A little mid-winter magic from Town Square Park.

Alaska is a land of character and characters – colorful folks who’ve become deliciously quirky icons and who, like the late Uncle Ted Stevens, and the current Don Young, are mixed bags. Sure, the Congressman for All Alaska is admirably unafraid of his party’s leadership in DC. It’s always great to see him thumb his [...]

There are technically two hours left in February 7 (Alaska time) to wish Charles Dickens a Happy 200th Birthday. So the open thread comes a wee bit earlier than usual. “Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.” ~ [...]

I’ve been watching and waiting for this ruling to come down today. A panel of the 9th Circuit Court of appeals just struck down California’s ban on same-sex marriage. This issue is now headed for the United States Supreme Court, where Justice Kennedy is likely to be the deciding vote. That ruling could come as [...]

Brian the moose was lucky enough to attend a fabulous performance of The Capitol Steps at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday. He enjoyed it immensely. But the best part was getting to meet long-time Mudflatter and Palin impersonator extraordinaire, Bari Biern (right) and new Mudflatter in the cast Janet Gordon (left). [...]

It’s always nice to report good news, and today’s news was really good. The Mudflats has had ongoing coverage of the protests against the Anchorage Hilton and the Anchorage Sheraton, and on Friday a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Remington Hospitality (which demonstrates none.) ~The President of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka in Alaska [...]

We’ve had several occasions to bust our buttons here at The Mudflats over the last few years. Readers and those in the blogging and journalism communities have been kind to us with various honors and praise over the years. But today is an especially proud one for us. Our very own Shannyn Moore is taking [...]

By Shannyn Moore When I was 33, Mom and Pop Moore were staying with me. Mom was undergoing radiation and chemotherapy for breast cancer. For those of you who have been around a loved one with cancer, I don’t have to explain. For those of you who haven’t, nothing can prepare you for it. It [...]

Being the open thread, feel free to chit chat about anything you like, post links, etc. There is no “off-topic” here. That said, enjoy this wonderful clip from a 1972 talk by psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl. Happy Sunday. **The blog is experiencing some technical difficulties. For some reason, comments are not posting on [...]

I ventured forth this morning into downtown Anchorage. After a cold snap with temperatures in the double digits below zero, things finally warmed up – and then this happened. The forecast was for 8-16 inches of snow in Anchorage, and more at “higher elevations.” Whenever you hear the words “higher elevations” you can think “Mudflats [...]

~And they would’ve got away with it too… if it weren’t for that pesky Constitution! The question is “school choice.” That’s what they call it, anyway. Anchorage is fortunate in that there is already a great network of 27 charter schools available for those who want a public school alternative. And America is fortunate that [...]

Here’s hoping all you Alaskans and honorary Alaskans alike had a Happy Marmot Day!  That’s right, we have Marmot Day, which replaced Groundhog Day. Groundhogs are marmots, but marmots are not necessarily groundhogs, and there are no groundhogs in the 49th state. It’s the third one in our state’s history. Marmot Day came about thanks to [...]

The only thing more humiliating than a public figure’s gargantuan screwup-by-retweet (see above) is an alert citizen grabbing a screen shot of it before the perp’s hapless attempt to scrub it. When not embarrassing herself on Twitter, Karen Handel, the now famous, Palin-endorsed former gubernatorial candidate and reactionary from Georgia, has been busy making liars [...]

As the immediate past Vice Presidential nominee, it’s hardly surprising that most people outside Alaska view Sarah Palin as a card-carrying member of the GOP establishment. Despite her husband Todd’s seven year dalliance with the secessionist Alaska Independence Party, and his quiet conversion to the GOP when his wife decided to run for office, Sarah [...]

This actually works really well.