Posted by Shannyn Moore on January 31, 2016 · 3 Comments
To the disappointment of conspiracy nuts across the U.S. of A, President Barack Obama confirmed this week he won’t run for a third term. Even if he could, he said, his wife wouldn’t let him. And besides, why would he want to get treated like the substitute teacher for another four years? Oh, that’s right. The only people crazier than armed bird refuge squatters are those contending for the GOP nomination for president. I wonder what any one of the GOP candidates thinks about Alaska? Drill? Um, we tried that. The oil companies are going to keep our oil in…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Barack Obama, Democrats, Economy, Election 2016, Elections, Headlines, Nation, Poverty, Progressive Voices, Republicans, Voting · Tags Alaska caucuses, Alaska Democratic Caucuses, Alaska Democratic Party, Barack Obama Alaska, Bernie Sanders Alaska, Hillary Clinton Alaska
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 5, 2014 · 60 Comments
On election night, one state in the nation voted to legalize marijuana, raise the minimum wage, and add an extra level of environmental protection for sensitive ecosystems facing development. It’s largest city also voted to overturn an anti-labor ordinance which was the brain child of a Mayor (running as a Republican for Lt. Governor) who appears to be about to go down in flames to a non-partisan gubernatorial ticket. That’s like a cool, edgy progressive place to live, right? What if I told you that this very same state has elected by a comfortable margin, a majority in the legislature…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska House Race, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Democrats, Don Young, Election 2014, Elections, Environment, Headlines, Joe Miller, Labor, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Mayor Dan Sullivan, Nation, Numbskullery, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Pebble Mine, Popcorn time!, Progressive Voices, Rallies and Events, Republicans, Scratch it, Sean Parnell, Ted Stevens, US Congress, Vitamin Democracy · Tags Alaska election results, Begich Senate, Don Young congress, Forrest Dunbar Congress, Sullivan Senate, walker, Walker Governor Alaska, Walker Mallott
Posted by Jeanne Devon on July 18, 2014 · 11 Comments
When I moved to Alaska at 24 years old, I’d never been here, knew not a soul, had no job, and $300 in my pocket. But I was off on a grand adventure to a foreign land. When I touched down in Anchorage in the middle of February after a mind-blowing flight 3 and a half hours north from Seattle, this guy was the first to greet me. I never knew what became of him after the big airport renovation all those years ago, but I found him by the Frontier Airlines check-in. He hasn’t changed. At 14 hours…
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Category Blog News & Features, Brian the Moose & Friends, Democrats, Fun!, Headlines, International News, Nation, Progressive Voices, Rallies and Events, Repro Rights, The Shannyn Moore Show · Tags Debbie Stabenow, Jeanne Devon, Lizz Winstead, Netroots Detroit, Netroots Joe Biden, Netroots morning dump, Netroots Nation 2014, nn14, Shannyn Moore
Posted by Jeanne Devon on July 18, 2014 · 3 Comments
Detroit, Michigan – Vice President Joe Biden addressed the progressive activist Netroots Nation convention in the ballroom of the Cobo Center in Detroit on Thursday, explaining that he was 45 minutes late for his scheduled speech because of the crash of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, shot down over Ukraine earlier in the day. “About three hundred souls were lost,” Biden said, acknowledging that some of those may have been American citizens. He described the situation as “grave,” saying, “The families need consolation and our prayers.” The Vice President explained that he had been engaged with a national security team, and on…
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Category Democrats, Environment, Headlines, Health Care Reform, International News, Labor, LGBT, Nation, Progressive Voices, Rallies and Events, US Congress, Voting · Tags Biden climate change, Biden LGBT, Biden Malaysian airliner, Biden Poroshenko, Biden Ukraine, Biden voting rights, Biden Yeats quote, GetEqual, Netroots 2014, Netroots Detroit, Netroots Nation, United We Dream, Yeats Easter 1916
Posted by Jeanne Devon on March 27, 2014 · 3 Comments
ANCHORAGE, AK— There are two types of Facebook stati: those providing the reader with value of some sort—informational, cautionary, or even just escapist entertainment value—and those benefitting only the writer: appeals for sympathy or money, self-congratulatory piety, boastful one-upsmanship, you know all the flavors. The second type is never in short supply, but here are three examples of effective social media use by public officials which—while of benefit to constituents and the public, indeed for that very reason—will also pay dividends when the candidate makes an ask around campaign time. The Feedback Loop Fairbanks Rep. Scott Kawasaki’s approach highlights an…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Bill Wielechowski, Democrats, Elections, Headlines, Nation, Popcorn time!, Progressive Voices, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Sean Parnell, Skulduggery, Strategery · Tags Alaska politicians, Alaska social media fail, Bill Wielechowski, Captain Zero, Fred Dyson, Hollis French, Jesse Kiehl, Lance Roberts, Les Gara, Palin social media, scott kawasaki, Sean Parnell
Posted by Jeanne Devon on March 5, 2014 · 20 Comments
JUNEAU, AK—Opposition to abortion rights has been the political hallmark of Alaska State Senator Fred Dyson (R-Eagle River). He is also, as these ironies invariably go, opposed to expanding contraceptive access. “By and large, sexual activity is recreation,” the senator intoned today during floor debate on SB49. “The state shouldn’t finance other people’s recreation.” Does the senator favor elimination of all state parks? What of the Department of Fish & Game—some of which relates to subsistence, but which also serves recreational endeavors? Is he aware that it is public, state-financed roads taking us to our state’s ski resorts, or does he imagine…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Democrats, Election 2014, Headlines, Health, Progressive Voices, Republicans, Roll your eyes into it, Shake it, Teabaggery, Women's Issues · Tags abortion, Alaska Legislature, Berta Gardner, contraception, Fred Dyson, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, reproductive choice, reproductive rights, sb49, Sen. Dyson, state senate
Posted by Jeanne Devon on February 25, 2014 · 1 Comment
With the governorship, a US senate seat, our lone Congressional seat, and SB 21 repeal all on the statewide ballot, 2014 is a critical election year in Alaska. Given recent gerrymandering and the influx of outside political money, the state represents significant challenges for Democrats. The Mudflats spoke with Democratic Party Chair Mike Wenstrup about the state of the state, his party, and its future. Alaska doesn’t seem to be a very hospitable place for Democrats these days, so what compelled you to want to run the state party? Alaska values are Democratic values: Respect for personal privacy, government restraint, maximizing public benefits…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Democrats, Don Young, Election 2013, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Joe Miller, LGBT, Mark Begich, Mayor Dan Sullivan, Mead Treadwell, Progressive Voices, Redistricting, Republicans, Resource Development, Sean Parnell, Voting · Tags 2014, Alaska, Dan Sullivan, Democrats, Don Young, election, Joe Miller, Mark Begich, Mead Treadwell, Mike Wenstrup, Sean Parnell, state party, US House, US Senate
Posted by Jeanne Devon on February 6, 2014 · 11 Comments
OK, can we just stop for a minute, and revel in something? First let me start by saying that I have long tried to convince the unconvinceable that Alaska is bluer than its current slate of lawmakers would lead one to believe. Now I’ve got backup. Public Policy Polling came out with some numbers that reflect a change on The Last Frontier. It’s the kind of change that says, “You know, we’ve been thinking about it, and maybe we don’t really want to be a backward, redneck, socially intolerant oil colony after all.” Here are some highlights: -For the first…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Democrats, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Hooray!, Labor, LGBT, Number crunchery, Oil & Gas, Pebble Mine, Polls, Popcorn time!, Progressive Voices, Republicans, Resource Development, Sarah Palin, SB21, Sean Parnell · Tags Alaska legal marijuana, Alaska marriage equality, Alaska minimum wage increase, Alaska same sex marriage, Alaska unemployment benefits, Palin popularity in Alaska, Sarah Palin, SB21 Alaska, Sean Parnell
Posted by Jeanne Devon on December 31, 2013 · 18 Comments
Since it’s two millennia plus a baker’s dozen on the calendar, we thought that it seemed appropriate to give a nod to the top 13 Mudflats stories of 2013. We noticed that six of the top 13 posts are about a certain former half governor who used to steer Alaska’s ship of state. We’re not quite sure what to make of this. We’re not ones to pat ourselves on the back, but that option is less horrifying to us than thinking that Sarah Palin is still all that important. We prefer instead to believe that she has simply morphed, devolved…
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Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Anchorage Assembly, Barack Obama, Economy, Elections, Fun!, Good Tidings & Great Joy - the Book, Headlines, Hooray!, Humor, International News, John McCain, Labor, Mat Su, Mayor Dan Sullivan, Municipality of Anchorage, Nation, Popcorn time!, Progressive Voices, Sarah Palin, Second Amendment, Todd Palin, Veterans · Tags Adam Trombley, Anchorage Assembly, Battle of the Bulge, duck dynasty, Fukuppy, Good Tidings and Great Joy, Mr. Balls, Mudflats blog, Mudflats top posts, Mudflats year in review, Palin book, phil robertson, Sarah Palin, Vince Beltrami, WWII
Posted by Jeanne Devon on June 27, 2013 · 5 Comments
Day of Decision, Castro Edition. (Pics at City Hall by friend of the Mudflats, Joanie Juster. Pics from the Castro by Mudflats webmaster, Thomas Dewar.) San Francisco’s City Hall opened its doors at 6:30 a.m. for people to wait for the Supreme Court’s decisions on the two cases determining the legality of same-sex marriage: Proposition 8 and DOMA. When both of these unjust laws were struck down, City Hall erupted in joy. The celebration in the capitol of LGBT America — San Francisco’s Castro District — was the kind of bedlam one would expect yesterday. The streets were packed shoulder…
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