Going Rogue: An American Life is not a tome of flowery words and unprecedented insight, but is a journey that reveals itself in its title.  Read full article HERE

This week for Family Security Matters, I review “Going Rogue: An American Life” by Sarah Palin.  Gov. Palin is an inspiration to us all that one person CAN make a difference.  Read the review, buy the book!

The UA Board of Regents are meeting on the UAA campus this week to discuss budgetary matters with students. In addition, a group of students from Fairbanks plan to attend in support of amending the non-discrimination clause to include sexual orientation. And, so, of course, Jim Minnery of the Alaska Family Council has once again gone into hate-heat like it’s spring in Texas. The irony here is that the board of regents are not comparable to elected officials who tend to squirm when facing reelection in the wake of the Tea Party insurgency. The Board consists of appointments that tend to last as long as the board members wish them to, are not up for a vote, and only result in termination or resignation if the board decides so.

Thus, if hellfire, damnation, and demonic possession through fashion sense are the topics left in the board members’ inboxes, one might suspect that rather than the “quaking in the boots” effect intended, Minnery’s minions might just end up supremely pissing them off. We should all voice our support, but probably not by blunt force stupid to the head, as is usually the case with the Alaska Family Council. We should all let our support be known. Just… Respectuflly, calmly, and in the pursuit of equality.

Here’s the latest from Minnery’s super fun hate camp:

“We have learned that activists in the homosexual movement are attempting to convince the University of Alaska Board of Regents to change the university non-discrimination policy so as to give special recognition to homosexuals. If successful, individuals engaging in homosexual behavior will be afforded the same recognition as members of racial and ethnic minorities.”

Oh, the horror. And, really? We’re riding the “special” train again?

“This is just another attempt by homosexual extremists to demand public affirmation for their lifestyle. It is also the same tactic used this past summer in the Municipality of Anchorage to force AO-64 on the citizens of Anchorage. We prevented our freedoms from being infringed then by standing together. Let’s do it again.

The University of Alaska is a state institution that is supposed to serve all Alaskans”

Equally?

“Therefore, it should be subject to the same laws that apply to ALL state agencies with respect to discrimination. The university’s anti-discrimination policy should mirror the policy that the Legislature sets for ALL state entities. Nothing more, nothing less. If they wanted, the Alaska Legislature could prohibit discrimination based on ’sexual orientation.’ The legislature has wisely chosen not to do so, for good reason — because homosexuality has to do with behavioral choices, rather than a characteristic such as race that is in-born.”

Apparently sociology isn’t Minnery’s thing. Looking past the I’ve-been-locked-in-a-bomb-shelter-for-thirty-years use of the term “in-born”, the actual concept of “Race” is largely a social construct. You might be thinking of “ethnicity,” or you may just be dreaming about jogging again. And behavioral choice? Do you wake up in the morning and thinking about sleeping with men twenty times before making the choice not to? Sexual orientation and identity isn’t religion; it isn’t a choice.

“Many colleges and universities across the country have adopted policies on ’sexual orientation.’ These policies are advocated in the name of creating an open, tolerant, and ‘welcoming’ environment on campus. In reality, these policies are often used to muzzle free speech and discriminate against Christian student groups who may want to speak against homosexuality. Any speech or advocacy AGAINST homosexual behavior is deemed to be ‘hate speech’ and therefore it is branded as ‘discrimination’ against persons based on sexual orientation. It is a back-door attempt to crush freedom of speech.”

No. Unless you’re referring to cases where there is physical violence, threat of physical violence, or attempt to incite violence. That actually is hate speech and should be muzzled. Have you been to UAA Jim? The right-to-life club hands out fliers with a revolver aimed at a fetus. We’re not in any danger zone that threatens the suppression of free speech, nor is anyone impeding the free exercise of religion… Unless it’s hate speech. You’re the one asking people who are otherwise in no way affiliated with UAA to flood board member inboxes and voicemail, and if that doesn’t work, barge into a board meeting and scream bloody murder. Again.

“NOW is the time you can make a difference by contacting each member of the Board of Regents and ask them to not consider such a significant and harmful change to university policy. Remember, the University of Alaska is the property of the People of Alaska. The Regents are ultimately accountable to the very same… People of Alaska… YOU!

Make your voice heard. Make a difference. It only takes eleven phone calls and/or eleven e-mails. If you don’t have time for that…contact as many as you can. Please click HERE for contact information for the UA Board of Regents.

The Board of Regents will be meeting in Anchorage, November 30th through December 1st, at the campus of UAA, so there is no time to waste. If this issue is not considered then it will be considered at the next meeting in February but the Board of Regents needs to hear from you NOW.

Thanks again for your support. Your involvement in our culture makes this organization possible.”

And what culture is that, exactly?

The bottom of the mailer contains this link which takes you to a recruitment page for a faux-college video called “Indoctrinate U; Our Education, They’re Politics,” and finally ends in uniformity with this humble plea:

“Standing firm for your religious liberties is an effort we take seriously and is an undertaking that simply put – requires resources. If you are in a position to do so… please consider financially partnering with our ministry by making a secure on-line contribution today.

Standing for families… in His name !

Jim Minnery – President

Alaska Family Council”

*Sigh*

Finals week just got a whole lot dumber.

I went to a birthday party today over brunch. A vegan and gluten-free feast. Some of the people I knew, and some of them not. I was anxious because I hate small talk, it makes me so uncomfortable. I feel like strangers ask me questions just to hear themselves talk. I feel boring when I tell people what I do and I feel stupid when I tell them that I’m not in school because I can’t afford it right now. I glued myself to Kevin and Honey Bucket until they had to leave and I mostly had to fend for myself. I was anxious because the house was very fancy. Lots of art and rugs. Alaskana. 

I went to the sitting room to put my card with the others and caught sight of the view out of the large windows. I pressed my forhead against the glass. The freezing Kenai Peninsula. It resembled the bluffs in Portland in some strange way. The window fogged with my breath. I thought of my mother. I remembered I was not in an appropriate place to cry. I wondered if the tree I was looking at was a black spruce. I wondered about the foot prints in the snow. I tried to picture where I was oriented on a map. I drew a heart in the condensation and then wondered if I shouldn’t have.

Back in the kitchen and breakfast nook I submitted to the dreaded small talk and it wasn’t that bad. Emiline showed up, my savior. We sunk into a big love seat and talked about teeth and jokes past lovers made at the expense of our sensitivities. We talked about Boycations and Man Rambles and male nudity in film. We talked about our health and highschool and the journeys we made in college, physically and emotionally.

Matthew and Sarah played the banjo and accordian on the fireplace. Sarah looks like Portland, I thought. Thin flannel, thick rimmed glasses, greasy boyish haircut. She may be the only one in all of Anchorage. It occurred to me that this brunch, this vegan brunch with young people playing covers of Hurray for the Riff Raff, the beards, the flannel, the fact that almost half of the people there were queer, this might be the best of what is here. If this is all there is, I thought, at least I have found it.

Later some of the guests left, some helped clean up. I watched the lady of the house scrape a bowl full of left over cream cheese and a whole stick of left over butter into the garbage disposal. I talked to one of the lingering guests about whether or not God has lips, or any erogenous zones for that matter. We talked about wanting to visit villages but not wanting to live there. I showed him my leg tattoos. I told him about my grandfather’s memorial and it seemed like maybe his eyes got wet for some secret reason. I felt attracted to him. I made up a rule that it was ok to get a crush on someone who was a gender different from ones you normally go for if it was over the holidays.

The birthday girl opened her gifts and cards. I gave her a patch with a bike on it, a tube of glitter glue and a pin that says “I <3 female orgasm”. Her parents gave her remote start for her car and $1000. I started to realize this friend of mine came from a  class background much different than mine. I hadn’t thought much about her background before. I thought about what I could do with $1000. 

My tires spun in the deep snow as I maneuvered out of the suburban winter hideaway. I passed my old elementary school. Everything looked so different. All the trees cut and a shopping center I didn’t even know existed. I put on that Des Ark CD I’ve been trying to take a break from so I won’t stop liking it from listening too much. I sang along and my voice sounded raspy and I liked it. I thought about my Holiday Crush. I thought about hating feeling stuck up here. I started to get anxious about What I’m Doing With My Life and The Next Step. But then I thought about my mom, and felt an unfamiliar a sense of calm. I realized that right now I’m exactly where I need to be.

Birches and Sky

©Kesler Woodward 2009
Oil on canvas
24″ x 36″ (image)
25 1/2″ x 37 1/2″ (framed)
Framed

Outgoing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (2nd L), her husband Todd (C) look on as incoming Governor Sean Parnell (2nd R) is sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Daniel Winfree (L) during the annual Governor's Picnic July 26, 2009 at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, Alaska. Parnell' wife Sandy held the bible for the ceremony. Craig E. Campbell was sworn in as the new Lieutenant Governor.

Last July in Fairbanks, with Todd smiling at her side and Piper sitting in her lap, Sarah Palin watched Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell take the oath to fill out her term in office as Governor of Alaska. Then she vanished. For the past four months the Forty-Ninth State has seen neither hide nor hair of the woman. No speeches at chambers of commerce luncheons. No sightings on the street. No Sarah cheering on the sideline at Wasilla Warriors girls basketball games. No Sarah sitting in the pew on Sunday worshiping at the ChangePoint and Anchorage Baptist Temple evangelical mega churches. She’s been gone. Disappeared.

It now turns out that while Alaskans were hunkering down for winter Sarah was in San Diego working for a woman named Lynn Vincent, the ghostwriter HarperCollins hired to cobble together Going Rogue: An American Life, Sarah’s first person account of her it-only-would-happen-in-America rise from small town mayor to small state governor to Republican Vice Presidential candidate to popular culture icon.

Since Tuesday when Going Rogue was released nationwide copies of the book have been flying off the shelves at Barnes & Noble in Boise and Grand Rapids and not flying off the shelves in San Francisco and Seattle.

Since I already have enough to read, I had intended to give Going Rogue a pass until I had time this weekend to motor over to the Anchorage Barnes & Noble and give Ms. Vincent’s word-smithing a skim. But on Monday I learned that I’m in the book. Not surprisingly, that piqued my interest. And then yesterday a friend lent me a copy.

I’ve now read it. Here’s the review.

I usually begin reading a book that purports to be nonfiction by reading the index. But Going Rogue doesn’t have one. So I started with the acknowledgments section at the back of the book. In the first paragraph Sarah explains to her readers: “I’m very glad this writing exercise is over. I love to write, but not about myself. I’m thankful now to have kept journals about Alaska and my friends and family ever since I was a little girl. That practice allowed an orderly compilation over the past weeks and let me summarily wrap up at least some of my life so far.”

Sarah then thanks thirty-seven people (all but four only by his or her first name so that none of the rest of us have a clue who they are) before she thanks Lynn Vincent “for her indispensable help in getting the words on paper.”

If all that is read quickly, it leaves the veneer impression that Sarah wrote her book. But if read carefully that’s not what it says. “Help in getting the words on paper?” Too coy by half.

Decide for yourself when you do your own skim at your own local Barnes & Noble. But start to finish Going Rogue reads to me like Sarah sitting on the sofa in Lynn Vincent’s condo in San Diego, school girl diaries in her lap, talking hour after hour in her you-betcha patois into a computerized tape recorder like the ones court reporters use to record depositions. Then each afternoon when Sarah went off on her jog, Ms. Vincent would begin her real workday sitting at her computer editing and cut and pasting that day’s transcript of Sarah’s ramblings into a narrative.

I can’t prove that. But someone should ask Sarah if that’s how she “wrote” Going Rogue. Lynn Vincent would be a more reliable source. But, no surprise, her contract with HarperCollins contains a non-disclosure provision. Adam Bellow, Sarah’s editor at HarperCollins, also would know. But he for sure is not telling. At least until he has too much red wine during dinner at Elaine’s some night and lets the secret slip.

The book itself is a prosaic hagiography divided into three parts. Part one is Sarah’s autobiography from her birth in Sandpoint, Idaho, to her selection by John McCain as his running mate. Part two is Sarah’s story of her life on the road during the 2008 presidential campaign. Part three is a sanguinolent settling of accounts for the torment to which she was subjected in Alaska after the election – a torment so awful that it brought the operation of the entire executive branch of the government of the State of Alaska to a gridlocked halt and left Sarah no choice but to abandon her governorship in order to earn $5 million in four months talking into Lynn Vincent’s tape recorder.

If that three-part narrative has a unifying theme, the theme is that everything – and I mean everything – that has ever gone wrong for Sarah Palin was someone else’s fault.

Sarah’s lackluster performance during her interview with Frank Murkowski when she somehow made the short-list of candidates to succeed Frank in the U.S. Senate? That was Frank and his Attorney General, my friend Gregg Renkes’s, fault. The Troopergate scandal? Walt Monegan and the Democratic members of the Alaska Senate pulled that mean-spirited prank on a blameless Sarah. The nationally televised interview with Katie Couric that branded Sarah Palin as an ignorant and uneducated laughingstock? Katie sandbagged her. The fabulously disastrous Thanksgiving television interview when Governor Palin pardoned a turkey while in the background unpardoned turkeys were having their heads shoved down a funnel and their throats slit? Sandbagged again. That time by a local TV news cameraman.

Don’t take my word for it. Thumb through Going Rogue on your own. Page after page after page. It’s always someone else’s fault.

When discussing George Herbert Walker and Barbara Bush, Richard Nixon is reported to have said that George was a nice guy. “But his wife. That woman knows how to hate.” Since Dick meant that as a compliment, he would be impressed with Sarah’s penchant for settling scores. Because scattered throughout its content Going Rogue contains an enemies list as long as the list the nation’s Thirty-Seventh President and his henchmen compiled during the run-up to Watergate.

Sarah trashes Nick Carney (the Wasilla city councilman who recruited Sarah into politics), John Stein (Sarah’s predecessor as mayor of Wasilla), Anne Kilkenny (a Wasilla resident whose viral email educated the nation to Sarah’s lackluster record as mayor), an unnamed City of Wasilla librarian, Frank Murkowski (Sarah’s predecessor as Governor of Alaska), Gregg Renkes (Frank’s Attorney General), Lyda Green (the former President of the Alaska Senate), Hollis French (the chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Alaska Senate), Steve Schmidt (John McCain’s campaign manager), an unnamed KTUU television cameraman [Scott Jensen], Walt Monegan (Sarah’s Commissioner of Public Safety), Randy Ruedrich (the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party with whom Sarah worked at the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission), Bill Allen (the corpulent head of the oil field services company VECO, a odious scum bag whose reputation as the bag man for Big Oil in the state capitol had been a matter of common knowledge in Alaska for a generation when Sarah went with her hand out to Bill for the campaign contributions she used to launch her statewide political career), Mike Wooten (Sarah’s ex-brother-in-law), unnamed executives of the Exxon-Mobil, British Petroleum, and Conoco-Phillips oil companies, Pete Rouse (a former Alaskan who was Senator Barack Obama’s chief of staff), Rahm Emanuel (President Barack Obama’s chief of staff), Kim Elton (a former member of the Alaska Senate who is Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s Special Assistant for Alaska), unnamed members of the McCain campaign staff who prepped Sarah for her television debate with Joe Biden, John Bitney (Governor Palin’s liaison to the Alaska Legislature), Levi Johnston (the hockey-playing, Playgirl modeling impregnator of Bristol Palin).

That’s not the complete list. There’s no index and I’m tired of typing.

Of all the individuals on the Going Rogue enemies list, the two firsts among equals are Andrew Halcro and Andree McLeod.

Halcro is a former Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives who ran as an independent candidate against Sarah Palin in the 2006 Alaska gubernatorial election. After the election he started a website that he used to become one of Governor Palin’s most articulate and factually well-informed critics.

It was Andrew Halcro who broke the story that Governor Palin had fired Walt Monegan, her Commissioner of Public Safety, because Walt had refused to fire Mike Wooten, Sarah’s ex-brother-in-law, from his union job as an Alaska State Trooper. That news led to the Troopergate investigation of Sarah (and Todd) Palin’s misuse of the Office of the Governor. In the Troopergate report that Sarah touts as clearing her of wrong-doing, the investigator, a former prosecutor with whom (unlike the Legislature’s investigator) Sarah cooperated, implies that during his investigation either Walt Monegan committed criminal perjury or Sarah Palin committed criminal perjury. But the Legislature had no stomach during the remainder of Sarah’s tenure as Governor to determine whether she was the felon.

In Going Rogue Sarah describes Andrew Halcro as “a wealthy, effete young chap who had taken over his father’s local Avis Rent A Car, and he starred in his own car commercial. He would go on to host a short-lived local radio show while blogging throughout the day, all of which were major steps up from a previous job as our limo driver at Todd’s cousin’s wedding.”

Andree McLeod is where I come in.

I am an attorney by trade and an historian of modest reputation by avocation. In 1987 I briefly convinced an Alaska Superior Court that it was a violation of the U.S. and Alaska Constitutions for the State of Alaska to have a campaign finance system that allows individuals who are not eligible to vote for a candidate to influence the candidate’s election by making campaign contributions. In 1998 I came within one vote of convincing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to uphold the constitutionality of an amendment to the Oregon Constitution that would have mandated a similar result. Over the years since, I have frequently represented individuals for a reduced fee or no fee in cases in which I think the public policy benefits merit my effort.

For that reason, I was not surprised in September 2008 when a friend called to ask if I would have a cup of coffee with a woman named Andree McLeod. By that date, I had been active in Alaska’s (small state) political life for thirty years. But my answer to that query was, “Who’s Andree McLeod?” But I went for coffee and discovered that Andree McLeod is a quite amazing woman.

Short, smart, politically committed, and tenaciously energetic, Andree McLeod is a Republican political activist of Armenian heritage who had once been a personal friend of Sarah Palin’s, who Sarah had endorsed when Andree ran in the Republican primary for a seat in the Alaska House of Representatives.

When I went to her home in east Anchorage to have my cup of coffee I found Andree sitting at her dining room table surrounded by two-foot-high stacks of paper print-outs of several thousand emails that the Office of the Governor had given to her in July in response to a request she had filed in June pursuant to the Alaska Public Records Act. The request had asked for emails that had been sent to or received by employees of the Office of the Governor who Andree suspected had been engaging in partisan – i.e., Alaska Republican Party – political activities during their public employee workdays. Andree submitted her public records request three months before anyone other than those of us in Alaska had ever heard of Sarah Palin.

The reason I had been invited to meet with Andree was that one of the things she had discovered by reading the emails was that when Governor Palin assumed office she had set up a private back-channel email system so that she and her senior staff could communicate with each other about state business without the content of their communications being “captured” by State of Alaska computer servers, and hence being available for public inspection pursuant to the Alaska Public Records Act. The Washington Post, The New York Times, and other national media would later report that story.

After researching the Alaska Public Records Act I concluded that, for reasons not worth detailing here, the private back-channel email system that Sarah had created was a violation of the Alaska Public Records Act. As a consequence, representing Andree McLeod, on October 1, 2008 I filed a lawsuit against Governor Palin in the Alaska Superior Court, the purpose of which is to obtain an order prohibiting state officials from using private email accounts to conduct state business.

The month after the McCain-Palin ticket lost the presidential election, again representing Andree McLeod, on December 8, 2008 I filed a second lawsuit against Governor Palin when a further review of the emails that Andree had been given revealed that the Office of the Governor had given to Todd Palin, a private citizen who was an employee of British Petroleum, copies of emails that it was withholding from public inspection on the ground of deliberative process privilege.

That litigation is ongoing. The legal questions of first impression that they present for decision are important enough that my expectation is that both lawsuits will end up in the Alaska Supreme Court.

What does any of that have to do with me and Going Rogue?

Prior to me agreeing to represent her in the two lawsuits above-described, Andree McLeod had begun filing what became a series of complaints against Sarah Palin with the State Personnel Board that alleged ethical transgressions unrelated to the lawsuits. Other Alaskans did the same thing. According to Going Rogue, those ethics complaints have driven Sarah Palin flat-out full-crank nuts.

After trashing Andree McLeod at page 354 of Going Rogue Lynn Vincent aka Sarah Palin moves on to me. Here’s what Lynn and Sarah say:

We always suspected that someone was funding and directing
Andree’s efforts. During the spring of 2009, she was actually still
begging my administration for a job and led others to believe she
hadn’t worked for a couple of years. Yet somehow she had enough
time or money to turn harassment of the governor’s office into a
full-time vocation. Over time, the wording of her ethics complaints
became more and more sophisticated, and we later found out why:
prominent liberal attorney Don Mitchell was advising her. As early as September 2008, weeks before the presidential election, Mitchell had already detailed the ethics attack strategy in an article in the Huffington Post. Later he sat with Andree as her counsel at one of her hearings.

I wish my late mother was still alive. Because I know how proud she would be that I made the Going Rogue enemies list and have been mentioned by name in a book whose first printing is 1.5 million copies. (Because he is not named, the mother of the KTUU cameraman who posed Sarah in front of the turkeys can take no such pride.)

But my number is listed in the Anchorage telephone book. If that failed, Lynn and Sarah could have googled “Donald Craig Mitchell.” And if that had failed, since Meg Stapleton, the increasingly strange combination of Sancho Panza and Odd Job who works for Sarah, and I have mutual friends, Meg could have found me quite easily.

Had Lynn Vincent, Sarah, or Meg called me before Lynn had finished writing Going Rogue, I would have told her that in a single paragraph Lynn/Sarah got almost every one of their facts about me, other than that I am an attorney, wrong.

While I probably once was, I haven’t been a “prominent” attorney in Alaska in years. While I am a registered Democrat, my personal politics are hardly “liberal.” To the extent anyone cares, I am a social libertarian who is an Eisenhower era deficit hawk who agrees with Teddy and Frank Roosevelt that the principal responsibility of government is to save capitalism from itself. And while during the presidential campaign several of my ‘Governor Girl Reports‘ were posted by individuals other than me on the Huffington Post and Atlantic Monthly web sites, none of those musings “detailed an ethics attack strategy.”

But most importantly, not only have I never advised Andree regarding her ethics complaints, to the best of my recollection I have never read an Andree McLeod ethics complaint. Had Lynn, Sarah, or Meg called me, I also would have told them that neither Andree McLeod nor I have been paid a nickel by anyone for anything (although if I win either of my lawsuits I intend to send the Office of the Governor a bill for my attorneys fee, which under Alaska law I am permitted to do).

It is true, however, that, as Going Rogue reports, because she asked me to, I did accompany Andree to her interview with Tim Petumenos, the former prosecutor the State Personnel Board hired to investigate both the complaint Sarah filed against herself regarding the Troopergate affair and a complaint Andree filed against Sarah and Frank Bailey, Sarah’s Director of Boards and Commissions, for violating state civil service rules in order to give one of Sarah’s campaign supporters a job for which he was not qualified. Again to the best of my recollection, I have never read either complaint. And if he is asked, I think Tim will say that during his interview with Andree I pretty much just sat there.

It also is worth mentioning that the State Personnel Board found the ethics complaint that Andree McLeod filed against Frank Bailey meritorious.

Why should anyone care about any of that? The reason they should care is that if Lynn Vincent aka Sarah Palin got as many of the facts, asserted and implied, about me in Going Rogue as wrong as she did, what does that say about the validity of the many other, much more important, “facts” in Sarah’s book?

It’s fully fine by me that billions of federal tax dollars are being spent annually to invent an AIDS vaccine. But it is just as important to someday invent a Pinocchio serum.

If the world had one, before a faux celebrity like Sarah Palin writes a book, doctors from the CDC could roll up the celebrity’s sleeve and inject him or her with a jolt of the serum. And a serum also would have other important uses.

For example, on page 214 of Going Rogue Lynn Vincent reports that when the McCain campaign vetted Sarah, she confessed to Steve Schmidt, the manager of the campaign, that “the one skeleton I’d kept hidden in my closet” (my emphasis) was that she had gotten a D in a college course.

Had Sarah been shot up with Pinocchio serum prior to the vetting, the immediate growth of the length of her nose would have tipped off Schmidt that the more truthful answer to the one skeleton in the closet question would have been, as The National Enquirer subsequently reported with no push back from Team Sarah, “cuckolding Todd when he was working on the North Slope by hooking up with Brad Hanson, Todd’s business partner in the Polaris snow machine sales business Brad and Todd owned in Wasilla.”

Once perfected, Pinocchio serum also would be useful to find out whether Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell really supports health care reform and, before the United States sends more troops there, whether Hamid Karsai really is committed to rooting out corruption in Afghanistan. But before a Pinocchio serum can be widely used, the FDA would need to conduct a clinical trial. Shooting up Sarah while she’s still on her book tour would be a good first test of the potion’s efficacy.

Donald Craig Mitchell
The Huffington Post

The third episode of Shannyn Moore’s new show, “Moore Up North” is up on youtube to watch in its entirety. This week features Tank Jones, Ethan Berkowitz, Steve Heimel and Rick Steiner.

“Moore Up North” films every week at Bernie’s Bungalow, airs locally on Saturdays at 4pm on KYES Channel 5, and is an absolute blast to attend. For tickets, email mooreupnorth@gmail.com

En los días que precedieron al vigésimo aniversario de la caída del Muro de Berlín se habló mucho del Telón de Acero, de su condición de frontera entre dos mundos, el capitalista y el comunista, entre dos bloques, la OTAN y el pacto de Varsovia, entre dos concepciones de la vida y la libertad, con todos los matices que se quieran. Apenas se ha hablado, sin embargo, del descongelamiento de la que era la única frontera directa entre las dos superpotencias que ejercían de líderes de sus respectivos bloques, Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética. En el límite entre el Océano Glacial Ártico y el Pacífico se encontraban, y se encuentran, dos islotes, uno perteneciente a cada superpotencia, y separados tan sólo por un brazo de mar de apenas tres kilómetros de ancho. En un mundo donde los misiles intercontinentales amenazaban con recorrer miles de kilómetros de un lado al otro del mundo, uno y otro país podían atacarse casi a pedradas cada uno desde su propio territorio. Entre los dos islotes discurría una línea invisible y amenazadora, que dada su situación sólo podía denominarse de una manera: El Telón de Hielo.

El Estrecho de Bering, con EE.UU. a la derecha y Rusia a la izquierda. Entre medias, las islas Diómedes.

Las Islas Diómedes son dos pequeños islotes situados entre América y Asia. Con gran originalidad, la más grande se llama Diómedes mayor y la más pequeña Diómedes menor, aunque en el idioma esquimal local se denominan, respectivamente, Imaqliq e Inaliq. Se encuentran situadas en mitad del Estrecho de Bering, entre las penínsulas de Seward, en Alaska, y Chukotka, en Rusia. En el tratado de 1867 que reguló la venta de Alaska a Estados Unidos por parte de Rusia se especificaba que la frontera entre los dos países transcurriría de norte a sur equidistante de las dos islas hasta perderse en los océanos Pacífico y Ártico. En el momento de la división, como suele suceder en estos casos, algunas familias quedaron separadas por la nueva frontera, lo que, de todas maneras, no supuso demasiado problema puesto que el tránsito de personas a través del estrecho brazo de mar entre las islas siguió siendo tolerado. Hasta que llegó la Guerra Fría.

Rusia a la izquierda, Estados Unidos a la derecha

Después de la II Guerra Mundial el cruce de la frontera marítima quedó prohibido. Los dos pequeños pedazos de tierra (la Diómedes pequeña tiene poco más de siete kilómetros cuadrados de superficie, por 29 de su hermana mayor) quedaron aislados el uno del otro, convertidos en los puntales de dos potencias inmensas y enfrentadas. La URSS trasladó a los habitantes de la Diómedes mayor al continente y repobló Ratmanov (nombre de la isla en ruso) con un pequeño destacamento militar, mientras que en la isla menor permaneció el pueblo de Diómede, que en la actualidad cuenta con 150 habitantes. Muchos parientes se perdieron de vista y nunca volvieron a verse debido al traslado y al cierre de la frontera, aunque según la propaganda soviética los habitantes de la isla mayor intentaron convencer a sus parientes de la isla menor para que desertaran y se fueran con ellos. Uno de los casos más famosos de cruce de una isla a otra lo protagonizó en 1987 la norteamericana Lynne Cox, que cruzó a nado los cuatro kilómetros de aguas abiertas que separan las dos islas, en un intento por rebajar las tensiones de la guerra fría, y cuyo éxito fue celebrado tanto por Gorbachov como por el entonces presidente Ronald Reagan.

El pueblo de Diómede en las orillas del Ártico

Las condiciones climáticas de la isla no son lo que se dice tropicales, algo habitual al norte del paralelo 60. Para llegar a las Diómedes no existe transporte regular; con las aguas libres de hielo sólo durante el verano, vientos huracanados todo el año y una orografía que hace imposible construir una pista de cualquier tipo, la única manera de llegar a la isla de forma segura es en helicóptero. De hecho así llega el correo, que se deposita una vez por semana en la localidad.

Rusia a la derecha, Estados Unidos a la izquierda. Las Islas Diómedes vistas desde el norte.

Entre ambas islas no sólo pasa la frontera entre Rusia y EE.UU. La línea internacional de cambio de fecha también se encuentra entre ellas, de manera que desde la Diómedes menor miran al “mañana”, y desde Rusia, al “ayer”. La diferencia horaria entre ambas es de 21 horas, de manera que cuando en el lado ruso son las doce del mediodía, cuatro kilómetros al este son las tres de la tarde del día anterior. En realidad, como es lógico, la hora solar en ambas islas es exactamente la misma, situadas como están al este del meridiano 180. En invierno, cuando el mar se congela, las dos islas quedan unidas por el hielo, y ese trozo de océano se convierte en el único lugar del mundo en el que se puede cruzar de ayer a hoy o de hoy a mañana… a pie.

Una vista de Rusia desde Alaska, tal y como dicen que dijo Sarah Palin en la campaña electoral americana de 2008 (fuente)

Como soñar es gratis, a lo largo de los años se han realizado varias propuestas para unir las dos islas con sus respectivos continentes, para construir un puente o un túnel intercontinental que conectaría América con Asia, y de paso con Europa y África. También habría que construir las carreteras que llevarían hasta allí, por otro lado. La primera propuesta, de hecho, partió del ingeniero que diseñó el Golden Gate, a finales del siglo XIX, pero el Imperio Ruso rechazó la idea. El coste de todas las obras necesarias para unir América y Asia podría multiplicar por mucho cualquier obra de ingeniería realizada hasta el momento, por lo que hasta ahora ninguna de las propuestas ha pasado de ser una idea muy atractiva. Quizá a lo largo de este siglo lo veamos. Hasta entonces las dos diómedes estarán tan cerca y tan lejos como dos continentes distintos.

Fuentes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Even though I’m still waiting on my cover for A Betrayal of Friendship, I thought I’d give you a blurb of it here. This romance will be released January 22, 2010 at Whispers Publishing. I’m hoping to get the the cover soon, so I can post it.

Enjoy,

Theresa

A BLURB:    

      “You never wanted to touch me before.”

      “You’re wrong.” Before Mace could silence the words, he added, “I’ve always wanted you.”

      “But you hate me.”

      He needed to stop this now.  He needed to force the conversation to different ground, safer ground.  If she ever found out the true reason he’d left her two years ago, only weeks after his brother’s funeral, she’d never be able to forgive him.

     “Tell me the truth,” a tentative hand landed on his arm.  “I need to know that truth.”

     No, the truth is the last thing you need. 

    “Mace?”

    He needed to change the subject—and quickly.  The plane!  “Pam was right.”

    Charlene’s back went rigid at the female name. 

    “She told me and Billy you crashed the plane.”  He ignored her astonished look and bent down to stare at the dented wing tip.  “Looks like I’ve a mess to fix up here.”

      Her temper flared.  “No, Hamilton, I have a mess to fix not you.”

      “You?”  He was being unfair, and he knew it, but he needed to stop her tears.  If she cried, he’d be lost.  He hadn’t return to Kodiak after all this time just to get her to cry.  He wanted her smile.  Anger would do. “Yeah, right, like a woman can fix this,” placing his hand on the damaged wing, “good enough to fly it back to Kodiak.”

      “Why you—” She smothered her harsh words.  “I can’t talk to you now.”  She glared at him before she turned and raced toward the safety of the clinic.

      At least the hint of tears had left her eyes, replaced by more violent emotions.

      Unfortunately, even filled with that McIntire exasperation, the woman affected him way too much.

     Mason was in deep trouble.

Stay tuned.

Fish Factor

Halibut Fishery Ends; Salmon Wrap; & Pups up!

By LAINE WELCH

November 21, 2009

Saturday

Alaska&apos;s halibut fishery ended on Nov. 15 amidst little fanfare. Brutal winter weather wreaked havoc on deliveries the final week, and bumped up prices as buyers scrambled for the last fresh fish of the year.

The season opened in late March with lots of expensive halibut holdovers from last year in U.S. freezers. That pushed dock prices down by roughly a dollar per pound all season.

Final prices at Kodiak were reported at $3.40 – $4.30/lb for fish weighing from 10 pounds to “40 ups.” Kodiak prices dipped as low as $2.50 at the docks this summer.

At Homer, final halibut prices to fishermen ranged from $4 – $4.35/lb. Homer easily held on to the title of America&apos;s #1 halibut port with more than 12 million pounds, 23% of all landings, crossing those docks. Kodiak was a distant second at 7.6 million pounds, followed by Seward, Dutch Harbor, Juneau and Petersburg.

Most of Alaska&apos;s fresh halibut catch goes to U.S. retail counters and restaurants. The demand this year came from retail buyers, as more customers avoid expensive restaurants and buy halibut to eat at home, said market analyst Ken Talley. The frozen market also has taken off, and inventory holdings “are said to be very low,” he added.

via SitNews: Fish Factor – Halibut Fishery Ends; Salmon Wrap; & Pups up! By LAINE WELCH.

If you are not one of the nearly one million people who have purchased and read Sarah Palin’s new book, Going Rogue, An American Life, then you are missing out on one of the really great treats and treasures of our time.

One doesn’t actually read Going Rogue, they experience it. You experience Sarah Palin’s life as she takes you from a young girl growing in the rugged Alaska wilderness through her days as a championship basketball player, a city councilwoman, mayor, oil and gas regulator, reformer, Governor, and vice presidential candidate. All told in Sarah’s wonderfully enjoyable way.

The book is so much more than just an account of Sarah Palin’s life though. Rush Limbaugh has called it “truly one of the most substantive policy books” that he has ever read, and that it is. However, you won’t find a single chart, graph, or bullet point anywhere in the book. Going Rogue is a book of philosophy, and book of strategy. Going Rogue is a book of great inspiration, and of great triumphs.

If up to this point you have only relied on reviews from the old, corrupt Obamacentric media, to tell you about Sarah’s book, then you have been poorly served. Most of the dishonest media will have you believe this is some sort of vindictive “tell all” or “score settling” book. Whatever it takes to sell papers and get ratings, I suppose.

The truth is, Sarah tells her story, all of her story, but is very generous, even to those who served her poorly, or caused her grief. If you buy the book looking for fireworks, or to see her dishing up dirt, you’ll be sorely disappointed. This just isn’t Sarah Palin’s style. Frankly we have written more extensively and brutally about those in Alaska who have attacked her and her family than Sarah herself does.

Sarah touches on the attacks by the hate bloggers, and she mentions the ties they have to Barack Obama through his campaign chief-of-staff, now White House adviser, Pete Rouse. She talks about the fictitious “Troopergate” affair, and how things completely changed once Obama’s team got involved. She spends a few pages discussing how Obama’s involvement, and how Chicago thug politics poisoned the once friendly atmosphere of Alaska politics.

Sarah also spends some time discussing the McCain campaign. Again, if you are looking for mud slinging, you are going to be highly disappointed. Sarah tells her side of the story, discusses the events in great detail. She takes responsibility for her errors, and points out where she felt things could have been done better. Not a vindictive word to be found.

Instead, Sarah takes you through the process of being chosen as a candidate, and running for Vice President. It’s a fascinating behind the scenes look at how things work.

Sarah has nothing but high praise for John McCain in the book. You know that she has a great admiration and respect for the Senator and his family. This comes through loud and clear every time she speaks of John and Cindy.

The same can be said for the much talked about Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson interviews. She talks about them, tells you where she went wrong, how she felt they were a bad idea to start with, then moves on to more important things.

You’ll find Sarah to be frank about things all throughout the book. This is a woman who is comfortable with herself and has no problem talking about the way she sees things. This is a strong, determined woman, who is also very open and candid as she tells her story.

Most of the book centers on her family and her remarkable life. Sarah takes us through her pregnancy with her beautiful son Trig. Here she lets us in on the intimate details, her inner most thoughts and feelings. You feel the love that Sarah has for all of her children in this book, and her great love and admiration for Todd as well. You can’t help but admire Todd as a wonderfully strong husband and father. A real man’s man, who supports Sarah in every way.

You’ll also be pleased to learn that Sarah’s wicked sense of humor shows up all throughout the book, making a good read into a great read.

This is what you really get with this book, a look at one of America’s most amazing women, up close, personal, and in her own words. You get a look at Alaska. You feel Sarah’s great love for her state, of the land, and of nature. You feel the magnificence of Alaska through her words.

Regular readers know that my background is not in politics, but in sales and management. While I’ve enjoyed reading books of all kind, I most enjoy books dealing with business, written by those great masters like Lee Iaccoca, Jim McKay, and Bob Lutz. Going Rogue is certainly this type of book. Going Rogue is truly a book on successful management, as well as business and political strategy.

If you read Sarah’s book, you will find it to be just as Limbaugh describes it, a substantial book on policy. Oh, she doesn’t go on and on for pages about how she will do things, there are no charts or bullet points. No lectures.

Instead, you’ll find that every page is a lesson in philosophy, policy, and strategy. All of this is intertwined with Sarah’s accounting of her life.

This is what makes Going Rogue one of those rare treasures of a book:

If you are a fan, who simply wants to know more about this remarkable woman, you will come away pleased and fulfilled. Sarah takes you through her life, and her style of writing makes you really experience it all. Her words have you visualizing the events as they unfold. You will come away with great admiration for Sarah and her family. You find these are truly nice people. Regular folks who you would like to have as your friends and neighbors.

If you are someone who is more interested in what makes Sarah tick, politically, well, you are certainly in for a treat! Again, there are no charts or graphs, but throughout the book, Sarah’s philosophy on life, and politics comes through. If you read Going Rogue, you will learn how she governed in Alaska, and how she would govern as President. How she looks at the world. What her policies on the economy, national security, and energy are.

If you are not already familiar with Sarah’s significant record of accomplishments, you will be by the time you are through. You will learn why Sarah had such a high approval rating (mid 80’s) among some of the most independent minded voters in America. You’ll learn why the democrat/communists, as well as the Republican “elites” fear her, and why millions support her.

You’ll also learn that Sarah is not some far right ideologue. Instead you’ll find that common sense is what rules the day. You’ll find someone who is willing to work with anyone, as long as they are working toward a common goal, and some good old fashioned common sense is being employed. You learn that Sarah Palin is someone who knows how to get things done.

Something else, you’ll learn that Sarah Palin is a bold leader. Sarah is not someone who is afraid to do big things, or afraid to do things differently to get results, and her record shows she gets results.

In the end, if you don’t read another book this year, you should read Going Rogue. This book is a pure joy to read, and you will find yourself not wanting to put it down. You will find Sarah to be likable, and inspiring. After all, this is a woman who was literally raised in a log cabin on the rugged landscape of Alaska, who has become one of America’s brightest shining stars.

Going Rogue, like Sarah Palin herself, is a real American treasure.

Sarah Palin dropped out of a 5k race on Thanksgiving Day in Kennewick, Washington The former vice presidential candidate who quit as  Alaska Governor clams she quit this race because she wanted to avoid the crowds that were waiting for her at the end.  Rather contradictory when consider the money worshiping terrorist (which is what she is) announced that she would be running the race on Twitter.

Palin was 1 of about 3,000 participants.  A local paper reported that her presence drew a "mass of onlookers." Much like an automobile accident during rush hour.

On June 17, 2009, Emmy award-winning filmmaker Sprague Theobald, 58, left Rhode Island on a 57-foot Nordhavn powerboat with a crew of four to document a maritime expedition through the Arctic’s storied Northwest Passage. Once impenetrable, the ice-covered seafaring route became fully navigable for the first time in 2007 when the sea ice dramatically retreated. In 2008, the passage was also clear, and in 2009, Theobald embarked to make a film showcasing the stark wilderness. Able sailors and divers, the crew had never before braved the Arctic. They encountered significantly more ice than expected, but five months, many polar bears and one perilous ice trap later, they emerged safely in Seattle on November 5, 2009, with 250 hours of high-definition footage. This winter, Theobald will distill his material into a full-length documentary. Theobald sat down with us and reflected on his journey.

The Northwest Passage. Sprague Theobald's trip originated in Rhode Island and ended in Seattle five months later.

Polar Field Services: When did you first get the idea for this project?

Sprague Theobald: Years and years and years ago. I was very inquisitive as a kid and when I learned about the Northwest Passage in school, the first thing they said was that man can’t go through it. I hate the word “can’t.” Since then the passage has intrigued me, in part because I knew as I was growing up that if no one was up there going through it, no one had yet left their footprints. 

No footprints here. Theobald and crew make tracks in the Northwest Passage. Photo: Northwest Passage Film

What was your intention/mission when you set out from Rhode Island?

Apart from simply documenting this great expedition, I wanted to show daily shipboard life of a family. But once we got to Greenland and saw the ice and got away from humanity, I saw that nature is so much bigger than any story we could tell from the boat.

What interaction did you have with native communities?

I was hoping to show the life in the communities we went to, but it was very hard to depict daily life. I was also thinking about doing more on the environment and climate change specifically, but then I thought the pictures spoke for themselves.

Would it have enhanced your experience to discuss climate change more and interview more experts?

Well, we interviewed two elders, hunters and two young geologists. Their anecdotal information differed. The elders both said the winters are getting longer and the ice is getting thicker, and the geologists said the ice was changing, seeing more run off. I didn’t want to make a climate change documentary. I wanted to show the pristine place in its rawness.

We do have footage talking about the potential impacts of oil and gas, and prospecting for diamonds and gold and nickel underground.

Were you already a fan of the Arctic or polar places?

Other than a scouting trip in 2008, I had never been there before. But the passage had such a legacy of expeditions trying and, if they made it back, saying it’s hell. My sense of adventure goes deep, and when someone says, “you can’t go there,” I think, “Why not?” 

The view from the boat—for five months. Photo: Northwest Passage Film

What were your first impressions as you reached the Arctic by boat?

It was much different than I expected. I knew it would be isolated and desolate, but it was like the backside of the moon. There was no plant life; we went two months without seeing another boat or another person, and every time anyone went ashore onto the ice, two of us had to go together and we had to have guns.

Describe the environment.

The midnight sun was ethereal with a bluish cast to it. Human faces don’t look pink and healthy—they look blue and gaunt. It is really powerful. The wildlife was stunning.

Describe a typical day.

You wake up four different times and are always busy. You stand watch, are briefed as to what is going on, check the engine room, download the ice charts, weather charts, keep your eyes open for anything—a rogue piece of ice or whales getting ready to jump

What was typical progress and how much fuel did you use?

A good day would be 200 miles and we’d travel between 7.5 and 8 knots. The tank holds 2,200 gallons of fuel and we used a little less than 8,000 gallons, total. We got fuel in Greenland, and topped off the tank in Nome and in Sitka, and that lasted us to Seattle.

What were some of the more interesting shots you filmed?

It was all really stunning. And the underwater footage is incredible. Everyone has seen life above the ice. Seeing the hull of the boat coming through the ice is amazing.

You were stuck on the ice for several days. What happened?

That was horrific. Our options dwindled very slowly and inexorably. We had been anchored off of a small island downloading the ice charts, and saw a lead open in the ice. The next chart came down, and the lead was even bigger, so we went for it. We were halfway in it, when we saw a white wall coming toward us. The wind doesn’t drive the ice, the currents do, and the currents had changed.

On the first day we were trapped, in 18 hours we moved 17 miles. The next day we made two miles in five hours. I went to bed thinking the next thing I was going to hear was the crunch of the ice decimating the boat. But four hours later I woke up, and we were seven miles off the coast, had a small lead, and we pushed and pushed and began to work our way out of it. 

Icebergs show up on the radar. Theobald and crew were trapped in the ice when changing currents closed leads (openings in the ice) that previously looked open. Photo: Northwest Passage Film

What were the potential consequences of being trapped?

We couldn’t move. It was the first time in my life I had ever been without an option. We felt hopeless. We were trapped, caught, not moving. In the worst-case scenario, we would have had to abandon the ship and make our way to the closest civilization over ice.

Did you film during this crisis?

With great precaution we went out onto the ice and got some magnificent footage of the boat trapped. We also dove under the boat and locked in some great shots.

What was the most dangerous aspect of being trapped?

The ice felt like an avalanche in very slow motion, the compasses were all deviating because we were so far north, so we had to rely on GPS to navigate. We dropped anchor on the ice floe, and so we would move with the ice, but the current changed yet again and at one point, instead of being a mile and a half off shore, we were a quarter mile off shore. We were either going to wreck on the rocks or on the ice.

How did you get out of the situation?

Luck. The current changed again, and then we saw a small opening and we went for it as aggressively as we could. When we were finally liberated, there weren’t whoops of joy or loud yahoos. Everyone was so depleted.

You said you have an interest and eagerness to support or inspire the educational/scientific communities with your footage and experiences. What are some ways you envision doing that?

The goal for any documentary is for someone to sit there at the end and say, “I never knew that.” I want to open their eyes a little bit, and if I can develop partnerships with any scientists or educational outlets to use some of my footage to accomplish that, then that would be good.

When will we see the documentary?

It will take about three months to log all the footage, and by the beginning of the summer we’ll have a good rough cut. A lot of people have expressed an interest in seeing the footage, so right now I am working on creating a good five-minute teaser.

Much of your crew was related to you.

Yep, it didn’t start off as a family trip, but my crew included my stepdaughter, Dominique Tanton, 28, and stepson, Chaunce Tanton, 32, and their half brother and my son Sefton Theobald, 22.

This expedition pulled the family back together in a way that was totally unexpected.

When did you decide to make this expedition a reality?

In 2007. I was out to dinner with friends in New York and was asked if there was a trip I hadn’t yet done as a filmmaker, and the words “Northwest Passage” flew out of my mouth and were there on the table. And it was realistic, particularly with the ice opening up that summer. I had a boat, I had crew people in mind, and—this was before the economy fell apart—I had potential sponsors lined up to underwrite it.

Who were your sponsors?

Nordhavn, the boat manufacturer (and I owned a Nordhavn) signed on right away. But last September (2008) the economy began to crumble and they and my other sponsors had to pull out. I completely understood. They didn’t have the money.

How did you pay for the expedition, and what was your budget?

I used the proceeds from the sale of my home several years earlier. It was completely self-funded and cost me about $300,000.

What are your final thoughts on the expedition?

It was an astounding trip. I hope that whatever happens in the future with the Northwest Passage, we all use our brains about it. It truly is one of the last wild adventures.

Worked 35,000 year old mammoth tusk from Alaska. Note scale! Source: Gelvin-Reymuller et al.

This is getting a little out of the area, but I’ve just run across a report by Gelvin-Reymuller et al.  (download PDF) on the finding of a worked mammoth tusk from the north side of the Seward Peninsula.  That is on the west-central Alaska coast near the closest approach to Asia, and hence smack in the middle of Beringia.  The tusk is interesting in its own right, of course, but doubly so when we see that it was dated to well before the last glacial maximum:

Though the age of the tusk is only peripherally relevant to the significance of the reduction described in this paper, the tusk was sampled for dating. A single bone collagen sample from the tusk was dated by Beta Analytic, Inc. following standard pretreatment and analytical procedures. A 5.2 g of sample was first removed from an inner area, well beneath a surficial treatment of Elmer’s Glue-All which the tusk’s discoverer had initially applied to the surface. The resultant AMS date was 35,150 +/- 530 BP (Beta-189092). …… The latest mammoth remains in mainland Alaska are dated to around 11,400 BP.   Since the age of this tusk places it beyond the range of initial human habitation in the New World, as currently understood, we posit that the tusk was worked by later inhabitants of the area.

The authors note that it is possible to diagnose from the reduction strategies used whether ivory was worked when fresh/green or when already subfossilized,  though curiously they draw no such conclusions about this particular piece.  I find it intriguing how a central Beringian artifact made on a 35,000 year old material is so readily characterized as a recent manufacture.  While this piece would pre-date the earliest known record of extreme NE Asia and while I wouldn’t second-guess the authors nor impugn their motives and while it is certainly possible that a fossil mammoth tusk was worked at a much later date, I’m, uh, just sayin’.   This paper is interesting on a number of levels, not least as an example of stickhandling around competing paradigms.

Detail of working method of Alaskan tusk. Source: Gelvin-Reymuller et al

If you are a living, breathing person (at least as it is currently defined) who resides in Anchorage, Alaska, you have noticed a tension in the air over the past year. It started with the election, which pit neighbor against neighbor on a more pronounced platform than ever before, with both our own Governor making headlines as she toured the lower 48 on the Straight Talk Express, and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich taking on Uncle Ted for his Senate seat. Most people had never even known that profound differences in ideology existed from one mailbox down the street to the next. But all of a sudden, things were looking a lot different, and many people did not care for it one bit; shocked at the reality they had unintentionally unearthed. The predisposition that many of us had to stop when someone has a flat tire, or to be ready to break out the jumper cables when you see someone looking distraught, staring at their old car in the Fred Meyer parking lot, seemed to wither away and devolve into public screaming matches over health care, stimulus money, equal rights for our LGBT, growing homelessness, the city budget in Anchorage, among a host of other divisive topics. All of a sudden, the sense of community that we’ve all shared with each other – the neighborly convictions that have defined Alaskan hospitality – have turned into angry sneers seen in the rear view in reaction to whatever bumper stickers are placed on your car and therefor define you. The times are changing, and they are changing quickly. But, for all the tension that already exists, and has been mounting…

You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Meet Christopher Kurka, a 22 year old Eagle River resident who quietly submitted a proposal for an initiative to Lt. Governor Craig Campbell back in August, which Campbell approved in late October, allowing Kurka to begin collecting the 32,734 signatures needed to get the initiative placed on the ballot for Alaskans to vote on. The topic? Kurka seeks to afford constitutional rights and protections to the unborn. And, if successful, our state constitution would be amended to reflect that, causing a maelstrom of possible, and probable, implications.

Although both the Lt. Governor and Attorney General Dan Sullivan said that this does not seek to outlaw abortion or overturn Roe v. Wade, the intent of such a proposal, and admittedly it’s author, is exactly that. The summary for the bill, suggested by Campbell, reads: “This bill would extend legal person status to the pre-birth stages of human development. Under this bill a legal person would be recognized starting from the point of conception through birth and until death. This bill would not amend or repeal existing state law regulating abortion, but could impact some areas of the law to extend rights prior to birth.”

“The state responsibility is to protect our rights, and the most fundamental of those rights is the right to life. So what we’re doing here is asking the people of the state to sign this initiative, to get it on the ballot, and then to vote for it, so the unborn will be recognized as a person just like the rest of us,” Kurka told KTUU back in October.

His argument seeks to change the most common framing of the debate around abortion. Just this past week, we’ve seen the fairly publicized battle between Catholic Bishop Tobin and Patrick Kennedy heat up regarding whether or not pro-choice Catholics should be allowed communion. On MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews interviewed Tobin and made this statement:

“What should be the penalty for a young woman, or a girl even, to have an abortion, and if there’s no penalty for it, are you really outlawing it?”

His broader point was that it is one thing to take a personal, moral stance against abortion because it conflicts with your own individual world view or ideology. But, to this point, we have not impacted other people who may

from KTUU

have a differing belief, nor have we imposed sanctioned against people for ending a pregnancy, because while we may disagree on the practice, the majority of Americans do not feel that the act is a criminal one. It is a deeply troubling decision a would-be mother must make; but we have not felt that it is one she should serve time for.

This initiative seeks to change this policy. It seeks to make abortion criminal, and would seek to prosecute women who terminate pregnancies for murder or manslaughter. And the implications could be a lot further reaching. Despite the Lt. Governor’s explanation that finds the proposal acceptable; that it does not seek to “amend or repeal existing state law regulating abortion,” it would have to, if written into law. If constitutional rights are afforded at the point of conception, which is the specific aim of Mr. Kurka’s efforts, then we could very easily be looking at the abolition of choice, contraception being made criminal, rape and incest resulting in children born into horrendous and often violent living conditions, among countless other concerns. And we would be forced to try in a court of law those who performed and/or underwent abortions as murderers. I hate to sensationalize the radical implications that could possibly ensue, but this is the exact wording of the proposal. This is in no way a hyperbolic account of possible outcomes.

Jeffrey Mittman and the ACLU also find the language in the proposal to contradict the law unconstitutionally.

“The ACLU is supporting a lawsuit filed this week by plaintiffs that include Vic Fischer, a former Democratic legislator and delegate to the state constitutional convention. The suit argues that Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell shouldn’t have certified the measure and seeks to stop the sponsors from collecting signatures to get it on the ballot.” [ADN]

“To me, it looks like they are trying to return us to back-alley abortions,” Clover Simon, Alaska vice president of Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest told the Alaska Star.

As Matthews and others point out, thus far the Catholic church as a whole has not gotten behind this sort of legislation, and hesitate when suggesting the idea of prosecuting women for undergoing the procedure. But fetal personhood proposals are popping up all over the country, in states as red as Montana, blue as California, and confused as Florida.

Be assured, we will see many in our religious community jump on board, especially in the wake of the troubles getting the needed signatures for the “Parental Consent” law petition trumpeted by the Alaska Family Council.

The Focus on the Family off-shoot, led locally by Jim Minnery, has been frantically attempting to meet the required number of people to sign their support which would force minors to notify their parents when they sought to terminate a pregnancy. This is the result of a similar billed which passed in 1997, but was struck down in 2007 when the Alaska Supreme Court found the law unconstitutional, citing their stance that sharing this information with parents violated the privacy of their teenage daughters. While a parental notification and consent law might sound beneficial, as a first impression, it loses merit when taking into account that Alaska ranks as the worst state in the union when it comes to rape, and in addition, according to Health and Human Services:

Since 1976, Alaska has ranked in the top five states in the nation for the highest rate of reported rape per capita. In 1993, Alaska ranked 1st in the nation: highest per capita incidence of rape.
Alaska has 6 times the national average of reported child sexual assault.
1 in 4 girls before the age of 12 and 1 in 6 boys before the age of 18 nationally will be sexually assaulted.
Fairbanks Health Center surveyed 419 clients over a 3-week period and found that 24% reported physical abuse in the past 6 months while 39% reported some form of sexual abuse (1995).
In 3 out of 4 reported cases, the victim knew the offender, the most commonly reported type of sexual abuse is a father who commits incest with his daughter–usually the eldest daughter.
As many as 4 out of 5 offenders were sexually assaulted as children.
One-third of incest victims’ mothers were sexually abused as children.
Alaska’s rape rate is 2.2 times the national average overall.

So, maybe being legally forcing kids to tell dad that they’re pregnant after he just lost his job and has been drinking all month isn’t the greatest idea.

Most Alaskans get this, even if they do not agree with abortion. But the Alaska Family Council is determined to curb choice at every turn. Minnery’s AFC newsletter:

“You’ll find more info on our website at www.alaskansforparentalrights.org but suffice it to say that we need roughly 40,000 signatures and to date – we are about 10,000 short of that mark.  We have only a few precious weeks to get the remaining signatures and we are simply not going to reach our goal without more churches stepping forward.”

With the story about this new fetal personhood initiative, which would take care of the parental consent notification as well as the larger issue, the website advertised above is already offline. They can’t get the signatures one way, so they’re on to try their luck with a different extreme. I don’t think it’s too mavericky to assume that Wal*churches like Prevo’s Anchorage Baptist Temple will follow suit as the knowledge of this initiative begins to circulate.

As for Christopher Kurka, his fight goes on. In a bold display of creepy disconnect (that may ring all too familiar with many in Anchorage), he tells the Alaska Star: “This is what I enjoy. Some people have a favorite football or basketball team they cheer for. For me, this is my sports team, and I am a dedicated fan.”

GG's first Thanksgiving!

Greetings from Ugashik!

Well the adopt a family food drive for Nunam Iqua seems to be well underway if the amount of emails I have received and families that I have been able to get adopted are an indication

So far out of the 22 families that requested help (I am still trying to contact the other 13 families in Nunam Iqua) 12 families have been adopted.

I have been reading comments on various blogs and receiving emails from people that say that they are unable to afford to adopt a family and would like to know of other ways to help.  I understand that it would be much easier to just send a box of food to be distributed from a central location like we did last winter.  Although logistically speaking that is not an option this winter. 

If someone knows of a way that I can clone myself so that I can again receive boxes and distribute them in Nunam please let me know because not only would I welcome the ability to clone myself to do that but also a clone for a nanny, a housekeeper and a cook would be welcome additions LOL

Ok but seriously there are two other options that can be used if you are unable to adopt a family on your own for the winter. 

The first option is sharing a family with others who can’t afford to adopt a family by themselves.  I have been making groups of wonderful people who are sharing a single adoptive family for the winter.  This has been great fun as I get permission from each person to share their email addresses and then I put them in contact with each other and Viola!  they are off and running or should I say shopping/packing!  This way the financial burden of helping a family is spread out among many and thus reducing the costs to the people that help.

Secondly, you can make a donation to our SPAN Alaska account.  Once donations build up in that account I will make an order and send it to Nunam.

Thirdly, you don’t have to adopt a family for the ENTIRE winter, if you can only send one box then just let me know and I can double/triple etc adopt that family out to many to keep the donations/food coming in. 

For more information on how to make a SPAN Alaska donation click  HERE!

For more information, kind of a tutorial on adopting a family click  HERE!

If you questions or would like to adopt a family or co-adopt a family email me at nunamiquayouth (at) yahoo (dot) com

Quyana in advance for all of your help and understanding in helping bring aide to the families in Nunam Iqua.

Sincerely,

Ann Strongheart

Writing in forever loving memory of my beloved Segundo (Happy Belated Birthday My Love!!)

Another excellent TED Talk by James Balog. This is the shocking truth about the climate change situation right NOW. Wake-up those who are still disputing the scientific evidence and making this a political issue!

James Balog’s latest work, the Extreme Ice Survey, captures the twisting, soaring forms of threatened wild ice.

To see the natural world through James Balog’s lens is to see it as an artist would — through fresh eyes, as if for the first time, with no preconceived notions. His photos of jungle animals, for instance, are arresting in their directness, simplicity, even sensuality. His subjects assume the same weight and importance as a human portrait sitter, and demand (as a human subject would) that the viewer engage with them rather than simply spectate.

His newest work is no less powerful, no less engaging — and it carries an urgent message. For several years, Balog has been going up north to shoot the half-alive ice of the mammoth glaciers for his Extreme Ice Survey, a look at the shocking effects of abrupt climate change in Alaska, Greenland and Iceland. Soaring, dripping, glowing and crumbling, arctic ice under Balog’s eye requires the viewer to engage.

A new Nova/PBS TV special and a new book, Extreme Ice Now, are helping him spread the word that this glorious world is degrading at a speed we couldn’t imagine until we saw it through his eyes.

“Each new series by James Balog represents a quantum leap in creativity, which takes us deeper into the ultimate mystery of humanity’s relationship to the natural world.”

James Nachtwey, photographer and TED Prize winner

http://www.ted.com/talks/james_balog_time_lapse_proof_of_extreme_ice_loss.html

Can you ever get enough School House Rock?  I think not.  This particular episode ‘The Shot Heard Round the World’ provides a nice summary of the original US Revolution and reflects the historic basis for the Revolution in Check Mate, which starts even before the book begins and reaches its climax in the middle of the book.  The Wild Turkeys rush in, just in time for Thanksgiving.

School House Rock: The Shot Heard Round the World

School House Rock covered almost everything you needed to know.  Not the least of which was Civics.  For the benefit of fellow GenX-ers in the US, who will delight in revisiting the past, I provide this link into what its at the Heart of Check Mate.  For those wonderful people living everyone else in this marvelous world, I believe you will find this both fun and enlightening.  For all my many British pals, don’t worry.  In Check Mate you are the most trusted of allies, the King of England supports the HAGAR Rebel Alliance and the oppressor over taxing comes from a completely different direction.  That said, Check Mate is partially based on the old adage, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  Check Mate is also based on taking adages like that and turning them upside down, to see how they can be proved false.

School House Rock: No More Kings

Only in Alaska would you see a man walking his reindeer downtown…

We knew it was coming! And here it is! Going Rogue is now officially #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List for nonfiction titles! (Mike Huckabee’s A Simple Christmas is #5.)

Here is a little closer look:

NYT Best Seller List: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/index.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1259441743-bG+OK6UgMOHV2zbacfkZmA

NYT Hardcover Nonfiction List: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/books/bestseller/besthardnonfiction.html?_r=1&ref=bestseller

State wide broadcast at 4pm Saturday KYES Channel 5.

If you’d like tickets to this weeks live taping, email mooreupnorth@gmail.com

Ethan Berkowitz, Steve Heimel and Rick Steiner.

Security provided by Tank Jones.

The states impacted are as follows:  AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, KS, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SD, TX, WI, WV and WY.

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