlooking majestic Cook Inlet, which borders the city of Anchorage. You arrive, we shake hands, and close the [...]

Vitamin Democracy – Save the Internet

Howdy, Mudflatters! Ready for your dose of Vitamin Democracy? This is where you get to feel important and participatory, and do things that members of free societies get to do – bug your representatives. We don’t ask you to bug them often, or unless it’s really important. This is one of those times. See the [...]
Wall Street Arrests

Mudflats on Wall Street (Video of Arrests at Protest)

The Mudflats’ New York Bureau Chief, Zach Roberts, has been doing an outstanding  job covering the movement known as Occupy Wall Street. He has been our boots on the ground since the protests began, recently putting himself in harm’s way to expose the latest happenings. We’ve posted his photos before, but his current shots, and [...]
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Open Thread – Occupy Anchorage on Saturday!

This Saturday from 3-7:30 pm, join the Occupy Anchorage rally in Town Square Park next to the Anchorage Center for the Performing Arts. Step out in solidarity with the protesters of Occupy Wall Street! Come early to join in the organization of action committees. Stay to enjoy a peaceful protest to make the voices of [...]
oysters

Oyster Roundup – Rats, Scented Candles, Pebble Mine and more…

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more… A half-dozen slurpable stories for your consumption. All titles are links. Eat up!  Westboro Baptist Church to Picket Jobs Funeral Yes, apparently the most hateful, vicious, mean-spirited group of “religious” wingnuts, who made famous the “God Hates Fags” slogan, will be picketing [...]
mymac

Open Thread – Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs. 56 is too young, and cancer is too mean. But we wonder, as we do with all those who changed their world and left us too soon, what you might have done with another five years, or ten, or forty. The world has lost a bright light, an innovator, an [...]
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Sarah Palin Will Not Seek the GOP Nomination in 2012 – Country Comes Third

Sarah Palin will not run for president. Here is her letter to supporters: October 5, 2011 Wasilla, Alaska After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put [...]
dropdead5

Open Thread – Palin 2012: Drop Dead +5 (UPDATED)

With so much going on in the world these days, it can be difficult to keep track of information. Even critical information on which our mental health and the fate of the world depends can slip through the cracks sometimes. For instance, even the most Die Hard Palinbots seem to have forgotten that the woman [...]
waiting

Sarah Palin is at ‘Drop Dead’ +4, and Just Getting Started

Maggie Haberman and Ken Vogel of Politico got some interesting buzz today. Apparently they each have sources who tell them that a certain (looks around the room) “mystery candidate” has had someone at her OR HIS law firm, (shifts nervously) make a few strategic phone calls to certain early primary states (nudge nudge) to find [...]