Showing posts with label Alaska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alaska. Show all posts
Friday, September 4, 2015
James Woods
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Obama Pushes Solar Power--In Arctic Town That Sees Little Sun in Winter
(CNSNews.com) – President Obama promoted solar energy to residents of Kotzebue, an Alaskan town located 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle that gets less than six hours of sunlight for 34 days in early December through early January.
“I know you guys have started putting up solar panels and wind turbines around Kotzebue. And because energy costs are pretty severe up here, for remote Alaskan communities, one of the biggest problems is high energy costs,” the president said in a speech he delivered during a three-day tour of the state in which he stressed the dangers of climate change.
“One of the reasons I came up here is to really focus on what is probably the biggest challenge our planet faces. If there’s one thing that threatens opportunity and prosperity for everybody, wherever we live, it’s the threat of a changing climate,” said Obama, the first president to venture north of the Arctic Circle.
“We are the number-one producer of oil and gas. But we’re transitioning away from energy that creates the carbon that’s warming the planet and threatening our health and our environment, and we’re going all in on clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar. And Alaska has the natural resources to be a global leader in this effort,” the president said.
“So we’re going to deploy more new clean-energy projects on Native lands, and that’s going to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, promote new jobs and new growth in your communities,” he added.
Kotzebue – a town of about 3,000 residents that bills itself as the “Gateway to the Arctic” – is one of 15 major communities in Alaska’s Far North Region that are located north of the Arctic Circle, according to TravelAlaska.com, the state’s official tourism agency.
The Arctic Circle is the boundary for the “midnight sun”, a phenomenon caused by the tilt in the Earth’s axis in which the sun does not set in the summer or conversely rise in the winter.
On December 22, the winter solstice, the sun rises in Kotzebue at 10:12 am and sets at 3:42 pm – for a total of just five and a half hours of sunlight. During the 34 days between December 3rd and January 6th, Kotzebue’s days are less than six hours long.
In Barrow, the northernmost town in Alaska which is located 330 miles north of the Arctic Circle, there are 67 winter days in which the sun does not shine at all, according to Alaska.org.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Obama Weekly Address: Meeting the Global Threat of Climate Change Saturday August 29, 2015
The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, August 29, 2015.
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
[VIDEO] CBS and NBC Fail to Cover IRS Data Breach, Feds Approving Drilling in the Arctic
In Monday evening’s edition of network bias by omission, CBS and NBC neglected to stories concerning a data breach of American taxpayers at the scandal-ridden IRS and the Obama administration finally giving approval for a major oil company to begin oil drilling in the Arctic off Alaska’s coast. Surprisingly, ABC’s World News Tonight picked up the pieces and provided their viewers with coverage of a full segment on the IRS breach and a brief on the future of drilling in the Arctic.
On the subject of the IRS, anchor David Muir described the information as “a troubling new development in the case of computer hacking at the IRS” as “far more taxpayers’ documents could have been compromised than we first knew.”
Speaking with Muir, senior Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas reported that “three times as many taxpayers [were] affected” as “[t]he number jump[ed] from 114,000 identified in May to roughly 334,000 possibly targeted.”
Thomas further explained in the time remaining how the information that the IRS has on Americans includes their salary, address, and date of birth to name a few that all could easily enable thieves to “assume your identity” and make hundreds of thousands of people victims of identity theft.
While Telemundo kept their viewers in the dark on this story, Univision’s Noticiero Univision had an 18-second news brief from co-anchor Jorge Ramos on the data breach and the growing number of Americans potentially affected.
Concerning the oil drilling, Muir dedicated a 14-second brief to the long-awaited decision by the Obama administration:
Tonight, oil drilling set to begin again in the Arctic Ocean. The U.S. government giving Royal Dutch Shell the final permit to drill off Alaska’s northwest coast. The first drilling there in more two decades. Shell bringing in special equipment to comply with environmental regulations.
On the Spanish-language network front, Telemundo and Univision ignored it while the PBS NewsHour and FNC’s Special Report joined ABC in covering this development regarding the future of drilling in the Arctic.
Instead of mentioning either one of these stories, CBS Evening News fill-in anchor Charlie Rose promoted viral video of a dump truck driver in Saudi Arabia driving with the container up when it crashed into a highway sign.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
UAF chancellor restores Mississippi state flag to campus display
FAIRBANKS—The University of Alaska Fairbanks started the week by taking down the Mississippi state flag because of its inclusion of the Confederate battle flag emblem, but the flag went back up on Friday.
UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers explained in a post to his Facebook page that he "reluctantly" decided to replace the flag based on comments he's received since Monday.
"The tone and content of some of the responses I received this week have convinced me that it is in the best interest of UAF to return the Mississippi flag to the Circle of Flags, but I do so reluctantly," he wrote.
When asked about the content of the responses Rogers received, UAF spokeswoman Marmian Grimes pointed to social media, where Rogers' decision has been generally opposed.
"As evidenced by the discussions on social media, there are certainly strong opinions on this issue," she said via email. "He reviewed those, along with other verbal and written responses he received, and decided it was best for UAF to return the flag to the display."
The flag had been displayed along with every other state flag at the Cornerstone Plaza on UAF's lower campus.
The move came among intensifying national debate on the Confederate battle flag after it appeared in pictures of a gunman in a racially motivated massacre at a historically black church in South Carolina. Critics have said it still serves as a powerful symbol of slavery and racism.
Juneau earlier this month removed the Mississippi flag from a display along a prominent road.
On Friday, Rogers explained his original decision, saying he felt "it was inappropriate for a campus that values diversity to display a flag that many see as a symbol of racism."
Rogers said he hopes discussion about the flag continues in hopes that efforts in Mississippi to change the flag will be successful.
"I encourage members of the campus community to continue a reasoned dialogue on symbols and other manifestations of racism in our community and throughout the United States," he wrote. "I hope that similar discussions nationwide will help the Mississippi speaker be successful in his efforts to change their state flag."
Contact staff writer Matt Buxton at 459-7544. Follow him on Twitter: @FDNMpolitics.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Sexism and Racism Are Leftism
In our time, sexism and racism have become the province of the rich.
Discrimination by sex and by race are ancient innate pathologies and transcend particular cultures. But the American idea of sexism and racism in the 21st century — unfailing, endemic, and institutional discrimination by a majority-white-male-privileged culture against both women and so-called non-white minorities — has largely become a leftist construct. We can see how these two relativist -isms work in a variety of ways.
One, the frequent charge of racism and sexism is predicated not so much on one’s gender and race as on one’s gender, race, and politics. Certainly, few on the left worried much about the slurs against Sarah Palin during and after her vice-presidential run. America’s overclass in the media and leftist politics constructed a sexist portrait of a clueless white-trash mom in Wasilla, Alaska, mindlessly having lots of kids after barely graduating from the University of Idaho. Even Bill Maher’s and David Letterman’s liberal armor would not have withstood leftist thrusts had, mutatis mutandis, the former called Hillary Clinton a c–t or the latter disparaged Ms. Clinton as “slutty flight attendant” and joked that, when a teen, Chelsea Clinton had had sexual relations with a Yankee baseball player in the dugout. Ironically it was the by-her-own-bootstraps lower-middle-class Palin who braved the frontier, no-prisoners, male world to become governor of Alaska; in real terms, she is the true feminist. In contrast, according to doctrinaire feminism, Hillary Clinton does not measure up. She has largely clung, in mousy fashion, to her two-timing husband, excused his serial and manipulative philandering with young women of less clout and power, traded on his political nomenclature, and piggy-backed on his career.
Via: National Review
Continue Reading.....
Discrimination by sex and by race are ancient innate pathologies and transcend particular cultures. But the American idea of sexism and racism in the 21st century — unfailing, endemic, and institutional discrimination by a majority-white-male-privileged culture against both women and so-called non-white minorities — has largely become a leftist construct. We can see how these two relativist -isms work in a variety of ways.
One, the frequent charge of racism and sexism is predicated not so much on one’s gender and race as on one’s gender, race, and politics. Certainly, few on the left worried much about the slurs against Sarah Palin during and after her vice-presidential run. America’s overclass in the media and leftist politics constructed a sexist portrait of a clueless white-trash mom in Wasilla, Alaska, mindlessly having lots of kids after barely graduating from the University of Idaho. Even Bill Maher’s and David Letterman’s liberal armor would not have withstood leftist thrusts had, mutatis mutandis, the former called Hillary Clinton a c–t or the latter disparaged Ms. Clinton as “slutty flight attendant” and joked that, when a teen, Chelsea Clinton had had sexual relations with a Yankee baseball player in the dugout. Ironically it was the by-her-own-bootstraps lower-middle-class Palin who braved the frontier, no-prisoners, male world to become governor of Alaska; in real terms, she is the true feminist. In contrast, according to doctrinaire feminism, Hillary Clinton does not measure up. She has largely clung, in mousy fashion, to her two-timing husband, excused his serial and manipulative philandering with young women of less clout and power, traded on his political nomenclature, and piggy-backed on his career.
Via: National Review
Continue Reading.....
Friday, June 12, 2015
PALIN SLAMS OBAMATRADE AS ANOTHER ‘DON’T PASS IT ’TIL WE KNOW WHAT’S IN IT!’
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is sharing Breitbart News’story on Facebook, following the close Rules vote ahead of Friday’s final vote on the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that would grant President Obama fast-track authority to finish his trade negotiations.
She also posted her reaction to the non-transparency this administration has shown in handling the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which is keeping part of the draft in a secret room on Capitol Hill.
“The secretive, hugely impacting Obamatrade deal is another behind-closed-doors fast-tracked D.C. deal that screams “don’t pass it ’til we know what’s in it!” Yet politicians are going along to get along, supporting Obama’s pet project while ignoring the public’s right to know what’s in this monumental international trade deal. This, despite the President’s track record proving he hasn’t got it in him to put American workers first,” Palin posted.
“If Congress hands this secretive deal to Obama on a silver platter, admitting to not even reading it first, then shame on us for letting another one slide. This is fast-tracked, friends. Like Obamacare, when we sounded warning bells but too many were too busy to pressure their employees (your elected politicians) to do the right thing and learn it first. Since when is Congress able to halt any bullying administration’s fast-track deals? They never have before. Didn’t we learn last time?”
The vote on TPA is expected Friday afternoon.
Friday, June 5, 2015
EPA declares no ‘widespread’ harm to drinking water from fracking, boosting industry
Fracking supporters were boosted Thursday by a new Environmental Protection Agency report finding the controversial oil-and-gas extraction process has not caused "widespread" harm to drinking water.
The findings were contained in a draft assessment, as part of a report requested by Congress.
The report said the agency "did not find evidence" that any process has "led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States."
The agency did say the controversial drilling technique could affect drinking water if safeguards aren't maintained. It found specific instances where poorly constructed drilling wells and improper wastewater management affected drinking water resources.
But the EPA also reported the number of cases was small compared with the large number of wells that use hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking.
For industry and congressional voices who have long argued the health hazards associated with fracking are overblown, the report appeared to be a boon.
"Today's study confirms what we already know. Hydraulic fracturing, when done to industry standards, does not impact drinking water," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. "States have been effectively regulating hydraulic fracturing for more than 40 years and this study is evidence of that."
Thursday, May 28, 2015
‘Painful Time': Bristol Palin Addresses Sudden Wedding Cancelation (AND THIS IS NEWS, WHY???)
In a blog post on Patheos Wednesday morning,Bristol Palin addressed the sudden cancelation of her wedding two weeks ago, though she offered no details as to what caused it.
“I guess you have seen by now that the wedding — that was supposed to happen last weekend — was called off,” she wrote. “I’m sure you’ve seen this has been all over the media, but this is a painful time for family and friends and I would just really appreciate your prayers.”
Palin had been set to marry Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Dakota Meyer, but called it off six days beforehand. In a post at the time Palin railed against the “salacious headlines” and “false stories” about their relationship.
“I know God’s plan is greater than anything else, and Tripp and I are in Alaska beginning to rebuild our lives under much different circumstances than we anticipated,” she wrote Wednesday.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
The EPA’s Pebble Blame Game
The agency digs deep for excuses—and not very good ones—to explain its veto of an Alaskan mine project.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
EPA starts process that could restrict Pebble Mine
JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is taking the first steps toward restricting or even prohibiting development of a massive gold-and-copper prospect near the headwaters of a premier sockeye salmon fishery in southwest Alaska — though no final decision has been made.
While the rarely used EPA process is underway, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cannot approve a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine project.
The announcement Friday follows release of an EPA report in January that found large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay watershed posed significant risk to salmon and could adversely affect Alaska Natives in the region, whose culture is built around salmon.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy made clear Friday that no final decisions have been made. While McCarthy said scientific and other data has provided “ample reason” for EPA to believe a mine of the size and scope of Pebble “would have significant and irreversible negative impacts on the Bristol Bay watershed and its salmon-bearing waters,” she said EPA is open to receiving more information.
Mine opponents have been urging EPA to take steps to protect the region and hailed Friday’s announcement as significant. Supporters of Pebble Mine fear that EPA will move to block the project even before it gets to the permitting phase.
Tom Collier, CEO of the Pebble Limited Partnership, which is working to advance the mine project, called the EPA process a “major overreach.” In a statement, Collier said EPA’s actions to date “have gone well outside of its normal practice, have been biased throughout, and have been unduly influenced by environmental advocacy organizations.”
Via: Washington Post
Continue Reading....
The Hotline's Senate Race Rankings: Republicans in Command
The 2014 Senate landscape continues to look challenging for Democrats. Republicans can take back the chamber after eight years of Democratic control with a net gain of six seats, and the seven seats most likely to flip are held by Democrats in states President Obama lost in 2012.
The most important change since we looked at the Senate map three months ago is the glut of outside spending, particularly against Democratic incumbents in the majority-making seats of North Carolina, Louisiana, and Alaska. The nonprofit, conservative group Americans for Prosperity has dumped tens of millions into those states, beating up incumbents who now have--at best--50/50 chances of retaining their seats.
Republicans are well positioned to win a Senate majority in 2014. A favorable map, combined with a positive national environment driven by disapproval of the health care law, have put Democrats on the defensive.
The rankings are best considered in tiers. The first two seats are very likely to flip, while in seats 3 and 4 Republicans are favored to take over. In seats 5 through 7, Democratic incumbents in red states are deeply vulnerable, and if Republicans win the top four, they need only two of the three seats in this tier to control the Senate.
Seats 8 to 12 are also close to 50/50 races. Colorado debuts in this tier after the top recruit, Rep. Cory Gardner, decided to run. In seats 13 to 15, the Democratic incumbent is likely to retain control of the seat, although the races bear watching--and Republicans don't need seats 13 to 15 to wrestle control of the majority.
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