Alaska
updated
7:41 a.m.
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Last week, I don't think I was the only Progressive who felt a little (OK, a LOT) depressed about the news. The most serious blow nationally was obviously the Supreme Court decision in the Citizen's United case, that Corporations could use millions of dollars under the guise of the First Amendment. Locally, it was our own Alaska Superior Court's (via the "drunk judge") decision to allow p...
Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis - Sat 4:42 a.m. - 11 clicks 
I know, I know…SOL rarely takes on state or national figures, but Lisa Murkowski has written a few opinion pieces in the local rags lately that offer poorly thought through ideas. Since Lisa has invaded my turf, I think a SOL response is order. I wish I could say that I was using a bit of hyperbole with my headline, but unfortunately that’s what will happen if the US goes along with Lisa Murkowsk...
SOL in Soldotna, Alaska - Thu 6:16 p.m. - 4 clicks
Using a hydroponic herb garden as a mental health tool This winter, I've discovered that Seasonal Affective Disorder enhanced by the clinical depression I've had since I was a kid gets worse as I get older. Yay... It's been close to impossible to even have the energy to post. Usually, I at least get a "boost" off of the Holidays but it didn't happen this year. Of c...
Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis - Jan 29 - 3 clicks
The very same week we had a ruling that set back ethics 200 years coming out of the U.S. Supreme Court , the Alaska Superior Court delivered a set-back to government transparency : JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - An Alaska judge has sided with former Gov. Sarah Palin in a lawsuit over e-mail messages, finding that state law does not forbid the use of private e-mail accounts to conduct state busin...
Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis - Jan 25 - 2 clicks
Recently, I posted a culinary tribute to Elvis courtesy of my good friend and musician extraordinaire, Patti Greene. Patti may not know it, but she is one of my primary survival tools during the Alaska winters. Over the 20(?) years I've known her, she frequently shares her philosophy of how to make the best of that long, cold stretch between the New Year and spring: "Don't make ...
Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis - Jan 20
Indicators that this "protest" was a bad idea: --On Wednesday, Eddie Burke had his butt handed to him repeatedly on his own show! It's amazing how Alaskans get irritated: 1) When out-of-state folks (and we know they are because of their Facebook and Twitter pages) try to tell OTHER out of state (even out-of-country) folks that it's a good idea to interfere with STATE OF ALASKA SU...
Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis - Jan 8 - 4 clicks
I'd take a bet that not one of the 13,113 Alaskans who voted for Nikiski's Bob Bird would have voted for Mark Begich. But if Bob didn't run, most of his votes would have gone to Ted Stevens who trailed his opponent by a little over 3000 votes. Without Mark Begich in the US Senate, the Democrats would not have had the 60th vote needed to quell Republican efforts to filibuster. The defeat would h...
SOL in Soldotna, Alaska - Dec 31 - 3 clicks
Does anyone lament the loss of the snow geese that used to use the flats as a feeding ground on their yearly migration? KSRM used to have a contest to spot their first arrival in the spring. And what about the caribou? I didn’t see a single one there this past summer. It wasn’t too long ago that you could often spot beluga whales in the lower Kenai. You still might get lucky and see a few come up...
SOL in Soldotna, Alaska - Dec 29
Today is Make-fun-of-contradictions Day. Some choice quotes from today’s News-Miner article on Lisa Murkowski’s Health Care Town Hall Meeting. Rick Sikma of North Pole asked why the federal government thought it ought to be involved in health care in the first place. “I don’t see that in the Constitution,†he said, applause drowning out the rest of [...]...
I Love Cynics - Dec 23 - 2 clicks
If you haven't heard, last week the senate voted to keep the language in the defense authorization act to keep retirement pay to the veterans who served in the Alaska Territoral Guard. Sen. Begich press release Sen. Murkowski press release From Begich: Sens. Begich and Murkowski introduced a bill providing for the pensions to be restored to the ATG members, but were also successful in ge...
Alaska Real - Oct 14
Tomorrow (Tuesday, October 6) is a day of local elections in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. I’ve done a little work on one campaign, enough to make me sad for the state of electoral politics. I spent one evening and one morning recently (in separate weeks) working for a particular local candidate. (I’ll say that he’s [...] ...
Fairbanks Pedestrian - Oct 5
I read Julie O'Malley's column (in the Anchorage Daily News) on the Masek sentencing last week, and it's been a point of discussion with several friends. Beverly Masek was an Alaskan representative convicted on corruption charges in the string of corruption investigations, indictments and convictions to hit the state in recent years, the most notable of them being Sen. Ted Stevens. Besides ol' U...
Alaska Real - Sep 28
From Indian Country Today: Obama administration makes new promise on Indian health I've been cautious to say anything on health care. As an Alaska Native, I've lived with pre-paid health care my whole life. It wasn't until I was a nanny, and had to navigate quite a bit of Denali Kid Care and doctor's outside of the Native health care system did I start to gain an appreciation for the enormity ...
Alaska Real - Sep 24 - 2 clicks
Just stumbled on this very cool opportunity for Native artists of all kinds. The Alaska Native Heritage Center is starting an Alaska Native Playwrights Project , in which artists will go through a 5-day writing intensive and 7-month mentoring process to see the story they want to tell put into script form. From the site: Alaska Native Playwrights Project (ANPP) seeks to identify, teach and ...
Alaska Real - Sep 10 - 3 clicks
Strange, but one of my first reactions to the announcement in the Peninsula Clarion that the state was hiring a rural education director was, "Wow - they don't have that position already?" I'm glad that some of this is the focus: In Alaska, rural often means Native, and LeDoux said working to improve Native education will be a significant part of the new rural director's job. The idea is...
Alaska Real - Sep 2 - 4 clicks
I used to have some respect for Senator Lisa Murkowski. Although she has had a (right of) centrist voting record she did seem to be more interested in having an honest and thorough take on issues. While there was a lot I didn’t agree with, it is the way politics should work. Things have changed since she has been elevated to a republican leadership position. I suppose she now has to engage in ...
SOL in Soldotna, Alaska - Aug 31
