About freakin' time!

One of the more amazing things about the Bush years was the willingness by the White House, various members of Congress, and a huge number of the (supposedly) Christian crowd to embrace the use of torture (so long as that icky word wasn't used). This country descended into a pit of depravity and destructive amorality so fast the supersonic boom of horror it left stunned those of us who blithely assumed that Americans would of course understand it for the evil that it is. The Bad Guys, the guys in Black Hats, those were the people who did that kind of thing.

Lest anyone forget, our congressional delegation all--every single one of them (count them, the three of them)--supported "harsh interrogation techniques." Ol' Uncle Ted, Sweet Lisa, and Yon Dung.

And still, the Obama White House and the Democratic-led Congress can't seem to recognize how important it is that war crimes and abominations like these policies, even if described with pretty words, are still abominations and the people responsible for them need to be brought to justice. That's called complicity.

But the Spaniards are finally calling the Bush White House on its shit.

Back to the political grind

Hans snorted out loud this morning when he heard the news about Senator and not-so-honorable Jerry Ward. Yet another corrupt Republican. Ben has yet to be bagged, and Don's still spending money on defense lawyers in anticipation of, well, something he doesn't want to tell us about. The Democrats down south now have their token crook (we've been hearing about that over and over again, too), and apparently he's a foul-mouthed so-and-so. Not a civil servant, indeed not.

And just in case you thought it was cold up here in the Frozen North, Sarah Palin's hometown church was recently torched.

Ah, politics!

Don Young AGAIN

Well, it looks pretty definitive. Alaska went for the blowhard, rather than the man who might have been able to do something for us in the changed political landscape: Berkowitz. What a bunch of doofuses in the electorate...

The Stevens/Begich race, however, isn't quite there yet:

Stevens, 84 and a 40-year incumbent, led his Democratic challenger, Mayor Mark Begich of Anchorage, by fewer than 3,400 votes, with more than 55,000 absentee, early and questioned ballots remaining to be counted. If he wins, Stevens would be the first felon elected to the U.S. Senate.
Even if Stevens wins, he could still be forced from office.

Many top Republican leaders in the Senate have called on him to resign, and some Senate leaders have threatened to expel him.

(San Jose Mercury News, 11/05/08)

Alaska's strategic voters

Hans and I went to the Blue Loon because we wanted to be in the company of the like-minded when the election results came in. And it was a wonderful thing. Both McCain's concession speech and Obama's victory speech were moving. And I was intensely relieved that Obama won.

It was frustrating, however, to sit there watching the election returns and not hear about the Alaska races. We went to the Eagle, in case they had news, but no, still the national stuff. At this point, it appears that both Stevens and Young have been re-elected, thereby proving that Alaska voters aren't thinking too clearly, yet again.

As one local Republican down at the Eagle put it (at top volume), "I'd rather vote for a felon than a Democrat!" But, of course, now both of those Republicans are going to be in the minority party and Stevens won't be able to be on any committee positions, due to the Senate rules. Said Republican shouted that it wouldn't matter if Bush pardoned him. Of course, it will still be up to the Democrats as to whether Stevens is accepted. He's not going to be the powerhouse he was.

So Alaska will be relegated to backwater status, politically speaking.

But somehow it doesn't it matter to me right now. Obama won, and for the right reasons. This country has a chance to redeem itself now--has already begun to do so.

Whew.

Skulduggery by Nenana Creative Arts

that, or ineptitude. Alaskans for Clean Elections just sent out a press release regarding some dirty tricks perpetrated by the Don Young campaign via an Anchorage sign vendor, Nenana Creative Arts, owned by Joseph Law. It seems that canvassers hired by the company were given flyers bashing Ethan Berkowitz (Young's Democratic contender) that had a disclaimer on it that said "Paid for by Alaskans for Clean Elections." Well, er, actually, the flyers were paid for by the Young campaign. Nenana Creative Arts, which apparently has been involved in dodgy shenanigans before, was paid $6,403 for signs and sign placement by Young's campaign.

Alaskans for Clean Elections is NOT pleased: they are nonpartisan, and state categorically that "AFCE had no part in, nor does the group participate in partisan campaign activities." They are quite probably going to file an FEC complaint (the flyer was not only fraudulent in claiming who paid for it, it had no contact address on it, as required by federal law).

It really would make no sense for Alaskans for Clean Elections to support any given candidate, as it would hurt their credibility as a nonpartisan campaign finance reform group. But it would certainly give a veneer of credibility to be endorsed by them. Briefly. Until anybody with half a brain figured it out that a partisan hit piece would most certainly not be instigated or paid for by a group working to clean up campaigns.

Progressive Alaska has a bit more information on this. The best bit is that the flyer, which talks about how Berkowitz received some money from VECO, naturally does not say that Don Young received 116 times as much from them as did Mr. B.

More on solar energy

The Senate bill that will extend the solar tax credit (and do a lot more good besides) is S 3335, Jobs, Energy, Families and Disaster Relief Act of 2008, which would replace HR 6049 (Rep. Don Young voted against that one). Senators Baucus and Reid have introduced this bill and it could be voted on as early as Tuesday, July 29. Solarnation has an Action Alert on it: write your senators! Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski need to know Alaskans support this.

In the summertime, we've got oodles of light. And we have a heck of a lot more of it in the wintertime than Lower 48ers would suspect, simply because of reflection off of all that snow.

libertarian he ain't

Don Young, that twit, voted to give the telecom giants retroactive immunity for their cooperation with the Bush administration in warrantless wiretapping. Like they didn't know you need a warrant for that. Riiiight.

The FISA Amendments Act is an unconstitutional bit of bung scum, and Don Young is right down there with it at the bottom of the ethical barrel.

Absurdity triumphs over realism

Or optimism, for that matter. Absurdity seems to be the ruling force in the world today. Let's just take a few examples of items found recently on the blogosphere and elsewhere:

• Don Young's mother-in-law quote (but then, this is typical Yon Dungism, so what else is new?)
• DOT is at it again, apparently, this time with the new Elmore Road in Anchorage
• Beavers are biting back in Kodiak (pay attention, Jamie!)
• Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake stuck his foot in his mouth and wiggled his toes energetically at Quinhagak recently on a campaign-cum-factfinding trip with Ted "Torture" Stevens by saying, sagely, that concern about post-traumatic stress and brain injury in Iraq vets was overblown.
• Our detention camp is STILL operating in Guantanamo Bay.
• Prime Minister Gordon Brown seems to think that going nuclear will reduce greenhouse emissions, and seems to have bought the rotten goods that nuclear is "clean". But hey, the French have been advocating this for a long time...unfortunately, this attitude is catching. Some doofus in Chicago seems to think it's a good idea too, and he's not alone.
Don't forget Galena! Yep, nuclear power is just fine, safe in an earthquake and flood zone, too, clean as a whistle.

Every day, there's more! Clean coal and other conundrums...

Snort.

Don Young just doesn't get it. Changing a bill after the Senate and the House pass it is BAD. No, Don, no! Bad rep!

See the films on YouTube:

Don Young Defends His Coconut Grove Earmark (My Staffer Did It!)

(Not) Answering Questions He Doesn't Like

And for those of you who missed it the first time,

the Veracifier's own Don Young's Plot Against the Constitution. (This one must really get him steamed.)

And for a retrospective view from the Veracifier Young Bites Back (with the infamous mink statement).

Don Young getting in deeper

Per the Washington Post, the Senate has "endorsed taking action" "in what may become the first formal request from Congress for a criminal inquiry into one of its own special projects": i.e., Young's post-passage, pre-presidential signing, alteration of a $10 million earmark back in 2005. As Marty Lederman of Balkinization puts it:

How is it, exactly, that an aide to a congressman can, quite literally and physically, "correct" a bill in between the time it is approved by the House and the Senate and the time it is enrolled and sent to the President? Can anyone just walk right into whatever congressional office it is that handles the bill, ask for the official copy of the text, take out a red pen, and start "correcting"?

Ah, but Marty, you don't know our Donnie Boy the way Alaskans know him. You can do ANYTHING if you're arrogant enough and ballsy enough—and don't get caught.

Rep. Young got caught. And he might just go to jail.

2007 in review

Once again, it is time to reflect on the previous year. This makes my 335th post on this blog, which means I'm averaging far less than a post a day, which is what I'd hoped to do when I started it up, but hey, I can't always be inspired. So, as Adam Meahan Olfahrt would say, Onward!

January

In January of 2007 I presented, for the first time, the Mike Kelly Award as a special Publisher's Pick at the Republic's 8th Birthday Bash. David James, also known as Dr. Feelgood, was the lucky winner of this dubious recognition for an article providing a valuable lesson in civics, science, or sex advice (or all three).

The Republic moved from the Old Post Office Espresso Publishing House & Art Gallery (now known as the Old Post Office Ester Library Annex) and the Trial Run to the Clubhouse, across the street and hidden behind the bar, there to start a large and disorganized office mess with dogs, kids, temporary guests, a refrigerator and range, and a VERY comfortable couch.

February

The fourth edition of the Local Et Cetera came out.

Don Young, after spouting a false quote supposedly by Abraham Lincoln that advocated arresting, exiling, or hanging those who damage military morale in wartime, refused to recant after his error was pointed out to him. Lincoln actually advocated strong limits on the power of the president.

"Scrotum" got put on the elementary school censorship list by those who wish to protect us from knowledge of our body parts.

The municipality of Largo, Florida, distinguished itself as a city of bigots, and Alaska gained headway in the discrimination spotlight with the phenomenally obnoxious HJR 9, introduced February 12, 2007, that would deny employee benefits of any sort at any level of government to same-sex OR unmarried couples, AND prevent civil unions. Bastards.

March

Brutus, our Mazda truck, went up in large, explosive, and very noisy flames, burning to a crisp in our driveway and causing rather a bit of excitement in our household.

The Republic was positively reviewed in the Utne Reader!

April

The library held its third Lallapalooza & Book Bash and raised better than $6,000.

Fred Dyson declared, in public no less, and with no apparent shame, that "government has the right to decide which relationships are forbidden and which are approved." And stunningly, the Libertarian party said absolutely nothing about this. So much for standing by their moral principles.

The Republic won awards again at the Alaska Press Club conference, even though we weren't there to stomp and whoop loudly.

The Supreme Court decided that half of the population is worth no more than their reproductive organs, and that we (women) are not mature enough to handle troublesome emotions such as regret, and therefore the menfolk of the reactionary rightwing kind are obligated to make all our most personal decisions for us. Again, I say, with feeling, "Bastards!"

We bought our green Honda Element.

May

The Cartoon North exhibit catalog was printed.

June

Got informally threatened with lawyers by the News-Miner for an article by Dru Heskin on the Newspapers in Education program. Although the newspapers in the dumpster story was mostly correct, there were problems (which I blush to admit I should have spotted). I didn't doublecheck thoroughly enough. So I published a correction and clarification in the next issue. Taught me a good lesson about making sure of all the dots on the i's and crosses on the t's. But ouch.

Don Young (o, that marvelous inspiration for editorial cartoons!) got conked by a coconut of his own pitching.

July

I hosted the 85th Carnival of the Green.

The DC contingent of Alaska's Corrupt Bastards Club started to get their comeuppance.

August

The News-Miner redesigned their paper and started copying, in certain respects, the Republic.

We poured the library gazebo foundation.

We held the Li-Berry Pie Throwdown and Music Festival, and boy was it fun!

September

Not much happened (at least that I wrote about), except for a Friday the Thirteenth, and Tim Easton was briefly back in town.

October

I started carrying around Alaskans for Clean Elections petitions.

Fairbanks discovered just how awkward it can get when the city doesn't use Instant Runoff Voting. Not to mention pricey.

The office refrigerator began barking. I kid you not. And it hasn't stopped yet. Ask me why I'm a nutcase. Ask me.

There was a humongous and hilarious Dumpster-diving fuss, sparked by Charlie Rex's second attempt to ban Dumpster diving. Major turnout by the local recyclers. This time the News-Miner got it right.

November

We finally got our water (and our septic line) running again!

I started begging for short-term, interest-free loans to help with printing Jamie Smith's books. Am still working on it.

I found out that Hans Klint died.

Dumpster diving was saved!

December

Got Like A Tree to the Soil off to the printer (for my day job).

Started working on John Haines' CD.

The United States got booed in Bali during the climate change convention.

Wolves started eating dogs in Fairbanks and Anchorage.

I got Mired in the Health Care Morass off to the printer!


And that was our year, folks!

Pay attention, Don: We're melting!

We're in deep, deep trouble, and all those idiots who think that there is no such thing as global warming ought to be the first ones thrown into the rising meltwater. Seth Borenstein of the AP has an article on it, "Ominous Actic Melt Worries Experts:"

Just last year, two top scientists surprised their colleagues by projecting that the Arctic sea ice was melting so rapidly that it could disappear entirely by the summer of 2040.

This week, after reviewing his own new data, NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally said: "At this rate, the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions."

All these limp action plans by presidential candidates like Barack Obama, who talk about getting 80% carbon emissions down by 2050, are stupidly ineffective (even though Obama's is one of the more agressive!). We're going to be in a pressure cooker by 2050. We've got to do something NOW.

Even Australia's figured it out. Here's a quote from their new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, at the Bali Climate Change Conference:

In my first act as Prime Minister, I signed the formal instrument for Australia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. And just a few moments ago I handed, personally, that instrument of ratification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

I did so, and my Government has done so, because we believe that climate change represents one of the greatest moral, economic and environmental challenges of our age.

Australia now stands ready to assume its responsibility in responding to this challenge – both at home and in the complex negotiations which lie ahead across the community of nations.

For Australians, climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is no longer a scientific theory. It is an emerging reality. In fact, what we see today is a portent of things to come.

But Alaska, and the United States, is represented by boobs who don't have a clue that yes, they too will be affected by this, and they'd better get off their keisters and work on all those environmental issues that us Greens have been yelling about for years. Mostly, what we need to do is USE LESS ENERGY.

Going to greener energy sources, traveling less and traveling lightly are other ways to help. There's a solar power initiative starting up here in the Fairbanks area, to produce electricity to feed into the GVEA grid. The aim is to create a large solar power plant, rather than the smaller setups so far producing electricity for the SNAP program. More on this later.

Darrow's Trifecta of Greed

Well, it's official: Ted Stevens, Lisa Murkowski, and Don Young are all on the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's Most Corrupt List for 2007.

Lovely.

Coconut crashes on Young's head, Redux

TPM Media has a little video about this, explaining the legislative process and Don Young's illegal little post-passage editing of the earmark back in 2005 to get the Coconut Road money for his Florida supporter. The Florida county doesn't want it, anyway--just the developer. And remember that bird that ol' Donny Boy gave the NYT reporter? well, the reporter was trying to get info from him about just this little problem. This is corruption, arrogance, and rudeness of the worst order, folks. Don't you feel silly now for voting him back into office?

Remember Greenland, Don?

According to this article by Stephen Leahy, "The complete collapse of the massive Greenland Ice Sheet — which has a mean height of about two kilometres — now appears inevitable, and could raise sea levels seven metres." But we need not fear. Apparently the warmest year on record in the United States was in 1934 (by a few hundreths of a degree), and since the US is the center of the universe and US temperatures rule over all other temperatures, scientific experts like Rush Limbaugh and Rep. Don Young have concluded that there's no danger of Greenland melting. And the conservative blogging world, being the discerning, logical types that they are, seem to think that this just disproves all the scientific consensus on climate change. Never mind that global temperatures have been record-breaking for the last ten years.

Well, guess again, dummies. You're being manipulated by some pretty heavy hitters who have some selfish ends in mind, and never mind what could happen to all our children (not just grandchildren, now, we're talking our old age and our children's lives).

Bye, bye Greenland...

Don Young dipped to newly discovered low

As pointed out to me by Ross Coen, Talking Points Memo has found a real Don Doozy, and nobody in the mainstream media seems to have noticed that ol' Donny Boy broke his oath of office in a Big Way:

back in 2005, to guarantee an earmark payoff to one of his political contributors, Rep. Don Young (R-AK) actually went in and rewrote the text of a transportation spending bill after the thing had been passed by Congress and it was waiting to be signed by the president.

Drop that Don!

The Alaska Democratic Party is finally going after Don Young with some teeth: they've created a website called DropDon.com, and it is just chock FULL of details about Rep. Young's sordid history as The Congressman for All Alaska. Blech.

Diane Benson is running again for the Democratic Party nomination; she came close in the 2006 election, and this time it's looking like she'll have more support. Act Blue has a page up for her. She'll have competition, though. Looks like Mark Begich, Ray Metcalfe, and Ethan Berkowitz are thinking about running, too.

I hope to god she gets her website updated and redesigned, though. It looks clonky and ugly and awkward...

The Comeuppance Beginneth

Ah, yes, finally the Corrupt Bastards Club's DC contingent is getting the probe in uncomfortable places.

"Alaska Republican Don Young under criminal investigation -- again"

"Alaska's `Clean' Image Marred By Delegation's Ethics Issues"

"Dark cloud hangs over Alaska delegation"

"Alaska Sen. Stevens Under Investigation"

"Alaska Lawmakers Coming Under Scrutiny"

"Alaska Senator to Sell Back Land"

Took the mainstream media long enough to notice this kind of thing, don't you think? Here's a tip of my hat to people like Ray Metcalfe, terrier for justice.

I notice that the News-Miner's editorial of July 26 fails to mention the c-word anywhere in its "let's get this over with" approach to the problem. They do say it's a bad thing to have "weakened members of Congress" and that Senator Stevens "is seeking re-election next year," and "would like Alaskans to withhold judgment, citing “incomplete and sometimes incorrect reports in the media.” So the News-Miner, scrupulously avoiding judgement (which really, is a reasonable thing to do regarding people), is also peculiarly avoiding mentioning the problems associated with corruption in goverment, and the shockingly high level of corruption currently being rooted out of Congress. Somehow, the debilitating effect that corruption has on the Legislative Branch and on the effectiveness of government is not mentioned.

Coconut crashes on Don Young's head

The New York Times had a story yesterday on Representative Young's assistance in providing an earmark for one Daniel J. Aranoff, Florida real estate developer, who needed a little road built to help increase the value of his property on Coconut Road. Coincidentally, we're sure, the developer threw a fundraising party for Rep. Young, and raised $40,000 for the Midnight Sun political action committee (Young's very own)--only days before the earmark went through:

A consultant who helped push for the project spelled out why its supporters held the fund-raiser.

“We were looking for a lot of money,” said the consultant, Joe Mazurkiewicz. “We evidently made a very good impression on Congressman Young, and thanks to a lot of great work from Congressman Young, we got $81 million to expand Interstate 75 and $10 million for the Coconut Road interchange.”

The county doesn't want it, though, and the local Florida representative, Mr. Connie Mack, didn't ask for it. Environmentalists are not happy (but who cares what they think? certainly not our Donnie-boy) because it would cause problems.

the Lee County Metropolitan Planning Organization voted twice last year to block a preliminary study for the interchange, mainly on environmental grounds. Studies by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Highway Administration have all warned that the proposed interchange could threaten wetlands.

But Don Young is not to be denied. He owed a favor, and by gum, he was going to return it!

In a Jan. 23, 2006, letter to the chairman of the planning agency, Mr. Young warned that his committee would draft another bill taking away the $10 million if it was not used for the interchange.

My, my, my. And now that he's no longer chair of the Transportation Committee, his good works for the neglected developers of Florida are finally being noticed by the wrong people.

The public, that is.

And Don said, "Duhhh..."

Don Young: hypocrite, ignoramus, and just wrong, wrong, wrong. Caught in a falsehood, he wouldn't retract his 'hang 'em high' nonquote of Abraham Lincoln--at least not at first. According to the Ear, though, he finally did on Friday, but I can't find it anywhere.

Here's what Lincoln actually said about war and presidents:

"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have given him so much as you propose. If, today, he should choose to say he thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability of the British invading us' but he will say to you 'be silent; I see it, if you don't.' The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons: Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us."