The Alaska Federation of Natives on Saturday called on the state and federal governments to declare an energy emergency in rural Alaska, and to cap the price of heating oil and gasoline in villages across the state.
Palin spokesman Bill McAllister said the governor will continue appointing Natives to state posts.
Some village residents pay twice as much as city dwellers for heating oil and gasoline, and rural delegates meeting for their annual convention in Anchorage voted to ask the government to pay the difference.
That should last until low-cost, alternative energy projects are up and running in rural Alaska, said Loretta Bullard, president of Kawerak Inc., a Native nonprofit operating in the Bering Strait region.
AFN delegates also demanded that Gov. Sarah Palin appoint more Natives to influential state posts and commissions, saying Natives have “suffered from inattention.”
“It was an extreme struggle to get an Alaska Native on the Board of Game,” Timothy Andrew, chairman of the Native village corporation in Marshall, told the crowd.
At her recorded announcement to the AFN convention on Thursday, Palin announced that she was creating a new sub-cabinet to deal with energy issues, and the related migration of rural dwellers into Alaska’s urban areas. Energy costs in rural areas can be as much as 40% of a family’s household budget, and many family’s are being forced to reluctantly relocate so they can afford to stay warm. Heading up this new sub-cabinet will be Attorney General Talis Colberg. And no, he is not Native.
Talis Colberg, you’ll remember is the Alaska Attorney General who was the subject of a petition submitted to Palin’s office last month, and a whopping giant protest rally – the biggest in state history. More than 1200 “Alaskans for Truth” signed a petition demanding the removal of Colberg from office for advising state employees to ignore legislative subpoenas. What did the governor think of this loud and clear statement from her constituents? Apparently not much, since Colberg just got this shiny new appointment. I’m guessing he’s not fearing for his job. I think Alaskans can confidently say we’ve been roundly ignored.
Back to Native issues. Try to follow this very Palinesque thread of non-logic. Natives say she doesn’t appoint Natives. She says she will continue to appoint Natives. And then she creates a sub-cabinet to deal with Native issues, headed up by a non-Native. I have to believe that Alaskans are catching on to this.
So what will Palin do now? Rural Alaskan families are facing a crisis this winter. According to Senator Lisa Murkowski, fuel is being rationed, and prices are prohibitive. Palin has been asked by her constituents to help. So will she allow families in rural Alaska to go through a life-threatening winter without adequate heat? Or will she be one of those dreaded socialists that she is constantly vilifying on the campaign trail?
Mudflats 
I hope they will get relief. I cannot imagine being as cold as it must be out there- and not having the money to pay for heating oil.
First? OMG
Sarah will fix this right? She said she knows all about energy problems.
I can only hope she goes all “socialist” on them. Winter is going to be hard for so many people…. I can’t imagine living in the arctic.
And Talis Colberg!? Isn’t he gone yet?
Yes – it is that bad. I have 21 year old son with Down syndrome. He recently got his own place in Juneau. I wanted to fill up the oil tank at the beginning of the cold season – September – so I could get monthly “top-offs” and he wouldn’t run out of fuel.
It is a 250 gallon tank. It cost $1307 to fill it.
Really. And this is in Juneat, urban SOUTHEAST Alaska. Costs are greater in the villages.
It’s going to be a long cold winter for so many in Alaska.
Whew!! Thanks NoCalGal .. being the First is just too much stress for me.. :-),
I pray someone up there in your gov’t has some compassion and gets some relief for those people!!! My imagination is completely unable to fathom such a cold as you experience there. Here in Tx, I think 40 is cold…I am thinking war thoughts for your freezing families!!!
Maybe she is hoping they will all freeze before she gets back 😦
(sick but possibly true !?!)
We can only hope that by the time SP returns home ALL of Alaska will have caught on to her and IMPEACH HER will be the new battle cry.
But, but… Todd is native and so are their kids! Isn’t THAT enough????
OMG Mother Who Thinks!! That’s just sooo wrong! And I thought my oil bill was outrageous here. Not even gonna whimper.
OH NO!!! CORRECTION ON TYPO:::
I am thinking WARM thoughts for your freezing families!!!
Is Talis Colberg Native? I ask in all seriousness because there are Native Colbergs and it sounds like he is a long time Alaskan. I haven’t been able to find anything out on my own.
No, he is not. AKM
Wow. A chance to jump on a new thread.
First, heart goes out to those folks who face the long, cold winter. Wonder who in state government is dealing with it as Sarah is away?
I am ceratinly OT but want to weigh in.
Here is who I really miss in the last remaining 8 days: Tim Russert and Ted Kennedy.
Watched the replay of Meet the Press (I think they were in Iowa but the panelists looked like they were in a third-grade classroom. Table was too small. Chairs were too short.)
I miss the wisdom and passion and level-headedness of those two. When we need it most.
Megacephalus tweeked us on an earlier post and lots of people weighed in and there were some strong feelings.
But we responded thoughtfully.
This is the point where the end is in sight and people get kind of eerpy (Trust me.. I’ve worked on a lot of campaigns).
But let’s keep our focus.. be respectful and redouble our efforts.
But damn… I miss Russert and Sen. Kennedy. They know how to do it with Class.
So, this response at AFN must also be the response to the Letter Mayor Begich and Superintendent Comeau sent to Governor Palin on October 1?
AKM – was there a separate response to their letter? Here’s the opinion piece from ADN – I couldn’t find your post, AKM.
http://www.adn.com/opinion/view/story/543290.html
What is taking so freaking long? What does she not understand about EMERGENCY?
Yeah, Talis is the right guy to lead this effort – grrrrrr…..I want to break something.
The good news is that if someone had to replace Walt Monegan, at lease it is another AK Native who is also a really fabulous human being. Joe Master is his name and public safety is his game.
Palin was just on T.V. bragging about her earrings from a Native relative. Why doesn’t Palin do more for the remote villages. Is there a charity for the remote natives?
Joe Masters with an s on the end. Sorry Joe. Here’s a link about him:
http://www.dps.state.ak.us/Comm/commissioner.aspx
How can there be an energy emergency in the state that SWWNBN had touted as a leader in energy independence? What a travesty!!! I have to also say that how can she give away over a grand per person of oil revenue, while there are people who are freezing in the rural parts of the state?
How is this fair? How will she spin this? Typical Rethuglican premise: What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine.
I’m becoming outraged for you all out there in Alaska. Let us know what we can do AKM.
Remember the words of the ADN endorsement of Obama:
“Her future, in Alaska and on the national stage, seems certain to be played out in the limelight.”
Do I hear the sound of another nail being hammered into the Sarah Palin coffin?
Yesterday I posted that I had heard Bill Clinton was appearing jointly with Barack here tomorrow. I am no longer sure that is correct. Barack WILL be here but Bill Clinton may not be. If anyone has better info, please post it too.
Totally off topic but MSNBC just posted that the judge in the Ted Stevens trial dismissed the juror who went to California when her father died (juror #4?) and she will be replaced by an alternate on Monday when they resume deliberations
AP INVESTIGATION: Palin pipeline terms curbed bids
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iJHCRuz2uN-jIx6RV8tbS1E8xOUQD941KJ0O1
I just donated $50 to Begich. If you guys go blue, I’m sure a lot more will get done.
As for SP’s political future, it all depends on whether Alaskans follow through with holding her accountable and meting out appropriate punishment. Enough black marks on a potential candidate’s portfolio, and the “potential” ceases to exist.
In her appointment of Colberg, SWWNBN is a) incredibly stupid politically, b) incredibly insensitive or, c) convinced that she’s not going back to Alaska.
No, it’s d) all of the above.
Gee, the funds from those dividends that made her so popular sure coulda helped the cause. That and the promised $500 mil for the pipeline deal. Also.
This just chaps my ass. I hate being cold (and S. Ga. never gets that cold). Is there a charity (or can we start a Keep Alaskan Natives Warm account?) If Tinklenberg can raise a million in 36 hours, surely there’s something we can do to help.
HAs Hugo Chavez given oil to the natives in Alaska? In the past 2 years he with Joe Kennedy have formed Citizen Oil and given 100 free gallons of heating oil to many
New England families. ( 100 gal. each year.) I understood the favored recipients were Native Americans, as he is one.
I’m not sure he will continue his generosity, as we have really become increasingly hostile to hi sGovernment, and he has conducted naval exercises wih the RUssians recently.
Eyes wide open: Do you know the Obama’s plans tomorrow in Pgh? I would love to come but need details.
Last Saturday October ,18th was the first day of two weeks of Early Voting in Nevada. I was there the first day the first hour to early vote at the local Albertson’s supermarket. When they open the polls that first day the line was 100 deep and stayed that day most of the day. It was the busiest day of Early Voting in the history of the state. Well, this Saturday, October 25th was even busier at the Early Voting polls. After Obama rallies in Reno and Las Vegas drew 12,000 and 18,000 respectively yesterday Nevada posted its busiest day again in Early Voting history. With Early Voting favoring democrats 3-to-1 I believe it is obvious that Obama supporters got the message loud-and-clear that the best way to combat voter suppression is to cast your vote early. State officials estimate over 80% of registered voters will go to the polls this election period with more than half casting early votes.
Is it true? Obama’s rally today in Denver drew more than 100,000 supporters?
At her recorded announcement to the AFN convention on Thursday, Palin announced that she was creating a new sub-cabinet to deal with energy issues, and the related migration of rural dwellers into Alaska’s urban areas.
Seriously? This is like the McDoofus announcement that, if he’s elected, he will find the “smartest people in the country” and appoint them to a new commission to study the economic crisis. Now that’s action, donchathink? Youbetcha!
I pray that these peoples’ suffering will bring about the demise of SP in ANY political area forever. Alaskans need to start fresh with leaders who care about people–leaders like Barack Obama!
Palin could put her wardrobe on E-Bay and send the money to the Natives.
Newsflash!
15 million Reagan Democrats are now Obama Republicans.
As mentioned earlier, if there is anything we can do to help with this problem, do let us know, AKM. I find it infuriating and depressing. And frightening.
There are needs in my rural area, but not this type of really scary, life threatening need that seems to prevail in rural Alaska.
I would like to help. Of course, campaigning for Obama is one way to help, but if we can do something in a more direct way, please advise.
Eyes Wide Open in Pittsburgh, PA (15:36:47) :
Yesterday I posted that I had heard Bill Clinton was appearing jointly with Barack here tomorrow. I am no longer sure that is correct. Barack WILL be here but Bill Clinton may not be. If anyone has better info, please post it too.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
I heard Obama and Clinton was appearing jointly Wednesday in Florida
West Virginian (15:46:10) : Eyes wide open: Do you know the Obama’s plans tomorrow in Pgh? I would love to come but need details.
DETAILS: http://kdka.com/local/Barack.Obama.rally.2.848883.html
I think my post got lost in the ether.
My point was that this cycle is missing Tim Russert and Ted Kennedy. And damn, I miss their wisdom.
Anybody else wish we had their opinoins?
I had a good post and it got lost.
There seem to be multiple issues surrounding the rural communities. Most of them are essential to life (heating, sanitation, and health care to name a few). It is eye-opening to compare the access to services that Native Alaskans have vs various Native American people groups here in the lower 48. I may be incorrectly reading motive or intonation into some of the comments reported in various ADN ariticles – but there seems to be little true power or advocacy for the Native Alaskans. There are some comments that border on “seperate but equal” mentality. (And unfortunately some that seem just racist.)
My personal experience with anything “official” Alaska has been with a foster student who has moved to my state. It has been nearly impossible for officials here (Human Services, Medical, Tribal and Educational) to get ANY useful information or paperwork. It has been a very frustrating experience and one that is directly affecting the services this student needs.
I also found the other AFN resolutions noteworthy:
Other AFN resolutions approved Saturday included:
• A call for Congress to “provide permanent protection for the subsistence uses of Alaska’s Native villages.”
• A move to expand ferry service around the state.
• Support of a “zero tolerance” policy for sexual abuse crimes in Alaska’s villages, along with a call for villages to work with troopers to “design traditional, culturally relevant” ways to deal with such crimes.
Blue Idaho – I was thinking the exact same thing about the wardrobe on Ebay – and was waiting to read all the posts before I said it! Actually, since she is soooooooooooo popular (with the base), it could raise a lot of money. It could be the Repub Party’s little gift to Alaska, for taking it over since August. Palin does need to be shamed into action, somehow.
Fan-Chicago — I feel the exact same way. The day I heart Russert died, my first thought was how terrible for him – and us – to miss this election. Apparently Kennedy is working from home on what might be his very last cause in the Senate. I believe it is healthcare-related. Fitting.
Judge rules that Stevens trial will start over !
http://www.rollcall.com/news/29546-1.html?ET=rollcall:e3026:80056086a:&st=email
I’m just ever so grateful to be living where wood is freely available for heating. I can’t go the propane route this winter (well, I could if I played the welfare game), so I’ll be heating only with wood. It gets cold here in northern MN, but I don’t think it compares to most of Alaska… thinking what it would be like here with no choice but nearly unaffordable oil or gas, I shudder to think how many will get physically sick from the cold up there this winter. Especially, as it’s been pointed out, since their homes aren’t sufficiently built to cold-weather standards.
Stevens trial will begin anew because of juror snafu….
http://www.rollcall.com/news/29546-1.html?ET=rollcall:e3026:80056086a:&st=email
Bec Hussein in Illinois (16:10:58) : Blue Idaho – I was thinking the exact same thing about the wardrobe on Ebay
I posted the same idea a few days ago. I suppose there are a few creepy Republican males swooning over her who would gladly pay big bucks for some garments with her lingering scent.
I’m not understanding something here. In a state that, as we often hear, is “awash in oil revenue”, and doles out a “socialist”(?!) oil benefit check to each household annually, why should Alaskans in any part of the state have to worry about being able to afford to keep warm in the winter? Could it be that the governor’s energy policies are lacking somewhere?
Please someone, “explain it to me like I’m a six year old child”! 🙂
A Fan From Chicago (16:08:17) :
I think my post got lost in the ether.
My point was that this cycle is missing Tim Russert and Ted Kennedy. And damn, I miss their wisdom.
Anybody else wish we had their opinoins?
I had a good post and it got lost.
I feel Tim Russert’s loss all the time. Especially with Brokaw in his seat. Russert was the real deal. Homespun intelligence with the common touch. It’s a double tragedy he was so unique and gone so young. I love watching his son on TV though 🙂 He really seems like he could live up to his dad someday. Someone said his death signaled the end of journalistic integrity and I’m afraid I have to agree. I imagine if someone that honest and authentic would never make it to the top nowadays, the “left elite media” which is exclusively run by conservatives would never want someone who encourages the masses to think for themselves.
…maybe even McCain would like a garment or two …and there might be something Rudy could wear
Why are the ultra wealthy likes Warren Buffet, Eric Schmidt and Steve Wynn backing Obama? I truly believe it is because of crime!
The biggest concern of the mega-rich is that America becomes like Mexico where the super-rich always have to be on alert of kidnappers that prey on the rich and their families for ransom money. You’ve seen the movie “Man on Fire” starring Denzel Washington, Marc Anthony and Dakota Fanning. Men like Buffet, Schmidt, and Wynn worry are more concerned about their children, wives, and themselves being kidnapped for ransom than they are about a 3% increase for those at top of the income ladder or a modest rise in the capital gains tax.
Have any of the news papers in Alaska ran stories on the plight of the people in rural Alaska? They should. They should investigate and run a series of stories at least once per week including editorials to put pressure on the legislature and governor’s office to do something about it. Here is yet another worthy project for you AKM. Creating this blog has made a tremendous impact in this election. You could do even a better service to those in need by spreading this message about rural Alaskans to the news organizations in Alaska.
Tessa (15:40:35) :
Does the juror replacement mean that the jury starts all over? I assume that it does, so what does that mean timing wise for the election? If Steven’s gets elected and is then found guilty, will he be able to retain his seat? It would be a huge bummer if he is elected, has to give up the seat due to his criminal conviction and then Sarah Palin gets to appoint a replacement for him. How much do you want to bet she will appoint herself if McCain is not elected?
@ Pat (15:45:33) :
Has Hugo Chavez given oil to the natives in Alaska? In the past 2 years he with Joe Kennedy have formed Citizen Oil and given 100 free gallons of heating oil to many
New England families. ( 100 gal. each year.)
_______________________________________________________
Yes, Chavez has provided oil to some of the villages in the past.
http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/story/8248161p-8143814c.html
I’m sympathetic for people living their lives who get surprised by big changes, and appropriate actions must be taken to help.
But, in the longer term, people have to understand hard realities and take appropriate action there as well.
Numerous knowledgable people, like Jeremy Gilbert, “the recently retired Chief Petroleum Engineer from British Petroleum (BP) where he was responsible for the company�s worldwide petroleum engineering performance and associated research and development program”, as in <a href=”http://www.aspo-usa.org/aspousa4/proceedings/Gilbert_Jeremy_ASPOUSA2008.pdf”, think that world oil production peaks in the next decade, then declines, *never* to return to the current level.
Maybe AK, as a major oil state, will do OK longer, but sooner or later, production peaks, even though it takes many decades for production to stop.
But, see page 16 of Gil Mul’s presentation at ASPO in Sacramento.
“Gil Mull is a retired senior petroleum geologist who has worked for the oil industry, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas. He has over 40 years of field experience in oil and gas exploration, specializing in the geology of Northern Alaska, including the North Slope, the Brooks Range, the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).”
===
California, which of course has much milder climate than AK, and uses about 20-25% of the energy/capita used in AK, and is also a major oil state (about 80% of AK), is:
a) Doing everything we can on energy efficiency, setting strict building standards, etc, etc.
b) Trying to raise gas mileage so oil last longer.
c) Eagerly trying to electrify transportation as fast as we can, for when oil gets really expensive.
d) Trying to increase sustainable energy supplies for when natural gas gets real expensive and then gets used away.
e) Letting energy get expensive so that people are incented to be efficient.
It takes *decades* to do all this in ways that might not wreck people’s lives, but realistically, North American lifestyle depends on the one-time inheritance of fossil energy. Either one invests that energy in efficiency and sustainable energy supplies (which have a long way to go), or one burns it up, and then ends up with a 2100 economy that is a broken-down version of today’s.
=====
Hence, I hope thoughtful people in AK are thinking ahead, to when oil is a rare luxury.
a) What will AK look like in 2100?
b) Can you power the state with renewable electricity?
c) What will you do for the (extensive) transport needs?
d) How do you expect air travel to work? Will it still exist?
e) Where will AK people be able to live and how … without oil?
Are small, remote villages viable? Is it better to subsidize fuel (and the fuel it costs to get the fuel there and set the expectation that will continue indefinitely), or to do that only temporarily, but start thinking about humane, supportive ways to encourage sustainable changes for the longer term.
NOT thinking about the problem is likely to yield unnecessarily cruel results.
f) When the state invests its capital (money or energy), is it building things that will make sense in that future?
[Sorry, I’m afraid building expensive bridges to islands with small airports … is about as useful as building pyramids … although both are good for local construction friends. I hope AK folks aren’t assuming the rest of the US is going to keep subsidizing AK to the extent that we have recently. I’m afraid Sarah Palin has raised the AK profile a lot.]
g) This is very akin to that which is faced by New Orleans – sinking, gets hurricanes, Mississippi River *will* jump to Atchafalaya channel sometime, only livable due to having 20 pumping stations with capacity of 22 billion gallons/day. That takes some electricity. No one wants to say “Abandon New Orleans”, but sooner or later this century, it may well cost more to keep NOLA viable than everyone else is willing to pay for.
I wouldn’t presume to provide AK answers – I don’t know AK well enough. hope somebody is asking such questions, rather than responding only to short-term gyrations.
I know there are thoughtful people up there who care about people’s great-grandkids, and the latter will certainly be around in 2100.
You scared me snow leopard. I read it that the Steven’s trial doesn’t begin anew, but the juror has been replaced so deliberations will start again. Hopefully, they will have a verdict soon!
Well mabie someone needs to tell RNC to put the wardrobe on E-bay so that the Natives don’t freeze to death. I don’t want to give Palin any good Idea’s. I don’t want her to look good. I would like to know if there was a way to help the people. I would like to spread my wealth.
Michele (16:21:23) : Does the juror replacement mean that the jury starts all over?
No, there were something like four alternate jurers who watched the trial with the original 12. One alternate would just take the place of the removed juror.
RE: Is There a charity to help the villages: YES THERE IS. The United Way Anchorage is helping, along with Alaska Village Electric Cooperative. In fact, there is a movement in Alaska to give the $1200 so called “energy rebate” to the United Way to help with fuel needs in the villages and those fleeing to the City. See the following article:
http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/536538.html
http://www.avec.org/
http://www.liveunitedanchorage.org/
Obama has outlined clearly his economic priorities. Invest in diverse energy sources; invest in fuel-efficient automobile technology; invest in American jobs; invest in small businesses and the middle class; provide tax-relief to 95% of American individuals and families; invest in Head Start and in students pursuing higher education; invest in preventive health care. This should all be good for rural Alaska, working families, and villages also.
Michele (16:21:23) : I agree with Eyes wide open & Trini, what I read was that deliberations would begin again tomorrow so no new trial………
CRFlats- Thanks for the info! I think Obama has gotten enough of my money. I can move on to something new.
I DON’T GET THIS!!! WHAT is GOING ON?! There is a Dept. Governor, right? WHY does this have to wait until she’s done playing “dress up”? Doesn’t this, along with the expense reports, along with Monegan, along with the house thing, doesn’t THIS just give another NAIL in her governorship?! Can’t she be recalled?! This is a state of energy emergency from the SAME state the GOP VP PICK CLAIMS TO HAVE HONED HER ENERGY EXPERTISE???????? HOLY PLANET IN PERIL! This hasn’t reached MSM yet????????????????????????????????????????????????? I’m a woman on the edge over here! I’m linking this tale everywhere I can!!! This “energy crisis” is absolutely deplorable! OH! What did Albright say about a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women???????? WHAT sort of PLACE is there for governors who allow their constituents to freeze in winter?
That is tragic…and really exemplifies the kind of politician that the “hypocrite in lipstick” has proven to be…
I’ll be in prayer with the Natives ~ hoping that this disparity will also be brought to light…so that something can be done to assist those in need.
You go, AZ Mom!
CRFlats, Thanks for those links!
Like Blue Idaho, I want to spread my wealth!
(Thank you, Lord, for providing me with plenty to cover my needs so that I can help those who have less. And thank you for letting me see what some others in the world cannot – that we all need help sometimes, and some of us more than others. Do you call it socialism, Lord? Amen.)
Remote communities are unable to afford those high energy costs despite the energy relief money included for the first time in the PFD checks. The influx of students from those communities are stressing our more urban area school system to the max. The abrupt migration of so many people into Anchorage and the Valley is also taking a toll on local charities and social service depts as those new residents seek help while trying to reestablish their lives.
And the Governor is where??? as this hits critical mass? Can’t wait for the Emperess with no new clothes to return home in shame and face the music.
Is it possible for the Native Alaskans to negotiate a contract directly with an oil company, such those owned by Venezuela? That is what New England (started with MA, now it’s all of the states – MA, VT, ME, NH) did to get steeply discounted heating oil to the needy and rural communities. The contract was negotiated primarily by U.S. Rep Delahunt.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/20/thousands_in_mass_to_get_cheaper_oil/
Not to mention, I’m sure Chavez would LOVE to shame Palin, for being the governor of an oil-rich states, letting her constituents freeze.
I had to post this twice….
To all who left a comment regarding the Wachovia Letter,
Thank you. Heather and I will contact the BBB tomorrow. As I had mention we sent an email to the Obama campaign.
Regarding Wachovia it does seem really odd they would pull something I believe would be illegal.
My wife and I have never paid attention to any election before as we are now. We are stunned beyond belief of what the republicans who have had 20 years of the last 28 years of Power. I am so proud of Americans who are standing against the evil that has taken over our country.
Thank you for all your help!
Joe….and I am not a plumber who makes 40,000 a year owes 1200.00 in back taxes….But is worried that Barack Obama will raise my taxes from 36% to 39%(Clinton years of taxes) When I become a millionaire….
Dream on Joe…..Your ignorance and lack of commen sense is why you are not an owner but an apprentice of a plumbing company.
NOW is the time to make sure the MSM knows of Palin’s response to her own citizens. She is going to create a committee to deal with an emergency. It would appear she plans to freeze this population out. If she will do this to them, then she will do it to anyone if it involves public money. That money is hers. Public embarrassment is a wonderful thing for corrupt, evil politicians.
The lower 48 has absolutely no understanding of these conditions. PA has fuel assistance but I don’t know if it is state, federal or a combination. They also have a program for reducing heating costs with insulation, new heating, etc. I know there is a special one for rural areas, but many rural people do not want the government intrusion required to get the money.
Please someone tell why this woman was elected and why in the world anyone in Alaska would want to keep her in office.
This is just disgraceful and then to appt. Colberg to head the committee. Wow Fox in the hen house enough said. Why is she not at home taking care of her Great State of Alaska as she reminds us in every speech!
I see so much need every week working at our local food bank and sometimes feel despair as the lines grow. But what Alaska natives are facing is just criminal.
Here is an excellent summation of Palin’s stance and actions re Native Alaskans:
Sarah Palin’s Record on Alaska Native and Tribal Issues
Click to access Palin_on_Tribes_D02A_(2).pdf
Not a pretty picture. And here is the Mudflats comment I made on September 8, after I read that summation:
NMJ (14:55:56) : I want to be sure I understand, so let me get this perfectly straight: Sara the Blessed wants to forbid native people from fishing and hunting for their food so they starve to death, which is good, since she will then have lots more land over which she can safely fly and blow apart helpless wolves on the ground below?
I think that about sums it up.
I don’t think money will solve the energy crisis in Alaska. The problem, at least as I understand it, is a shortage of heating oil. No amount of money donated will change the fact that there just isn’t enough to go around. What needs to be done is to have more oil taken up there–on tankers, or however they get it there. I don’t know what needs to be done to make this happen. If anyone knows how to go about this, please let us know here on Mudflats. If there is something we, as individuals, can do to help, let us know. I know all of us are generous people who want to help out; I just don’t think money can solve this one. I’ll be away from my comp. most of next week, but when I return, I’ll try to catch up with the posts. God bless you all!
Here’s another take on ADN not endorsing McCain/Palin, it will help us all breathe, again.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/376291
Huffpo! Pay attention to the post about AK energy and post it on your blog… this needs to go MSM!
Attention all Chicagoland area Mudpuppies – we are plannng a Mudstock Meet-up on Sunday, November 2, 11:30 AM, at ‘The Bean’ (Cloudgate sculpture) in Millennium Park. We are then planning to have lunch at a nearby restaurant. We have at least 6 folks coming so far.
I have posted a new thread on the Mudflats Forum under Events and Meets. You can respond there. Can’t wait to see how many greater-Chicagoland Mudpuppies there are.
Co-horts/co-planners: Carol (Chicago,IL) and Shikago!
The great shame of the whole thing is that these are people whose land which is rich in energy resources were forced to sign off on a settlement ceding their rights to much of it in order to have the first Alaskan pipeline built. The total compensation to native Alaskans for their territories was under one billion dollars. It was only made in 1971, when it was recognized that the Russians had never claimed formal ownership of native lands and that land rights had to be resolved in order to clear the way for the pipeline. People made a big deal about the generosity of the settlement at the time and about the creation of the Alaska Native Corporation as features of the self-sufficiency they would bring. Now we see the effects of Nixon and Moynihan’s policies of “benign neglect”
There is a good, short objective description of ANC’s at
http://www.chenegatechnology.com/Pages/anc.html
Sorry the last was almost a word blizzard, but I think people get the idea.
We owe the native people a lot more for what we have taken from them
Maybe someone will bring this up in the next Palin interview. Oh yea.
I am such a dummy! Of course there is something we can do! I am emailing details of this crisis to all the MSM on our wonderful list! : )I hope you guys will, too.
I remember reading just this weekend that Rhonda McBride Palin’s Rural Affairs Adviser resigned this past week in Alaska asking that a native be appointed in her place. Any news on that? I understand she wasn’t qualified for the job to begin with.
Ok, this may be an unpopular comment and maybe I should keep my mouth shut. But handing out cash money isn’t always the best idea. Making needed items available and affordable, on the other hand, makes a dollar stretch farther and is a better value for the money, so to speak.
I’m not basing this on any kind of research or learned wisdom… it’s what I’ve learned from my own experiences. Having lived between two large reservations in Arizona and having been part of the public assistance environment myself, I’ve seen where cash money often goes. When you, as a hungry and desperate person, sit in an office area and wait for your appointment during which it’ll be determined whether or not you qualify for food stamps, and around you is a family of well-fed people in brand-name clothes, every one of the seven or eight children beeping away on a hand-held computer game, shiny nice car outside the window, the works, you wonder why they’re there. Or why you are.
I’m all for energy assistance being paid into the utility account(s) of people in need, and for food programs which allow poor people to buy basic foods, but even as a food stamps recipient myself, I don’t see why food stamps should pay for potato chips or soda pop or candy bars, or why money should be handed out to people to pay for utilities. It’s not nice to bring it out into the open, but there’s a world of abuse out there when it comes to hand-outs. That’s just a fact.
One thing I would like to see is that the people who KNOW how to live far from “common civilization” in a harsh climate find their old wisdom again and make the most of old and new. How did they live in far-out rural Alaska in the past? How were their homes constructed? How did they heat them? How can they combine what they know to have worked in the past with what they know to be available in this day and age? If you think about it, they have the best of two worlds as far as knowledge goes. It’s not like they’re lower 48 city people who’re lost at sea when the store runs out of Roquefort.
They have age-old skills and know-how PLUS modern information about how to make things work. I’d love to see them make it work.
I sent a heads up to HuffPo… puppies fingers crossed please 🙂
I just read David Frum’s article on WaPo. I think it was already discussed on another thread here I missed. But being in PA it looks like McIdiot’s obsession with us is going to cost several Senate seats as all the ad money goes here! Go “Redneck” PA! Let them think we are all Rednecks as the fairness of many of us kicks in and takes them to catastrophe. Coach Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers is black and even Rednecks love him here as long as we WIN and are in contention. That should have told his strategy people something. Also, that Rick Santorum went down in 2006 BIG TIME when the Rednecks got fed up! Even his NRA quail hunting billboards could not save him.
Secondly, he points out that Palin’s $150,000 RNC paid for wardrobe and make-up may also cost them some Senate seats too by talking away ad money! More lip gloss means more of a loss!
Wow!
Worst run campaign ever! Worst poker players every! And trying to brand Obama as a “Ayersbot Bomb Throwing Muslim Socialist” – and Palin alluding in Indiana to an Obama “Communist Nightmare State” is going to BACK FIRE in a huge REVERSE vote bomb for Obama. Americans are far fairer than that! Americans are better than that! And they have been watching this guy day in and day out for almost two years now! Duh! People can see right through their shameless rabble rousing desperate political meme plays. Everyone can see “Good Christian Mommy” Palin in their minds eye now holding Trig in the crowd in Jerusalem on that day back then screaming “Kill Him! Kill Him!” at the Social Radical Hippie Preacher of Galilee in her annoying voice!
And the icing on the cake is that she REALLY HAS has thrown Mac Daddy under the bus as everyone here predicted six weeks ago! Just like Hitler did to Hindenburg. Nothing original here. (Yawn) The same old, same old common moves of a sociopath. Nothing new and original at all! Put the ice pick to your mentor’s back as soon as it is expedient to your pathological narcissism. She is right on schedule! She hit the move moment in only six weeks right on schedule. Now positioning to take over the Republican Party as the new party Joan of Arc after Johnny Mac and Cindy Lou go back to the Sunset City home. So now she really DOES THINK she is the new Reagan! That she has “energized the base” as the new now indispensable hate fest “culture wars rock star”. (Yawn) That she really is the future of the Republican Party! THAT will now alienate all social and economic MODERATES in the Republican Party who do not see that mindless fanatical Christian fundamentalism can sustain the Party to be successful again. Maybe never. Totalitarian belief systems really wear people out. The Neocons are going down too. It may be political total destruction.
When the smoke clears we must then keep our eyes on her via the Mudflats. Because this is STILL what you are dealing with. And the idiot fundamentalist low information voters of this nation must be prevented from any Fatal Attraction relationship with her. EVER! VIGILANCE!
The Republican Party must now GO DOWN and GO DOWN HARD!
@Michele (16:21:23)
After our last wrong-headed Govenor appointed his daughter to his vacant Senate seat, legislation was passed to prevent the Govenor from appointing anyone to a vacated Senate/Representative seat. It now requires a special election.
I don’t think anybody has the silver bullet. We need to look at Perkin’s Plan.
http://www.lizardsfromafar.com
ira2 (17:12:32) :
“How did they live in far-out rural Alaska in the past? ”
With a more than thirty percent infant mortality rate and short life expectancy, it is now compounded by the introduction of alcohol, drugs and high levels of depression and suicide.
forest dweller (17:13:33) :
That’s an excellent law. Wish some more states would smarten up and do the same.
John Mashey (16:24:02) : ,
Excellent post! Very useful analysis. Thank you, sir.
ira2 (17:12:32) :
Ok, this may be an unpopular comment and maybe I should keep my mouth shut. But handing out cash money isn’t always the best idea. Making needed items available and affordable, on the other hand, makes a dollar stretch farther and is a better value for the money, so to speak.
Just plain old common sense Ira, poor people aren’t known for their financial prowess. Some poor people can stretch a dollar into next week, but often lack the skills necessary to earn a really decent wage, and if they do, save and plan for the future. Sometimes I really think there is this great conspiracy to keep people down and ignorant. Giving people used to getting by scrounging for pennies a sudden lump sum is like giving a one year old a whole gallon of ice cream.
I know how much it costs to heat a home here in PA and as a retired person,it is something to be taken very seriously. I can’t imagine how much it must take to heat a home in Alaska. I really do have a problem with the fact that there are cold, hungry,uninsured people in this country in the year 2008. It just shouldn’t be that way.
As I read the HuffPo and saw the pictures of 100,000 people in Denver coming out to listen to Barack, I had to cry. I really believe that he can begin to get us back on the road to the way this country should be.
Sounds like appointing a non-native to head the committee on Native issues is is another illustration of SP doing poorly on Process Questions.
Process being How to Do Stuff. Palin does not seem to be very interested or capable at that uniquely governmental task of How to Best Get Stuff Done in the public domain.
Hmmm. Ineffective executive skills?
Gotta love the poll tracker map on TPM – some states changing colors I’ve never seen — sold blue for Virginia, Arizona turning a rose color, like Georgia, and Montana and North Dakota are toss-ups now!
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
Sue (17:00:54) :
I don’t think money will solve the energy crisis in Alaska. The problem, at least as I understand it, is a shortage of heating oil. No amount of money donated will change the fact that there just isn’t enough to go around. What needs to be done is to have more oil taken up there–on tankers, or however they get it there.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Are the remote villages inland or coastal?
When we spent 2 weeks in Alaska, we rented a van and drove around. The roads were limited. We quickly realized why planes were so often used.
The McCain Doctorine:
This is my primary problem with McCain-His willingness,which he calls readiness to fight wars!!!
I do hope we hear this rhetoric quoted(without the finger action) in Obama’s upcoming speeches!
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/10/john_mccain_im_gonna_test_them.html
or
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/26/55545/776/238/642524
ineffective human skills….Palin fails as a human being. She cares only about herself and acts accordingly. She will say whatever she thinks will best serve her purposes, even when it means lying. Just look at the lack of care she gives her own family. A person who treats her children like that will treat everyone that way.
Palin ought to give her family’s “rebate” check to the families that need it, starting with the mudflatter’s son in Juneau. And she needs to read CRFlats’ comments… too bad Sarah is out playing dress up instead of doing her job.
Canadian viewer here……just wanted to say how much I enjoy Mudflats and all the posters here. I’ve becomea political junkie and, in fact, I saw Bill Clinton speak here in Toronto a week ago – man, that guy can talk and he sure makes a lot of sense! It was an awesome 90 minutes and well worth the ticket price.
I have been following this site for weeks now and finally this story touched me enough to stop ‘lurking’ and add to the commentary. Maybe someone should pass along this story to DailyKos? It seems to let a lot of traffic and is often referred to in the MSM. Just a thought. And hey, I live in Canada – I can see Alaska from my house!! Go Omaba/Biden…
Tolberg’s latest appointment may well be a slap in the face to petition signers and out of state supporters. But my question is this: what about those complaints filed with the Alaskan Law Dept? Has anyone heard anything, or don’t they work that fast. Curious.
eajphd Molten Contra Palin (17:17:11) :
ira2 (17:12:32) :
“How did they live in far-out rural Alaska in the past? ”
With a more than thirty percent infant mortality rate and short life expectancy, it is now compounded by the introduction of alcohol, drugs and high levels of depression and suicide.
Ok, so that’s one set of modern problems which is probably pretty “normal” across the native populations of the country (I don’t know how it is in Canada). The way I understood this among Apaches and Navajos was that they lost their (respective) old way of life and have not been able to find a new direction which allows them to combine who they are with how the world around them is. It’s been explained to me that they’re lost, and it’s terrible to be lost, so they drink and do drugs to lose themselves in a haze.
I keep thinking that it can’t be impossible (for them, who know themselves) to find that new way of life. It’s a human thing, to recover and grow again after having been beaten down or displaced or whatever. I mean, look at history a few hundred years back or a few thousand years back. It seems to be human nature to recover and rebuild and adjust. I dunno, I guess I’d just really like to see them find their way so that they don’t have to run and hide from life?
here’s what i do not understand. how can a state with the oil resources palin claims it has be so unable to locate heating oil? you mean to tell me all the oil pumped from alaska has no value as heating oil?
I recognize in myself a tendency to try to help people in the whatever way I think I can. I do also realize that whatever I can do, in my own limited wisdom and ability, might not be the most helpful thing.
So even though I care very much, I should never be nominated for Vice-President of the United States of America.
Although for completely different reasons, Sarah Palin also should never have been nominated for Vice-President of the United States either. Also.
I heart Joe Biden. And also Damon Weaver, citizen reporter!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/26/fifth-grade-reporter-in-f_n_137929.htm
Oil pumped from the ground must be refined and–yes–processed (teehee) to be used for heating oil, gasoline, or anything else. Although Alaska has huge reserves of underground oil, it has no refineries. So it is pumped up, sent to the lower 48, refined, and sent back for use–a very expensive way to get heating oil or gasoline.
AP INVESTIGATION: Sarah Palin’s pipeline terms netted 1 viable bid, from firm with inside ties
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/10/ap_investigation_palin_pipelin.php
someone mentioned pipegate????
I posted this in a thread a ways back, but I still think it’s an apt observation about McCain. He had to get Palin to shore up the Republican base. The Republican base was and is none too thrilled with McCain. Which leads me to this comment on Mr. Maverick.
It’s hard to be Team Leader without having been a Team Member.
Which in turn leads me to suggest that we need a President who can be a team player and lead the whole team. We need Obama.
OT, but I had to ask…
My spouse wants to know how much is Saturday Night Live paying SP to run for VP?
When do the “Impeach Sarah Palin” proceedings begin, and will they be televised?
I am a 39 year old Independent. I voted for Bill Clinton once. I listened to Clinton’s stump speech with guarded optimism when he spoke of retooling displaced American workers from the manufacturing industry so that they could take advantage of new jobs in Information Technology (IT). I watched as that promise went unfulfilled chiefly because the H1-B visa program rewarded corporations that gave those new IT jobs to foreign national here at home. Then, naturally, those foreign nationals took those jobs overseas as corporations offshored millions of IT jobs to go along with the millions of manufacturing jobs that had already been offshored. I did not vote for Bill Clinton twice.
I voted for George W. Bush the first time around. But, then I watched in utter anguish as America went it alone and declared war on Iraq. I knew Sadaam Hussein was not behind 9-11 and I knew we would find no WMD’s in Iraq. I also knew the job in Afghanistan was not finished because Osama bin Ladan was still a free man. I worried that with an economy on the brink with all the good middle class jobs had been offshored while the cost of living skyrocketed. I have watched in horror as so many middle Americans can no longer afford to pay their home mortgage while struggling to put food on the table and gas in their cars. George W. Bush did not get my vote a second time.
Barack Obama is the first presidential candidate from a major partay that I have heard speak with genuine conviction that we “America” screwed up by going it alone in Iraq. And, we “America” screwed up by rewarding corporations that offshore American jobs oversees while expanding the H1-B visa program for foreign workers here at home. I say “with genuine conviction” because Obama spoke out against the war in Iraq from the beginning before it was popular to do so and his mom really did die fighting insurance companies that denied coverage claiming “pre-existing conditions.”
I know Obama is not the savior. But, do we really need a Messiah to fix the problems of the middle class as it relates to jobs, housing, healthcare and the outrageous price of food, gas and utilities. We live in the wealthiest nation on the face of the earth even though we don’t invest in education as though we are a first world country. I am just saying we don’t need a Christ figure to “spread the wealth around.” A half-black, half-Muslim from Chicago via Hawaii with a bachelor’s degree from Columbia and a law degree from Harvard that was once a community organizer and a state legislator will do fine. Yes, i am kidding about the half-Muslim label. I know Obama subscribes to an African-American Christian liberation theology as does his wife. But, it is true that his African father was at one time a practicing Muslim and I don’t think he should have to apologize for that.
hahahahahahaaaaa nmj!! sick but funny.
thanks, Sue.
A Fan From Chicago (16:08:17) :
I think my post got lost in the ether.
My point was that this cycle is missing Tim Russert and Ted Kennedy. And damn, I miss their wisdom.
Anybody else wish we had their opinoins?
I had a good post and it got lost.
—————
When I was watching MTP this evening…I was sitting here thinking how much I miss Tim Russert! It is just not the same without him!!!!
REPUBLICANS ARE LOOSING BADLY IN POPULAION AREA WITH REALLY BRAINY PEOPLE (Hmmm, like where I live)
“…Brainy cities have low divorce rates, low crime, high job creation, ethnic diversity and creative capitalism. They’re places like Pittsburgh, with its top-notch universities”
So what will Palin do now for rural Alaskan families? My guess is; nothing.
I mean … POPULATION AREAS WITH REALLY BRAINY PEOPLE (who cannot type well)
IamCdn (17:45:05)
Hi I am Canadian! Welcome, and waves from California 🙂
Aye Sparky
IamCdn (17:45:05)
Glad to see you here. Better a Canadian drinker than a Joe Sixpack, any day. *waves* from Fredericton.
*TROLL ALERT*
Big Al from Las Vegas (16:19:00) :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I heard about a month back a WHOLE native village had to be evacuated b/c the town
went bankrupt trying to pay for fuel? What is the acting Lt. gov. doing about all this?
With a State swimming in natural energy reserves why is this happening?
Alaska needs “Alaskan’s for Truth” to find out!!! AKM, lets us know if any of us down in the lower 48 can help with signing petitions etc. Grifter spice needs to go…recall/impeachment, Talis needs to go (to much special interests to grifter spice)
Sounds like Alaska’s full of Ted Steven’es???
Time to clean house…Who can we write to to help?
My son (college student) was home for the weekend and completed his absentee ballot, Within 5 minutes an Obama volunteer came to the dorr just wanting to make sure he was voting. 15 minutes later he got a cal from another Obama volunteer asking the same question. He is now back in Pittsburgh and Obama will be within 2 blocks. The ground campaign is enormous here. This has been the most exceptional campaign I have ever seen, from the primary season straight through to the general election.
Big Al from Las Vegas….I so agree with you…I’m a 61 year old independent (and an independent is what I’ve been since I’ve been old enough to vote). I only see one sincere, caring candidate here…and that’s Obama…..my husband should be entering….or looking forward to entering retirement…but no can do….got to work many more years now to compensate for the 401K that’s down the drain…..
I don’t see McIdiot helping…heck, I don’t see him living a full four year term and then we’re all stuck with ………… a pitbull wearing lipstich who needs $150,000 for a wardrobe ……… scary……………….
ira2 (17:45:23) :
The problem indigenous people everywhere face is they had a relationship with their land when it was their land. They were willing to accept hardships because they were inevitable, but they were their own hardships. Their culture had meaning to them in the larger context of their ties to the land as part of its ecosystem Once they were uprooted from their land, marginalized, told not to live in traditional ways, subjected to re-programming by school systems that denigrated them and their way of life they had little reason to feel inspired or able to more. The problem is universal, in Japan it happens among he Ainu (who are Caucasians) in Australia it happens among the Aborigenes, in Alaska among the Inuits and Indians, in Namibia it happens among the !Kung. The UN’s Decade of Indigenous People drew a lot of attention to its universality, but unfortunately had very little to offer in the way of solutions. Subsistence lifestyles require a tremendous amount of hinterland that is being eaten up by development, pollution, etc. It is an issue that really requires a lot of new thought and involvement, particularly by the people directly affected by it. That’s why the Talis Colberg appointment is so upsetting in Alaska.
Oh no, no, no. Now Lieberman is trying to make up with the Dems by sweet-talking Obama? Sorry Charlie, that just won’t fly.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_10/015376.php
Yo, Eyes Wide Open 😉
IamCdn (17:45:05)
Glad to see you, from Chicago!
I don’t understand big oil economics very well, but I thought Alaska’s oil resources belonged first to the state of Alaska. The oil companies are given rights to pump it out and take it away in return for a share of their profits back to the state.
Gov. Palin promotes herself as an energy expert who fought the oil companies to get the best deals for the state.
More specifically, the governor has been pitching a plan for national energy independence. Why couldn’t she have proven the concept by first making her state energy independent? Why didn’t she propose that the oil companies retain sufficient oil locally and build refineries to support the needs of Alaskans?
With the record high oil prices of the past year, the oil companies reimbursed the state enough to pay every resident over $3000 this year. A compassionate leader might have proposed that some of that windfall be set aside to subsidize the anticipated higher heating cost of those truly in need this winter.
@Bec… isn’t that special about Joe the Defector? Like, we are going to forget? Heh heh. Also.
@bec… Joe Lieberman is a jagoff.
Shikago – sadly, you are right. Palin will do absolutely nothing to help anyone.
Tom – just came back from a poll watchers meeting. Never seen so many democrats in one place here in Carville’s alabamie. The plan is to contact each likely Obama voter at least 3 times b/w now and 11/4. If your son is getting contacted multiple times, let the caller know. They will take him off the contact list so that he wont get ticked and they dont waste time bothering people who’ve already voted.
now, if only someone can tell me why Al’s been tagged as a troll… why are we attacking each other?? Have we spent so much time discussing the nastiness of palin that we’ve turned into little palinistas ourselves?
As for working at the polls… we are ready for you dirty mccain tricksters!
I want to know how we go about getting Talis Colberg removed from his position, and I’d also like to know how we can go about getting legislators to put forward legislations that required Atty Generals to be elected rather than appointed.
Mr. Colberg has apparently forgotten that he serves Alaskans, not the Governor. Clearly his being appointed by the Gov has confused the issue for him.
Any ideas? Does this require a petition signed by a certain number of Alaskan voters? I’d stand around on a street corner or two to collect signatures…
Newsflash!
15 million Reagan Democrats are now Marxists.
Joe C (not the plumber) writes: “Why couldn’t she have proven the concept by first making her state energy independent?”
Bingo, Joe!! Exactly right. If she’s such a frikken expert, why are Alaskans facing such dire straits??
Joe C — as a matter of fact, some of the dissenting voices (in regard to the $1200 energy relief check for each Alaskan) suggested that the money given to rural residents should be more than the money given to people in the cities. Roundly rejected.
To Tom from PA,
No coincidence that the very first Mudstock festival in America occurred in Pittsburgh two weeks ago. I understand Chicago will have host Mudstock ll in a few days. …Eyes Wide Open in Pgh.
My brother is in CT and I asked if he couldn’t please do something about Joe. He doesn’t think he’ll be re-elected next time. But, unfortunately, I guess he has 4 more years of his term. The Dems need to bury him somewhere. I think they will!
Ok, I wrote the first winterizing and winter heating assitance program and applied for the first grants here in ID in the 70’s. So, I know just a little about getting the input of the natives in what their needs are and what would help them the most. Money is as you say only part of the problem. I’m hoping that many of you Mudflatters know what the needs are, so you can help educate the rest of us. Next those that know how to get these ideas posted on the right media sights can really speed up the process. Knowing where and how to get the resources to where they will be needed the most is the next thing to think about. Also knowing that it has been done before so it doesn’t have to take recreating the wheel to get it done.
I’ll get some more ideas together here soon. I just can’t see letting the Gov. get away with this, no one needs freeze in their home this winter.
Big Al from Las Vegas (17:55:40) :,
Very well said.
eajphd Molten Contra Palin (18:15:30) :
Thank you for saying this so much better than I can.
In Florida, the Seminoles used to be the poorest and most disenfranchised in the Southeast. Now, they have casinos. Money’s not a problem, but most of them have lost their spiritual connection to their tribe, the land, their traditions, their language, their art, and their ‘religion’. They have serious alcohol and drug issues. I don’t know the answer, but I do know even with lots of money, they still suffer.
@eajphd Molten Contra Palin, thank you for neatly encapsulating what I was thinking. It is the same with the aborigines in Taiwan as well. Systematic destruction of their way of life added to the invisibility of their plight plus unrelenting hopelessness as things continue to get worse.
I agree that money in and of itself is not the answer, but it is unconscionable for the govenor to give any money back to the people of Alaska (sorry, Alaskans) while the First Nation’s people are dying in the rural areas of Alaska.
Wall Street is continuing to hand out bonuses even after the crash of the economy. I would rather give that money to poor people so they can eat something, anything, even Doritos, rather than to the fat cats who helped destroy our economy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/01/29/ST2008012900465.html
abcnews.go.com/Business/IndustryInfo/story?id=6105795&page=1
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing — if Obama and the Dems of America came to the aid of Palin’s native population in this emergency and really showed her up!
I know Obama isn’t the Messiah – but sometimes I sure want him to be!
Big Al from Las Vegas (18:25:34) :
Newsflash!
15 million Reagan Democrats are now Marxists.
————————————-
Man, you are cracking me up! It is so damn true now. The Chinese Communists are now the biggest capitalists in he world! And Wall Street just went Marxist! This is a crazy, crazy world!
To Shikago aka Chief Hussein Shikago (18:23:55) :@bec… is a jagoff.
I read that Mcain went into the hospital to have a polyps removed from his rectum. When they scoped him, they discovered MCain was Polyp-free, but that Joe Lieberman had crawled up his a**.
Speaking of Chicago Mudstock Nov. 2 — here is the link to the Mudflats forum post about it. I’m guessing you need to be a forum member, for this link to work.
http://www.themudflats.net/forum/index.php/topic,2924.0.html
I think we should invite the Obamas. Do you think they could come?! He’ll be at a much bigger party near there, two days later.
Hey Eyes – watch your editing – that doesn’t look so nice for me!
I mean “McCain” (I have to remember to proof better before submitting comments).
@ eajphd Molten Contra Palin (18:15:30) :
Thank you! That’s the kind of wording I can understand.
Now let’s hope that Colberg will be removed from office as part of the general clean-up and his various positions filled with people who are better suited to handle the jobs :o)
caligrl Hussein wolves eat Palin,
Are you labeling me a “troll” because I am non-partisan? or, because i dare to criticize bill clinton’s expansion of the H1-B visa program?, or because not all of my comments are of anti-Palin speak?
FYI: I have been a faithful reader of Mudflats since Sarah Palin was announced the republican V.P. candidate. I am thankful for Sarah Palin actually. Before Sarah Palin emerged on the national scene, I was already donating funds to the Obama campaign, attending rallies and telling everyone I knew to vote for Obama as I planned. But, once Sarah Palin’s V.P. nomination was announced my family – my wife, my son and myself- became active volunteers for the Obama campaign here in the swing state of Nevada. We were resolute not to let the Palin-McCain ticket steal this election. We canvass regularly. Stuff envelopes. Make phone calls. Tirelessly do data entry for our local campaign office. And, even volunteer as poll workers.
I really don’t understand why my activism against Sarah Palin and for Obama would be construed as “trolling.” i put more weight behind people’s actions than words and i put no weight behind your accusation that i am a “troll.” you don’t have to explain yourself. as a matter of fact, i rather you not explain yourself ’cause i would rather devote my attention and energy to defeating the Palin-McCain ticket in my home swing state of Nevada. I would rather spend my time canvassing neighborhoods and manning the voting polls during the all-important Early Voting period than exchange comments with a misled troll-hunter like you. Friendly reminder: “calling Big Al a troll is like saying Sadaam Hussein and not Osama bin Ladan was behind 9-11.”
First, sorry to hear about the feul heating problems in Alaska. Hopefully, as soon as Palin is deposed as governor, the problem will be on it’s way to being solved.
Meanwhile, we woke up to a beautiful fall day hear in the Denver area only to find out that someone took our Obama/Biden 08 yard sign. I don’t think it was just a prank as the McCain sign across the street was still intact.
At first I felt violated and was angry at the McCainiac who did the deed and my mind immediately went to some kind of retaliation, but then I knew that I didn’t want to stoop to their level. Yes, besides the many problems that need to be solved in our economy, I think we still need to show compassion towards the many sickos who have come out of their holes lately. They’re part of this great country of ours and they can use healing every bit as much as so many parts of the beautiful nation we call our United States. Let’s not become like them.
So our yard sign is gone and we’ll place another one in an upstairs window where, hopefully it will be safer. And I’ll wear my blue Barack Obama shirt every day from now until November 4th. They’ll have to rip it off my cold, dead chest!! (:-).
And look what happened in Denver today!!! Barack Obama spoke in front of 100,000 people here. I wanted to be there, but had another committment I couldn’t change. If you haven’t seen the pixs on Huff Post go to:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/26/obama-draws-100000-at-den_n_137951.html
Go Bama! We can do it!!
Eyes Wide Open in Pittsburgh, PA (17:57:50) :
REPUBLICANS ARE LOOSING BADLY IN POPULAION AREA WITH REALLY BRAINY PEOPLE (Hmmm, like where I live)
“…Brainy cities have low divorce rates, low crime, high job creation, ethnic diversity and creative capitalism. They’re places like Pittsburgh, with its top-notch universities”
———————————–
Eyes,
Wow!
My IQ did go up several points after Mudstock!
@Eyes Wide Open, eewww why doesn’t that surprise me 🙂
GJ [old community organizer/VISTA] in Idaho (18:33:02) :
Ok, I wrote the first winterizing and winter heating assitance program
========
NYS has a large heating oil assistance program.
check out
‘HEAP energy’ and ‘HEAP OIL’ ( google)
Maybe $.35-$.45 a gallon is not enough, but maybe a similar program with larger discounts might help…
Crust Scramble – SouthGA (18:36:35) :
eajphd Molten Contra Palin (18:15:30) :
Thank you for saying this so much better than I can.
In Florida, the Seminoles used to be the poorest and most disenfranchised in the Southeast. Now, they have casinos. Money’s not a problem, but most of them have lost their spiritual connection to their tribe, the land, their traditions, their language, their art, and their ‘religion’. They have serious alcohol and drug issues. I don’t know the answer, but I do know even with lots of money, they still suffer.
Yup, Apaches too.
Tom from PA (18:14:28) The ground campaign is enormous here.
Hmmmm….I wonder if having been a “community organizer” helps Senator Obama’s highly organized ground game now?
Nice to hear, Tom.
Oh, Bec, now I see what you mean. I tried to copy Lieberman’s name but must have cut and pasted it instead, accidentally changing the qoute. Sorry. I should not type laying down on my back with a laptop balanced upon my chest.
No Eyes – it wasn’t that! LOL Go back and look and the snip you made to Shikago
Eyes Wide Open in Pittsburgh, PA (18:40:41) :
ColoradoGuy (18:43:20) :
I wanted to see those pics from Denver today, have been so busy. Thanks for the link! What a great site that is indeed. I have to pinch myself every now and then, this movement, this time, our America, our Barack, so cool…
Eyes – I’m laughing! Anyway – girls can’t be those, can they?
dah, sight, not site, oh well…
Big Al from Las Vegas (18:42:51) : ,
We have all been reading you for weeks now in your very thoughtful and often quite funny posts. We all know you are NOT a troll!
Big Al from Las Vegas is NOT a troll on the Mudflats!!!
I voted for Bill Clinton twice. Even shook hands with him on a campaign stop here in 1992. Yes, the economy was good. But I think he did not fulfill his potential. I threw my shoe at my TV set once when he was at the National Press Club doing stand up on C-SPAN once. I had just read Gary Hart’s organizations paper on national intelligence on OBL and the fundamentalist Islamists threat. If I wanted to see stand-up, I’d go to Comedy Central, Or do a routine of my own in a mirror as I have done it as a speaker. The President of the United States is supposed to be in the White House sweating bullets on what we are facing. Clinton was a brilliant politician but he was a terribly flawed, vain man. He could have done much more. But i did vote for him twice. But now the Dems MUST take every opportunity out there to be effective. This country is in desperate shape.
Sparky – this is actually a very good topic – I was thinking of it earlier today. The Obama campaign has been tremendous. And word is they are preparing a thorough transition team. Every campaign includes scads of people who are either working because they hope for a job, or because they adore the candidate (and also hope for a job). I certainly hope this will transfer to disciplined, dedicated people who will start taking on positions in the administration and government.
Surely this has a chance to continue. Imagine if our government were run as well as the Obama campaign!
Obama’s community organizer days certainly taught him the “from the ground up” strategy. (Dreams From My Father is a must read). He also has some other highly skilled people working for him.
Palin on energy:
“Oil and coal? Of course, it’s a fungible commodity and they don’t flag, you know, the molecules, where it’s going and where it’s not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it’s Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here.
Wow! Good luck with those heating bills…
This summer Barack Obama was invited to meet with the Pope while the Pontiff was vacationing south of Rome in Venice.
Reporters from the conservative media reluctantly watched the semi-private audience, expecting they would be able to allot minimal coverage, if any.
The Pope asked Barak to join him on a Gondola ride through the canals of Venice…
They were admiring the sights and agreeing on the errors of Bush policy when, all of a sudden, the Pope’s hat (zucchetto) blew off his head and out into the water.
The gondolier started to reach for the Pontiff’s cap with his pole, but this move threatened to overturn the floating craft.
Barrack waved the tour guide off, saying, ‘Wait, wait. I’ll take care of this. Don’t worry.’
He stepped off the gondola onto the surface of the water and walked out to the Pope’s hat, bent over and picked it up. He walked back across the water to the gondola and stepped aboard.
He then handed the hat to the Pope amid stunned silence.
The next morning the topic of conversation among Republicans
in Congress, Faux News, The Drudge Report, Limbaugh’s Radio shows, and the other right wing nut pundants was:
“Obama Can’t Swim”
Big Al from Las Vegas (18:42:51) :
I think caligrl may have just made a mistake…the beauty of this blog, we learn.
Eyes, your on a roll here…(applauds)
Bec Hussein in Illinois (18:50:27) : Anyway – girls can’t be those, can they?
Nope Bec, but they often marry them.
I just took a moment to check out the link AKM gave us to the AK Federation of Natives at the top of this thread, on that link you can also read many of the suggestions that the members of the Federation have already outline and what they are asking the AK legis to help them with as well as what they are already doing in the villages. All good ideas many of which as they point out will take some time. Only saw one heating program that they haven’t already listed there, which is trashburner, and methaneburners, but I’m sure that has been though of as well. So, great things are happening in the Federation….if only the Gov was a supporter. The links to the agencies that provide one time support for those caught in a once or twice emegency might be listed on the side bar here for those who’d like to send them a donation. As well as listing how to support the Federation, which I didn’t take time to look up.
As an aside, I spent the moring here in prayer with some elders of our Nez Perce tribe, we just happened to be asking GrandFather to help all our relations, of all four colors, to make it safely through the winter and to allow us to know how to help those who need our help.
Thank you, Grandfather, for showing us the way!
Obama 08.
Big Al from Las Vegas (18:42:51) :
*Sorry*
Some of your comments on another thread seemed anti-Obama, to me.
My apologies…
Anyone against Grifter spice is not a troll…
Bec Hussein in Illinois (18:56:36) :
Nicely said, Bec. This success begs the question: I wonder what Palin, McCain, Guliani (sp), Thompson et al feels now about their sneering, condescending speeches that dissed community organizers at the RNC horror show.
I don’t think they’re laughing.
putz: feels = feel of course.
Hi ColoradoGuy!
I’m in southern Yuma County, 130 miles straight east of Denver. I didn’t make it to the rally today either, and I do regret it, but I have to admit that huge crowds make me a little bit nervous.
As inspiring as those pictures of 100,000 people in Civic Center Park are, they make me feel a little claustrophobic and lightheaded.
So having said that, I’ll also say that I will never forget the amazing feeling of being at Mile High with 85,000 people for Barack Obama’s acceptance speech. He is worth it!
I hope that nobody has to pry your Obama shirt off your cold dead body!
We’re watching “Bridge to Terabithia” here at our house tonight, so I can now consider myself to be an expert on trolls.
Well, at least I’m an expert on make-believe trolls.
There are no trolls here tonight.
This is a link to a story that talks about how two refineries in Alaska are “struggling to make a profit” and the impact on the cost of gas – we are currently 72 cents more per gallon than the national average.
http://www.adn.com/oil/story/522558.html
Because of the fuel costs in the villages – twice that of the cities because it has to be shipped by barge or delivered via air, there is an exodus of families moving into the city centers. This is having a huge impact – particularly in the school system. The schools have already had their per student funding set for the year….
Shikago aka Chief Hussein Shikago (19:03:41)
Shikago, What does the fact that Sarah Palin recently purchased land in the antarctic finally prove to us? (I’ll give you a minute to respond).
Time is up: She is bipolar.
new thread
ira2 (18:46:47) :
Yup, Apaches too.
————-
Yes. This is one of the big reasons I’m an Obama supporter. I like it that he is half and half. Half black/half white. Half muslim/half christian. Half liberal/half conservative. He gets it. That we are all different. We can celebrate the half and half among us. We can step outside of our individual ‘reality’ and embrace another’s.
Thanks, suchanut, for keeping us on task. Keeping rural Alaskans warm.
wonder why it is that alaska has the highest energy costs in the nation, just like california has the highest gas prices…yet we are both oil producing states
think it has anything to do with so much of our oil being exported?
and why are there no refineries in alaska?
and the high cost this winter couldnt have been a surprise to palin…could it?
what a fraud she is
eajphd Molten Contra Palin (18:15:30) :
The problem is universal, in Japan it happens among he Ainu (who are Caucasians) in Australia it happens among the Aborigenes, in Alaska among the Inuits and Indians, in Namibia it happens among the !Kung.
—————————-
This is the second time you have left Canada off your list.
Stevens’ trial- no- the TRIAL does not start over. The jury deliberations start over with the new, alternate juror participating.
Energy- McCain said that SP’s national security experience was related to her VAST EXPERIENCE with oil and gas etc. So, how is it that she fails so miserably on this issue? Shouldn’t she excel? ah- me
100,000 people at the Denver rally (where just two months ago there were 80K+ at the convention; yet they come back out again. Amazing. And, many Americans like a winner… if you were the sort of person who likes to be on the bandwagon which campaign would you choose?
Oh I know it is about the issues- but.. I’m just sayin’
SP is such a b**ch. Doesn’t she realize that it is 16 degrees in
Wasilla, AK right now. I have no idea what the temp is where
the emergency is but it is Damn cold. She needs to do her job.
I’ll go ahead and post this even though I just spent nearly 30 minutes just scanning the previous posts so there are probably 100 more already up.
I have no particular experience with Alaska, but I have worked in the NWT and in N. Quebec so I have some knowledge of how indigenous populations have to cope. A few commenters above hit on points which are relevant. I don’t want to take the time to cite them. All I can honestly say is that poverty and despair go hand in hand. And despair makes it impossible to act rationally. Escape through self destruction of violence that will ultimately lead to self destruction is the most readily available option. It is a sad thing to witness and even worse to have to tolerate because you are helpless and only an interloper.
Such desperation exists throughout the world that is unknown to most of you mudflatters. I would be the last to condemn you for your ignorance of the pitifuly dire conditions in which people throughout Africa, much of South America, and much of Asia have to live. But I have to advise you somewhat respecting how you might effect any change to the conditions, whether in rural Alask, or in Liberia, that condemn large numbers of otherwise decent and normal people, to horrendous suffering and consequently, abberant and dysfunctional behavior.
It is no easy task and there is no magic bullet that will make a change in one fell swoop. It will take years, perhaps it will take decades, to bring about a greater equality across the globe. Yes, I am talking about a kind of socialism. The kind of socialism wherein starvation is a memory and not a daily threat, the kind of socialism wherein an infection from an accidental wound does not constitute a death sentance. The kind of socialism where disputing the righteous truth of the government in power does no lead to imprisonment for life.
Objectively, we cannot discuss the plight of native Alaskans without realizing that multitudes of others suffer in a similar manner, and then try to rationally determine what course of action can best address all of the competing needs. This is a very difficult process question. You might well ask, why should we be concerned with the wellfare of Liberians or Zimbabewans, or the Aripuana Indios in Brasil? Well, but for the grace of fate, thus goes you.
What can we do? In my mind, the best and most important thing we can all do is learn. Learn about the world, discover what it is actually like on a first hand basis. Learn also how things work. I am not talking about being able to fix your lawn mower if it refuses to start, I am talking about how do we get engergy to remote and small communities such as those in Alaska at a price they can afford?
If what has been stated up thread is true and the real problem with supplying energy to rural Alaska is an overall shortage of supplies, then the obvious thing for the government of Alaska to do is to buy heating oil futures sufficient to meet demand, and take delivery. It is that simple. Even if the government only resold the futures at price + cost the remote villages
would be better off because there would be no profit in the transaction. And, since the government is incumbered to act in the best interests of the people, the obligation to pay could be deferred for a long enough period, without interest, such that the crisis would be alleviated in the short term, and the overall balancing of the accounting would be resolved in the long term.
Also long term, alternative, independent sources of energy should be developed for the residents of the hinterlands. Wind power might be a viable alternative to heating oil if developed rationally. In some cases hydro-power might be an option. In some tidal power could be an alternative. Obviously many different options must be weighed and some decision reached in a timely enough fashion to make a difference.
That last thought applies to the entire world. We face a multitude of vexing problems. The problems themselves are rational, hence only rational solutions will make any difference at all.
G’nite
EIGHT more days!
The end. It. Finished. End of the road. Over. No mas. Bah Bye.
Mudpuppies unite!
Our shelf life is longer than the election.
Peace out…
suchanut (19:12:16) :
“Because of the fuel costs in the villages – twice that of the cities because it has to be shipped by barge or delivered via air,”
That’s like here in the NWT , fuel is bought in advance.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/10/23/nwt-fuel.html
“The disconnect between world oil prices and fuel costs in remote northern communities arises because the government buys fuel in bulk for them, typically once a season, in advance. The fuel price is fixed for the winter in six remote N.W.T. communities that receive supplies annually by summer barge.”
Our northern communities will not get the benefit of the falling oil prices this winter. A couple of weeks ago, I was paying for gas $1.56 per litre which works out to $5.92 a gallon. I did the happy dance today because gas had dropped in price and I paid $1.19 per litre which = $4.51 a gallon.
It just rips my heart out to read about Alaskans or our northern peoples cold because they can’t pay the high fuel costs. You just can’t imagine the cold here unless you experience it for yourself. At least we have some kind of social program with the GNWT for our seniors and other low income to help offset the fuel cost.
Sue & Uncle Joe:
1) AK has at least 6 refineries, according to Wikipedia.
2) Alaska Refining Sales and Consumption gives details. Table VI.2.A gives the sales in various categories. NO 2 heating oil is about 10% of the total of transport fuels, of which roughly 2/3 is jet fuel (!). … This is why I asked about air travel in that earlier post, although I had no idea it was such a high percentage.
3) Geographically-isolated AK, with a small set of refineries, doesn’t really have much outside competition. Local refineries just need to keep the price lower than cost of product elsewhere + shipping cost. Small markets are easily subject to gyrations when demand and supply are closely balanced, and of course, refineries can not make arbitrary quick switches between the types of products produced.
This AK talk , from 2005 has some nice charts charts about energy flows in AK.
4) CA is different: we import roughly half of the oil we use (about a quarter each from AK and foreign), see figure ES-1 in California Energy Flows – 2000, and we don’t really export much oil. Info-gluttons can read the 72-page PDF if they want the gory details.
You can see why CA is running *very, very* scared:
a) First, we have to have more efficient transport, and then electrify it ahead of the downtrend of oil [lower left corner of flow chart].
b) Then we have to cope (a decade or two later) with a downtrend in natural gas [upper left corner].
c) Which means a *huge* increase in sustainables [solar PV, solar thermal, geothermal, wind, in no particular order] plus development of enough Nth-generation biofuels (or maybe, but very difficult, hydrogen) for the non-electrifiable transport needs. This means a huge scramble, and smart people aren’t sure we’re going fast enough to beat the energy-smashup, which is far more threatening in the mid-term than the current financial mess.
5) CA gas prices are usually high because:
a) We’re somewhat isolated from the (very large) Texas/Louisiana refineries and pipelines.
b) We have complex rules about Winter/Summer gasoline formulations, which tends to raise the prices.
c) Our excise tax ($.18/gal) seems modestly below average, which is actually a little surprising, given that:
d) It is generally CA policy to let energy be expensive [to encourage efficiency] and help out with all sorts or efficiency rebates. Utilities are incentivized for efficiency (not just generating MegaWatts), so they give out Compact Fluorescents, send out energy audit teams, etc, etc. Hence, CA tends to have typical energy bills, as we pay more per unit, but use less.
6) Presumably, Gov. Palin knows all this stuff offhand…
I live in Calgary, and I know we spend a couple of weeks with -40 weather. Thank God for the Chinooks that come through here every few weeks. I tell you after that impossibly cold blast 0 – +10 actually feels pretty darn warm. And when the temps get up to a balmy +35 you will find folks with just sweat shirts and sometimes shorts!
Much of Alaska is a lot further north than I am, I can only imagine my -40 would be a good day in some places. Gov. Palin HAS to do something to help these people. I don’t care if the majority or minority of those affected are European, African or First Nations descent. People are people and each one is of value.
Probably no one will read this post and respond because of new thread but AKM, how come no one is using the natural gas in Alaska to help the rural communities? If you can pledge $500M to run a pipeline to the lower 48, why isn’t there a gas company in AK willing to run pipelines to those villages? Why is it 2008 and this not been done? I use natural gas here in WV and while it’s not cheap it’s certainly not as expensive as heating oil.
In addition, with the mountains and the wind they produce, why hasn’t anyone looked into generating electricity and therefore electrical heat for the rural villages with windmills?
While these are not cheap fixes, it’s 2008 for Christ’s sake!! Why hasn’t this problem already been dealt with? Boggles the minds!! If it were just a question of the rural Alaskans paying the bill, there are funding sources to help with that. BUT it seems that the infrastructure is not in place. This is ridiculous!
If Alaska can give out BONUS checks just for living in Alaska, they could use that money in more appropriate ways to benefit all Alaskans.
Is there anything we in the lower 48 can do to help out?
I remember hearing stories about people donating to help feed the dogs up there.
If you can, please start a new post detailing what we can do.
We need our Mudflats!
jj
Ted Stevens also dropped the ball on this one. I wonder how many pipelines to villages could have been built with that $2.7M used on the road to his favorite restaurant? Or for that matter that $27M Wasilla alone received in pork? I’m just stunned that Alaska is in this kind of shape. Where the hell was the foresight and the oversight?
Again, I have sympathy for people in difficult circumstances.
Nevertheless, doing well by people needs more than good wishes.
For instance, it’s *nice* to want to build gas pipelines to all the remote villages. But the physical world runs on physics and chemistry, and one has to do engineering and cost analysis.
“Using Natural Gas Transmission Pipeline Costs…” has extensive analysis of gas pipeline costs. For a key number, see page 24, gives median (mean) costs/mile of $364,523 ($486,492) for 4″ gas pipelines, with more than half of the cost being labor. Just from the data on that chart, 6″ or 8″ pipelines are actually cheaper in total cost, so the range of these is $306-$364K ($467-$486K)
I’d guess that AK conditions and costs are more likely to be higher than the median, so let me guess, in round numbers, that it costs $350K/mile.
Hence, while the Stevens $2.7M for the road was clearly wasted, spending it on a pipeline might have gotten about 8 miles of it, which doesn’t go very far in AK. [We once spent a week driving around Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, Valdez loop … and that’s a tiny corner of the state.]
Let’s see, one could thus build a 100-mile pipeline to a village for 100*$350K = $35M. AK folks need to decide if that’s a good idea.
John,
You make a good point with the cost being dramatic which is why I stated that there has been no foresight in infrastructure in Alaska. This is something that should have been dealt with long ago. If welfare resources are stretched to the limit in the migration of those rural Alaskans to the cities, whose fault is it? It certainly isn’t the rural Alaskans for wanting to be warm and fed. They are doing what they need to do to survive. The fault lies with the Alaskan government who didn’t have the foresight to perceive that one day this could become a problem. I imagine that the rural Alaskans don’t make up much a voting bloc so their problems don’t count say as much as Mr. Steven’s road. If you’d take that $2.7M and add more to build the energy infrastructure needed, then it not only makes the state more livable but creates jobs. No one in Alaskan government seems to be carrying the ball IMHO.
Oh, governors, you know: they have real responsibilities.
WV Dem:
Governments vary in their ability to do long-term planning, meaning beyond the next election. Some are pretty good, and even in poor governments there are usually people who take their responsibilities to the future seriously.
Still in this case, I make no claim to know the right solution, which is up to the people of AK to decide.
I do know that like most of N. America, much of AK’s lifestyle and infrastructure was built on a century of $20/$30 bbl oil.
Ignoring transient gyrations in favor of long-term trends, world oil production is flattening and then going down, and after that, natural gas Peaks a decade or two later.
@John M & Krubozumo:
While there is not much we can do about the curiousity, or lack thereof, of people in regard to the suffering of others — whether here in AK or in other countries — the issue discussed here on this thread is Native Alaskans, and whether or not our own government has the ability, means & intent to help them.
Of course we are a state with a lot of natural resources. We are also a state with many Natives (I believe I heard on the radio the other day that it is 20% of the state’s population). Cold weather is not new. The issue of natives leaving their villages to move to urban areas is not new.
So, we DO have the ability to help these people, and as a state with $30 billion in a savings account (down from $40 billion before the stock market craziness), we obviously have the means. So, it becomes obvious, when reviewing the record of the gov of AK, that the problem lies with the desire &/or intent to help these people.
SPalin, in her record as Mayor of Wasilla, as well as Gov of AK, has shown a very narrow focus in regard to issues that she is willing to address. Not coincidentally, those issues also happen to be issues that benefit her in some way.
It is dangerous for the Natives in AK to have fuel-shortage issues when it is bitterly cold. So, we will all be waiting to see if some sort of emergency measures are taken. After that the task becomes enacting legislation (which has to be proposed first!) which can better their lives in the long term, while still allowing them to lead lives that are in harmony with their Native heritage.
Perhaps the only good thing that has come of SPalin being McCain’s runningmate is that her record here has been heavily scrutinized, found to be sorely lacking and in many cases unethical & insupportable, and so the way has been opened to finally effect positive changes on many fronts. Without out SPalin, I hope.
SMR:
Yes to all you say.
Again, not being AK citizen, I have no personal horse (dog?) in this race.
As usual, while it’s good to know something, and know what you know, it’s often more important to know what you don’t know, and be willing to ask people who might know and listen to them. [There is plenty of evidence that Obama does this.] Most of the smartest people I know are very good at this.
So, can you shed some more light, from an AK perspective, of what you would think would be good policies for spending the savings account while you have it?
(I.e., not the short-term humane relief, but the long-term plan, knowing that worldwide oil production, and then natural gas, will lessen, and then effectively disappear, although AK will have some longer than most.)
Without advocating any, I can think of several sorts of policies, which are not mutually exclusive, but maybe there are more:
a) Guarantee a fixed price for rural diesel/heating oil fuel, indefinitely.
b) Guarantee a definite (but rising)price for fuel, to offer predictability, and at least avoid wild swings, but to give guidance on the future.
c) Build natural gas pipelines to all towns and villages.
d) Build natural gas pipelines to places of lowest cost/person, or otherwise selective choice.
(I’ve estimated costs earlier.) I think $1B gets you roughly 3000 miles of pipeline. Of course, pipelines have natural lives, and you wouldn’t want to build one to someplace that would be abandoned before the end of its natural life, either because people leave, or because gas gets too expensive.
e) Encourage village development near pipelines, i.e., the same way development clustered around Interstate highways. This would go with e), but of course, it might be that villages are where they are for good reasons, and don’t trivially relocate handy to a pipeline.
f) Encourage village development nearer towns and cities.
g) Encourage (some) village populations to move to cities, help them rebuild their lives in thoughtful ways.
h) Ignore the problem, they can fend for themselves. (SP’s approach?)
re: John Mashey
This has been true the past 13 years that I have seen firsthand. Some points to remember in this thread– it isn’t just oil and it isn’t just this year.
* The recent rural Alaska crisis began last October (2007) but recognized just this month (October 2008)
* Katrina is the future of several hundred [not the 3 or 6 or 7 or 9 so designated by the Feds and state] Alaska communities, because of erosion and environmental change. I’ve been tracking Voices of New Orleans http://www.chinmusicpress.com/books/doyouknow/voices/ for what they have noted about FEMA, Corps of Engineers, et al. who will be expected to assist us [at the site search for FEMA, HUD, Corps, etc]
* Gov Murkowski eliminated the community and regional affairs cabinet position. Gov. Sarah Palin during her state of the state address last January 2007 suggested she would establish a sub-cabinet on rural issues. Today (2007) she announced at her address to the Alaska Federation of Natives convention that Rhonda McBride is to be her new rural advisor.This became a single person, who resigned less than a year later. Then 2008 at AFN, Palin re-announces the sub-cab.
* Citgo (Hugo Chavez) gave 100 gallons of oil last year to all in rural Alaska communities, IF they could take all 100 gallons at once. If a household conserved or bought ahead, there was no free oil because there was no place to put it (most tanks are 100 or 200 gallons). I used a Toyo stove and closed all but 1 room and kept the thermostat under 65 thereby using less than 150 gallons per year. Many others don’t have a decent stove or don’t have a house out of the drafts– 100 gallons doesn’t last a month. (This assumes that oil could be delivered to the villages so that 100 gallons could be given locally.)
* If building a flush toilet system costs 1/2 million dollars per person (yes, it does), even in a semi-arid region (most of permafrost Alaska) where we should conserve water for drinking, then everyone outside of Alaska has a horse in the race/dog in the fight.
“Unencumbered by the thought process”, in the absence of a comprehensive biocultral assessment, the resulting human resources disruption will be enormous, the loss of people, the loss of cultures and communities, the loss to science and technology of human knowledge, etc. etc.
It will be cruel; and unnecessary. Much crueler than the momentary pain of considering the issues instead of actively ignoring them.
Hey, ya’ll…I’m staying on this thread until we come up with something. Ted Stevens is guilty of more than just those 7 counts.
@John M —
Whew. Those are big issues, and I’m no expert on any of them. I am an Alaskan, though, born & raised, 35 of my 40 years spent here. My husband and I both oil company employees, so know a bit about the situation in regard to pipeline/taxes/etc. Keep in mind, though, that these days I get my info via my husband, as I’ve not worked since we had our 3-yr-old (nearly 4 now).
I’ve commented here, more than once, about my thoughts/perspective re: the TransCanada pipeline and the oil tax scenario here in AK. Both of those issues actually have a direct bearing on this crisis.
In regard to the TC pipeline issue, the gov’s stubborn & ignorant position on that issue has precluded any real progress. Alaskans may like to talk about how this pipeline has finally gotten off the ground thanks to her, but her deal is smoke & mirrors and likely will never get built (in my opinion), and certainly there are so many flaws in that plan that it’s overwhelming to consider discussing it here. I got sort of burnt out on laying it out for everyone in layman’s terms. What I will say, though, is that it is clear that a pipeline needs to be built — there are plenty of natural gas stores on the slope that need to be brought to market — and whatever pipeline is built needs to include branches to towns along the way. This pipeline will benefit all of the US, and should certainly not be built totally out of the pockets of Alaska’s savings account &/or the pockets of the oil companies. If/when the pipeline will be built is anyone’s guess — it would not be completed for 10 years, is my guess, and that only if the pipeline project currently in the works by BP/ConocoPhillips (that project being a project that is equivalent to them thumbing their nose at the gov & her stupid TC pipeline) moves forward. I would not expect a TC pipeline to be built/completed nearly that quickly.
In regard to taxes, I’ve discussed the gov’s sh!tty tax scheme that she is crowing about & everyone in AK is so happy about that actually screws Alaskans when prices per bbl of oil are below $80… As I said in my previous comments, the tax structure was so completely shite that it discouraged independent/small oil companies, and forced the larger companies to shelve several projects. Per my husband, one of the projects that was shelved was a topping off plant here in AK (diesel fuel). That project would have provided another much-needed source, and I would think would have greatly benefitted rural Alaskans, as many of the generators run off diesel.
Many of the rural communities are located on or near rivers — Alaska has thousands of them, and those communities are based on subsistence, fishing & hunting. That being the case, I am baffled as to why there is no plan for hydro-power for them. Short-term/immediate investment resulting in long-term benefits.
Solar panels? Why doesn’t everyone have them? After all, March thru September Alaskans have a great deal of sunlight, and of course immediately before/after the solstice it is nearly 24 hours per day. Far north it IS 24 hrs/day. Another investment that has long-term benefits.
I am all for the state subsidizing rural Alaskan fuel rates. Perhaps a few years of that would force the state to negotiate terms with companies that are willing to provide fuel.
Basically, I am a caucasian Alaskan who believes strongly that native Alaskans should have assistance, if needed, to ensure that they are able to honor their indigenous values and continue that way of life. I do not believe that a state as rich in resources as Alaska has any excuse for not supporting the native population. I am concerned, though, that the Native Corporations, immensely wealthy thanks to their own share of the resource monies, are not stepping in to assist the native communities.
There must be a balance, and there must be some responsibility taken by the Native Corporations, in conjunction with the state of Alaska, to protect the native villages, villagers, and the native way of life.
That’s my take on it — did that help any? Or was it all too palinesque?
@ SMR
Actually that was quite helpful. I did not know about the Native Corporations. Are they similar in structure to Native American Tribal governments?
@ SMR
Yes, many thanks. Local opinions are always enlightening.
Having helped sell $500M of supercomputers to oil companies, I do not automatically ascribe oil companies as Evil Incarnate Entities, although clearly to SP, they are convenient bogeys.
In-stream hydro sounds like a very good bet for small villages for baseload, perhaps with wind & solar to help. Solar seems a little tough in AK, unless one can combine with pumped hydro, or we get some much better battery technology. I.e., in CA, it’s rare to have more than a few cloudy days in a row, but I don’t know what you’d do with AK Winters.
@WV Dem: There are probably about a dozen native corporations here. Maybe more, I am no expert in that area. Some of them are huge and immensely wealthy. Wish that I could remember the name of the one that gave out $50,000 dividends to their members about 8 years ago…
There was an article in ADN not very long ago (one week? two?) that talked about the fact that one of the native corps was given an advertising gig for the FDA thru a circumvention of the bid process. The native corporations are very diverse in terms of the services they offer — lots of them have overseas interests as well. Several have lucrative contracts on the North Slope (oil contractor stuff). Massive beautiful office buildings & hotels here in town (well, the office buildings are beautiful). Lots & lots of real estate interests. Real estate at this moment is of course not the best investment here or anywhere else, but it is safe to say that these companies can absorb the losses.
I would compalin about sitting on an unheated enclosed carport wearing pajamas under a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and three sweaters and thermal headband and cap only because this is my smoking area of the house.
I feel very guilty considering how many Americans live like this in a normal everyday way.
The other part of me is disgusted with politicians who ignore these people election year after year.
AK HELP = where is it in AK where people live a subsistence life every day of the year? Saw it on TV and it was appalling. No schools; raw sewage. NOBODY CARES. Big state but not that many people. HOW CAN THIS BE?
Sorry, I don’t think I really answered your question. These corporations are not governing bodies — the tribes have those, but these corporations are not involved in that way. There is a certain amount of the oil money that goes to the natives via the large corporations. I would be guessing here — perhaps the different tribes have corporations that were constructed to take in the royalty monies and then invest it and then return it to shareholders/natives/members in the form of dividends?
It is my understanding that our illustrious gov attempted to wrest control of the issue of fostering/adopting children within the tribes from the councils that govern the tribes. There are some (all?) councils that operate outside of the judiciary system, the gov was attempting to get native children adopted/fostered through usual court channels, the natives fought back to preserve their system that allows the tribes to place children in need of a family. Lots of info about that in the papers — a search on ADN should yield lots of info. I remember many many years ago (15?) there was an issue with a boy who had stabbed somebody or something like that, anyway, the tribe wanted to punish him in their way (send him to their sort of time-out or something like that) and the state tried to step in — it became a huge battle with the tribe fighting to maintain their sort of justice. I’m assuming that would be a sort of justice practiced by natives all over for thousands of years, i.e. banishing troubled youths, or making them do some sort of penance…? It’s been so long ago that I have almost no recollection apart from the fact that it ended up being a huge legal battle, one that, I believe, the natives won. That would be a very interesting follow-up in terms of how that kid turned out after all was said & done…
@John M — Hydro is totally do-able for the villages on or near the rivers. Solar panels would, I would think, work well at least in the sunny months, to provide electricity.
Lots of options that require upfront investments for long-term benefits. That is the case for everyone, everywhere, and these people have been marginalized and forgotten for too long.
The $1200 energy rebate money really pi$$ed me off, I was one of the few who thought that money would have been better invested in energy to meet long-term needs. I imagine that there are very few Alaskans who actually spent that money on energy. Unless you count the big screen TV that needs electricity, or the new snowmobile that needs fuel…
@Dragon Lady — there was a great post here on AKM by a teacher from one of the villages, he had a very profound & moving story about this issue. You would probably have to do a look-through of posts for the entire month of October, I don’t think it was as far back as September. It was done by a guest blogger. AKM, is, as always, far ahead of the MSM in regard to relevant Alaska issues!!!!
Dragon Lady–
Here’s the great guest blog “Another Alaska”
@ SMR
I REMEMBER the youth in question. It was my understanding that he was sent to an island to live by himself for a period of time and reflect upon his sins or something like that. I remember thinking that OUR courts shouldn’t interfere with tribal justice. My husband is part Cherokee and years ago I became interested in that part of my children’s heritage so that I could share this with them. In my research I ran across all the evils that the government (and whites in general) did to the Native Americans. I was so impressed with Red Cloud (Sioux chief) with his war (the only time the U.S. ever lost a war) and the Native reverence for the earth that reverberated through all Native tribes. The U.S. government plundered their lands, stole their lands, and lied continuously to them. Where I live is the largest Adena tribe burial mound in the world and at one time you could see skeletons found the mound in the museum there. The descendants sued and the bones were given to them for burial by the courts.
I’m going to do some research and see if I can find out about the Alaska natives and what their rights should be. Give me a day or two as it may take some digging through a lot of databases and the law library. Thanks for the convo.
@WV Dem —
Glad I was able to help in my small way. I don’t know a lot about this stuff — mostly osmosis, reading newspapers & listening to newscasts over the years it has just seeped into my brain…
I have a friend who is 1/2 native, but she’s pretty disconnected from that part of her heritage, unfortunately. Fortunately, though, she’s connected in the form of having adopted 3 native children whose parents were not able to care for them due to alcohol/drug issues. She already had 4 of her own, so I consider her a supermom, an absolutely incredible self-made woman!
I, too, think that wherever possible the natives should be able to govern in a way that is true to their heritage & history. As everywhere that there have been conquerors/settlers there are stories of horror & abuse & heartache. About the time that of the youth discussed above I bought a copy of Trail of Tears as I was pretty moved by the whole issue.
Our family is one pretty committed to travel, curiousity about other cultures & countries — we read a lot & travel a lot. We don’t have television or cable, no snowmobiles or 4-wheelers or anything like that — pretty much all of our disposable income goes to travel because we are insatiable when it comes to other places & people!
I don’t consider Sarah Palin a blessing in many ways, but do have to say that she is in the sense that her horrible treatment of Alaska, Alaskans, and Alaskan natives in particular, is now being brought to light, and therefore positive change is now possible.
Crossing fingers! I look forward to hearing what you’ve found out on this subject! As I said, there are very recent articles in ADN about her trying to wrest control of the adoption/fostering process from the tribes. She is big time on their sh!t list, as well she should be!!!
@ SMR
I don’t know of anyone who bought a TV with that $1200 energy rebate. We were damned grateful to get it, to put oil in the stove barrel, pay the light bill and buy some groceries. As soon as stove oil dropped to $4.50/gallon, we bought a drum full. (It was $5.75 here near Homer all summer.)
I honestly don’t know how folks out in the bush can pay $2000 or more a month for oil and electric. That’s more than our entire income, and we’re on the road system. On top of that, a gallon of milk, which is $6.50 here, normally runs $8-10/gallon in the bush. Subsistance is a matter of survival out there. Folks around here who used to hunt and fish for “sport” are glad to have those skills, because it isn’t for sport anymore– it’s to fill the freezer to get through this winter. This is going to be a really scary winter for an awful lot of Alaskans.
@grewingk — I am glad that you are surrounded by people who used theirs wisely. Can’t say that I’m that fortunate… Unfortunately, for you, you aren’t near a Costco to get the good deals on milk (or big TVs!), but that also meant that you weren’t able to get a clear picture of the mayhem that ensued in Anchorage & its environs! God, even the Fred Meyer was mobbed! What, stocking up on food? No way! I had to stay away from the grocery store for 3 days! Never mind Costco or Best Buy, I avoid those places as much as possible anyway. A truck passed me with 4 shrink-wrapped snowmobiles and a mini-atv (kid-sized). Crazy times when the PFDs come out!
I’m with you — don’t know how people manage those energy bills, let alone the grocery bills. I’ve worked off the road system, so know a little bit about the high costs associated with living there.
It’s a value system call — living/working in a small, remote area (Homer or a bush town/village), and there are trade-offs. You are close to the ocean, it’s beautiful, the town is small, quality of life is good, and so you weigh those things/issues. When we lived overseas we lived in a tiny little village — “out in the sticks” is what other expats called it — no grocery store (had groceries delivered every 1-2 weeks) apart from the little village shop with next to nothing, only a primary school, but we loved every minute of it, even with the tradeoffs that we made. In my opinion, though, Alaska (and the U.S.) owes it to the natives of this state (and others) to do what it can to assist them with a lifestyle that respects their heritage & culture. Don’t get me wrong — I think the native corporations should chip in too! They’ve got some serious money & need to do more to help the natives as well!
By the way, what’s the deal on the peninsula with hunting? Do you have to have tags there or is there an open season for moose/bear? I ask because the question of hunting has come up on threads now & then, and I’ve not hunted for nearly 20 years now.
you each got $1200 on top of your $1000 per person
STOP WHINING