Posted by Jeanne Devon on July 1, 2011 · 14 Comments
The past two budgets have included $84 million for a bridge…to somewhere in Alaska. Senators Wielechowski and French have written a letter to the Alaska Railroad with some concerns. ANCHORAGE- Today, Senators Bill Wielechowski and Hollis French are calling on Alaska Railroad officials to ensure steel products made only in America are used to build a bridge over the Tanana River near Salcha. The Senators say numerous constituents have recently contacted them, concerned that the Alaska Railroad Corporation is considering using foreign steel on the massive project. “Alaskan funds should be used for Alaskan and American jobs and goods,” said Senator Wielechowski,…
Category Alaska, Joe Miller, Nation, Pebble Mine, Sean Parnell · Tags alaska jobs, Alaska Railroad, chinese labor, Hollis French, Palin, Parnell, wielechowski
Posted by Jeanne Devon on June 7, 2011 · 41 Comments
Want to see the Arctic Ocean? Just start driving the Haul Road north of Fairbanks. You’ll pass through miles and miles of rugged, beautiful, unfenced land. The road is rough and there aren’t many amenities like gas stations, toilets or cell service. And before you make it to the ocean, there’s one other complication: the security gates. The gates belong to the oil companies. In the past few years, all of us have spent more than a billion dollars to “beef up” the road, which is owned and maintained by the State of Alaska and considered a “road to resources.”…
Category Uncategorized · Tags Alaska, Alaska resource development, Arctic Ocean, Chuitna, donlin creek, federal land, national park, Palin, Parnell, Pebble Mine, Tongass
Posted by Jeanne Devon on May 17, 2011 · 35 Comments
Alaskans are a bunch of people who want to be around a bunch of people who don’t want to be around a bunch of people. By Shannyn Moore I once saw a bush pilot restart his plane with the gum wrapper off a piece of Big Red. I asked him if it would work. He smiled and said, “It’ll get me to where I can get what I need.” That seems to be a prevailing philosophy here. Tyvek is not siding, but it’ll keep the wind out. In May a delegation of Alaska lawmakers will head to Norway. The intellectually…
Posted by Jeanne Devon on May 15, 2011 · 41 Comments
Last week a woman called my radio station. She squealed at my producer, “Who is this woman? She sounds like a LIBERAL!” There is a good reason I sound like a liberal: I am. And the caller would be surprised to learn that this puts me right in step with the history and the foundation of our state. So much of what I believe stems from equality granted by our constitution. It was written by more Democrats than Republicans yet delegates debated in a spirit of nonpartisanship. One delegate said, “we chose to put the good of Alaska ahead of…
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 10, 2010 · 216 Comments
Streeeeetch….. streeetch your minds back, Mudflatters. It’s February of 2009, and Sarah Palin wings her way to the remote village of Russian Mission to address the problems of the food/fuel crisis that was causing rural residents to have to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families. Palin’s solution? No, not a state of emergency, silly. That would be a government public sector-type solution. The private sector provided her with evangelical preacher Franklin Graham, a cushy private jet, some boxes of food with a sprinkling of religious literature, and a plate of Sarah’s homemade cookies. Really. She brought cookies. Cookies that…
Posted by Jeanne Devon on September 9, 2009 · 191 Comments
The sock puppet strikes again. Twice in 24 hours someone calling themselves “Sarah Palin” has written a statement on her Facebook page. I’m pleased that the White House is finally responding to Republican health care ideas instead of pretending they don’t exist.[1] But in doing so President Obama should follow his own sound advice and avoid making “wild misrepresentations”.[2] Medicare vouchers would give everyone on Medicare the chance to decide for themselves which health plan to use, rather than leave that decision to government bureaucrats. Such proposals are the kind of health care reform that Republicans stand for: market-oriented, patient-centered,…
Posted by Jeanne Devon on July 30, 2009 · 116 Comments
Things are buzzing here at Mudflats Central this morning. Something’s come out of the Number Crunchery Department! They’re usually pretty quiet over there. We see a light on late at night down the hall, and we hear all kinds of paper shuffling and clacking keyboards and adding machine tape, but we’re never quite sure what’s going on. Then every once in a while the door bursts open, making everyone jump, and a rather disheveled looking number cruncher stands in the door frame looking triumphant, clutching a little piece of paper. There’s usually lots of cheering when this happens because the…
Posted by Jeanne Devon on July 23, 2009 · 153 Comments
Boots? Check. Shovel? Check. Aspirin? Check. Flask? Check. OK, looks like we’re ready to go on a field trip, and shovel our way through yesterday’s press release from Kristan Cole, trustee for The Alaska Fund Trust (aka Sarah Palin’s legal defense fund). Stick with me and don’t get separated, or we may never find you in there. It’s easy to get lost in the histrionics, the whining, and the unrelenting spin. Ready? First off, we learn that the conclusions reached by Mr. Daniel are “unprecedented in the history of our country.” Yes, never in 223 years and two weeks has there…
Posted by Jeanne Devon on July 7, 2009 · 219 Comments
OK folks, here we go. Rub your palms briskly on your face, and shake out your arms. The Palin transition begins… So, last February, Sarah Palin appointed someone to be third in line for the governor’s office. That someone was Wasilla High School pal Joe Schmidt, Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. An odd choice for several reasons. But nevertheless, it’s the governor’s prerogative to choose, and he was confirmed by the legislature. Now presumably, whomever accepts the position of #3 in line to the throne is thinking … “Wow. If anything happens, like the governor deciding to run for…
Category Alaska Governors Race, Alaska Legislature, Bang it, Election 2010, Sarah Palin, Sean Parnell · Tags Alaska Legislature, Craig Campbell, Joe Schmidt commissioner, Lieutenant Governor Alaska, Palin, Sarah Palin special session, Sean Parnell
Posted by The Mudflats on June 26, 2009 · 120 Comments
There’s a bit of sage advice that most politicians take to heart: Rise above the fray. President Obama is a great example of how this works. Sarah Palin and spokeswoman Meg Stapleton are a great example of why the advice exists in the first place, and as we have seen before, they are main characters in yet another cautionary tale. After the now infamous “Divagate” incident, Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton issued the following ill-conceived screed: Recently we learned of a malicious desecration of a photo of the Governor and baby Trig that has become an iconic representation of a mother’s…
Category Alaska, Baffle it, Barack Obama, Election 2012, Republicans, Roll your eyes into it, Sarah Palin, Shake it · Tags Celtic Diva, Diva's Blue Oasis, George Soros, Linda Kellen-Biegel, Meghan Stapleton, Obama photoshop, Obama Soros, Obama Soros photoshop, Palin, Palin Soros, Palin Trig photoshop, Sarah Palin Trig, SarahPAC
