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March 29, 2024

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No Time for Tuckerman -

Thursday, August 3, 2023

The Quitter Returns! -

Monday, March 21, 2022

Putting the goober in gubernatorial -

Friday, January 28, 2022

‘Choose Respect’ Fails To Protect Native Women – Diane E Benson

(Diane Benson is a writer and professor of Native studies at the University of Alaska, and is a recent recipient of the national Bonnie Heavy-Runner Advocacy Award in recognition of outstanding service to victims of crime in Indian country.) It’s a method, marches. Historically marches are held to protest (civil rights), to get from one point to another (relocation) and to parade power (military). Generally, the word indicates walking lock-step whether literally or metaphorically. Choose Respect marches for change. But what are we trying to change, a social behavior? The march says Alaska is a violent place and we need…

Guess What Happened to Drew Pritt

The notorious Caleb (Drew) Pritt, accused of stealing funds raised for a wounded vet and fleeing the state is now running for public office in Arkansas. Pritt became well-known in Alaska when he left the state after a sum of money raised from a drag show to upgrade a home for a wounded veteran went missing. The drag show benefit raised about $3,000 for the project, but the funds were never seen. The wounded soldier was Latseen Benson, son of former Democratic Lt. Governor candidate Diane Benson. He lost both of his legs in a bomb blast while serving in…

Open Thread – March!

Don’t forget to join your favorite Alaskan women (and men) at the Unite Against the War on Women March on Saturday, April 28 at 9th & I St. in Anchorage at 12:00 noon. Marchers will walk from there to Town Square, where there will be speakers and love music. People across the nation will unite to tell lawmakers in 50 states that we’ve had enough! (Everything below is shamelessly lifted from the announcement over at Bent Alaska) Everyone is invited to join, plan, and rally as we unite to demand that every person be granted equal opportunities, equal rights, and…

Open Thread — United Against the War on Women

We had our final meeting tonight before the March on Saturday…it’s now up to the Fates on how it goes. We have fabulous speakers and performers – Shannyn Moore, Libby Roderick, Dr. Colleen Murphy, Diane Benson, Eric Croft, to name a few! The March begins 12:00 noon at the Delaney Park Strip (the flagpole) and ends at the rally in Town Square Park. I hope that we see all of you there. (P.S. I thought the photo ironic in light of this evening’s disturbing Election Commission Report.)

We Won! Alaska Takes Two of the Top Ten Most Bizarre Political Ads (video)

Are we really surprised that Alaska is overrepresented in anything having to do with bizarre politics? No, we are not. Inspired by the very strange Herman Cain ad, in which his campaign manager, as a finale, takes a nice deep drag off a half-smoked cigarette, followed by a cutaway to an extreme closeup of Herman Cain staring in to the camera and taking a full ten seconds to finally and veeery sloooowwwly smile, the Washington Post has posted the top ten most bizarre political ads of all time. Guess who won the top spot? Anyone living in Alaska at the…

The Swindling of Our Wounded Warriors — A Request for Assistance *UPDATED*

By Linda Kellen Biegel Those of you who live in Anchorage may have heard about a fundraiser put on by Arkansas transplant politico and drag performer Caleb Pritt for an organization called “Homes for Our Troops.” The money was supposed to be designated towards a home for Latseen Benson and his family. Latseen lost both of his legs in a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq and required a more adaptive home to successfully complete everyday tasks. Homes for Our Troops was (is) in the process of building him one. It was still a few thousand dollars from completion when Caleb…

War is Over, if You Want it… Have a Nice Day.

This time of year, it seems that everyone’s thoughts turn to the war… No, not Afghanistan. No, not Iraq.  Not the War on Terror, or the War on Drugs. The War on Christmas. I’ve had to stay mum on the War on Christmas for professional reasons… until now.  I used to own a retail business, and therefore I tried to stay professionally neutral at all times. Back in the day, when I was a brand new bright-eyed, twenty-something shopkeep, and my first November in retail began to wane, I thought to myself… “What shall I say to people?”  “Have a…

Voices from the Flats – An AFN Diary. Day One.

By Elstun Lauesen I will begin with the end of the suspense. Rumors had been hanging like streamers from the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, making the day enticing to the drama-addicted media from the far reaches of Boston and New York. The closeness of the U. S. Senate race has made Alaska interesting again. Would Joe Miller dare to show up at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention being hosted by his hometown Convention and Visitor’s Bureau? Would the rumored dissidents from the Tribal rebel resistance blow the Federation Mothership sky high? Would the delegates (many informally expressing anger at…

Election 2010: There’s Only One Road to Transparency in Alaska…

  In June of 2009 I embarked on an idealistic journey. Thanks to many Alaskans and folks across the country, I was able to raise enough money so that the State of Alaska would release the Records Request they had been sitting on for months. When the emails arrived and the only “good stuff” was redacted  or witheld due to bogus-sounding claims of “privilege,” I was not worried. I was sure that as soon as the email lawsuits brought by Andree McLeod and Don Mitchell against Palin were resolved (in McLeod/Mitchell’s favor…no one thought otherwise), I would then be able…

Alaska Federation of Natives Convention Cancels Senate Debate

BREAKING: The Alaska Federation of Natives Convention has cancelled the senate forum scheduled for this weekend during the annual convention in Fairbanks. The cancellation comes after AFN sent invitations, and got commitments from at least one campaign.  AFN states that the cancellation comes because neither Lisa Murkowski nor Joe Miller has committed to attend the event. It is unclear if Mr. Miller will be at the convention.  Both Lisa Murkowski and Scott McAdams will be present at the convention. By their actions the AFN are in effect saying that Natives do not need to hear from, and should not hear from candidate(s) who committed to attend the…