I wrote this last winter but didn’t post it then. Sadly, it still stands. By Shannyn Moore It’s hard to describe how surreal it was to meet the man who wrote a book I grew up with. I remember the cover. Joe McGinniss had written one of the best books about Alaska, though controversial in [...]

I will argue with people about voting. More vehemently if they don’t vote than if they vote for someone different than me. No, candidates aren’t all the same, and it’s a form of freeloading if you don’t vote. If democracy were a religion, voting would be the sacrament. Alaskans have an amazing record of being [...]

~The original Captain Zero Before I go off on some rant about how my forefathers fought the British to birth a country that could VOTE, and how siding with the British to take away the right of Americans to vote should be called treason, I’ll take a deep breath and explain a few things. Since [...]

In the light of Anthony Weiner resigning over a personal problem affecting his professional life, it would seem that someone actually guilty of a professional misdeed affecting her professional life might be called to account. If Mark Begich had been faced with the situation Lisa Murkowski was faced with this week, we’d likely hear the [...]

  By Shannyn Moore My sister and I were doing homework and talking about a boy in our junior high school. We were laughing about the dirty high-water pants he seemed to wear every single day. I looked up to see a tight-faced Pop. I was confused until he said, “There was a time I [...]

By Shannyn Moore I should have a disclaimer on this column. I am the daughter of two retired educators. Their story is simple, but serendipitous. Two college graduates from depressed communities in the South had an opportunity to come to Alaska as teachers — for one year. It has now been well over 40. As [...]

By Shannyn Moore It’s summer in Alaska. Days are long and the fish are running. For most of us, it’s the season for rain-gear and fleece, fishing tackle and clam shovels, not torches and pitchforks and recall petitions. That’s lucky for Gov. Sean Parnell. A few weeks ago, Attorney General John Burns addressed a federal [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

  “The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea.”       –Isak Dinesen

By Shannyn Moore Wahoo! Who needs a Red Bull and a seat belt? YOU! That’s who! Tomorrow, Sunday, June 5, Firedoglake’s Book Salon will feature Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin – A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years. I’ll be hosting the event, and you’ll be able to ask Jeanne Devon (AKM) about the book – [...]

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 [...]

The gavels were banged and lawmakers sent home. The governor, hoping no one does their homework, put out his spin. House leadership would be held back a grade if they were in school instead of Juneau. The governor? Well, he’d be expelled for disruptive behavior, bullying, not playing well with others and throwing the state [...]

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 [...]

By Shannyn Moore We’re Alaskans. We fly. I don’t like it, but with 80 percent of our communities off the road system, flying is a necessary part of our lives. Last month, Rep. Sharon Cissna, a survivor of both physical abuse and breast cancer, refused an invasive TSA pat-down at SeaTac. Instead of flying, she [...]