Open Thread – Fear (Updated)
I took these pictures last winter when I visited the Museum of the North on the campus of the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. If anyone knows the name of the artist, please post it in the comments because I didn’t get a photo of the name of the piece, or the artist. I did stand in front of it for a long time. UPDATE: Thank you to Mudflatter Karen who sent me this photo of the information on this powerful piece.
Mudflats Chats – Joe McGinniss (Part 1)
Sarah Palin’s famous neighbor is gone, and Alaska is a little emptier than before. But before Joe McGinniss took off into the waning light of the late Alaskan summer and back to the East coast, I had the opportunity to sit down with him and talk about his book. No, not that one – the new edition of his classic Alaskan adventure Going to Extremes which was originally published in 1980. Like a nineteenth century flaneur (from the french to stroll, and meaning “a person who walks the city in order to experience it”) McGinniss traveled the state of Alaska…
Open Thread – Troll of the Week Award!
For the most part, dealing with internet trolls is mildly distasteful, but it’s pretty easy to get rid of them, and with a click of the mouse I imagine them hurtling through space and landing in the mudflats. >splat!< But there are a couple trolls who are quite persistent and I’m not sure if they’re actually aware that their posts never get up on the blog, and don’t generally get read at all. But no matter to me. However, there was one trollish retort that I couldn’t bring myself to delete. I’ve had it in my spam queue for a…
Anchorage’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance – New Developments
Today, new developments arise in the matter of controversial Assembly ordinance #64. The ordinance would add the words “sexual orientation” to the city’s non-discrimination law. Those two little words have drawn battle lines, and made Assembly meetings look like a weird hybrid of football game, church revival and street fair. Walking into the Loussac Library feels like the moment when you hold your nose, take a deep breath and jump in the pool, not knowing quite how cold it’s going to be. The brain chemicals are pumping, and the emotions eminating from reds and blues alike make the air thick,…
Oyster Roundup!
Thick and fast, they came at last, and more and more and more! – Lewis Carroll Be There for Health Care I’ve had a few people ask me where Mark Begich stands on including a public option in the new healthcare plan. The answer is….I’m not sure. But you have an opportunity to raise your voice with the more than 75% of Americans who want a public option. Senator Begich will have a Health Care Reform Town Hall Meeting tomorrow, Saturday, June 20, from 10:30 to noon at the Willa Marston Theatre in the Loussac Library. Grassroots outcry for a…
Open Thread – Brian Must Be a Muckraker Magnet
I had the great good fortune to meet Dr. Riki Ott last week. She is the author of the book Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, and won Cook Inletkeeper’s Muckraker of the Year award in 2008. I’ve wanted to meet her for a long time, and she’s just as great as I had imagined. That doesn’t often happen. She is also working hard at another interesting project that you can read about at the website Ultimate Civics. The goal is to bring into creation the 28th amendment to the constitution. …
As if One Wasn’t Enough…..Meet Dan Sullivan.
Rep. Lindsay Holmes was the featured guest on today’s Demo Memo on KUDO 1080am. Kathy Phillips asked what she thinks of the new AG nominee, Dan Sullivan. Holmes has heard some concerns from members of the Alaska Bar. Apparently there are some mumblings like “Couldn’t you find someone who’s actually living here?” Kind of a “What are we, chopped liver?” vibe. I’ll add to their griping by pointing out that there are now two Dan Sullivans in Alaska’s small pantheon; Dan Sullivan the incoming mayor, and now Dan Sullivan the Attorney General nominee. I don’t know how everyone will deal…
Michael Savage Tells Us “What Happened” to America.
Caller (with pronounced accent): What happened to us Dr. Savage? (speaking of the country) Savage: What happened to us? How many ways can I tell you who did this to us? It started 30 or 40 years ago with the radical left. It started with so many different pressure groups screaming for their own ends in order to suppress the white Christian heterosexual married male. The white, Christian, heterosexual, married male is the epitome of everything right with America, and yet it is the white, Christian, heterosexual, married male who has been made the beast of America. I can delimit for…
Palin Won’t Release Amount of Gifts Because It’s a Secret! Shhhhh…..
It an amazing display of a different kind of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the Palins when asked to disclose how much the gifts Todd Palin receives from Arctic Cat (his sponsor for the Iron Dog snowmachine race) are worth, and they replied with silence. They “can’t” tell us. (looking around furtively and whispering in your ear) It’s a secret. That’s right, gifts which could, according to sources, be worth in excess of $20,000 for the year 2008 alone are a “trade secret” according to the governor’s personal attorney, Thomas Van Flein. These gifts include snowmachine(s) and “any discounts offered on wear.” …