freshwrestler's reprieve

Senator Brown

2010-01-20T22:26:00.003-09:00

Come on. Barely 2.5 million people voted in this Mass. special election to replace Ted Kennedy and it appears they now determine the fate of an entire nation. 1/2 % of the entire population of the USA. I CALL BULLSHIT ON THAT. Get some huevos Democrats.
Some dumb-blond dude shows up in the Senate spouting the same old failed Republican talking points and you fold. I get the sense that you were ready to fold, the bullies have beat you down or maybe you really kinda like the corporate friendly republican-lite legislation you get when you seek "bi-partisanship."
When the Republicans lose they double down and become even bigger assholes. They don't change. They have nothing, they are proposing nothing. NOTHING that addresses the issues of the day. But somehow as a minority party, 41% of one of two the legislative bodies, they can jerk your chains and you heal like some like a subservient dog.

Move your money

2009-12-29T15:31:00.004-09:00

I read about "Move Your Money" site on the Huffington Post. Go and see the little film and again vote with your $$$$.

I can't help it.

2009-12-04T13:50:00.003-09:00

I can't help myself, I have to get this off my chest.
Sarah Palin has said that she wants our President to boycott the Climate Change conference because of some emails that totally blow the entire field of climate science out of the water. But wait what did she do when she actually had any responsibility and would be held to account for her opinions and action:

Sarah Palin
GOVERNOR STATE OF ALASKA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
JUNEAU September 14th, 2007

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 238

I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the State of Alaska, under the authority of art. III, secs. 1 and 24 of the Alaska Constitution establish the Alaska Climate Change Sub-Cabinet to advise the Office of the Governor on the preparation and implementation of an Alaska climate change strategy.

BACKGROUND AND FINDINGS
Scientific evidence shows many areas of Alaska are experiencing a warming trend. Many experts predict that Alaska, along with our northern latitude neighbors, will continue to warm at a faster pace than any other state, and the warming will continue for decades. Climate change is not just an environmental issue. It is also a social, cultural, and economic issue important to all Alaskans. As a result of this warming, coastal erosion, thawing permafrost, retreating sea ice, record forest fires, and other changes are affecting, and will continue to affect, the lifestyles and livelihoods of Alaskans. Alaska needs a strategy to identify and mitigate potential impacts of climate change and to guide its efforts in evaluating and addressing known or suspected causes of climate change. Alaska's climate change strategy must be built on sound science and the best available facts and must recognize Alaska's interest in economic growth and the development of its resources. Commercializing Alaska's great natural gas reserves through a new pipeline will improve the nation's energy security while providing a clean, low carbon fuel to help the nation reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions.

PURPOSE AND DUTIES
The purpose of the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet is to advise the Office of the Governor on the preparation and implementation of an Alaska climate change strategy. This strategy should include building the state's knowledge of the actual and foreseeable effects of climate warming in Alaska, developing appropriate measures and policies to prepare communities in Alaska for the anticipated impacts from climate change, and providing guidance regarding Alaska's participation in regional and national efforts addressing the causes and effects of climate change.
In view of its purpose, the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet shall develop recommendations on the following:

the assembly of scientific research, modeling, and mapping information in ways that will help the public and policymakers understand the actual and projected effects of climate change in Alaska, including the time frames in which those effects are likely to take place;
the prioritization of climate change research in Alaska to best meet the needs of the public and policymakers;
the most effective means of informing, and generating a dialogue with the public regarding climate change in Alaska;
the early assessment and development of an action plan addressing climate change impacts on coastal and other vulnerable communities in Alaska;
the policies and measures to reduce the likelihood or magnitude of damage to infrastructure in Alaska from the effects of climate change;
the policies and measures addressing foreseeable changes to the marine environment; the quantity, quality, and location of fish and game in Alaska; and the productivity of forests and agricultural lands in Alaska due to climate change;
the evaluation and response to the risks of new, or an increase in the frequency or severity of, disease and pests due to climate change in Alaska;
the identification of federal and state mechanisms for financing climate change activities in Alaska, including research and adaptation projects;
the potential benefits of Alaska participating in regional, national, and international climate policy agreements and greenhouse gas registries;
the opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Alaska sources, including the expanded use of alternative fuels, energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, land use management, and transportation planning;
aggressive efforts toward development of an Alaska natural gas pipeline to commercialize clean burning, low carbon natural gas reserves
the opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the operations of Alaska state government;
the opportunities for Alaska to participate in carbon-trading markets, including the offering of carbon sequestration;
the identification of economic opportunities for Alaska that might emerge as a result of the growing response to this global challenge;
other policies and measures that the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet considers would help achieve the purpose of this Order

This Order takes effect immediately.

DATED at Juneau, Alaska, this 14th day of September, 2007.

She isn't real. I am sure of it. She just can't be.

SO PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW!!!!! AGAIN!!!!

2009-12-04T10:51:00.003-09:00

Via Sam Stein at the Huffington Post who reports on this story. Read those and mine below is just a further rant.

I am self-employed, my wife works two part-time jobs. No employer based insurance is available to us. Last year, after years of not having any insurance my wife let me sign her up on my catastrophic health insurance plan. I still have to convince her every month to pay the bill.

I was looking at new plans for me and the kid and was able to add her for what appeared to be about $100 or so. Signed up on-line, got a quote and sent in the paperwork. The policy comes back being about an extra $150 to add her. (She has actually used health care in the past and this is counted against people when they sign up for insurance.) Bite the bullet, got to be responsible. So we started paying the monthly payment of around $500 for a policy that has a $5000.00 deductible and and bunch of really fine print. It isn't health care, it really is insurance against the dreaded day when you hear from the doctor, "I have some bad news...." And then it might be useless.

Now apparently we are not paying enough to meet Wall Street's expectation for their profits.

Aetna President Mark Bertolini laid out how the company planned to raise prices to improve the company's profit margin. He said the firm had "implemented a combination of underwriting enhancements, pricing actions and plan design changes, intended to ensure that each customer is priced to an appropriate margin."

They are making a profit, just not enough. (What is that called again? Oh yes, I think it is "greed") So Aetna will be raising rates and kicking out clients who use health care. Nice. These people are so sure they are going to win this health care reform issue, they are people who are such bullies, who have the entire Republican Party and 3/4 of the Democrats in their pocket, they can just lay a big stinking pile of crap right on the American public, and then expect us to thank them.

No reform needed here. The best medical care in the world!!! And good public policy. Let the marketplace decide who deserves health care, no government "death panels" needed. It just happens by the magical power of the free markets.

I am not sure if I am going to try and convince the wife to pay that bill again.

What is that Parnell up to?

2009-09-24T23:46:00.003-08:00

What is that Parnell up to? The governor's office is entirely too quiet. It is kinda boring. Maybe he could hire Meg back. That would get things rolling.

PFD

2009-09-23T09:03:00.003-08:00

Thinking about the Permanent Fund Dividend.

Each year when the Gov. announces the amount the Permanent Fund Dividend that each of us Alaskans will be getting, I am struck by the unmet needs that exist in our state and the possibilities of what we collectively could be doing with that money. The oil that generates the money isn't ours, the resource doesn't belong to the current citizens of the State of Alaska, it belongs to future citizens as well.

I grew up in Texas. The burbs of Dallas. Texas has a Permanent Fund too. But in their Constitution they set up a Permanent Unviversity Fund. The University of Texas System and the Teas A&M system are both in part supported by the money generated by this fund.

These two Universties are top notch institutions, education and research. The endowment the PUF has created will keep these universities going long after the wealth from the resources has been exhausted. Future generations will have access to education and will economically benefit from the research produced by these institutions. We will all get to pay off our credit cards, pay from some oil for the heater, or use all kids PFD's and buy a snow machine.

A study on the impact of a strong University system reports,

"For every $1 dollar the state invests in UT System higher education, that dollar serves as a catalyst for, and ultimately results in, an additional $24 dollars of gross work-life incremental earnings that go into the Texas economy."

I can't find any research on the impact of the PFD, but I am sure that is big as well, but too what end?

Good Luck Sarah

2009-07-05T08:38:00.003-08:00

It seems obvious that Sarah Palin reached the limits of her executive capabilities as mayor of Wasilla. Her further advancement was just ambition, a confluenece of political disasters (Gov. Murkowski, Knowles, McCain) and just dumb luck.

Politically she was a master of capitalizing on the events of the day. We have to give her that. Unfortunately, or more correctly, fortunately she lacked any substance to back up the bluster. It was always about playing the politics and promoting the brand.

Alaska can move on now and she can further her new career as a celebrity-politician. And unless there is revelation of a scandal or she takes up the offer from Playboy and wipes out the modicum of credibility that she retains, she will continue to drag the Republican Party further right and further into obscurity.

Good luck Sarah.

Old Time Religion

2009-05-01T08:32:00.002-08:00

Someone explain this one to me:

742 American adults surveyed on use of torture against suspected terrorists
54 percent of those who go to services at least weekly say it's often or sometimes OK
In survey, people unaffiliated with any religious group were least likely to back torture

Kenai Peninsula Borough- Broken Brains Lead to Broken Budgets

2009-04-30T08:11:00.005-08:00

The condensed version of the story is:

Dave Cary was elected as the mayor of the the Kenai Peninsula Borough as a "cut taxes and reduce the budget" candidate. (Strangely he also claimed as mayor to have the ability to protect your gun rights. I don't think he was pandering at all with that addition to his platform.) He won.

Previous to that election the voters of the Kenai Peninsula had repealed a sales tax in a vote put on the ballot by the Alliance of Concerned Taxpayers (ACT).

The mayor is now planning to reduce property taxes on us over taxed Alaskans.

Which leads to the great republican plan of underfunding government to destroy it. The borough is facing a budget shortfall. The mayor has said everything is being scrutinized for cuts. Education is not being spared and he has proposed a reduction in the school districts budget. The outcomes of that will be great. Less education is what we need now in this world. That will help the growth and quality of life for people left on the Peninsula.

The impact on my kid's education is already being felt. Due to this budget turmoil, his school has had to delay and possibly not hire a replacement teacher. This is in a K-12 school with a teaching staff of 4. By this time of the year good teachers that are looking for new schools probably have jobs lined up for next year. We will still hope that our second or third choice turns out to be an adequate educator for our children. Thanks a bunch Dave and Alliance for Concerned Taxpayers. You are really making the Peninsula a great place for families.

Much in this post needs further exploration, such as:

Who are these ACT people?

What is a lifelong educator, our mayor, doing minimizing education?

Many of his supporters have fingered teacher unions as the culprit. Does Dave get a retirement fought for by unions?

How does a borough mayor protect your gun rights?

Who voted for Carey and are they the Senior Citizens who live here 5 months a year and are always showing up for the subsidized lunch program?

Why don't grandma and grandpa want their grandkids the best education they can get?

How does our tax burden compared to other boroughs and counties?

What is it like to live in a progressive state?

Texas and Alaska Untie!

2009-04-23T08:35:00.003-08:00

I think Texas as well as Alaska Secessionist better watch out.

As a child growing up in Texas, back in the 1970's I can remember the secessionist spouting off about how horrible the Union was treating Texas. I was not real sure what their gripe was or is now. It is unfocused, and seems to be about their feelings when Democrats get into power. I think it reminds them of Reconstruction or something. They just hate loosing so much that they are going to take their ball and go home.

A quick search on the internet doesn't really turn up an actual political party espousing splitting from the Union. There is the Texas and Southern Independence Party that wants to re-establish the Confederate States, but this wouldn't work for Texas. They really don't like or trust Oklahoma. OU recruits too many of the good football players. But there is the Texas Republican Party. Although dissolving the Union doesn't show up in their party platform, which is a scary document. The whole Texas Republican website is scary to me with stuff like this:

I did not know we were supposed to use the Bible to rate our political party. I mistakenly thought that was what the Constitution was for. My mistake.

I hate to brag AGAIN about Alaska kicking Texas' butt again, but Alaska has Texas beat in this area too. We have the Alaska Independence Party. Our governor's husband was a member once. There are also rumors that she is a AIP "Manchurian Candidate." I can't wait for that episode of the Wasilla Hillbillies. The party is libertarian, with reservations. Like we want roads and keep that Permanent Fund money coming but privatize everything else. They are always are around during the elections both when Republicans are in office as well as Democrats. They definitely get points for perseverance.

Histories of the World

2009-03-14T12:16:00.003-08:00

Been lazy on updating the blog. I spend time pissing people off on the Alaska Standard site. Too much fun.
But my sister sent this viral email to me that I had to respond in kind to. The original email is followed by my response:

For those that don't know about history ... Here is a condensed version:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals, and
2. Conservatives.

Liberals developed the concept of mass prodictOnce beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement. The hunters were effective and soon they had slaughtered most of the game in but there was so many of the soon

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.
Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have highertestosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood, and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair ! to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history:

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.

A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to tick them off.
And there you have it. Let your next action reveal your true self

My "angry" response:
The true history is that the original conservative went extinct eons ago. Many of the “conservatives” today don’t believe this because they deny the science of evolution. This should ensure their extinction as a class, but fortunately for these conservatives, the liberals continue take pity on them and share the medical and technical advances that are possible through the understanding this basic science fact. Every year a lot of conservatives line up for the newest evolution of flu shot that the liberal establishment continues to produce.

The deal was that the conservatives continued to hunt until they had depleted much of the game around their caves. They got through the lean times because of the gathering, mostly done by their woman. Studies show that a majority of the calories consumed in hunter/gatherer cultures come from gathering activities. So the men would sit around in their dark, dank caves and moan and grunt about how good the “good old days” were. They would scream about how their life was being ruined by so and so as they got sotted from their fermented berries or fishheads or whatever they could catch a buzz from. All the while the women were out working. This pattern of behavior continues in many “conservative” households.

It was during this roaming around looking for food with a baby stuck on each breast and dragging 4 other dirty children, digging up roots and picking berries for their man’s fermented muck, that these women ran into communities of liberals. They were entranced with the warm homes, the plentiful food, the public education, the public trails and sanitation. They were amazed that the women would have smaller families and have the option to breed or not. They would return to the cave and have their drunken man collapse on the gathered food, tell them it was god’s will to have another child and then fall asleep after he had impregnated her for the 14th time.

In these communities they found real beer too. Not the stuff that their men were drinking back from that hole in ground in the cave. The cultivation of grains happened through the application of principles of evolution. It took science and experimentation to mass produce beer. Some woman took some of this excess beer back to the caves, with the grains to make it. The conservative tribe changed the beer into a light watery substance they called “Butt Wiper” because of the gastric effects typically occurring the next morning. Of course this is now Budwieser. The liberals continued to produce beer of quality and substance. This understanding and cultural legacy of good beer eventually led to the legalization of homebrewing by the great President Carter in 1979, which then spurred the development of the microbreweries that has raised the quality of beer worldwide.

But I digress. Over time many of the women and some conservatives’ children would spend vacations in the liberal villages. Many never went back to the cave and the liberal communities flourished while the conservatives’ numbers dwindled. Eventually the conservatives became just a bunch of old white men sitting around complaining about the high taxes in the liberal communities and how the dykes and socialists were destroying their cave communities.

Ski Day

2009-02-08T12:04:00.007-09:00

I went skiing with the usual folks and found Tracy's camera in my coat pocket. So I took some pictures.

Healthcare, Again

2009-01-27T09:05:00.005-09:00

Updated below-

I saw this post over at that "evil" Daily Kos site. Long story short, the United States healthcare sucks. We all know it. It is dragging this country down.

Then I read this post over at the Alaska Standard. The author is upset because Family Planning moneys are included in the Stimulus Bill that is making its way through Congress. The guy lifted the entire thing from the Heritage Foundations blog. That is plagiarism, but his point seems to be that liberals are trying to reach into his man-gina and rip the babies right out of him. Family planning is health care. Maybe it shouldn't be in a stimulus bill, but in the short run, healthcare money will get spent and will get spent quickly. Evidence that video above. If we want money in the economy this is the place. There is no pleasing these conservatives, so we should just stop trying!

UPDATE:

I have never had an update before! But this is too funny. Over at the Alaska Standard that I cited above, they have removed the plagiarized post after I called them out on it. But they left a clip of Nancy Pelosi and the comments section. Now the author has posted the "original" text in the comments and included citations for his sources and claimed that they were in the original post. I don't know why he would remove the text then. I think he might be lying!!! Such fear of being seen as weak, or wrong.

I am sure that I have been lazy and lifted text and not cited it correctly. That would be wrong, and a mistake. If it I found out, and someone gave a shit, I am sure I would correct it. Admit the mistake and work at doing better. It would at least mean someone was reading this.

The richest part of the whole exchange is the author tries to call me out and put me down by referring to me as "Mrs. Freshwrestler." Ouch! Using the feminine as a slander in a post that has to do to do with reproductive rights is pretty inDICKative of his level of intellectual development.

More update- Obama had the funds removed from the bill to please the conservatives. Please , don't please the conservatives. They lost. THEY LOST. WE WON. That money better show up somewhere and soon.

Nerd?

2009-01-24T11:24:00.001-09:00

At least you did't get fired like your dad.

2009-01-21T07:57:00.003-09:00

Farewell Former President Bush,
You got that going for you when the family gets together. "Shut up Old Man, at least I didn't fired." Your library will be bigger and have more stuff. And no matter what Papa Bush says, after you, there is no way in hell we will have another Bush in the Whitehouse. "Sorry Jeb, I shit all over the place. They ain't going to let you in." Then laugh in his pompous face. Sweet.

I will try to visit you when I get back to Dallas. Maybe we can get together and finally have that beer. I'll buy, alot. Oh hell, let's beer and shots. We will get the Secret Service to drive us around. You aren't to far from Addison, so let's go to Chili's. It must be a relief to slip that pretense of sobriety, just like Reagan was able to let go of that illusion of lucidity after he got done.

I have a few questions about the some the things that happened over the past 8 years, but I will just wait for your book. I read Clinton's recently. Crap, there were a bunch of words in that one. I am sure yours will be considerably shorter. Kinda like a Readers Digest Condensed Book. Are you going to write it yourself or find a subcontractor? I bet you won't get anybody at Haliburton to do that now that you are spending your own money. Is Dick going to edit it before you publish it? That would be a good idea, knida like when he showed up to help you testify in Congress. But really I do look forward to following your activities; the speeches, the trials, the library at SMU, the businesses you will start with your friends. It will be interesting to see how you evlove after all that presidenting. It should look good on your resume.

I do know that we will miss you. All those silly guys on late night tv are going to have find someones else to kick around. And Obama is already changing things, Jazz instead of Country, cigarettes instead of bourbon, transparency instead of secrets, but it is just window dressing, and it is only the first week. Dick will find him soon enough, take him to the bunker and set him straight. I am pretty sure of that.

Goodbye George,
Mark

Go Away

2009-01-15T08:07:00.005-09:00

Dear People from the Outside,

I would cordially like to ask you to leave our Governor alone. No more interviews, no more websites about her, no more magazine covers. Don't speculate about her, don't google her, don't listen to her, don't even look up here for 2 more years. After 2 years, we will gladly send her out to fulfill her destiny as the cute befuddled conservative on "The View."

You see, she has a an actual job to do. She is a Governor in a state that requires a strong executive. And Sarah has a little problem focusing. She can't bear down and do her job if everyone is wanting a "ubetcha" and wink from her. We now suspect that she is a little limited and we need her and Todd really focused to deal with the issues at hand up here in Alaska. Sarah confuses her job with her personal life. So when you admire her for her political moxie, her fine family values, her "hot grandma" status, she thinks that is her job. To be beloved, to campaign constantly, to talk without saying much. But all this takes time and preparation, which takes away from her real job. And just like little Bristol during the campaign, she is getting behind in her responsibilities.

I may not really like the woman, or her recent activities, but as governor, I do want her to succeed. To study problems and issues and come up with solutions and policies that will address the needs of this State and it's citizens. There really is much to be done and an amazing amount of opportunity for her and this state. So if you want her to be viable for that position on the View, let her do her job, and stop giving her so many compliments for just showing up.

Thanks

The Adults Are Back In Charge

2008-12-06T13:50:00.004-09:00

I know at some point I am going to be disappointed by this next administration. They will back down or compromise on something that I think is important. It is the nature of our political systems. But this news gives me hope that we will have a our government back and run by people who have actually read, have an understanding the Constitution and the rule of law. From the Politico

BLOCKBUSTER-- Coming in Sunday's LAS VEGAS SUN, By Lisa Mascaro/Washington Bureau -- BIDEN TO BE BARRED FROM SENATE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS MEETINGS AS PART OF REID EFFORT TO RESTORE CHECKS AND BALANCES: "The new Congress will reassert its constitutional independence from the White House by barring the vice president from joining in internal Senate deliberations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in an interview with The Sun. The move is intended to restore checks and balances to a system that tilted heavily toward the White House in the Bush presidency. By giving Vice President Dick Cheney regular access to Senate Republican caucuses, at times with White House advisers in tow, party unity became more important to many Republicans than upholding their responsibilities to provide legislative oversight of the executive, experts say. Asked if Vice-President Joe Biden will be allowed to attend Senate Democratic caucus meetings, Reid said: 'Absolutely not.'" Must credit Las Vegas Sun. Full story 2 a.m. Sunday at http://www.lasvegassun.com/

Palin petition to "Please Shut Up"

2008-11-14T12:03:00.002-09:00

Well it seems like the only thing that can motivate me to post these days is watching our Governor. She does evoke a lot of emotion all around. I am on the side with my mother down in Texas who told me "I absolutely can't stand that woman."

Here is a cathartic exercise available online at "Dear Sarah Palin, Please Shut Up Already" . Go on and sign and let's represent the 35% of Alaskans who have pulled their heads out.

Just Plain Stupid

2008-11-09T13:34:00.002-09:00

“Now we kick in that fiscal conservativeness that needs to be engaged, and we progress this state with $57-a-barrel oil,” Ms. Palin said. She said the state would have to “be prudent with public dollars and provide services more efficiently than have ever been provided in the state of Alaska before."

She must not have talked before she was asked to be the VP candidate. I never noticed how stupid she sounds. Or is.

Through the Looking Glass

2008-10-14T07:52:00.004-08:00

Palin's response to the Branchflower Report, a poem by Mad Kane

Sarah In Wonderland
By Madeleine Begun Kane
So what is Gov. Palin’s excuse
For the finding of power abuse?
She pretends it ain’t there,
While she claims it ain’t fair,
With the facts playing games, fast and loose.

IMPEACH

2008-10-10T16:27:00.002-08:00

IMPEACH!!!!!!!! and FUCK YOU Ed O'Callaghan. Leave now and take Sarah to her office at the Heritage Foundation.

Debate?

2008-10-03T09:20:00.003-08:00

That wasn't a debate. That was a infomercial. The entire format of the debate was set up to protect Palin from hard questions and hard follow up on her incoherent answers. Democrats conceded that debate to be a draw when they negotiated the format prior to the debate. From the NY Times:

Commission members wanted a relaxed format that included time for unpredictable questioning and challenges between the two vice-presidential candidates. On Wednesday, the commission unanimously rejected a proposal sought by advisers to Ms. Palin and Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, to have the moderator ask questions and the candidates answer, with no time for unfettered exchanges. Advisers to Mr. Biden say they were comfortable with either format.

Make her explain and talk about issues, in depth and at length. That is what I want from a leader. That is what I expect from a debate. The Democrats failed me again. Setting up the debates to be friendly to Palin is just giving it away.

Also of interest was:

The debate formats were negotiated by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, representing the McCain campaign, and Representative Rahm Emanuel, Democrat of Illinois, for the Obama camp. A handful of aides from both camps were also involved, hammering out issues between themselves and then holding conference calls with members of the commission to reach final agreements, people involved in the process said.

Rahm and Lindsey both have an great investment in the protection of the exclusive 2 party system. I really think that the Democrats needed Sarah to do well enough in this debate. If she would have just folded or looked the fool, the Republican Party starts falling apart and a groundswell begins for some sort of third party. It is a little late for another candidate, but they always are looking ahead and protecting the 2 party branding.

A Brief Respite from the Campaign Today

2008-09-30T14:37:00.004-08:00

I was stunned this morning to actually hear a news story about healthcare. I was only half listening waiting to hear what Sarah was doing today. Then I heard people critically talking about healthcare and the plans to address this mess. That was messed up.

But anyhow Sarah is apparently at Git-mo being placed in stress positions to facilitate learning a few pithy remarks and names of the Supreme Court Judges so she might sound intelligent during the debate Thursday. I predict Superbowl type rating for this one!!!

Drinking games for the debate anyone???

I want to stop writing about palin

2008-09-25T01:16:00.006-08:00

This Palin thing is a great lesson, maybe the greatest lesson ever for people to learn why you need to KNOW YOUR LEVEL.

I used to take swim lessons as a kid. Hated them. Bobbing up and down at 9 am in a cold pool on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in the middle of summer vacation. What a waste of valuable cartoon watching time. I eventually taught the lessons as a lifeguard in the same pool. It was still a waste of valuable cartoon time, but at least I got paid.

The kids were graduated into a variety of levels. They all had irritating aquatic related names that gave a sense of where the students were at in terms of development. They started off as tadpoles, then maybe minnows, fish, dolphins, topping off with sharks. But by that time they were sharks, the kids were good enough to out swim me, so we would hire them as lifeguards, especially if they were cute. But as a kids you always wanted to be in the bigger kids classes. They would get to wear goggles, have kick boards or jump off the diving boards.

The real lesson came once it was open swim and you tried what the bigger kids were doing. As a minnow jumping off that diving board, you sunk and barely made to the ladder.

Sarah Palin, in this lame metaphor of swim lesson are life, Palin is a fucking turd in the pool. A total distraction that has closed the pool until the adults can get the skimmer out, scoop her out and super chlorinate the entire god damned water body. John McCain pinch this floater..... I have to stop with the scatological metaphor.

Watch her going head to head with the "fish" level Couric about some pretty important issues of the day, like "what the hell is McCain doing talking about fixing the economy, when he was one of the people who broke it?" Palin really should not be in the pool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nShQ

Katie kinda had a "shark" look in her eyes at one point.

What happens when Sarah jumps in the deep end?

That Sinking Feeling

2008-09-21T21:38:00.008-08:00

Maybe this is how people felt at the advent of the Great Depression. Uneasy, not really sure what the hell all the politicians, economists and financiers were talking about. Maybe they were being distracted and wondering what sort of shoe Hoover's VP was wearing?

Well we are going through the most stupendous economic crisis since the Depression, and those are some pretty hot pumps. (Really how do you stand up in those things? Can she shoot and field dress a moose in those?)

The Bushes and Congress are in the process of buying a bunch of bad loans and investments with our money. These were made by wealthy people wanting to get richer still. Read this post to get a much smarter persons run down on this hole mess.

We are again socializing the financial system in this country. They are giving up toward $1 trillion of our tax dollars to the financial class to prop up their failed economic policies of the last 30 years. It is socialism, not for the benefits of the masses, but for the upper classes. It didn't have to happen, and this isn't the first time in the last 30 years.

I have always been suspicious of this retirement system with the 401k accounts. It has placed many more Americans directly in the stock market. Now we are psychologically invested in these markets. When we have social workers and cashiers at the grocery store concerned about how the Dow is doing, then the job of getting the American people to pay for these bailouts is taken care of. We obviously have to pay for a bailout as everyone's retirement is invested in these corporations. And many people want to double down with this system and privatize Social Security. This idea is brought to you by the same people who brought you the Savings & Loan Crisis of the 80s, the energy deregulation in California and Enron, and now the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Be afraid, very afraid.

But really what gives me that sinking feeling is that realization that in this 2 party system the Democrats have abandoned their roll as a vocal opposition. If Obama is elected, any swing to the left or towards more rational policies will be meet with howls of resistance, while all this deregulation and exposing our economy to ever increasing risk was meet with what? I have to keep chanting "avoid overwhelming sense of cynicism, must avoid overwhelming sense of cynicism." If that takes over then what?

Aidan's Electoral Lessons or Understanding The Election

2008-09-17T12:13:00.007-08:00

Republican Candidate Ann Young

My 10 year old announced the other day that the cats in the house were holding an election to see who would be President.

We dove into this one pretty easily. You see, we have enough cats in the house to establish a new Congressional district for Alaska and we tend to do a bit of the anthropomorphizing with the animals.

Well we went through the primaries pretty quickly and it seems like we have the two candidates firmed up for the general election. Teeny is the Democratic nominee and Annyong, who changed her name to Ann Young is the Republican.

As usual in these things Ms. Young and her operatives have seized the momentum of the campaign. Teeny's is seen as foundering as she continues to try and address boring issues that relate to the actual day to day operations of the cattery; litter box placement, the quality and safety of pet food, and veterinary care.

Ms. Young on the other hand has proposed many innovative approaches to governing that build on the tenure of the last eight years of rule in the country at large. She has proposed additional feedings of the tainted canned food, the elimination of all terroristic birds of prey. Most ground breaking, she has proposed the streaming of governance by eliminating the legislative branch. She will then assume these duties as well. She is quoted as saying "If I am going to enforce a law, I damn well better have written it. I ain't going to enforce some crap that the Demoncats have written. Put yourself in my position, would you want to have to marry some gay person, screw the Demoncat Party."

Annyoung really doesn't believe this stuff, but she knows that she can't get elected without a little pandering. Ms. Young, is available for adoption along with her supporters. Please see my wife's cat blog for details.

Republicans Have Arrived to Save Our Sarah

2008-09-17T10:12:00.006-08:00

This is silly. The theater of the absurd. Just freaking nuts. But I have faith that it is going to get better and better because we now have the DC Republicans here in Alaska to run things for awhile (not just Ted and Don, but other guys from back east.) These folks have done such a good job back there, let's bring em on up here. We need the help.

Look at the photos of the two McCain Campaign shills who have been sent up to run interference for our governor on this "troopergate" fiasco. Standing next to the poster board with the web of relationships lined out showing us the true nature of the scandal. And the other poster which renames the ordeal "Tasergate", like it is just about that trooper tasering his kid. But notice all the lines are leading to Barack Obama. Reading the captions on the poster, the relationships are tenuous at best. Some lines aren't even explained. Just lines. It is DUMB, but it is a good piece of propaganda, you see all the lines are going to Obama. He and the evil Democrats run Alaska you know.

Sarah try this:

"I made a mistake. I let my concern for my family and the concern for the safety of citizens of the State of Alaska override my better judgment. I take responsibility for my action. I overstepped my authority and I have to pay the price. I offer to the people of Alaska my humblest apologies and to the Legislature, I leave to you the consequences for my action. Also, I believe so deeply in the importance of Senator McCain's mission and absolute necessity of getting him in the White House to protect the safety and health of these United States, that I now believe that these issue that have been created now hindered his campaign. I have offered to Senator McCain to withdraw my name a Vice Presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 2008 and will seek to serve him to the fullest of my abilities as he sees fit."

Then we can have her family crying behind her, preferably Todd will have a hanky and dab his eyes lightly (no sobbing from him), the son will be back from his duties in Iraq standing, in uniform, crying, the daughters must both holding babies (find an extra one.) Sarah should turn hug the family and leave the podium holding baby Trig. The family should follow.

People would eat that up. She have immediate goddess status. Her political fortune would be minted. She would then be moved to the top of the ticket and McCain would stab her behind stage at the next campaign event. Or 2012?

But seriously Alaskans, we are being mugged by these operatives. The McCain people are advising an attorney that the State has hired to represent Palin during the investigation. Do you think he is representing the best interests of Palin? Should an attorney that the State has paid for be getting advice from a political operative? Does he have a license to practice in Alaska? Is any of this good for the State?

Dumb, dumb, dumb,dumb.

Sarah Palin as President

2008-09-09T09:08:00.006-08:00

Busy summer. I was out west and in Kodiak for most of May and in Cook Inlet on a research vessel all of August. The rest was kind of a blur of prepare and decompressing from the trips. I want to write about those trips in the next month or so but I have to re-start with the easy stuff. I would like to say, Sarah Palin is more than just a small town mayor and hockey mom. (I initially wrote that she is a dick, but she doesn't deserve that, although.) She is a crafty and gutsy politician.

She has seen opportunity and she has grabbed it. She has placed herself in the right places and used her assets to move her career up the ladder amazingly fast. But really we all know it, she just can't be vice president of the United States, she is barely a governor. She could be VP, if she and McCain are elected, and he lives, and he just has her sitting around like Nelson Rockefeller, going to the occasional funeral. But what if..... Makes me shudder.

She scored some points early in her career as governor but it was just too easy. She has had a state budget busting at the seams, she has had a cadre of corrupt, arrogant and incompetent dunces to use as foils. I now know how many Texans must have felt when they had a chance to get rid of George back in 2000. But we know how that one turned out.

This is some weird melding of reality TV and an Alaska Tourism Marketing campaign. A staged drama given to us in every increasing amounts with a bunch of Alaskan imagery and myths thrown in for the viewers in the lower 48. Screw healthcare, the deficit, the wars, the country is now rivetted to see Bristol's emerging stomach, or hear stories about Mr. Palin falling off his snowmachine during a race, or mooseburgers. Who cares if she doesn't know what a vice president is supposed to do, this is great theater.

As Alaskans we have the duty to tell the world that we elected her because she was cuter than Tony Knowles, and certainly smarter than Frank Murkowski (not saying much.) But we were certain that the oil companies would continue to run our state for us and that it would be OK to have the "hottest governor" in the US.

Thanks Myra

2008-06-11T23:12:00.005-08:00

We buried Ra Ra today.
I knew RaRa because I live in a small town where you end up knowing everyone. But more importantly, I knew her because she was a caregiver in the only daycare in Seldovia and my kid was in her care for a couple of hours a day when he was about 2 to 5 years old.

I was always grateful for her. She was an elder; the grandma figure I had deprived my kid of by moving so far away from my family. She never replaced, but taught the old people stuff. She taught the kids to count in Supiaq, she gave my kid a nickname, Gummuck, (I was Big Gummack) I don't remember what it meant, but sometime that is best. (Ask Tracy her nickname.) But she was most successful in teaching them Super Mario and Nintendo 64. She yelled alot, was cantankerous, but whatever. After my kid got older, when she saw him in the store or around town, she kissed him and slipped him some money for candy.

Like most things "village" it is very hard to explain the web of relationships. The give and take of being human and intimate with people that in a larger community you wouldn't have too, or more importantly, get too explore. You find the commons and go from there. It is much richer and much more real. I got to bury her. Put shovel to earth and covered her. It was an honor and an investment.

I took my kid to the funeral at the Russian Orthodox Church. It was hard for a 10 year old; the incense, the dead body, the grief, the place. All a little overwhelming, but it should be, and he was a trooper. When we told him we would like him to go, he didn't protest but wanted more information. He is a good little man and I thank RaRa for giving that lesson too.

http://www.seldoviagazette.com/archive2007/070517_Spotlight_MyraMumchuck-ATrueSeldovian.pdf

Out On the AK Peninsula

2008-05-11T11:25:00.004-08:00

I have been out on the Alaska Peninsula this week. Sand Point today waiting for the Tustumena. More later.
Cold Bay, Alaska

King Cove

Civilization Costs $$

2008-04-25T11:46:00.007-08:00

On Wednesday night in Seldovia a young man died in a motor vehicle accident. Details are sketchy as it is being investigated. Apparently alcohol was involved and stupid choices were made. The saddest part is he leaves behind an infant daughter, but it is tragic because IT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED.

Wednesday night we saw further illustration of the slow dismantling of this city. A demonstration of the fact we can’t provide ourselves with basic public safety.

Recently, the city of Seldovia placed our one and only law enforcement officer, Andy Anderson, on an administrative leave after some allegation were made against him. This left us with coverage from the troopers in Anchor Point. A 20 mile drive and an airplane ride away. Everyone in town knows that Andy is not available to be called out and the Troopers are not going to come over at 1 am to chase down a drunk kid on an ATV. This was the case, and he is dead.

Everyone has been stupid to some degree and it is obvious to everyone the young man and his friends were being stupid. Half the town was woken up as they were racing around in the middle of the night on these ATVs that are un-muffled, light-weight, high rpm, crotch rockets. They are built for racing, not transportation.

The community has traditionally had law enforcement in town. Then we didn’t. When we failed to have an officer available, it gave these individuals the opportunity to act out their “Grand Theft Auto” fantasies, and there was no re-start button. There has always been a contingent of people in Seldovia that think we don't need a full-time officer in town: too expensive, too much for such a little town. Now we have a bunch of traumatized EMT's, the kids that knew him are traumatized, another young man is under investigation and a baby does't have a father. Civilization costs, the wild west was a myth. A myth to sell you movie tickets, wars and guns. All folks that ascribe to the NRA bullshit about an armed populace is a polite populace, are idiots. It doesn’t work that way. Seldovia is pretty well armed and no one could, would stop him. The police should have stopped him.

The deterrence of just having someone who enforces the law (even if some Seldovians think he is arbitrary at times) cannot be underestimated. I suppose we are experiencing the difficulties of many of our Alaska villages. We have failed here and as a State, we are failing these villages.

Smug Alert!

2008-04-22T09:36:00.003-08:00

Earth Day 2008.

Buy some solar panels and plug them in. It isn't really that complicated once you have it installed. I put up my meager 4 panels 12 years ago. I have a 1500 watt inverter, a charge controller, a little doohickey that I have forgotten what it's called (it reads my battery charge and lets me know when to charge with the generator.)
For the most part I have almost totally forgotten how it works. It maintains itself except for the charging with the generator and the battery maintenance. (I bought a more efficient diesel last year. I am never going back to gas. And I have changed the batteries 2 times.)

The main reason I am doing this is to not have a power bill, and that there aren't transmission line nearby. But now with H.E.A. pushing to fire up coal plants so they can energize the Pebble Mine, I don't want any part of that.

To be honest I am not sure how green all this is with the initial energy needed to produce the panels, the equipment and the batteries. And I do have to run a generator 6 months a year. But it makes me acutely aware of every amp I use (my family would say overbearing about every amp they use.) Before buying any electronic device I turn around and look at the power specs on the back prior to buying. (I made an exception for the kids Xbox, those thing are energy PIGS.) I try to buy efficiency and stuff that has a trickle charge to maintain setting, like most TV and radios, is out or a least unplugged when not being used. (In Europe, they have regulated out these little energy draws .)

I think that people living on the grid can easily be "greener" than what I am doing off the grid. I believe the environment will be "saved" not from small things we do individually,but the big changes that have to be made systemically. We can feel smug that we are reducing our impact, but really we have to put people in charge who see aren't placating us. I see movement to change things, but no real effort on the part of people in power.

I heard a commentator the other day talking about the credit and housing crisis and how back during the Depression, FDR would have Fireside Chats and explain to the American people what was wrong with the economy and how they were going to fix it. Now we get platitudes and denial. We need leadership. We need to immediately get the Republicans out of the White House. I miss President Gore.

Energy energy everywhere

2008-04-14T08:44:00.006-08:00

The amount of corn it takes to produce 75 litres of ethanol -roughly a tank of fuel- is enough corn to feed one person on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet for a year.
I heard this on the NPR earlier this week and have been thinking it over it. There are many things I could do which, in the abstract, would end up feeding an entire Thai village. But the point that we are directly trading food for gas is powerful. Now that oil isn't cheap we are having to look to other sources of energy.

The United States has already lost the leadership it had in solar photovoltaics and wind, thanks to deep budget cuts by President Reagan and the Newt Gingrich-led Congress. By 2010, China will be the top manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and wind turbines. Must we also abandon our historical leadership in concentrated solar power to conservative doctrine? Other countries, particularly Spain but also Israel and Australia, are poised to be dominant. And China, which has already begun importing coal and pursuing CSP projects, will not be far behind. CSP could well be one of the major job-creating industries of the century.

Both these items resonate after I read the book "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond. The main point of the book is that the successful societies are the ones that remain adaptable, are efficient and can evolve quickly enough to match changes in the environment and social conditions. If you keep doing the same thing as your world is falling apart, then you fail.

"Doctrine" is holding us back, again. It isn't reality that is pushing energy and environmental policy in Washington, but a view of the way the world "should" be. "The the invisible hand of the free markets should shape the world. When solar energy is cost effective...." I think the invisible hand of Nature is going to slap the crap out of all of us, or maybe slowly squeeze the breathe out of us.

We all know that trying to find more hydrocarbon and using food for gas isn't going to fix the world's energy problems. It would be doing the same thing over and over even as we know it is bad for the long-term. But with a little foresight, looking at the facts, the science, we could make headway to solving both problems. It is going to require leadership and tough choices, but really quite an opportunity.

The current President thought being a "war president" would cement his name in stone as a great leader, better than his daddy at least. I think the next great president is the one that is going to directly address these issues. Where is Al anyway.

The photo up top is of the family on the hill across the valley.

Gross! More Legislation!

2008-04-10T08:45:00.009-08:00

What gives? "Not a state responsibility" last year:

This year, apparently it is:

I am glad we got the funds for these capital projects that were vetoed last summer by the Mrs. Palin. As a matter of fact almost all of the projects proposed and requested by local communities last year that were vetoed are in the budget this year.
Last summer it was all about the principles and controlling spending. This year it is about what? Maybe $112.00 a barrel oil.

Legislating by Rumor

2008-04-08T10:27:00.004-08:00

I ran across this item on the Alaska Politics blog.

The lengthy amendment from Rep. Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, would authorize the death penalty for first-degree murder as well as for first-degree sexual assault involving victims under 12 years old.

Murder is bad, sexual assault is bad. Yes, the individuals who perpetrate these crimes revoke there rights to be in a free society. They should be punished, maybe incarcerated for the rest of their lives. But what really gets me is the stupidity of Mr. Chenault. He goes on to say,

“I realize this is a pretty big step,” he said. “But I say in the case of child molesters, they can’t be fixed. I THINK STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT. If we don’t keep them in jail for all their life, Mr. Chairman, I would just as soon execute them.”

This man is proposing to kill people and he hasn't done the research. He is just "thinking" the facts support him. Get the facts and get back to us, alright. What an ass.

Class Consciousness? I'd settle for conscious

2008-04-03T08:07:00.004-08:00

All Americans do better economically under Democratic presidential administrations than they do under Republicans. Read it here. There is a book coming out soon that inspired that post. Everybody makes more money. Rich and poor. I would buy the book, but I am a little short on $$$.
Again I wonder, "why do people vote for Republicans?" We must remember that they are better at foreign policy and keeping us safe from _______. The last 7 years are further demonstration of this.
The Republicans are better politicians than the Democrats. All the while they hold politicians in disdain.

“Lilly Settles Alaska Suit Over Zyprexa”.

2008-03-27T08:37:00.003-08:00

This should not be a settlement but should be a jail term. Zyprexa is an anti-psychotic medication for people suffering from major mental illnesses. It helps many, many people, but many people were court ordered to take these medications. They had no choice. We, as a society forced them. Other were forced by the sheer desperation of their illnesses. And now it appears the company withheld information on side effects that would have allowed people to make more informed decisions. We have a responsibility to hold people accountable, to try and set it right. $15 million is nothing. People should be in jail.

Back in the early 90’s when I was a mental health case manager, the medications for schizophrenia that we prescribed were damn well barbaric. Haldol, prolixin etc are the nuclear bombs of anti-psychotics. They would turn an individual suffering from psychosis into a passive, drooling zombie in the course of a few hours.

The delusion and halucinations may subside and the person would appear better, but it was a definite trade off. Good yes, in that a person was no longer in danger, bad in that this person could barely function. It was always tough. When the newer generation of antipsychotic starting coming on the “market” everyone was thrilled. These were more focused on the actual chemical imbalance and had fewer side effects. They seemed to be so much more effective. We thought that these meds would offer an opportunity of a better life for people living with major mental illness. And they did.

Then this crap. The drug companies were holding back information on potential serious side effects. I can see the drug company sales reps coming into the offices with boxes of pizza and a bunch of pens and coffee cups with Zyprexa branded all over. They got their “fact” sheets and corporate training on selling the medications. It is just gross.

We all know the whole healthcare system is broken. It is very very bad. It is killing people. These drug companies along with the insurance companies are going to be part of the solution for Clinton, Obama and I assume McCain's health care plan. They want negotiate a solution to this system built on deception and exploitation.

I miss John Edwards.

What does Nadar say again?

The Hippies will be right on this one too

2008-03-18T20:49:00.003-08:00

I saw this story on the ADN website and have passively tracking it in the news:

Inlet mining decision brings residents' lawsuit

I love to comment on the ADN website. It is so easy to excite folks. But I don't ever leave comments I don't think are true. I left this one:

The wealth will go to shareholders and probably a bunch of Canadians and Brits if the trends hold. Some Alaskans will have a few jobs, make some money, if it is a Union Mine, before they move to Arizona, or Idaho. We will be left with a hole and a dead watershed.
Search the data on hazardous spills in at Red Dog. Enter Red Dog in the "Facility Name Search" at http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/perp/search/FacilitySearch.asp This is what got reported. There will be spills, ships hitting the bottom in Cook Inlet, broken retaining dams and broken promises.
I would rather rely on a intact eco-system than promises from corporate boards. With the news lately, you and I are bailing out greedy corporations with our taxes. Unchecked capitalism is killing us all. Climate Change? Have you been paying any attention?

Should be fun to watch the comments roll in. Oh and the Coal leases are owned by the Hunts Brothers and Dick Bass, not the Canadians. I like Canadians, but really they don't do natural resources well. More of us Texans in Alaska! They don't do natural resources well either.

I have been a little lax in posting. The summer is getting ready to start and I have to prepare. It could be that playing the kid at Xbox/Halo 3 has been taking up some evening hours. He loves to kill his father. Little Oedipus.

Small Towns or Village

2008-03-06T14:49:00.003-09:00

I sent the following letter into the Seldovia Gazette, our small-town electronic newsletter. Let's see if it makes it in.

As a new resident in Seldovia, a mere 13 years, I cannot claim to know the intricacies and origins of long standing rivalries and conflicts that exist within this community. They certainly seem entrenched and poisonous, so I try not to get entangled. But like a drift net of hate and venom, we all run the risk of being swept up eventually.

I am amazed by how, as a community, we can continually undermine and undercut each other while everyone claims the mantle victim. The overlay of universal victimhood and my maintenance of ignorance of the longstanding conflicts, was working well for me as I was thinking about the latest City/Tribe conflict over the Senior Meals Program. The Tribe made a decision, for whatever reason, and the City is once again scrambling to adjust to that decision, for whatever reason. Now we watch as the newest under-resourced city manager tries to adjust, and the end result is that the community suffers. It is once again as lose-lose situation. Same as it ever was. I think, “Why bother, these people seem to be meeting some inner-need.”

Then I heard a story on the Alaska News Nightly that outlined a study by UAA on small businesses in rural Alaska, “Viability of Business Enterprises for Rural Alaska; Community Factors and Entreprenueral Strategies.” Google it. (SVT’s Tribal Cache, Crystal Collier, along with 34 or so other business owners, was interviewed for the study. So I am sure some of her input is in the study.) The study outlined challenges that small business’ face in rural Alaska and how business development can be fostered. I have skimmed the study and it looked pretty familiar, but it just nailed us with the following:

“Community Cohesion. Many owners talked about the business climate being
influenced by the community’s cohesion. If the tribal council, the city council,
and the village corporation work together towards a common vision for the future
of the village, it was good for business. If, by contrast, there was division,
competition and bickering among community institutions, the climate for success
for businesses was eroded. The energy for expansion of entrepreneurial activity was
a reflection of the level of cooperation among community institutions.
Community in-fighting could undermine new entrepreneurial activity.”

We are not alone in this predicament. "....competition and bickering among community institutions, the climate for success for businesses was eroded.” That is us. As I look at the businesses down on Main Street, I don’t think we need any more unfavorable climates.

This is a critical and chronic problem for this community. There are no innocents: everyone has played a role. We will continue to see little progress in developing and growing our town without cooperation and cohesion in a shared vision of this community. No one is going anywhere, we all need each other, the question is how do make it work.

Small towns can be poisonous, but they can also be great places to live. I think the main thing that makes it work for people is the knowledge that you can't get away with anything. You have to be honest, open and willing to work with everyone. Secrets can make you incredibly miserable here.

Stevens Featured Again On TPM

2008-02-28T09:17:00.002-09:00

In a post over at TPMMuckraker they covered the announcement of Begich becoming a kinda Senatorial candidate by slamming Ted and Don. Which is OK, but they focus on the earmarking process. Which is legal, though it makes you cringe but as far a scandal goes is kinda like low fruit on the tree. There certainly is some corrupt crap they have done that is a little more hidden. It will take more than just picking press releases from Taxpayers for Common Sense and making links to them.
The bad ju-ju comes out in the comments as it becomes a pile on for all us greedy Alaskans. You get a feel for another way in which these asses have damaged our State.

Ellen wrote,

"Why, Alaskans will all tell you that by the act of moving up there they became the sole owners of everything found in the ground. Earmarks are only a small recognition of their generosity in allowing the rest of us to enjoy a little bit of their God-given inheritance."

I had to respond and am surprised to find myself defending Ted.

Geez Ellen,
That is a pretty broad brush to paint all of us Alaskans with. I do believe I have an inheritance and I work to ensure that it is here for my kid and his kids. The inheritance is open space, wildlife and intact eco-systems.

Not all of us are pleased with the job that our delegation has been doing. Many of us are like you, and I am hoping a majority, are disgusted. This process of earmarking is wrong and certainly needs a revising. But, I ask you to look around your community and identify how much is built with federal dollars. Airport, roads, infrastructure that makes the economy run. We don't have an infrastructure here. We have many basic needs that haven't been addressed. Many of our villages have water and sewers that are third world. Stevens has done much to solve this issue and many others here. He also has sold out many Alaskans to greedy corporations and is corrupted by the power he has. I have never voted for him.
You can knock the politicians, but please don't lump me in with them.

Supreme Exxon Court

2008-02-27T08:17:00.003-09:00

What do think the chances are that this Supreme Court is really going to rule against Exxon?

Come on! Really. These Supremes put that oilman in the White House, most are Republicans and Republicans are all about personal responsibility. Kinda like they want their personnel to take responsibility for all the bad shit the corporations do. It was Hazelton's fault.
He got tanked up at the Pipeline Club before taking that tanker out of the Terminal. He paid his debt to society doing community service and picking up all that trash. It is over, right, forget about it. Exxon has.

Howdy and Thank You Texas

2008-02-22T07:28:00.006-09:00

I would again like to THANK Texas. That land of my birth, the land were all my family of origin continues reside, the first political playground of the major oil companies and a state where the people saw the potential of G.W. Bush and hoisted him on the rest of us. Texas, you have made me proud, in a relative sense, to say that I am an Alaskan. You have shown me that it can be worse.

Although Alaska’s representation in Congress is shameful, shortsighted and downright dumb, the Texans have put forth Senators dumber and so shortsighted, they view the world in reverse. (Isn’t that the definition of a conservative.) Check out the League of Conservation Voters National Environmental Scorecard comparing our Senators with theirs. We kick their ass with positive score of 27% and 40% versus 0% and 7%. How do you get a 0%. You would have to be really motivated to get a 0.

So as bad as we have it, it can always be worse. Could you imagine if Frank became President! And I have been thinking I may have to vote to return Don Young to Congress. What if he returned to teaching? Think of those poor children.

Who Do You Fear More?

2008-02-19T09:07:00.004-09:00

Wow. I just heard on the news that Amtrack is now placing guards with automatic weapons on the boarding platforms in the busier train stations. Security measures.

That is so dumb. I get the overwhelming sense that this loosely gathered band of a couple of thousand radicals has won. On both sides. And we are paying for their party. Banana Republic?

Maybe living out in the woods and only getting into the "city" once every 4 months has given me a false sense of security. I just don't realize how bad it is out there. Should I get one?

Who are these guards going to shoot and how are they going to miss all the rest of us standing around. Are we now going to be considered collateral damage? Is it better to be shot by your own guys than blown up by some "terrorist?"

Infrequently I travel, and when I have been in Mexico in the past and have seen their military/police walking around with their little machine guns, I get the feeling that it is more a show for the general population. I have always been impressed.

We have lost our minds.

Cluck Cluck

2008-02-14T14:08:00.003-09:00

Around Alaska, coastal communities lucky enough to have ferry service are struggling with the cut backs in the Alaska Marine Highway System as proposed by our Governor. The reduced service could cause quite a shift in our communities with increases in the cost of living and reductions in the ability to maintain, not to mention expand, current levels of, well, everything.

Some of it smacks of an administration that is unaware or uncaring of the needs of the smaller communities or some it smacks of the chickens coming to roost. With the legislative personalities and rail-belt power-base still holding sway, cost of fuel and labor, I am not saying that a democratic governor wouldn’t have been facing similarly hard decisions. I am fairly certain that a democratic administration would be more likely to support the continuation of the historic levels of service to communities. (Rightly or wrongly, Gov. Knowles expanded service to communities back when the state was in a rough patch financially.)

Zero taxes, reduction in the size of government, and privatizing government services has been the mantra repeated over and over and voted for by the majority of Alaskans for the past 25+ years. All my Republican friends who are now crowing about reduction in this government services strike me as a little hypocritical.

Caucus

2008-02-07T09:10:00.001-09:00

We held a Democratic caucus here is Seldovia that had a total of 16 folks show up. I was hoping for more, but was OK with 16. 13 people newly registered as Democrats. I think that at this time of year there are 200 people around town which gives us around 12% of the population which seems on par with what the rest of the state had show up.

This was my first caucus, as it was for almost everyone. The process was a little frustrating and the Party officials in Homer didn't seem to prepared for the turn out. They filled the auditorium at the Islands and Ocean to over flowing and then the Fire Marshal was going to shut them down. But they were able to make it work but it was chaotic and unpleasant to listen too as we sat over in the school calmly waiting to vote.

But in defense of the folks in Homer, in 2004 they had 70 people show up. This year it was close to 400. I would like to think that it is all some good old grass roots organizing that is developing progressive politics around the country, but I really know that it is a bungling inept and dangerous regime in the White House. Alaskan's might have even over looked the corruption and stink that is our Congressional delegation and put them back in to continue the $$ pipeline coming our way, but not this year.

Oh, I got to vote my conscience and for Edwards on the first "fan out" so I don't have to be tempted by those other parties. That fan out in Seldovia has 14 for Obama and 2 for Edwards. The second and final had 15-Obama and 1-Clinton. Tracy is ever the non-joiner and she really doesn't even like Clinton.

Bret and Erin in Anchorage

2008-01-29T23:52:00.000-09:00

I am up in Anchorage and by circumstance had the opportunity to see Bret and Erin at UAA giving their talk to 100+ people. They are becoming minor celebs. Too funny and I hope to see them on David Letterman soon. But they would probably have to walk there.

They were so cute.

I am proud of them, in a proxy parental way that I have no right too. I barely knew Bret back in the hood. But we all get to wear our pride and shame of our kids in a small town. I still get a little weepy at every HS graduation.

They were inspirational in a humble, dorky, Bret and Erin way. Very understated about their quest and obviously having fun. They are taking a critical look at the environment on their trek. Looking at the impacts of us on some really remote parts on the Earth, but I get the impression they would probably still be out there if everything in the world was hunky dory. Walking around up to their knees in slush and snow, sleeping under a piece of nylon.

I was reminded of Bernard Moitessier. Back in 1969 he was in the race to be the first person to sail around the world alone, non-stop. He was going to win the race but at as he approached the last leg, and the win, he said "screw it, I am in it for the sailing, the journey" and left the money, fame and fortune behind and kept sailing another 1/2 way around the world.

I hope the kids knees hold out.

A Little Stasi in Us All

2008-01-25T10:12:00.000-09:00

East German Prison
Saint Reagan took those evil commies down and made the world safe from these kind of prisons.

United States Prison Cell at GitMo
The easily accessed window and bright lighting make solitary confinement so much more humane. I am so proud of my country.

We watched a movie from Netflix last night, "The Lives of Others." It was about the former GDR, East Germany. (Feels like a million years ago that the wall fell, doesn’t it. We were all so optimistic back then. End of Cold War, Mutual Assured Destruction, proxy wars the beginning of peace dividends, spreading of democracy and our global influence. What happened?) Anyhow the movie was set in the early 80’s and was about the Stasi, the secret police whose goal was “to know everything" and how they controlled the country and the effects of this control and secrecy on the watchers and the watched.

The story followed a Stasi agent and a playwrite. The agent was covertly watching the writer who was deemed OK by the government. Eventually he is transformed into not being OK and speaks out against the censureship and governmental control over the arts. It was a very well done movie. And certainly there are always parallels to the present that make you connect with the characters but it seemed rather close at hand. Wiretaps, surveillance, torture, secrecy, stupidity, ideological certainty and state sponsored paranoia. Same as it every was.

Tracy was a little sleepy during the last half; she doesn’t do well with plot driven movies, especially political thrillers. She likes to feel the movie. So I don’t think she was in total control of her facilities, and she was being her contrary late-January self when she flippantly said, “Those damned people should just shut their yaps. They didn’t have it so bad. If they were in Russia or China they would have been shot.” Wow, Dr. of English Literature and poet Philpot, daughter of a lesbian, feminist and green party member, interesting thinking. She spent the next 10 minutes of the movie or so trying to retract or reformulate the statement until she fell asleep on the couch. Even under assault of rapier wit and intellect, she wasn’t really engaged.

My point is Tracy doesn’t really believe that in her heart, but the idea easily takes a root in all of our brains’. I am sure I have said such things about similar situations, matter of fact I think I did even last night. It may take a late night movie, in a warm house, after a couple of beers, feeling kind of sleepy, stressors such as these to break us down but I think we all have a little Stasi in us.

But the smart amoung us realize that this is why we have laws, that Constitution thing that ensures rule of law and that NOBODY can make that kind of judgment stick on someone else. Checks and balance on our government and on our dark impulses. That whole system is working pretty well, right?

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

Not sure if the above quote is true but......

Just keep quite and you will be OK.

The New VECO is.......

2008-01-19T10:49:00.000-09:00

This was as close as a humpback got to me as I was sailing back home from Homer this last summer.

On another note.

What the HELL! Who keeps electing these people?
Our legislature wants to give money back to the oil companies. These people are making record profits; they, by design, have limited production to raise gas prices, they polluted our ocean and refuse to pay the settlement; and most damning, for me, willfully subverted our democracy. Treasonous!!!! Read the ADN article.
It is shameful and worse yet, so obvious. It would be kinda funny if it wasn't so sad. I continue to be amazed.

Tiny Hippies Outside My Door & the Sun Returns

2008-01-16T11:15:00.001-09:00

The Sun emerged in the valley today at 10:45 and weakly shown on the the house today for 12 minutes. I stared directly at it, so I could still see it for a couple of extra minutes burned into my retina. It then retreated behind the mountains and giggled at me.
I guess I should dig out the solar panels.

I didn't ski that day cause I had to get some firewood. Next year I will have it all put up for winter. (I believe this is the tenth year I have said that.)
I have no idea how that ski run appeared right there.

More Healthcare Ranting

2008-01-16T09:45:00.000-09:00

I just heard Mitt Romney giving his “victory" speech in Michigan after the primary there. He was telling the crowd all they voted for him. "You voted for me because you want everyone to be covered by health insurance.” I am paraphrasing but really? Republicans want me to have healthcare? Sure they have controlled Congress for 12 of the last 14 years, and the White House for 7 of those 14, but now Republican Romney, with Reagan hair wants me to have health insurance. OK, how?

So I cruised over to his campaign website and looked up his position on healthcare and how he was going to get it out to people who don’t have it. It wasn’t too darn informative, but I did find out that he wants you to tell your school to have better food so kids won’t get fat and we can deal with obesity and diabetes.

The Republic Party paying lip service to health care reform is just that. Romney wants to require that everyone buy insurance, or they will fine you. They will have “market reforms”, which will look a lot like their Social Security Reform. Suddenly all our health care money is going to corporations, who will ensure a snappy business model built on efficiency, maximizing resources and therefore profit, for themselves. What happens if the business isn’t meeting their quarterly projections and they haven’t meet them in a couple of years and they are going bankrupt. What happens then and who pays. Does anyone remember the Savings & Loan shit of the 80's. Neil Bush does.

I agree that we need to include everyone in the risk pool, therefore covering everyone and pooling the risk and responsibility for all of our care. The best mechanism we have for that is the US Government. They know everyone already. The myth is that government is less efficient than business. It isn’t; it just has to serve everyone (sometime it doesn't feel like service.) Business gets to throw out or choose not to serve some people or target certain markets. It is apples and oranges. Each has its place.

We already do it, you know; Medicare=socialized healthcare, Veteran Administration=socialized healthcare, Medicaide=socialized healthcare, Indian Health Service=socialized healthcare, I get a tetnus shot and flu shot from the public health nurse=socialized healthcare. I bet there are alot of republican voters in those systems.

People go off on the evils of socialized healthcare limiting access and rationing care. The subtext being that Hillary will smother you in the hospital as you recover from butt crack surgery. You will die young and the evil commies sell your organs to the Chinese. But rationing is already happening. It is being done by corporations and I have no recourse, except, of course a trial lawyer after the fact. Maybe we should put one in the White House instead. Go John.

Tracy is Naked, I am Scantily Clad, We are all F#@ked

2008-01-15T09:52:00.000-09:00

3 things :

1: When I go out to the outhouse in the AM it is dusky and I don't need a headlamp. Winter can be fun soon.
2: It needs to warm up just a little so the mountain in the outhouse tips over; I made it shallow so it would compost instead of fill.

Red Mountain Butt

3: I saw a diary at the Daily Kos the other day about how people are choosing to go or having to go “Naked.” Going naked is a new term for me and refers to dropping your health insurance because you can no longer afford it.

Tracy is naked; Aidan and I have catastrophic health insurance. We two are scantily clad.

I am certainly not proud of the fact that we can’t provide health insurance for everyone in the family. We probably could scrape together another $400 a month and buy Tracy insurance, but what else do we give up.

We don’t live extravagantly, pretty modest really. I guess if we stopped buying the beer, we’d be almost there. Maybe we could stop eating one day a week too, and we could let the house go cold and not use any electricity for a couple of days a week. Stop the Netflix; stop the internet; stop moving around at all. Sit real still and hope that nothing happens to us. I shouldn't ski anymore, dangerous. Stop buying books, sell the boat. We could afford insurance then.

Tracy and I both have college degrees and been employed in social work field. Tracy has a PhD and teaches college courses right now. We could move and find employment in the cities and get more of everything except sanity. I think about that. But Clinton was supposed to fix this back in 92'. What happened?

I suspect that even with insurance, we won’t get health care. In the past 5 years I haven’t gotten a dime from the Blue Cross, but they have gotten around $30,000 from me. I still pay for my real medical care everytime I go see the Dr. Larry here in Seldovia. We are lucky to have a lot of backcountry skiing around here and that the Dr. is addicted to fresh powder. He forgot to get rich and I think he may be naked too.

Why I am Caucusing as a Dem

2008-01-13T11:29:00.000-09:00

Here is my thinking on why I am facilitating the Democratic Caucus in little Seldovia.

The only political party affiliation I ever claimed previous to this point was as a Green. The Greens kinda faded after 2000; couldn’t quite recapture the Nader magic after that one. And until today I have been registered as an independent. But I am not part of the great “middle” of the political spectrum. That coveted voter who along with the support of a party’s base will put that will put them in the White House.

I am that pissed off liberal that sees an amazing opportunity for this country of great wealth and resource to be an amazing force for good in the world. I have resisted the Dems because they have always seemed to be the other side of the same coin; served the same corporate masters. I wanted them to know that I if they wanted my vote they had to move my way. I believe in almost all of what the Green Party of America platform states, but registering Green was a protest vote against the right ward drift of the Democratic Party.

That only mildly worked. I give. I have reached middle-age and gained a full understanding that I am not going to drastically and cataclysmicly change the world. A little shift to my way of viewing the world would be nice, it might even give me a little hope that this country can right itself and get back to the reality based world view.

So as an Alaskan voter, how am I going to have an impact on the candidate that will be elected in 2008. This has to be a Democratic year, not that they can’t blow it, history shows. But look at the candidates. I am certainly prejudiced, but the Republicans, who have always valued style over substance, haven’t even been able to agree on a style this year. Usually one style has to take the fore front: Macho Cowboy Swagger, Big Business CEO, Military General, Christain Warrior. They just aren’t on their game this cycle. And let’s face they are wrong.

But Alaska will more than likely reflexively vote for a Republican. In the all or nothing system of the electoral college, my vote will mean nothing. By participating in the Democratic Caucus and voting my preference of candidates at this point. I will lend support to that person going into the National Democratic Convention. If my candidate isn’t the party choice, they will have an ability to at least affect the party platform. My view point will have some credence and the world will being to bend to my will.

Well the past seven years have taught me a thing or two. But these years have been decades in the making with a cadre of motivated and crazy right-wingers moving their party further and further right to capture a fringe herd of fundy nut-jobs that will vote as told. Now the great right-wing boogeyman of old, Barry Goldwater, would seem to have a lot more in common with Clinton than he would of with GWB. The swing of the pendulum of American politics, I feel, has to have reached it’s zenith on the right. It is our responsibility to get hold of that pendulum and swing it hard as hell the other way.

The two party system sucks, but a one party system sucks even worse!

I am Iraq or Empathy out of Control

2008-01-11T10:04:00.000-09:00

I know it is kind of silly for me to write about these things, war and world politics. I should just post "pictures of pets up close with a wide angle lens." There really is little of value beyond my own catharsis and venting of the rage. So if you are unlucky enough to have ended up here you may be excused and the wife has the valuable kitten photos over at her site. They are cute except when they bring shrews into your room at night.

I read Glen Greenwald every day at Salon.com. I am usually with him 90% of the time, so we know he is smart! Today I read his post and viewed the accompanying videos. It is nothing I don't already know about the situation in Iraq, but I found it more depressing than usual.

The reason we basically block out from our public discourse the effects our behavior has on innocent human beings -- the reason, for instance, we don't bother to count Iraqi victims and the reason we exempt our own behavior from any sort of scrutiny other than the most self-absorbed -- is because that's the only way that the propaganda can be sustained ("Freedom is on the March. We're Liberating Them. They're so Grateful. Winning Hearts and Minds"). Is there anyone who could make a list of all of the pros and cons from our invasion of Iraq and -- while including the hundreds of thousands of innocent dead human beings and the 4 million who are displaced -- argue that it was worth it? What kind of moral depravity would allow that argument to be made?

Read the whole thing.

When I was in the mental health field, I worked with some clients who were sex offenders as well as having a major mental illness. I received some training on treatment issues with individuals who are sexual predators and learned what seems so obvious. A major problem identified in research was that they had no ability to develop empathy with their victims. They can't put themselves in other peoples shoes; they can't see the havoc they do to other people. I believe, obviously, we as a country have the same problem.

For the sexual offenders, the most powerful tool is group therapy with others in various stages of "recovery". The offenders call each other on their bullshit and rationalizing and confront what they have done. Who is doing that for us as a country. We all don't go too deep, we don't demand an end to this because what we have done is just so amazingly horrible. And now, to have political candidates triangulating, avoiding this issue and using this war as a chest thumpin' , big balls swingin' test to show you aren't afraid of killin' is a sham and that they are considering bombing Iran, is criminally stupid.

A white American girl goes missing while on vacation in some tropical country or a girl falls in a well, we come unhinged and the need to do something. Spare no expense. But look at this photo and caption.

It is all so sad. I know those kids. I have played with them at the Boy&Girls Club, they play with my kid, they ARE my kid and I AM that parent that got shot. (I have shitty brakes in my car too.)

But I am also struck by the soldiers; one has his entire face covered, the other is down with the crying kids trying to not look so scary. I bet he has kids. He is comforting a kid and appears to have his hand on the kid's head. Moments before he might have been the guy who shot and killed the parents. You can almost see that he is disassociating from the whole deal, staring at the ground.
I don't know how you could go on. The VA's are going to be filled, the shelters are going to overflowing, the drug companies will make a killing on the prozac and valium, cigarette and alcohol companies are going to do really well numbing people out. We are going to be supporting those troops until they die, long after this crazy empire building is done. But how will we ever make it up to those children.
We gotta work on little empathy and someone make this stop.

True and True

2008-01-10T22:57:00.000-09:00

True and True. I wish Jimmy had lived.
(FYI: The wife never new or cared to know, that the blue text is a link to another web page. Try it .)

The Caucus Flier

2008-01-10T16:50:00.001-09:00

"ROCK OUT WITH YOUR CAUCUS OUT"

2008-01-10T12:34:00.000-09:00

I am trying to get a teleconference set up so Seldovia can link up with the District 35 Democratic Caucus on February 5th.

I will post some signs around town later. It should be interesting to go into the Bar after that. I can't wait. I know eventually someone is going to hit me.

2008-01-06T10:30:00.001-09:00

Holiday Done

2008-01-05T11:07:00.000-09:00

Ok the holidays are over, the kid is almost back to school and a small shift in the amount of light can be felt. I am set to resume my public discourse with myself.

1. Another Canadian Company is going to get a piece of the Alaska action. Mother Palin has deemed that TransCanada is the best company to put up a gas pipeline. Damned socialist with there health care and taxes. It makes the Canadian companies have to work that much harder I guess. The second best was a Chinese company. Communist, I am glad they lost.

2. I was reading this article over at TPM about the Bush administration’s EPA being so pro-corporate as to deny California the right to regulate car emissions. (This is the party of States Rights, right?) And then the Pope says people concerned with global warming are out of line. The ruling elite are pissed, the church is upset, the monied interests concerned. The stars are aligning, as the people most entrenched in the current paradigm are threatened. They are digging in their heels and pinching the profit from the cheap inefficient hydrocarbon fueled economy. Actually they are taking profits by the tanker load. (as an aside one full tanker coming out of Prince William Sound now has almost $100,000,000 worth of crude onboard.)

I recall reading that economies need a new focus, a new thing to produce to stimulate growth anywhere from every 7-14 years. This is the next big thing, efficiency and new energy. Alot of other economies are getting it. It is going to be bigger than oil as it will effect everyone and everything.

Currently the people who set policy and focus the energy of the government are old oil execs or in Alaska’s case, have had there families supported by employment in the industry. Not that one can’t eat at the trough and still be a critical consumer. You would hate to put your husband out of work and the truth is that everyone in Alaska is a dependent of Big Daddy Oil. Oedipus did what he had to do and it was painful too.

Credit to Palin for putting in some funding for renewable energy development in Alaska, but we should be going gang-buster on this. Thinking simplistically, we should tax the hell out of big oil with carbon taxes and use it to develop the next energy base. KISS.

The University of Barabara Valley or Hippie Hollow Community College

2007-12-20T08:54:00.001-09:00

Check out this site from MIT via onegoodmove via NYT call OpenCourseWare. You can watch/audit courses online.

I am middle-aged now and have this romance for the old days in college. Not so much the debauchery, as the getting to hang around and learn stuff. And here it is free and no papers to write or tests.

I am going to get me a degree in Dork.

On Lions, Christians and Dietary Choices

2007-12-19T08:41:00.000-09:00

I am trying to read conservative blogs for 15 minutes daily. It is an exercise and an act of intellectual self-mutilation all in a couple of minutes. Read the following that I pasted from an archive article of the Powerline blog:

This irrational and virulent hatred radiates from elected officials to all those who elected them. I saw a T-shirt in a Palm Springs shop that said, "So many right-wing Christians, so few lions." Hilarious, n'est-ce pas? Nothing funnier than religious believers being ripped to shreds by wild animals in front of cheering pagans.

Here is how I translate it so it reads a little better:

“All people who elect politicians are Christians. All politicians have this t-shirt from Palm Spring that had some anti-christian theme. Therefore politicians hate people.” He throws in for a little spice to his arguement “pagans suck.”

While I do not advocate feeding Christian directly to lions (that is a bad dietary choice) I can agree with the distrust of politicians and distrust of the rich i.e. Palm Springs, but I have to disagree with denigrating cheering pagans. I am very fond of cheering pagans and I have never seen a pagan with a lion, so I think the Christians are safe from the hoards of pagans. Can’t say the inverse argument is true with any confidence though. Anyhow me and this conservative guy have a lot in common; we could work together with common ground like that.

He does need to work on that logic thing a bit, but just maybe he isn’t really interested in logic, maybe instead, as Colbert says, he is trying to make you "feel" his argument. I can feel his argument; politicians are corrupt and right wing christian are oppressed and continue to be martyred by the clothing choices of pagan. The outrage grows.

P.S. I couldn’t find the t-shirt online but there is a hat over at cafepress with the quote. It is a nice looking hat.

We Are Getting Nailed Again At TPM Muckraker

2007-12-18T09:58:00.000-09:00

Senator Ted is doing the job we sent him to do and he is catching hell again.

At the TPM Muckraker site they have had a hard-on for our congressional delegation. Really, they have done a much better job documenting our elected officials slime than any local media outlet. Sometime they go a little to far.

Frequently, in reading TPM and the Anchorage Daily News, I get the feeling that the ADN is waiting for these guys or at least somebody to break the bad news so they can get cover and report the reporting. Maybe it is that TPM is a internet site and not afraid of running into Ted at a xmas party.

Hey $975,000 for berry research!!!??? Do you think the Tribe has some new jobs heading its way? I hope so. I want to go out with a caliper and measure those blueberries for $40 an hour.

Look at the Little Side Bar Thing I Linked Up

2007-12-17T10:46:00.000-09:00

That is fun.

It is probably not fair to imply that that money is wasted or misspent in that War. We were going to have to fund a military in this country anyhow. And when you start thinking about the multiplier effect for our economy, even here in Alaska, that spending may be what is keeping the national economy out of the tank. Not even considering the dividends that are being paid out to share holders of all the military/industrial complex corps, but even the extra combat pay those soldiers at Ft. Rich are getting, they come home spend it and spread it around. I bet that it has reduced the number of military families on food stamps. Check out how they are raking it in.

If you spend a single qualifying day in the combat zone, your pay for the entire month is excluded from taxable income, and you receive $225 in combat pay for that month.

You get an extra $7.50 a day. No wonder we have had to subcontract so much of the military's activities out. That is expensive and as we know the private sector always does a better job delivering services. If you need further proof of this conservative maxim please read this Rolling Stone Article. Isn't it amazing that the stoner music mag has more balls reporting in this day and age than any of the traditional media.

Random Photos on the hard drive.

If I Can't See the Meteors, It Is the Republicans Fault

2007-12-13T08:49:00.000-09:00

Meteor Shower in progress. Today and tomorrow. If we can see the sky. I got this link from AmericaBlog.

Aidan and I were driving home the other evening around 6pm. It was dark, like it is most of the time this time of year. Suddenly low on the horizon a meteor lit up the sky. It took a full two seconds as it streaked towards the ground. It was remarkably slow moving and had a duller yellow light. Visually it seemed close. I stopped the truck thinking I would hear it hit. Didn't. Aidan said it was aliens. I hope they aren't moving into the hood here. HippieAliens.

I Attempt to Like the Kachemak Bay Tour Boat Project

2007-12-11T10:46:00.000-09:00

I have been thinking about that Seldovia Native Association/Seldovia Village Tribe (SNA/SVT) ferry project again. I haven't kept up and I may not have all the facts exactly correct, but should that stop me from having an opinion! I think not. Anyhow, I am trying to like the newest incarnation of the project.

It is no longer the “fast-ferry" that provides transpostation infrastructure for the entire south side of Kachemak Bay. Now it is the one that only goes back and forth from SNA lands to Homer, only during the summer months, and is primarily transportation for tourists. It is a shift from the initial proposal, but as in life, to evolve and progress, we all need to be flexible. So I have to get over the issue that the project has changed; that is life.

So we are left with the prospect of people stopping by, wandering around town and spending their disposable income. No longer is daily transportation being offered for citizens on this side of the Bay to access medical care, merchandise and opportunty. But still, it sounds OK (remain flexible, evolve.)

Tourism is one industry we can grow here, it is a natural. Especially if we don’t have transportation infrastructure. This SNA tour boat development could stir some people to get all entrepreneurial, move to town, create a bit of a business. Primarily, I think the Tribe and Native Association will have to develop more businesses to entertain these tourists and we as the local color, might be able to get service sector jobs. (We will all be issued a nice green aprons and vests. Do we have to wash them?) Also, it has been promised that the boat, once in place, will be stationed here, with the crew and their families (it is a hoped.) We will get some infrastructure, with a new dock in town (sure the dock is being developed on SNA sovereign land so they don’t have to pay the city fees, get over it, it is business. They won that one. Note: this is why sovereignty has come up in other issues around town, it is important.) So it appears as a WIN-win situation.

Another item I have to remain flexible about is the idea that this will benefit everyone equally, or even benefit everyone. That isn’t the way things happen in this world. And the fact that it is federal money used for corporate profits, oh the horror!!! (If these things bother you and you have voted for the current AK congressional delegation and the Administration in the White House, you are a tool.) If some benefit more than others, such is life and SNA is doing the work. (See past post here.) And everyone is still benefiting. (It may be said that having a bunch of people gawking at us, walking in the middle of the street as you are trying to get to the airport and all those other unattractive tourist behaviors isn't a benefit. I say you have find ways of entertaining yourself with the tourists. I always try and get in their photos and when I take photos for the people who want to have everyone in the picture, I focus on their crotches. Too funny! I am just glad that they are all digital photos now and not wasting much mercury or whatever. Also who hasn't had a good time watching the wild turkeys of Seldovia chase some poor unsuspecting ass who was gobbling at them. CAUTION: them turkeys will fuck you up!)

The thing that has me worried about the tour boat project is not the income disparity part (This project isn't where the SNA will get rich; this one is) it is that I won’t have a say in the situation. I can’t vote on members of the Tribal Council or the Association’s Board of Directors. I am cast in a powerless situation. Power will be further concentrated in the hands of a few and away from me. Intergenerational payback is a bitch. Get over it.

Does it even matter if I support the project? No. They don't even have to show up to city council meetings. SNA has a load of cash and they have to spend it. Lets hope that they spend it someway that benefits Seldovia, but with all the pissing, moaning and egos involved it may go the way other economic development projects for Seldovia have gone, which is to Anchorage. We will continue along with a Main Street that has more and more crap parked in the front yards looking more and more like Nikiski (also known as the Oklahoma of Alaska. Personally, I am down to 2 dead cars in the yard!!!But I live out the road.) The project will change again I am sure. I just hope they get better looking aprons, in xtra-large, please. Thank you, I love you, can I stay, please? Amen.

Tracy's blog update.
Yesterday she just linked a video that everyone on earth has downloaded and viewed. It is funny, but not worth the effort.

Tracy's Blog Gave Me VD; You Be Careful Now

2007-12-07T09:57:00.000-09:00

My wife and I have a great relationship. I couldn't imagine living with anyone else. I could live alone though, without all those damn cats, but I would quickly, or more quickly, self-destruct and no one would know because I wouldn't have been to town in years.

The one irritating aspect about our relationship is we have this kinda competitive streak with each other. We, particularly her, have to have everything equal or we have to win. She gets sooooooo upset if she thinks I am shorting her food, beverages, attention or whatever. She is still upset I am faster on a bike and she won't play trivial pursuit, ever again. I think she threw it away.

I am sorry to bring you all in on this, but please don't read her blog anymore, at least for a little while. She is kicking my ass on the number of hits on her page. And she makes fun of me because of it. It is just like that South Park Episode "Quest for Ratings" when the boys are putting on a news show on the school closed circuit TV. They get bumped off the air by Graig's show. He is getting more viewers than the boys news show and it just videos of animals close-up with a wide-angle lens, but everybody loves it.

All Tracy does on her blog, and in a large part of her life, is just talk about cats and yarn. Her blog is pictures of cats, talking about sheep hair, the occasional pot-shot at me and pictures her falling down.

Come on, I will tell you on this blog, which of these things she is ranting about and as a bonus I will put more photos on. And if you need anything, just let me know. OK?!!! So is what you are missing; her leading me along into buying her what she wants for Xmas and she is stunned our 10 year old knows that Santa is fake. I would be more disturbed if he didn't.

I just have to beat her for a while and then I will disable her stat counter that I set up for her. She will never be able to re-establish her account and I will be victorious. Then to make nice I will let her win at scrabble.

What if Nothing is There?

2007-12-06T09:09:00.000-09:00

Recently, I glibly wrote we should be asking public officials about how good is their memory. I tire of all the testimony where these individuals who are amongst the most powerful people on the planet can't remember crap . St. Reagan started it all and made it OK. BUT he had Al's Hammer; he had a disease. I will wait for the post mortem on former Attorney General Gonzales, but there has to be something biological. During his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee used a version of the phrase "I don't remember" 71 times. His second Kyle Sampson, 122 times. Obviously compromised in some fashion. (Why didn't Clinton just say "I was really busy at the time, a bunch of sex going on, and I just can't remember if I had sex with that woman.")

It is obvious that Tucker Carlson is reading this blog. (I can't control who reads this.) From Crooks and Liars, check out this interview he did regarding having candidate's brains scanned prior to taking office.

Once I get past the issue that Tucker is a TOTAL CHODE, ("we are fine now") I don't think brain scans for people are a good idea. But I think the question should asked by the voters and the expectations should be established. "How's that candidate's brain seem to you?" Listening to Senator Ted's latest rants as outlined on progressivealaska.blogspot.com, it maybe a good question. We know about candidates prostates and now we have the opportunity to learn about the condition of candidate's cervix . Progress! But the most important organ is left off the table. Maybe we care more about people genitals than their brains. Probably.

Gaydar Test and a Clip of Summer At The End If You Read This Post

2007-12-04T22:31:00.001-09:00

A couple of things have been sticking in my head recently that I couldn’t shake. One is the freaky Amy Winehouse. She is so lucky. I really wish us hicks/hippies community (Hickies. That is my tribe!) had a spokesmodel like her. We just don’t have any representation in the media. I think we could recruit someone.

Next
The next thing that is sticking in the mire in my head is when I was hearing on the radio that freaking Senator Lindsey Graham (R-Not Gay) (Not that there is anything wrong with being not gay, but come on. As an aside, I have to say that Republicans have the absolute worst Gaydar Systems. It never dawns on them that some guy might be gay until they have a dick in their mouth. Barney needs to give them some lessons. Either way.) Lindsey was talking about the Supreme Court taking a case regarding the military tribunals being set up to deal with or dispose of the “enemy combatants” down in Git-mo.(Isn’t that redundant, enemy combatant, maybe not redundant, but it lets everyone that they are really bad guys.) I was sort of listening to the blather, but then he lets go of the zinger "I believe this is a war without end." WOW! They finally said it. He does not foresee an end to this war on terror. We are going to keep ramping this thing up until, what?

This is the next big thing. This talking point has been elevated to the top. The big hitters are now saying World War Forever, WW∞. The yapping chihuahuas of rightwing dog yard have been howling it for 4 years. We are softened up now and able to accept the message. If these people are anywhere near the reigns of power after 08’, it is over. The Idiocracy will have begun. These ass-hats will have their wish of WW∞. Anyone who uses that term without defining how we can win the war should not be elected.

If this keeps goinf I will never vote again, never look at a newspaper or blog, (maybe a few, non-political), goodbye NPR, PBS. I will move to woods in Alaska, survive off homebrew, homegrown, heat myself with wood, ramble around in old broken-down trucks and cut myself off from the world. Ha!! That will hurt'em.

Next One
That was the big one but this one registered. I refer back to the post about the Saudi woman punished for being raped. The press asked Bush if he had brought this case up during the recent visit with the King. (We are negotating with a King, too funny.)He side-stepped and said he couldn’t remember and sounded like a fucking idiot. Bullshit. He can’t say it, but he doesn’t care. Just say “no, I didn’t talk about it” or let it hang out there “if I call my friends on that issue, they might ramp down oil production and gas will go to $6.” Or “if I don’t keep kissing their asses we might have to buy more energy efficient fridges. I hate you and this stupid job, fuck off. ” That would be refreshing.

Hence forth, I want every candidate for public office and appointed official cabinet or whatever to swear about the veracity of their memory. A simple question, “How would describe your mental acuity in regards to your memory?” If they can’t attest to their ability to remember, then we don’t have to hire them or at least don’t let them write memoirs when they leave office. That should be a law.

Finally
Lastly, locals, I read and commented on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School Districts “Long Range Plan.” You can too!!! Right here. (Doesn't Donna kinda look like some mid 70's hair band guitarist? She's hot in a BYU kinda way.)

I think the purpose of these plans is just to have people articulate a larger vision of what a school district should be doing. It is vague but I think that is the plan of articulating a plan. The meta-plan. But in defense of the process, I did have to think while reading it.

I am posting my comments below amongst the plan. Mostly I found the plan focused on centralizing power and makes it more hierarchical. I believe it is all being driven by the NCLB Act. NCLB may have a few positive attributes, but has begun the dismantling of public education. I believe I is talking to myself down this far in a blog but I have to finish this. If you actually read the following and can find any grammatical errors, you receive a cookie!!!! :> (I have never done one of those stupid things before and I think that was the last!)

Goal #1 – Organizational Competence:
KPBSD will adequately provide services to students in order to prepare them to thrive in a 21st century global economy and society.

The District will do this through:
Step A: Assuring all students a safe, respectful, student-centered and welcoming environment in which to learn
Step B: Teaching student well with:
* non-negotiable goals for achievement and instruction (i.e. all students performing at grade level or have a plan and supports in place to attain proficiency)
* comprehensive, integrated, creative curriculum
* high quality, energized staff
* varied and diverse instructional methodologies
* continuous progress monitoring and adjustments for learning

(The red font is funny for the teachers)

Under Step B the use of term “non-negotiable goals” I think is inappropriate. The supporting example sited of “having all student performing at grade level or having a plan and supports in place to attain proficiency” attempts to mollify the initial statement and might be a more tenable. But the rigidity implied by having “non-negotiable goals” ends any discussion or dialectic that may better serve a situation, student or instructor. This standard only half serves everyone and to me feels incongruent with many of the Guiding Principles set forth by the document.

I believe that a rigid set of goals doesn’t serve individuals, but instead makes for easier measurement of our children. I can see the benefit of using testing and the data produced to inform the instruction, but I also sense, through my limited research and watching my own child, that this reliance may exclude teaching of the more esoteric and interesting knowledge that has value outside of a testing situation.

As a long term guide for our district, I feel that “non-negotiable” should be changed to more reflect the power of individual needs and goal setting that is stated in Goal #3 Step E “Providing individualized learning plans and flexible accommodations for students to reach their highest personal potential.”

Goal #2 – Organizational Improvement
KPBSD will continuously and thoughtfully enhance the value and quality of its personnel and services utilizing data and input.
The District will do this through:
Step A: Having outside entities audit, provide recommendations for improvement, and have the District adopt necessary changes in specific areas such as:
* communications
* building utilization (right sizing of buildings for infrastructure, yet providing for shared community and school spaces)
* energy/efficiency
* work classifications (job responsibility review)
* data warehousing and use

Step B: Developing and adopting a long term comprehensive model for professional development
* focusing on student achievement
* aligned, effective, relevant, engaging curriculum and instruction using research based “beat practices” and “high yield strategies”
* building on past training while meeting future needs
* utilizing multiple delivery models
* assuring training is embedded, sustainable, and addresses changing personnel
* emphasizing collaboration
* implementing changes with fidelity, intensity, and consistency

Step C: Building a system that accepts responsibility for the continual progress of all students, making sure all students’ needs are met at every level

I am wondering about the need for an outside audit. Is this not the role of the administration with oversight from the Board? The wording in Step C, modified to address the issues in Step A, would be a long-term goal. This would build structures that will lead to empowering students, employees and communities to identify ways too achieve these goals in conjunction with the district.

Goal #3 – Organizational Agility
KPBSD will be a responsive organization able to move quickly and easily as new information and changing circumstances dictate.
The District will do this through:
Step A: Providing maximum, quality choices in classes, programs and schools
Step B: Continuing and expanding work with local providers assuring “safety nets” for all students
Step C: Nurturing and expanding partnerships in the community and state to provide additional opportunities for students, particularly in areas of critical need
Step D: Continuing ubiquitous technology integration and implementation as well as exploring and adopting appropriate emerging technologies to improve student performance and prepare students for their future world
Step E: Providing individualized learning plans and flexible accommodations for students to reach their highest personal potential.
The individualized plans will:
*Be developed by a team of student, parents, school professionals
* Engage students in their own learning and provides a clear path to success
* Expect differentiation in classrooms
* Provide menus/choices in delivery systems
* Include interventions that work
* Supply individual coaching focused on marketable and life skills
No comments.

Goal #4 – Organizational Sustainability

KPBSD will be a viable, vibrant organization focused on students and plans regardless of changes in leadership and personnel.

The District will do this through:
Step A: Securing sufficient monetary resources for meeting the needs of students now and in the future
Step B: Being efficient as an organization, ensuring the greatest portion of resources possible used to impact student learning directly
Step C: Providing extensive leadership development throughout multiple levels of the organization
Step D: Using the district’s strengths (unique geographic location, technology infrastructure, and collaborative team structure) as tools for attracting and retaining quality personnel as well as developing a sense of self, sense of place, and sense of community for students.

Step D: The geographic location can also be a challenge. I feel that the changes in Seldovia housing market will necessitate some sort of accommodation that is present in Tyonek, Port Graham and Nanwalek.
We should also make a commitment to pay our teachers at a rate comparable to the other highest paying districts in the state.

The following is the results of my Gaydar test. I am pretty good for living in Seldovia for so long!

Try Again

You impressively scored
80%

Try Again

"Definitely time to get tested."

You personally got 16 of the 20 people correct and were better at recognizing guys than girls. Overall, you guessed better than 87% of all test takers.

Think You Can Do Better?

Small Town Fun

2007-12-01T10:06:00.000-09:00

So Fred was giving me and the wife the stink eye in the Bar last night. Then he left. It was a good thing he did.

Two weeks ago this same guy confronted my wife in the Linwood after I had left for a minute to take Micky home. Micky was too drunk to drive his bike home. He accused her of being a hypocrite because she was the "alcohol counselor" and that she testified against him at some trial. Thing is she was never a alcohol counselor but was worked for the women's services as a domestic violence counselor. And he is a big abusive violent ass.

So now I am confronted with the task of how to deal with this guy. It is so small town. I think I may have to fight him!!! Ha!!! The last fight I was in was with Scott Braden in 8th grade. (The photo is Scott now. He is a total geek.) We got in a tussle over who got to sit in the front seat of the car on the ride home from school. I made Scott cry after I knocked his M&Ms to the pavement. I kicked his ass!

So watch out, Fred, the next time I see you with M&Ms in your hand, I am going knock them to the pavement. That will teach you.

I Done Forgetted to be Rich or Least I ain't Ignorint

2007-11-30T09:12:00.000-09:00

I ran across this item on the Wonkette site. Seems that some person in Texas got fired from her job as the science curriculum director in the Texas Education Agency for promoting science. More accurately, she got fired for knocking creationism in science classes. Again my head explodes even as I start seeing the freedumn that will be gained as we reach back and reinstate the fine thinking of the Dark Ages.
I can see how that woman might need to be stoned or cast out. The new movement in education is stupidity. Don't expand the mind, control it and ensure that all parts support the correct world view. Critical thinking is so yesterday. Liberal Arts. We don't do liberal anymore.
I would like to start a movement to accept my spelling of words as the corect spellings, and damn it, comma splices are fine. Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics anew. Furthermore, this country was founded as Christian Nation , and critics be damned to hell, the NEW math will look like this:

Critics of Intelligent Math are concerned that it is erroneous and should not be taught in schools since it will lower the educational standards of the nation’s children. However, Professor Gibbet was defensive: "On the contrary, using Intelligent Math, it is possible to show that all numbers are equivalent and so, in the context of an exam, there are no wrong answers. Hence each pupil will increase their score to 100 per cent ...which of course equals 300 per cent.

WTF, I love it. That man should be in charge of something. Maybe a promotion to NASA. I am sure no more exploding Space Shuttles with him.
Fuel Tank Guy,"Sir, how much fuel should we put in the Shuttle?"
Professor Gibbet, "By my calculations, 300% should be enough."

I am in a quandry as to why I am poor in this culture. If I just had a little more energy and a little more cynicisism, I should at least be able to do as well as these people.

Yes,I know I spelled alot of stuff wrong in this post and there are numersous "gramatical" errors , but not anymore. Now, I am rightous.

I Didn't Realize He Was So Short

2007-11-29T11:17:00.000-09:00

In small towns we don't get to meet candidates running for statewide office. It is a shame because campaigns and elections need to be more about educating each other and discussing issues and less about staking out positions, 30 second commercials and gotcha politics. In Seldovia, I don't get a whole lot of opportunity to constructively discuss issues with people who I know have differing opinions. But I do see staking out positions and gotcha politics.

I think it would be great for candidates to make themselves available to come to small villages and towns to discuss Alaska's future. Instead of taking campaign donations and lumping them together and then making it to some outlying communities for photo ops, people should raise funds and then pay the expenses for candidates to visit. It could be an opportunity throughout Alaska to raise the level of political discourse and take the power away from campaign managers and political professionals to control the environment and message.

Now is a great opportunity for people to redefine what the meat of politics should be about. It should be made obvious that a major contributor to current state of government in Alaska and the US is a result of electing people based on wedge issues and by pandering to single issue fringe groups.

I'd even shell out the money for the flight to get people over. (Tracy says they have to agree to pick up some cat food at Save-u-More.) It would be great to get Seldovians together and see how a candidate handles our issues. It shouldn't be too hard. (When I was in college, back in the pre-Mad Mothers days, Texas Congressman JJ Pickle always came to the College Democrats meeting with a keg. The meetings were well attended when we knew he was going to show. I did love JJ!)

I am going to email some campaigns. Now, early on in the season, is probably the time when they will have an opportunity to pay attention to hicks in the sticks demographic. I am looking at the Congressional races and I will post any replies I get back from campaigns.

All Politics is Local

2007-11-27T09:09:00.000-09:00

There is Parents Advisory/Site Council meeting tonight at the school. This is the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District version of the PTA. I am the Vice President of this austere body. As vice president, I have yet to avail myself of the prerogative of drunkenly shooting friends in the face (my wife, who is not any sort of office holder, once shot me in the head, almost point blank, with an air-soft bb-gun and I believe ETOH was a factor.)

This is my one and only foray into electoral politics. I was placed in office as a write-in candidate with an overwhelming mandate of 8 votes. I beat my next two rivals by a two vote margin. Soooo proud. I believe I ahve two courses of action available to me: 1. to retire after a few terms of office and become a lobbyist, or 2. my 10 year old son can start lobbying for the school lunch industry. That is how it is done, isn't it? Cha-ching!!!! But really being on this little board does make a difference, maybe just a small one, but you gotta be willing to stand up for principles even when hardly anyone is watching, maybe even more so then.

Locally, there is a reflection of national issues. Issues like censorship, creationism, red v. blue etc. A more accurate view is it that the Republicans, seeing that they have no ability to be elected on policy/economic issues, identify local and cultural wedge issues to motivate a base for themselves. (There is no way in hell that Dick Cheney believes in any of this fundamentalist crap; he professes love for his gay daughter and her child, his wife wrote soft-core porn, he never quotes scripture. He doesn't pander to that part of their coalition, he just keeps quiet until they need someone to scare the hell out of everyone. He is just not that dumb. I will even say that George W. is not that dumb, but he does pander. That is his job, but I digress.) This is a strategy based on deception and hypocrisy and, as in the rest of the world, people here have taken to it because it is much more simple than the nuance and effort it takes to be aware of real issues. It is easier to hate Hillary because she sort of supports gay rights, than to talk about her health care proposals.

It is a loosely coordinated strategy, and is seen locally on these advisory boards, on councils, on non-profit boards. Soon these individuals gain traction and are in charge of the place. Look at the case of the Gablers in Texas. It is scary, not really sinister but it has to be countered for our sakes and theirs. It seems like the Democrats had their heads up butts for the longest time and in the past couple of years are pulling it out with the "50 State Strategy."

Finally let me say that the other side really isn't the other side. They have their interests and motivations. I know they want a good, healthy, prosperous community. We may debate the definition what these things are, but we liberals, especially in Alaska, have not really been in on the debate; we haven't even been in on framing the debate. I just hope that we can come up with some real leadership and I hope someone brings cookies tonight.

I was Pissed at TSA in Denver

2007-11-26T15:11:00.000-09:00

Last September we were traveling back home from Denver. I was struck by the fact that some people were getting to go to the head of that long screening line because they are preferred or first class or platinum or whatever passengers. But don't taxes pay for the TSA now. Shouldn't everyone be treated equally regardless of their status with the airlines?
I should be quiet or I may get tasered.

I Want To Pay An Income Tax or Representation Without Taxation

2007-11-26T12:42:00.000-09:00

Really I do. I want to pay for the State government I get and I want you to also. Maybe then, for a while, we will all give a crap.

Alaskans have consistently been in the lowest 10% of the US states for taxes per-capita. Let us do the adult thing and pay for some of our government. Then we can put a bunch of those petro-dollars, in addition to the upcoming "surplus", in savings. Or try this one; fully fund education and endow the University of Alaska System! We have an endowment for UA but it is ranked right behind Rollins University at 199th in the nation. There are even some Universities that have managed their endowments so well that they are eliminating tuition. Communists!!

We got money flowing out the wahzoo. Instead of creating a higher educational system that will create jobs, provide research, attract business, provide cultural opportunities and keep our talent in state, every year our University has to beg for money to keep going. And they have to beg from these dunderheaded, flat earther, anti-intellectual, anti-science, legislator and governors. They get under funded and we get a second rate school. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.

That oil in the ground around Alaska belongs to everyone. IF we have to get it out now, we should be creating institutions that will benefit future generations, not just giving us a free-ride. I am going to write Gov. Palin. She did want to hear from me about how I wanted to spend the surplus.

Makes My Head Explode

2007-11-21T09:20:00.000-09:00

This makes my head explode. We are "allied" with this country!

A Saudi Arabian human rights attorney is asking the government to allow him to represent a woman who was gang-raped — and then sentenced to prison for speaking out about the case.

The attorney, Abdulrahman al-Lahim, had his license revoked last week by a judge for speaking to the Saudi-controlled media about the case, al-Lahim told CNN.

The judge more than doubled the sentence against al-Lahim’s 19-year-old client because she spoke to the media about the case, a court source told Arab News, an English-language Middle Eastern daily newspaper.

The woman — who was initially sentenced in October 2006 to 90 lashes — had her sentenced increased to 200 lashes and was ordered to serve six months in prison under Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic law.

That's enough; I am uninviting all the Saudi Royals to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Fuckers, stay away. You can't come. And take that Benz back, I have a reputation to uphold.

You Scrub My Back and I will Scrub Yours

2007-11-19T18:18:00.001-09:00

My wife now says that scrubbing each other's backs in the new sauna has replaced sex as the most loving thing to do. I say it hasn't but I do enjoy a good trade off. And speaking of trade offs, this is how it works!!!!!!
From the Alaska Ear-

WHO'S OUR UNCLE ... The invitations are out. Forty-nine co-sponsors are throwing a fundraiser for Ted Stevens on Monday at the Dimond Mall hotel. Let's give $$$ to a good man doing a good job, is the theme. Every Republican you know who isn't Sarah Palin is listed, from Clem Tillion to Rick Rydell.

Time-out didn’t the Hotel host a fund-raiser for Palin too? Let’s just say, you can’t have enough friends.

But I want to know, how does one become a co-sponsor? No one contacted me regarding helping out. And what does one get in return of this sponsorship? I would like to have been a sponsor, or at least get an invitation. I would have given Ted something for his defense/campaign funds, like the contents of my pockets right now. He would get: a screwdriver, a nail, two roofing screws, used ear plugs, a chainsaw multi-tool, a wiring connector, 5 keys (I don’t know what 2 of them open, but I keep them on for mass) on my Mitchell County Courthouse key ring, a 5/16th socket, some rolling papers, three quarters and a dime. (Unlike my neighbor Chris, I don’t carry bullets around.) I think these would come in handy for the Senator. In return for these riches, I just want one little earmark that, I hope, will benefit him and his family as well. I would like to have an entire wing of a federal prison designated for the Alaska Republican Party members. Maybe it will have a “Senatorial Suite” as well! That’s wrong to label all corrupt politicians as Republicans; I am sure Tony is a little nervous these days too.

But it does seem strange that an overwhelming majority of the corrupt bastards and perverts are Republicans. Maybe it has to do with the mindset that government is a malevolent actor in the world and many don’t see anything wrong with lying, cheating, stealing from and trying to bugger that evil beast. It reminds me of how I used to supplement my income working in the game room at Chuck E Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater as a 16 year old. I would trade game room tokens with the greasy dudes in the kitchen for a pizza during my dinner break. I would be generous so they wouldn’t spit in it. (Take a note you crappy tippers.) Not a high stakes crime; fake money for cheese and bread. I know that the manager knew it was going down.He would wink, smile, and then give us free beer and pizza after work and talk about keeping his prostate healthy. CREEPY!!! I am not proud of doing that (the stealing, not the free underage drinking) but I understand how the process works FOR KIDs working at shitty little jobs. I don’t think it's the way to run anything, especially an enterprise like the USA.

But the fact is that Stevens hasn't been charged with anything. Although it sure does look bad, and as the trusted senator says, it probably is just some ADN lackey who is trumping up rumors as the following ADN story points out.

In the interview, Stevens made vague threats to the people who have suggested that he and his son, former state Senate President Ben Stevens, might be guilty of some sort of wrongdoing. The younger Stevens hasn't been charged with a crime, but his name has come up repeatedly in court proceedings. Plea documents in Allen's own case say that payments of $243,250 the Veco CEO made to Ben Stevens were bribes in exchange for "giving advice, lobbying colleagues, and taking official acts in matters before the Legislature" when the younger Stevens was a state lawmaker.

"Your papers print (the names of) those people who have been convicted and my son's name and mine at the same time. As far as the public is concerned, it's all the same ball of wax," Stevens said. "I'm not going to comment on that ball of wax."

"But we've been included in a way that I hope people understand the laws that are doing it," he said. "Because when it's all over, some people are going to have to account for what they've said and what they've charged us with."

It was unclear whom Stevens was threatening. When asked if he meant libel or perjury, Stevens said: "No. I'm just saying there are ways to account for this in the future."

When asked if he meant political retribution, he remained vague:

"I think the people out there ought to worry about that the way I worry about the investigation. There are myriad things you can do. Just a myriad of things."

When pressed, he wouldn't elaborate further:

"I've said it," Stevens said.”

I think he is an upstanding citizen who has served us selflessly and with honor and dedication. He has been a great advocate for all Alaskans and as the longest serving Senator in the history of US Senate, I will let history be his judge. (I think that will get me off the vendetta list. That was close. I deleted the following, which would have put me on list-
I think he is a barely standing up creton who has served selfishly and with horror and remuneration. He has been a disgrace for all Alaskans and as the longest serving Senator in the history of US Senate and I will let history be his and our judge.)

An Oily Tax

2007-11-17T12:58:00.000-09:00

Our representatives in Juneau have really stuck it to those oil companies this time. They increased the taxes on oil to 25% of up from 22.5%. The big oil companies said that they wouldn't be able to invest in new projects and the State of Alaska will now wither and die without them footing the bill for everything. They may even leave!

A quick search of the inter net finds that the Canadian have a different take on the royalty rates.
This article at Bloomberg.com has some interesting information regarding what the Canadians consider a "Fair Share."

In Alberta much of the oil is tied up in oil sands and is expensive to extract. The article is a little confusing (or I am a little dumb) and says in one place they are raising royalties to 33%, then it says 64% on the oil sands. Whatever. Read this:

"The recommendations would boost Alberta's share of oil-sands revenue to 64 percent from 47 percent, the report said. The higher take ``remains competitive internationally,'' Hunter said. The government's share from oil and gas wells would rise 5 percentage points to 49 percent and 63 percent, respectively."

I am sure it is little more complicated than all this. Our leggies wouldn't sell use down the river would they? BUT WTF-25%??????? The damn Canadians are getting 44% rate on the regular oil that the people own (actually "the crown" owns most of it), and health care, and only 1% of their GDP on military expenditures. Idiots, Eh!

Baseline Housing

2007-11-16T09:16:00.000-09:00

I lived in Denver from 1989-93. It was my escape from Texas. Just what the Coloradoans really wanted, another damn Texan in there midst.
I graduated from college, loaded up the 1983 VW Rabbit GTI, kissed Ma goodbye and headed out. After a week living in the car looking for work, I rented the house pictured above. It was a pit. I think it was servants quarters or as we ended up calling a "slave shack". No bedroom, a miniscule kitchen, a bathroom that only one person could stand in, cold in winter, hot in summer, leaky, sloping floors. But it had a big yard for the dogs, we could sit with the windows open and hear the screams of the people riding the roller coaster at the nearby Elitch Gardens Amusement Park. It was like living outside of Hell. Kinda fun. I think I paid $280 a month. It was perfect for a single guy.
I had met Tracy soon after arriving. She was in school. Then she graduated for school with her PhD. They told her that she'd topped out and couldn't hang out there anymore. No more student loans and sitting around reading books. Suddenly and somehow surprising to her, Tracy didn't have money for her rent. So she arrived at my shack and told me "it will be great if I moved with you". I think that is the definition of a hippie marriage proposal. Anyhow that is our baseline for abodes. Any worse and we aren't doing well. That is why we think our piece o crap owner built Alaskan home is a mansion; we have a frame of reference. I feel sorry for the kids who think they need or are entitled luxury right out of high school.
Whenever we are in Denver, we end up having to drive by 3914 Zenobia just to re-establish that baseline. The first time we showed the house to Aidan, he kind of cried. He thought we were going to have to live there. This last summer when we were there, you could tell he was repulsed. So there is hope for the boy. He will have some nice apartment in some big international city and make a lot of money. I hope he let us visit.

Seldovia in the News

2007-11-15T11:53:00.000-09:00

I heard Mike Mason doing a story on KBBI this AM regarding the Kachemak Bay Ferry System. Again the Seldovia is sounding kinda crazy.

Mason did try and keep to the facts; Micheal Beale reporting to the Homer City Council on the ferry update and changes; Seldovia's newest city manager explaining why the city can't support the project now, blah blah blah. But again the subtext was the City v. Tribe. And the Tribe is always coming to the meetings and on the radio with something to offer, be it development, jobs etc.

I am sure that everyone must know that SNA has the City by the balls. Yelp! And it going to be tough to find some power base from which the City can squirm out of this grip. (Unfortunate imagery, but it fits.)
Please the comments to the previous post.

On another note I would love for someone to explain to me what it means to be a member of the Republican party and why you keep electing these crooked politicians. And before we say it is all politics, remember these are Republican Appointed Attorneys that are getting local crooks.
Don Young is accused of using our single congressional seat for personal gain. Shame on him and shame on us for sending him back again and again.
And Ted is accused of using earmarks to benefit his son. UGH.

Nature-Based Tourism in Seldovia Or Not

2007-11-14T08:32:00.000-09:00

As threatened, I read the study "Nature-Based Tourism in Southeast Alaska:Results from 2005 and 2006 Field Study" by Darcy Dugan, Ginny Fay, Steve Colt of the Institute of Social and Economic Research of University of Alaska Anchorage and Eco-Systems. Funding for the study came from Alaska Conservation Foundation, The University of Alaska GINA Project, and The Wilderness Society. The stated purpose is to "add to the information and knowledge base available to help people make informed decisions." Sounds interesting, right? Here is the link to the paper at UAA website, www.iser.uaa.alaska.edu/Publications/SEnbt_final.pdf.
I read this study as essentially descriptive and it did not address the development of tourism and its effects on local communities in a critical manner. It outlined the significant financial impact of the tourism industry in the communities in SE. It sought to place an annual value or describe the value of maintaining pristine or simi-pristine areas for nature-based tourism.

I am somewhat conflicted regarding tourism development in Seldovia. It is a little creepy having people walk around and look at us like we are a bunch of rubes."Oooh, Honey! Look at that freaky looking dude, driving that old truck with the kids and the dog in the back. Take a picture." Personally, I try to subtly interject myself into as many of these photos as I can; summer fun! But I like the tourist as well, because those people were me and Tracy 13 years ago. Getting off the Rainbow Connection, walking down the middle of Main Street. Tracy saying, "This is where I want to have kids." Me saying, somewhat stunned, "I thought we didn't want kids." I knew then Tracy would be having a child. Now in deep for 11 years and with the kid showing up 10 years ago the picture is complete. I am now wondering where is the kid going to get the demeaning and debasing job in the next couple of years. I mowed lawns and had a series of degrading low-paid service sector jobs in my early teens that taught me that I must evolve and find a better way. Tourism is going to be in Seldovia. How it is going to happen and how it will or if it will expand, I think this study gives some idea and may "help people make informed decisions."

Below is "Key Findings" from the study. I commented on them in bold type as I read along and saw how they related to Seldovia. I am not going to be exhaustive and I am ignorant of many factors that should be considered, but this is mostly an exercise for me and my two other readers!

8.1 Key Findings
Nature-based tourism generates over $250 million per year of direct business revenues in Sitka, Juneau and Chichagof Island for the companies we surveyed. This is most likely an underestimate of total revenue because not all nature-based tourism businesses and business sectors were surveyed or included in our estimates. Also, this total does not include sales tax
revenue to local government. In addition, the summer of 2006 was especially wet, which decreased activity for some businesses.

A number of key findings emerged from this research, despite its limited geographic scope.
These include the following:
• Tourism in Southeast Alaska is primarily focused on nature-based activities as people are attracted to the region for its beautiful scenery, fisheries, wildlife, marine mammals, glaciers, and other natural attributes.
We got some of that going on.

• Nature-based tourism creates a significant economic ripple effect that keeps money circulating through many sectors of the economy. This money supports jobs in marketing, support services, food and beverages, accommodations, fuel sales, government, and other sectors.
That's basic economics, the multiplier effect. But a lot of the profits will be taken out of the economy as dividends for corporate shareholders and for summer entrepreneurs who take their profits elsewhere, but that is were an appropriate tax comes in. Hardly anyone ever agrees to be taxed and taxes seem to be complicated here!

• A large and growing portion of Southeast Alaska’s tourism sector and visitors are cruise ship passengers. These visitors are similarly interested in nature-based tourism services as are independent travelers. The majority of shore excursions provide nature-based activities, from hikes and glacier viewing to flightseeing and forest canopy zip lines.
Substitute ”Summer Daily Ferry” for cruise ship and that seems true. As far as excursion infrastructure we only have the ATVentures, the new folks in the Synergy/Parka Lady Cabin, KayakAttack and the Linwood on certain nights (you are never quite sure where you will end up during a Linwood adventure).

• There is a complex and extremely competitive system for prebooking shore excursions the cruise ship. (sic) Businesses with exclusive cruise contracts make price and tour information only available to cruise passengers and often agree not to sell tours without going through the cruise line. While having a shore excursion contract with cruise lines appears to ensure a consistent client base, the trade-off is accepting the marketing, advertising, pricing, and commission restrictions imposed by the cruise companies.
Maybe it will be exclusive contracts with the “Daily Ferry Company”. This is where we will all benefit from the good communication so we can understand where we are all coming from and going to, and focus on long term benefit to the entire community. Certainly some may benefit more, but this in still America, and that's how it works.

• The tourism businesses in cruise ports of call that appear to be most successful either have a cruise ship shore excursion contract or are catering to overnight (non-cruise) guests with high quality and high value services. Examples of these types of businesses include sportfishing lodges and multi-day yacht cruises.
It seems like the businesses focusing on high-end travelers to be successful there has to be more here. More lodges, more stuff to buy and more stuff to do. The client's lifestyle revolves around making, or having a large amount of money and finding places to spend large amounts of money. With more here more demand will be created and the competition will create demand and hopefully everyone does better. Other models would be that there is always a Safeway across the street from a Kogers with an Albertson’s a block away. These corporations aren’t dumb; they all make money.

• Unless a company offers a new creative shore excursion idea, it is difficult to compete with businesses with existing cruise contracts. This is especially true if the new business requires a large number of clients to be profitable.
Seldovia will have to worry about that if we ever have more going on here.

• There are a number of companies, however, that are tapping into new and creative markets including canopy ziplines, glass bottom boats, and an amphibious “duck” tour.
Local opportunities, but where do people put them. In SE everyone has access to public lands and operator permits.

• Some operators attribute the increased interest in adventure activities to a change in cruise ship clientele. In recent years, cruise companies have been catering to a younger crowd, targeting families. In any event, increasing numbers of passengers are interested in more active pursuits.

• For shore excursions aimed at cruise passengers, competition exists not just with companies within a community but with other ports, as people are booking their shore excursions in advance and look at all the options. Sitka companies mentioned they were carefully tracking ziplines in Juneau and Ketchikan, dogsled tours on the Mendenhall Glacier, and other activities to see which market niche they could capture.
We have to compete with Homer and Halibut Cove. Homer is a mini-Kenai with a view and patchouli and Halibut Cove is not really a town, but a collection of summer homes occupied occasionally. We are trending that direction. Although they have the access to State Parks. And the houses are interesting, if the people aren’t.

• There is some evidence that visitors are willing to pay premium prices for higher quality experiences in more pristine environments. It is not clear, however, what specific attributes (seclusion, fishing experience, food, services, perceived exclusivity, and environmental amenities) are the key components of this higher market value.
People have been mining, logging and riding those damn ATV all over the pristine environments recently and for years, but that is all interesting history that can be marketed. And you really can’t see all the shit on the bottom of the ocean.

• It is possible to design a community-based tourism program that provides employment to local residents as is occurring in Hoonah. However, Elfin Cove appears to bring in more in gross revenues than Hoonah with about one-eighth as many visitors because Hoonah’s operation relies on volume while Elfin Cove relies on higher-priced fishing lodge experiences. Day trips seem to be relatively high-cost, low-profit operations.
Looking at it from our underdeveloped perspective in Seldovia, it makes me want to choose one form of development over the other. False either/or dilemma. (This make twice in one blog that I have used knowledge from long ago college courses. Economics and Logic. College wasn’t a waste of time look how it is paying off!!!) Both ways of development could still happen, as well as not happen. There are a couple new developments along with some longstanding family businesses. Maybe the ferry is a part of a community-based development plan, but the infrastructure is not present on this side and the build it and they will come strategy is a long held Alaskan model for government that pans out occasionally, i.e. Matanuska diary, barely elevators, pipeline.

• Independent travelers appear to avoid the crowds and many are repeat visitors. Most tend to stay longer and have more open itineraries than those on cruise ships or organized tours. These characteristics make independent travelers more difficult to survey directly.

• The primary marketing mechanisms for smaller, non-cruise related businesses are the Internet and word of mouth. In addition, many customers return to the same fishing lodge, yacht tour, or other business year after year.
Thank the Glovers for Seldovia.com. My relatives do keep up with the town happenings, but they are mostly looking for Andy’s new reports and the photos. And everytime I talk to them about the site, I am amazed at how many hits the site gets. I must say that I do miss Savannah’s reporting in the Herald.

• Companies in several communities expressed a desire to move toward more marine wildlife viewing and sightseeing and away from sport fishing. These operators preferred wildlife viewing as it was less stressful with less pressure to catch fish. Wildlife viewing is highly attractive to visitors due to spectacular scenery and abundant wildlife including whales and other marine mammals. Some operators were making this shift, while others think they would not be able to match the revenue generated by sport fishing.

• Weather has a significant impact on business for companies whose tours are not prebooked on cruise ships. Operators noted a marked difference between the sunny, dry summer of 2004 and the remarkably wet summer of 2006. Owners noted that visitors walking off the ship in the rain were much less likely to go on marine tours or hikes in soggy conditions, and their seasonal revenue was down. Businesses with cruise contracts did not experience this setback as passengers are not reimbursed for presold tours when weather conditions are poor. The one exception was flightseeing, where companies had to cancel tours due to unsafe weather conditions.
We have better weather than SE.

• Promoting wildlife watching is an important marketing strategy for Southeast Alaska communities. Visitors’ bureaus produced pamphlets with charismatic megafauna, such as whales and bears. Bureau staff cited studies showing the desire to see wildlife is what attracts a large portion of out-of-state visitors.
Anchorage is almost out of state and our environment on the south side of the Bay is different than Homer; we can market to that.

• A significant economic question that emerges from this research is how the public lands might be managed to maximize the economic returns to residents of Southeast Alaska communities, especially the smaller communities that can only accommodate smaller numbers of visitors at one time.
This is a big one along with the taxes. There are no public lands, such as the Tongass and Chugach National Forrest, Glacier Bay National Park etc. adjacent to Seldovia. We have some easements that take people to small parcels but the surrounding lands are privately owned and there utilization may change rapidly as SNA sees additional opportunities to maximize the benefits to their shareholders. That is what corporations do in this day and age and if you don't like it you better move to Cuba, no further, China, actually you can't go anywhere. There certainly are examples of this happening locally where the corporations benefit shareholder over the benefit to the community. For there to be significant capital invested locally, other people, corporations need to have access assured. That would be a lawyer thing to have looked at. Maybe SNA is looking at developing all this infrastructure themselves and the jobs that are developed will be of benefit to the community. It is that multiplier effect again.

Like I said I don't have an expansive grasp of all the issues, but I see ongoing inability of the community to develop an industry that could be a part of a healthier economy. Let's face it the only growth I am seeing is the influx of doctors/lawyers building summer homes and hippies living in wall tents and chicken coops. That maybe enough though.

On How I Became Freshwrestler

2007-11-13T14:11:00.000-09:00

Back in the day, I worked as an outreach case manager for the Mental Health Corporation of Denver (an unfortunate name for a publicly funded mental health center, but every community mental health center seems to end up with an unfortunate double-speak name, board of directors love to rename things). My work partner, Nurse Ike, and I would go out into privately-owned boarding homes that provided three hots (sometimes) and a cot. We would try and ensure our clients had access to medications, benefits and consistently show them that someone still cared. These places sucked. They were dirty, dark, dank, dehumanizing, crowded and not conducive to any sort of health. The people who owned them worked hard, but the whole system wasn't about caring, it was about the money. They were something we should all be ashamed of.

My caseload which hovered around 60-80 clients included individuals who had severe/chronic mental illnesses. Severe schizophrenia, mood disorders dominated. Others in the facilities had traumatic brain injuries, strokes, developmental disabilities and substance abuse issues that cognitively impaired them. It could happen to any of us and will to some of us.

A lot of these people had spent their adult lives living in institution, but with the advent of psychotropic medications, it was decided that the mental hospital should be emptied out and people could get more humane treatment in community mental health centers. But they forgot to follow up with funding to make these center really work and what little was provided, was being cut in fits of “fiscal responsibility”. That was back in the early 90’s and I am sure with the advent of compassionate conservatism it is better now.

The first month I worked there, I came home crying as dealt with what I had seen and stories I had heard from my clients. The suffering was overwhelming and chronic. But I got some emotional callous’ and keep showing up because I was drawn to the situation and I needed a job. But I gained a deep respect for how people dealt with and were able to cope with the insane situation and keep some modicum of humanity in their life.

The story of the “Freshwrestler” came from this one instance when my boss Lerese came our to supervise Ike and I. Which meant as usual she would get out of the big office and catch up with us somewhere and tell us we needed to get our treatment plans up to date and increase our billable hours. (Another blogging subject could be “How Come Human Service Agencies Are the Worst at Supporting/Managing Human Employees?”).

The Vern Valdez’s Personal Care Home facility is located right on Colfax Ave. near downtown Denver. When Lerese arrived, outside the facility there was a resident standing on the curb, almost in flow of the early morning traffic. He was huge man, must have been 6’6” and weighed 350 lbs. and he wasn’t doing to well at the time, maybe not in the last 10 years. We didn’t have much information on him. He spent most of his time pacing and trying to deal with his demons/symptoms. He was dirty, he hadn’t changed his clothes in who knows how long and that morning had shaved all his hair off. He had blood on the side of his head.
There he was at this busy intersection and in front of him he held a big piece of cardboard that had “FRESHWRESTLER” written on it. There was this man huge man, with a bleeding stubbly head, beaconing the morning commuters maybe to a test of strength. Or did he have some wrestlers back in his room he was willing to part with? Or was he looking to purchase a new wrestler. I never got to find out. By the time we reviewed all our late treatment plans and saw how we weren’t billing enough to cover program costs and went to look for him, he had either been engaged or he moved on. I never really saw him around again.

Although I actually never saw the man standing out there I frequently tell the story like I did, which pisses the wife off to no end. I think it is seared in my mental flesh as the sadness, absurdity, humor and surreal nature of that man just sums up the whole experience there. That is S/V Freshwrestler hanging in the slings.

Seldovia Diorama

2007-11-12T06:03:00.000-09:00

I ran across this article on economic development through the Alaska Rainforest Campaign web-site. As I read it, I thought of Seldovia and what the economic future holds for us here.
The article sites a study on tourism development in 2 SE AK towns. Elfin Cove developed "high end" fishing lodges, and 77q1Hoonah developed "high-volume" infrastructure to handle small cruise ships which stopped 3-4 times a week. Hoonah got a bunch of people coming through town, a boost in sales taxes and the article doesn't say it quite like this, but alot of shitty service sector jobs. These jobs provided "more disposable income" to locals. I believe we need more than disposable income. Elfin Cove got new jobs, but the employees were from outside the community and left after the season.

The article sets the situation up as a sort of either/or. With Seldovia's track record of economic and community developments maybe we can kill both options and have neither. I sure that there are quite a few people in town who prefer not to be a character in someone's diorama. But trends are here with the Treetops folks developing there high-end lodge and SVT wanting to develop what is now being sold as daily ferry. Tourism may not be the economic engine of choice, but it seems to be the only option beyond the status-quo that is offered right now.

I wonder if anybody in town has read the study. I'll try and get back to you, my ever expanding readership (Hi, Cheryl! or is that HIGH Cheryl with the meds after surgery?) And it all maybe for naught as this article points out.

Veteran's Day Rant

2007-11-11T14:36:00.000-09:00

I didn’t register with the Selective Service System back in 1983 when I turned 18. Then I wrote letters to the Selective Service System and others, explaining that in the age of nuclear weapons the whole idea of war was dumber that before. I felt and still feel that if you have a weapon, you are more likely to use it. I didn’t want to be a governmental/military weapon used to “protect our global interests”(this asshole is nuts) Back then, I just thought that worlds politics were just so screwed up and irrational that just by not participating I was helping out in a small way. I still feel pretty good about that decision.

Now it seems more than ever, everyone is chest-thumping about vets serving the country. I think service to the country is great, but reading the history of the US military interventions in other countries ever since the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, when The War to End All Wars ceased doesn’t really give me cause to join up. And as we see more and more military resources used to infringe on our rights it may even be counterproductive to protecting our freedoms. “If you love freedom thank a vet” certainly won’t be true if we have private first class John Doe throwing people who disagree with politicians and their sycophants in jail with no writ of habeas corpus.

I now realize, or have sold out to idea that the military isn’t going away. Not here, not anywhere. But we have a slight advantage over the dictators of the world by having civilian control of the military. We need to get rational civilians back in control of the military, we need to keep the military severely non-political, and we need to support other forms of service to this country that in the long run may actually be of greater good for us all. END

I gots to go chop wood to reduce my dependence on hydrocarbons and free up the military.
Here in the valley, it will be nice and cold soon and the damned lutz spruce will split easier. Now I hack and hack at it with the maul intil it gives. Small victories!

Oh yea, both the damn kittens died. Jib and Genoa, gone. This kitten ranching thing sucks.

Don Janes and Kittens

2007-11-10T01:06:00.000-09:00

I am sitting up late trying to make a sick little day old kitten live. Hot water bottles, goat’s milk and sugar on the lips. I do the routine every thirty minutes hoping it will give it a boost and it will be peeing on my shoes in 4 months. Poor little lump is only barely alive. I don’t think it is going to make it. Something is not good on the inside.

I find myself angry at the situation, because, DUH!, my Dad died a couple of months ago. I could not or did not give him hot water bottles, goat’s milk and sugar on the lips. I am pretty sure that if I was able to do as such and he lived (a miraculous recovery on such a low tech intervention after all that he went through), he wouldn’t have peed on my shoes in 4 months. But it would have been OK if he did.

As I get deeper into this "dad" thing with my own son, I appreciate Don Janes much more. Pops, I hope that this little kitten ascends up and sits on your lap. Once there, you can proclaim that you don’t like cats and end up petting it forever or until you have to get up out of your chair to chase Jackie Smith around when he comes up. Landry might not let him in.

Seldovia is Gonna Make Someone Dislike Something

2007-11-09T10:30:00.000-09:00

From my perspective, sitting in the woods outside of town, livin in the "Village", on "Dirty Hippie Hairy Feminist Way", Seldovia seems a little messed up. There is this ongoing dialectic/argument that is never resolved.

In dialectics there is supposed to be an exchange of ideas, an argument (arguments can be a good thing, we keep telling Aidan). One side puts forth a proposal or thesis, another puts forward an counter-argument, the antithesis. There is an exchange and either one side's argument or portions of their argument are proved incorrect or a compromise or melding of ideas, a synthesis, is arrived at. Now in Seldovia, this argument is never about one thing it is about all things, maybe it is the meta-dialectic of our town. But plug in past issues that never reach that synthesis and one sees a pattern("but plug" thats funny). I am still new here, just a decade in town so my list wouldn't be exhaustive.(Side note-The other night at the Linwood Jim H came up to me a said "Dammit Mark, welcome to Seldovia) The whole deal really hobbles this town into inaction and from an outsiders perspective makes us look like kinda crazy. If you read this, you have to leave a comment about an organizational or governmental issue that never got resolved or resolved with one party feeling crappy.

The only solace I get with this is that every time I talk with my mom about the craziness and politics in Seldovia, she says "oh that reminds me of New Haven." She grew up in a small town in Iowa. Is it small towns, or as we like to say here, "Seldovia is special"?

As Forrest says "stupid is as stupid does" http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/19/messages/1045.html

Gotta go feed a couple of little underdeveloped kitten that were born yesterday. They don't know how to suckle. To keep the litter warm I have to fill up the empty tonic bottle with hot water (I love a good G&T). I think if they live I will call one "New Genoa" and "New Jib", for they will buy me one.

On your mark

2007-11-08T10:32:00.000-09:00

Disclaimer: I am in no way interesting, smart or even clever. I am horrid writer (I am sure with each post I will receive a grade from my english teacher wife). I am mildly humorous, mostly to myself. My life is sort of different, but it is much like all my neighbors. I have no great unifying theme and my brain is addled and sieve-like. My wife said I should write my frequent rants in a blog. I think she is just trying to shut me up. I'll show her.

Since the "re-election" OF GWB to the White House, I have been a bit unhinged regarding the world, politics and everything, actually since 2000. So I lost myself in the web. Mostly the political pages. I read and am informed, but it is just onanism. Maybe that is what the web is really all about and this whole blog thing maybe a higher level of the self-abuse. Yippie, I am now going to get me some.

I ghost wrote a post for my dog on my wife's blog, http://tracylovesdevons.vox.com/library/post/hello-my-name-is-scully.html and I listened to the APRN show “Talk of Alaska” recently on which a couple of bloggers talked about blogging and corruption trials. The show ended up being about Vic Korhing and the corruption in the entire State of Alaska, http://aprn.org/2007/11/06/talk-of-alaska-blogging-the-trial/ and my dog's post was about rolling around in a dead bear. Both were illuminating because the writing was a good exercise in writing and APRN because it linked me up to other blogs of like-minded folks in Alaska (people really like to take pictures of their outhouses, it is raining and blowing like hell out or I would put one in here, maybe before I am done I will HAVE to go out the coffee is working it's dual magic. Update-see above).
I read in one blog that someone was proposing a meeting, which I think would mean party, of progressive bloggers in AK. Now that would be a freakfest I would love to go to. Homebrew, hummus, smoked salmon dip and plenty of indignation and ranting. (Sounds like Tracy’s knitting group) Plus, I think that this format/media/whatever, is key to Alaska Progressives creating a network that will make an impact on the state of politics.
So I am starting this blog to:
1. Get invited to the party
2. Rant
3. Intellectual Onanism
4. Practice typing
5. Change my world.
I have to go, I think my Tracy's cat is starting to explode/give birth.