Thanks to all who contacted their legislators regarding SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) yesterday. Google didn’t go dark, but included a link to take action against these two bills and got over 4 million people to make their feelings known. That’s some pretty impressive online activism.

Wikipedia, Reddit, and a host of other megasites went completely dark. The Mudflats followed suit. All of us here take the first amendment, and free uncensored speech pretty seriously. Online piracy is a serious problem, but starting down the slippery slope of regulated content and censorship through loosely worded legislation isn’t the way to fix it.

Believe it or not, both Alaska’s senators – Mark Begich (D) and Lisa Murkowski (R) have come out against PIPA (the Senate bill). Murkowski said that PIPA causes “serious concerns about our civil liberties.” Senator Begich also issues a statemt saying that “the theft of intellectual property and copyrighted material is a serious problem and solutions should strike an online balance between creativity, property protection and Internet freedom.”

Congressman Don Young? Well, he’s thinking about it.

Charges that Alaska’s one and only congressman took money for his legal defense fund illegally… (where have we heard THAT before in this state?) have been dropped, and Don Young has been cleared. The complaint stated that he’d taken too much money from an out-of-state bazillionaire donor with massive corporate interests in offshore drilling.

In addition to his startling whackjobbery, and inappropriate outbursts of rage, Don Young is getting awfully good at getting ethics complaints dismissed. It’s nice to have a broad skill set.

At issue was $60,000 in checks given to Young during a January 2011 fundraiser in Texas. Alaska’s lone congressman was handed an envelope by Gary Chouest, host of the fundraiser and president of Edison Chouest Offshore, a Louisiana company whose Alaska interests include an icebreaking ship it’s building for Shell’s planned drilling program in the Chukchi Sea. Edison Chouest is among the top campaign contributors to all three members of Alaska’s congressional delegation. The Chouest donations to Young’s legal fund were divided into a dozen checks of $5,000 apiece. Five thousand dollars is the maximum amount an individual or organization can give in a year to a congressman’s legal fund.

So, what’s the catch?  Well, technically, each of the $5,000 checks was written by a different company, with a different legal identity, and a separate insurance policy. It’s pretty clear that $5,000 is the maximum amount an organization can give, probably because the point of the law is to keep any one entity from being able to outright own congressional representatives, and limit them to the sway that $5,000 can buy. (Granted, in Alaska state government, this could have bought you a couple senators and change a couple years ago, but that’s another story…)

The problem Mr. Young ran into is that each of those companies that donated $5000 happened to be owned by the Chouest family. An attempt to get around the spirit of the law, perhaps?  Do we think that $60,000 can buy a little more influence than say, $5,000? Do we think that perhaps Don Young is a little more likely to listen to the concerns of offshore drilling mogul, his self-described “good friend” Gary Chouest than, let’s say… YOU?  Yes, these are all rhetorical questions.

But our very own “Teflon Don” has managed to tiptoe on the edge of the grey area ethically, but within the bounds of the black and white area, legally. To its credit, the House Ethics Panel did say that this behavior “challenges the principles of the contribution limits.”

“The Committee votes to dismiss the allegations, but is amending its (rules) to prohibit similar contributions in the future,” said the report submitted on Tuesday by Rep. Joe Bonner, R-Alabama, the committee chairman. Young put out a written statement after the ruling saying, “I am pleased that the Ethics Committee confirmed what I have maintained all along — I did nothing to violate House rules. I am glad the inquiry has been completed.”

He’s maintained it all along. Just like the last time. Innocence! Exoneration!  He’s done absolutely nothing wrong. “Spirit of the law…”  Pfft.

That’s our boy. Swings through the ethical jungle without actually smashing into a tree, but threads the needle to such an extent that a rules amendment has to be created in his (dis)honor.

And even though Young was the biggest congressional recipient of Edison Chouest money in the 2008 election cycle, Lisa Murkowski has also gotten a cool $41k since 2007, and $30k went to Mark Begich since his election in 2008.  You can’t accuse them of being partisan – any Alaskan influence will do.  Red… blue… it’s all green to them.

Also raised is the interesting question of why Don Young even HAS a legal defense fund at this point. He’s spent upwards of $2 million on legal fees to fend off other ethics charges that somehow vaporized. But according to Young’s chief of staff, just a week before the Chouest fundraiser, he’d paid off the last $25,000 bill.  Young himself said he’d stopped raising money for his legal troubles. And yet, the money still flows. I suppose it can’t hurt to save for the next rainy day… because you just know it’s coming.

By Elstun Lauesen

Franklin C. Spinney was a staff analyst attached to the Department of Defense’s ASD/PA&E (Tactical Air Division). In 1991 he wrote an independent position paper on why the F-22 should not have been approved for engineering and development. His objections were two-fold: first, the production of the F-22 didn’t make strategic sense and, second, the rush to get the plane into production was a mistake.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/docs/980326-f22.htm

Mr. Spinney worried that the strategic decisions affecting our Air Force were being dictated by the industrial-military complex, namely Lockheed Martin and their lobbyists; and he complained that the engineering was being compromised by the congressional pace of funding.

Spinney’s internal memo earned him a reprimand.

In 1998, he followed up his criticism with another letter sharply questioning the pace of engineering and design for the F-22. “The Air Force now wants to place the F-22 into production after only 4% of the testing is complete” Spinney continues, “It is important to understand that the F-22′s problems, like those of the F/A-18 E/F, were foreseeable and could have been avoided…” The analyst could barely contain his anger: “…The Air Force and Lockheed Martin now wants to increase the political lock on Congress by putting this airplane into production before 4% of its testing is completed”

The recent story (ADN:12/16/11) of the death of Capt. Jeff Haney in a fatal F-22 crash may be added to a history of crashes and malfunctions in the flawed and strategically unnecessary system. It is important to note that Spinney was not a whistle-blower; he continued to do his job as an analyst until his retirement in 2003. Spinney was a conscientious staffer for the DoD who was, regrettably for the family of Captain Haney, ignored.

Of course the “official” report could not blame the aircraft–despite the fact that the chain of events that led to the fatal crash began with malfunctioning air intakes that triggered a series of automatic shut downs. Blaming the pilot is the only recourse for the Industrial-Military Complex that President Eisenhower warned us about in his famous “Cross of Iron” speech.

The flawed F-22 and the corrupt practices that forced it into production described by Mr. Spinney deserve the attention of congress. Unfortunately, taking on the defense industry is not palatable for either Republicans or Democrats. Beholden to the irrational demands of an industry founded in the cold war, key politicians staunchly defend–even in this time of alleged deficit crisis–wasted billions on an engineering and strategic failure.

Alaska is a serfdom for the defense establishment just like Washington, California, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and other states dependent on DoD funding. At the peak of his power, Senator Stevens directed billions to the F-22 system, while his campaign received large defense contractor donations. Uncle Ted stood astride the very system that Mr. Spinney worried about, and President Eisenhower warned us about. In exchange we got an F-22 command based in Alaska. Do not expect to hear Begich, Murkowski or Young raise a single peep about this money-wasting and deadly weapons system; they are mere vassals in the serfdom of Defense.

I salute the many Air Force pilots who, like Captain Haney, were victims, not of enemy fire, but of a rotten system which crucified them on a “Cross of Iron.”

Apparently someone put something in Don Young’s oatmeal this week. OK, yes… he’s got something in his oatmeal every week, but this week he got an extra helping. Or perhaps he jus needs a bran muffin instead. Or perhaps the propeller beanie he wore to the Resources hearing a few days ago was a liiiitle too tight.

Whatever the reason, our “Congressman for All Alaska” was busily at his favorite hobby of seeing how many Alaskans he can get to put bags over their heads.

This time, his display came when speaking with Dr. Douglas Brinkley, an “ivory tower elite,” known to the rest of the world as an “educated person.”

Here’s the background.

Republicans in the House have a plan. They’d like to increase oil production and use some of the money to build and repair infrastructure projects. One of the places they’d like to increase production is on Alaska’s northern coastal plain, in an area known as ANWR – the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Democrats also have a plan. They’d like to roll back subsidies that the oil companies are now getting, and use that money to fund infrastructure projects. They argue that whatever the country would get from new development like ANWR would fall far short of what is necessary to make a real difference, and that the oil companies who are making money hand over fist can afford to chip in a lot more.

Let it be said that the vast majority of Alaskans are all for drilling ANWR – Republicans, Democrats, Independents, it doesn’t matter. So, Alaska’s congressional delegation in its various incarnations over the years has been fighting tooth and nail to get this done. Whoever manages to be the catalyst for drilling in ANWR can count themselves Senator or Congressman for life.

Many in the Lower 48 are opposed to this plan. ANWR has become the symbol of wilderness, the last spot on which the environmental movement will make their stand, stick their flag in the ground, and die on the principle that there are some wild places, remote and desolate or not, that we should just leave alone. So, how Alaska’s congressional delegation chooses to handle this touchy situation is critical. Is there any way to develop Alaska’s resources in this area, and somehow make it okay with environmentalists? Negotiations such as this are tricky, as you can imagine. Diplomacy, kid gloves, compromise, concession, and thinking outside the box will all be necessary to make everyone happy.

I’ve often wondered if there wasn’t some way to do it. For instance, oil drilling on the rest of Alaska’s north slope has certain benefits for Alaskans. Offshore drilling doesn’t. In that case we take all of the risk and get none of the reward except for some jobs that may or may not go to Alaskans. But onshore, a portion of the money made by the oil companies goes into Alaska’s Permanent Fund. This money is invested by clever, capable people, and the dividend is shared with all Alaskans. Every man, woman and child gets a check every year with which they may invest in their children’s future education, donate to charity, buy a plasma TV, take a trip, or stash it away for a rainy day.

Is there some way to take a healthy chunk of profits from drilling in ANWR (on shore) and put it towards a green energy permanent fund, where we can develop and implement some of the massive changes we’ll need to get ourselves off the petroleum-based dead end energy resource track we’re on? Is there a safe (surely safer than offshore drilling amid floating pack ice as Shell will soon be doing in the Arctic) way to tap that reserve fast, and get the hell out? Perhaps this kind of targeted green energy investment would speak to the environmental movement and Democrats in the House more than road projects would? What if we developed electric cars, or built wind farms, or explored the possibilities for tidal energy, geothermal, or solar…?

Fossil fuels are a finite resource whether we, or the oil companies, would like to believe it. So, how can we develop what we have now in a safe, directed and intentional way to save our hind quarters when all that is gone? There are many smart people, with many good ideas. Can’t we ratchet back subsidies like the Democrats want, AND develop certain places like the Republicans want? We’re innovative people. All it takes is someone from Alaska to explain, and propose forward-thinking solutions in a way that speaks to all people…

It takes someone like… not Don Young. He loves yelling at people who disagree with him, especially environmentalists whom he has referred to collectively as:

“… a self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots” who “are not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.”

But this time, one of those waffle-stompers (a reference to the imprints left by hiking boots) actually yelled back, and the Congressman didn’t like it much. The man in question is Dr. Douglas Brinkley, a professor and historian from Rice University. He opposes drilling in the Refuge, and has written a book on the subject.

The congressman starts off optimistically:

Young: If you ever want to see an exercise in futility, it’s this hearing. That side’s already made up its mind. This side has already made up its mind. And the, I call it garbage Dr. Rice… It comes from a mouth…

Brinkley: It’s Dr. Brinkley. Rice is a university. I know you went to Yuba college and couldn’t graduate.

Young: I’ll call you anything when you sit in that chair! You understand? You just be quiet!

Brinkley: Why?

Young: You be quiet!

Brinkley: Why? You don’t own me.! I pay your salary. I work for the private sector, you work for the taxpayer.

Here we must pause to enjoy the exact moment that Don Young and the staffer behind him react to the “You don’t own me” line.

At this point, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), the chairman of the committee reprimanded Brinkley and tried to gavel things back to order, telling him if he wanted to continue to be present he would follow the rules.

The Washington Post noted:

Young resumed, virtually spitting his words: “What I am suggesting, Mr. Brinkley. . .” And then went on for a few minutes, calling the prof an ivory-tower elite who doesn’t really know Alaska and describing the Arctic plain as a desolate, “nothing” kind of place that most Alaskans, he said, want to see drilled. The congressman also chided Brinkley for an earlier comment about Young’s absence from the room during his testimony — he was at a vote — and they kind of got into it again: “Don’t mention my name!” Young hissed.

So Brinkley didn’t. But he got his swipes in indirectly later in the hearing, contradicting statements from “the congressman who’s yet again left — doesn’t stay, blows smoke and then leaves.” That got a stronger reprimand from Hastings, who told the historian he was “disrespectful.”

A spokesman for Young later called the episode “a publicity stunt by Mr. Brinkley in order to sell books.” Witnesses, he said, “are invited to testify before Congress to answer questions and provide insight, not repeatedly interrupt.”

Brinkley was unapologetic when we reached him, calling Young “a crazy zealot for molesting the refuge” and saying he wished he “could have gone mano-a-mano” with him. “I was hoping for the chance to get into a heated debate with him, but, alas, it’s hard in that forum.”

Young: Now I have been all over that area.

Brinkley: I know you have.

Young: The Arctic plain is really nothing. You say it’s the heart, it’s not the heart.

Brinkley: I disagree with that.

Young: It’s part of the most deficit [sic] part of the area. And what hurts me the most, you sit there in the Rice University, when the people support drilling for their good and the good of the nation, as a college professor and ivory tower. You can go up there and camp and spend your time, and I hope you spent a lot of money. But the reality is this area should be drilled. I’ve been fighting this battle for 39 years.

Here is the video from CNN, clipped to the four minutes that were by far the most popcorn-worthy, and in which Don Young describes himself as “really pissed.”

Yes, we noticed.

Dear Rest of Nation,

You may have many things – cheap airline tickets, world-class museums and symphonies, outlet stores, the vineyards and orchards, good public transportation, five star restaurants, and fabulous architecture. But we have things too, like the best salmon in the world, soaring mountain vistas, drive up coffee stands, downtown moose… And, I feel confident in saying that you do not have a Congressman who wears a propeller beanie while questioning the Secretary of the Interior.

And we do.

Here is Don Young, “Congressman for All Alaska,”  at a Natural Resources hearing in our nation’s capital. He addresses Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar regarding how the energy plan affects Alaska, and about opening up the coastal plain of Alaska (i.e. the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) for oil exploration, a position with which most Alaskans agree.

If the meaning of the propeller hat is lost on you, here is the Congressman’s explanation:

“My hat that I’m wearing, my support of the Obama energy program, it’s called a propeller because there is no energy program.”

I trust that the symbolism is now crystal clear. 

Don Young – the cross we must bear because we keep voting for him. Carry on.

Once again, Alaska has topped the charts. Even though we have but one lone congressman, he holds a dubious dishonor. Yes, folks, Don Young is the least present member of the United States Congress.

Representative Don Young of Alaska likes to get around his home state, and he does not let his voting schedule get in the way. One Tuesday in July when his fellow House Republicans voted for their signature budget measure, known as Cut, Cap and Balance, Mr. Young was the only one among them to miss the vote, for a charity fishing trip in Whittier.

OK, a fishing trip in Whittier in July… for children with cancer… named after his deceased wife… I totally forgive him for that one, as I’m suspecting do most of my fellow Alaskans. However, that said, Mr. Young has missed 16% of all the votes this year.  SIXTEEN percent! What say you to that, Spin Doctor of Don Young, and therefore the most underpaid PR flak in DC:

“There are many things that factor into being an effective member of Congress in addition to voting, such as meeting with constituents,” said Luke Miller, the spokesman, in an e-mail. (Mr. Young did not respond to a request made on the House floor last Thursday to discuss the matter, because, in fact, he was not there.)

Doh!

OK, Mr. Miller. Don’t say any more. Just, …no… don’t!

“It should be noted,” Mr. Miller said, “that Alaska is over 10,000 miles away round trip.”

(I smack the heel of my hand on my forehead while inhaling sharply through clenched teeth)

It should be noted that (including a stop over in Seattle) it’s actually about 7500 miles round trip, AND the two United States Senators from Alaska don’t seem to be having the same problem with distance impeding their ability to do their jobs. Lisa Murkowski has missed 6% of the votes in the Senate, and Mark Begich hasn’t missed a single one.

(insert long saggy deflating note on an accordian for Don Young’s spokesman)

Well, this is one that definitely stood out.

We’ve got two candidates – Neal Foster, and Donny Olson. They’re both from Nome, and they are both running for re-election to the state legislature – Foster in the House, and Olson in the Senate.

Now, let’s put on our reading spectacles and have a careful look.

First, let’s see who our hosts for the event were. Who were those notable members of the community, whose ideals and principles are aligned with the candidate, and who put their names out there in close affiliation as if to say, “I, (fill in your own impressive name) support this candidate, and by virtue of that fact, so should you.” Let’s have a look at the top four.

1) John Shively – Pebble Partnership

Whoa. Right off the bat, number one sponsor, name in front, loud and proud. Shively used to be Chief of Staff for Governor Bill Sheffield and got caught lying, shredding documents, and being a general ne’er do well. He decided to turn his life around by doing something equally abhorrent, taking the reins on the Pebble Mine Project which threatens to destroy a huge commercial, sport, and subsistence fishery, the way of life for Alaska Natives in the region, and jeopardize thousands of sustainable jobs – all to line the pockets of some of the wealthiest and dirtiest environmental degraders in the world, in the form of foreign mining conglomerates Anglo-American and Northern Dynasty Minerals.

2) Gail Phillips – Former Republican Speaker of the House, and current shill/flak for… you guessed it… Pebble Partnership. She’s the Chairperson for the group “Truth About Pebble.” Yes, the name is as Orwellian as it sounds. Think “Ministry of Truth”, “Patriot Act” and “Clear Skies Act.”

3) John Binkley – Fairbanks native son, and former Republican candidate for Governor of Alaska. He ran in the primary against Frank Murkowski and then long-shot Sarah Palin. She used to call him “Bink” and “Rich Man Binkley” and “the machine candidate.” She accused him of “stealing” her website, and reacted to his copycat ways with a scathing “Shhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzz.” She worried that he was going “use his goofy grin” and the support of some of his influential “Mormon buddies” to gain support. She despised him as one of the corrupt “Good Ol’ Boys” that were the movers and shakers in the Republican Party, and as part of the problem she wanted to expunge from state politics. She shouldn’t have worried. But, Mr. Rich Man Bink landed on his feet and now works at the Alaska Cruise Association.

4) Orin Seybert – The founder of Peninsula Airways, and large political contributor to Republican candidates over the years. A quick search reveals that since 2006, he’s made 14 donations to Congressman Don Young (R), 7 to the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R), and 1 to former Gov. Frank Murkowski (R).

OK, knowing all that, are you ready for the question? This is going to sound like a total no-brainer. Ready?

What political party do both of the legislators for whom this fundraiser is being thrown belong to?

~Rep. Neal Foster and his candidate for United States Senate

If you’re still on the fence, take a look at where the fundraiser is being held – McGinley’s Pub in Anchorage. Yes, the same McGinley’s Pub of which Mayor Dan Sullivan is part owner. That little factoid totally clinches it for you, right?

Yes, they are Democrats.

(A collective WHA??? is heard over the mudflats)

You’ll notice how the flier carefully avoids that fact. They aren’t “Democrats” who’ve made a difference. They are “legislators” who’ve made a difference. What difference? Well, they’ve certainly made a difference in constituents’ ability to tell what political party they belong to, that’s for sure.

And this leads me to a question. Do we as Democrats (yes, I am still one for now) have no set of minimum basic requirements to allow our candidates to proudly put that D after their names? Should they not, in fact, draw to them people who believe as Democrats do, who want to see Democrats in office, and who support Democratic ideals?

Yes, I would argue, we should.

Perhaps there are those who would admonish a Democrat who said this with the argument, “Why are we fighting amongst ourselves? Let’s not eat our own!” But is there not some point at which we draw a line? Who is “our own?” And who is the “You” in the headline of this invitation? Inquiring minds want to know.

A man is known, the old adage goes, by the company he keeps. And this is some sad, sad company indeed for anyone who claims to represent the party for which they are registered. And truly, if these are your friends, and those who support you financially, and those who host fundraisers for you, then for crying out loud have the decency to take of the D-sguise and proclaim that you’re one of them.

[h/t Mudflatter North of the Range]

Don Young… what can you say? He’s Alaska’s one and only congressman, and he’s been Alaska’s one and only congressman since 1973.  That’s 38 regular years, which feels like 95 in Don Young years.  He defies explanation. He’s sort of a combination of the old curmudgeon in the neighborhood that sits on the porch telling the local kids to get off his lawn; the crazy uncle you see at family gatherings that drives you nuts, but loves dressing up like Santa; and the monkey with the typewriter who occasionally types a word, but the rest of the time flings poo.  It’s impossible to sum him up, but all you really need to say around these parts is, “Don Young,” and the response will likely be, “What did he say now?”

What I wouldn’t have given to be at the meeting of the Downtown Anchorage Rotary Club on Tuesday.

Things started off great, when the monkey at the typewriter waxed poetic for a brief moment about how today’s congress was too partisan, and how moderation is desperately needed. Why, Uncle Don is even taking those new crazy Republican freshmen under his wing and explaining how we all need to learn how to talk to each other and learn how to work together to be effective.

Then the monkey grabbed the typewriter by the return carriage and flung it out the window.

Next up – Cranky Lawn Guy. Apparently, the congressman suggested that he was crafting a bill. This bill, it seems, would… (get ready)… abolish every federal regulation that has been enacted since 1991.  Who needs ‘em? It’s the ultimate “we don’t want the damn feds tellin’ us what to do” legislation. We don’t know yet if it will actually be called the “Get Off My Lawn Bill,” but it seems pretty clear.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to hold the position of Don Young’s spokesperson. It’s probably like how many people who have served in war time describe it – long periods of boredom, punctuated by moments of abject terror and messy clean-up.

There were a few folks at the Rotary Club meeting who, after picking their lower jaws off the table, had some questions about this bill which would wipe out two decades of federal regulations about everything from aviation safety, to food inspection, banking, pesticide use, and hundreds of others.

One man at the luncheon stood and asked Young whether the congressman felt there should be any regulation of Wall Street.

Young responded he was not an expert on financial regulation but does believe there’s a role for it, so long as the government doesn’t go too far.

One would think that after 30 years of voting on the bills, and being a career politician, you’d be a bit of an expert, but let’s not interfere with the beginning of the back pedaling.

After a couple Advil and a stiff drink (I imagine) Young’s spokesman, Luke Miller, revised and finessed the congressman’s statement.

“The idea behind the legislation is simple; if an agency cannot justify the benefit of a regulation, then it has no business being on the books. The intent of this legislation is to reverse the regulatory overreach by the federal government, not to repeal regulations that are critical to the safety of Alaskans.”

So, it isn’t ALL the federal regulation, just the federal regulation that Don Young thinks is “overreaching,” which includes but is not limited to barges on the Yukon River and a bunch of other stuff that his spokesman will let us know when he does.  And, they admit, that the bill which hasn’t even been written yet isn’t likely to pass. But it sure did sound good at the time.

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]]> http://www.themudflats.net/2011/09/28/don-young-wants-to-annihilate-the-last-20-years-of-federal-regulation/feed/ 30 http://www.themudflats.net/2011/08/19/oyster-roundup-theft-shakedown-hot-sauce-and-more/ http://www.themudflats.net/2011/08/19/oyster-roundup-theft-shakedown-hot-sauce-and-more/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 21:03:28 +0000 AKMuckraker http://www.themudflats.net/?p=24466

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more!

[The Walrus and the Carptenter, Lewis Carroll]

A half dozen on the half shell. Slurp ‘em up! (Links in the titles)

Rick Perry, Evangelical Economist

Rick Perry thinks that God crashed the economy on purpose to teach us a lesson and return us to Biblical principles.

I think that God inflicted Texas with Rick Perry for not allowing gay marriage.

Rembrandt Returns!

I have conflicting feelings about art theft. While I understand more the impulse and obsession to own great art, rather than simply a desire for a pile of stolen bills, it still remains a fact that art theft deprives us of the joy and appreciation that can only come from a unique object of beauty.

That said – they caught the refined SOBs with the exquisite taste and returned the stolen Rembrandt.

 

Bridge from Hell Shakedown

Guess what, Alaskans! You know that giant span across Cook Inlet that now looks like a big watery hole into which we pour endless amounts of money to pay people to think about a bridge?  Well, be prepared because KABATA (the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority) has told us how it’s gonna be.

Consultants on the billion-dollar Knik Arm bridge project were pretty clear Thursday the financial plan for the bridge is for the state to foot the bill for any difference between how much money is collected in tolls and how much the private developer will be paid.

That’s right. You may now expect the invisible bony hand of KABATA to grab you by your ankles and shake you over the Boondoggle Pit until your pockets are empty. Have a nice day.

 

Hot Sauce Mom

Is punishing a 7-year-old by putting Tapatio sauce in his mouth torture? How about forcing him, sobbing and screaming, into a cold shower?

What does it mean to do these things to a child, at least in part, for the sake of publicity?

An Anchorage jury is looking at these questions this week in the case of Jessica Beagley, an Anchorage mother charged with misdemeanor child abuse after a video of her angry hot sauce and cold shower punishment session appeared on the “Dr. Phil” show.

Julia O’Malley at the Anchorage Daily News tweeted from what has been dubbed the “Hot Sauce Mom” trial, yesterday. Check out her excellent assessment of the whole sad mess.

Offshore Arctic Drilling… What Could Go Wrong?

Reports finally came today that divers in the North Sea have managed to stem a secondary leak in what has been the worst oil spill in those waters in decades.

Divers closed a relief valve which was the source of a small secondary leak, discovered after the first major leak in the pipeline at the Gannet Alpha platform had been plugged last week. Government officials are now opening an investigation into how the leak occurred and whether the correct procedures were followed. They will also have to decide whether Shell should pay for government expenses incurred in the clean-up operation.

Who is the culprit? What oil company was drilling in these northern waters, and was mandated with the job over oversight and stewardship of the North Sea and the life it supports? Royal Dutch Shell.

“Is that the same Royal Dutch Shell that is trying to drill in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off the North coast of Alaska?” you ask. “Why, yes. It is one and the same,” I answer. And to save your next string of questions, I’ll just answer them first. Yes, these are the people that tell us they can drill offshore amid pack ice, and never spill. Yes, the nearest Coast Guard base to the Beaufort and Chukchi is more than 2000 miles away, and is closer to Seattle than the drilling site. Yes, the entire congressional delegation of Alaska  -Murkowski (R), Begich (D), and Rep. Young (R) – think it’s a swell idea to drill there without requirements for acoustic triggers to collapse a leaking well, or relief wells, or a nearby Coast Guard Station equipped to handle a disaster.

To become further incensed at the stubborn ignorance of those who favor unsafe drilling, please read the excellent piece in The New York Times. At least someone out there “gets it.”

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]]> http://www.themudflats.net/2011/08/19/oyster-roundup-theft-shakedown-hot-sauce-and-more/feed/ 6 http://www.themudflats.net/2011/05/19/oyster-roundup-shuck-em/ http://www.themudflats.net/2011/05/19/oyster-roundup-shuck-em/#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 10:40:06 +0000 AKMuckraker http://www.themudflats.net/?p=22642

~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more!

Grab your metaphorical cocktail sauce and belly up to the oyster bar for some tasty news nuggets from Alaska and beyond…

Bigfoot Goes to Ketchikan?

Stop the presses! Mysterious shaggy grey ape-like creature almost clearly spotted through foliage and almost conclusively captured on shaky video by breathless videographer! Is it or isn’t it? You can watch the video yourself and make the call.

This is the first time a Bigfoot has been spotted in Ketchikan, and only the 22nd such sighting in Alaska.  And frankly, I think this time it might actually sort of be semi-iron clad circumstantial evidence which may or may not support the pseudo-existence of the world’s most elusive perhaps-mythical species. Wow!

 

Don’t Get Snippy

There are lots of stories to file under “Only in Alaska.” We call them T.I.A. (this is Alaska) moments. But here’s something that falls squarely under the category of things that you would never find in Alaska. It seems like a group of “intactivists” in San Francisco have hit the streets lobbying for a bill that would ban male circumcision. Hey, Mat-Su Dems! Anyone want to take up the charge?

Word of the Day – Oleaginous

Go ahead. Say it. Oh-lee-a-gin-us…. It’s a great word to say. It’s mellifluous (which happens to be another one). I was surprised I had not heard the word, and you can see why when you read the definition.

1 : resembling or having the properties of oil: oily, also: containing or producing oil
2 : marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality
ole·ag·i·nous·lyadverb
ole·ag·i·nous·nessnoun

What’s that? Use it in a sentence, you say? Hmm… Let’s see. (I stroke my chin as I think of one)

“Senator Mark Begich (AK-D) in a stunning display of oleaginousness was one of only three oleaginous Senators to vote to block a bill that would end a $2billion a year tax break for the five largest oil companies whose combined revenues last year were $1.5 trillion.
How’s that?

The Facebook Face of the Race

Experian Hitwise has been tracking Facebook data for high profile politicos that have figured into the presidential race in 2012.  Apparently, the total visits to Donald Trump’s Facebook page were already plummeting before he made the announcement on May 16 that he won’t be running. As a blogger, I have to say this news was tragic, but I’ll hold out hope that some other wingnut (nudge nudge wink wink) will throw her… or his… hat in the ring.  Visits to the Donald declined 49% for the week ending May 14th as compared to the previous week.President Obama and Sarah Palin’s Facebook pages are capturing the most visits. Make of that what you will. Visits to Mitt Romney’s Facebook page are on the rise, growing 44% from the week ending May 7th to the week ending May 14th. It’s a brave new world for statisticians.  Social media is shaping politics like never before unless you happen to be… 

 

“…the smartest congressman in Congress”

“And by the way, all of you who are texting, it’s public information. Just think about that. I’m the smartest congressman in Congress. I’ve never turned a computer on, never turned one off. And I tell you what, they better not call this phone, I’ll call out.”

“That’s why I’m the smartest congressman in Congress. Because everybody else knows what everybody else is doing. I mention Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor Spitzer…right down the line.”

So who IS the self-proclaimed smartest congressman in Congress who has never turned on, or turned off one of those new-fangled “computers”?  You may have guessed by now, but it is of course the Congressman for All Alaska – Republican Don Young. I could go on, but I’ll let the congressman’s words speak for themselves. No embellishment required.

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