…is defending yourself against charges that you stirred up weapons-based attacks against a Jewish congresswoman by calling the charges ‘blood libel’.

‘Blood libel’ is a VERY old and terrible term from medieval times where anti-Semites would charge that Christian babies were being abducted by Jews, who then drained them of their blood and used it in ( Read more... )

Apparently, she’s resigning the governorship at the end of the month (at a picnic?!) and neither she nor the new Lieutenant Governor who will replace her will run in the next Gubernatorial election.   Nothing about 2012 and the national scene.

• Base-jumping the Burj Dubai. One of these dudes went back and did it again a couple of days later and got caught by the cops; not bright.
• Proportional discussion graph over the WATCHMEN movie.  Strangely, I didn’t think that way, but…
• Killing off a rat-ridden island in the Alaskan Aleutians - or, rather, eliminating the rats that killed everything ( Read more... )

Bristol Palin has decided that she’s had enough of Levi Strauss Johnston and chased him off to the Alaskan bush.  Details in the 10 o’clock news.

Hedge funds, no longer magically able to make money from thin air, are laying off tens of thousands of employees.   Give them bonuses!

The UK economy is looking at it’s worst year since 1931.   I assume ( Read more... )

< snark switch turned on >

As a Person of the Illinois Persuasion, I see no reason why we should pay for volcano sensors in Louisiana, or landslide detectors on the Chicago beaches, or hurricane detectors in Alaska.    And protecting polar bears in Florida is just wrong.

I did notice ‘things to do in case there’s an earthquake’ posted in my ( Read more... )

• Lobbyists are gnashing their teeth and rending their garments; what are they to do without having a ready-made place to grease palms now that Ted Stevens is leaving the Senate?

To maintain an open line to Mr. Stevens, the association hired Ms. Sutherland, who left Mr. Stevens not long after delivering those warnings to open her own one-woman ( Read more... )

Big story in the Anchorage Daily News on the failings of Alaska education.

• Alaska’s dropout rate, at 8 percent, was double the national average in the 2005-2006 school year, according to the latest figures available from the U.S. Department of Education.

• 38 percent of today’s ninth-graders will have no high school diploma 10 years from now, ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

The AP and others are now declaring Mark Begich, the Mayor of Anchorage (D), has beaten Senator Stevens for the Alaska Senate seat.  The margin is too wide for a free recount, and it’s unlikely that the GOP will pay for it or Stevens can - or that it would make any significant difference.

The recount for the Minnesota Senate seat starts today, with ( Read more... )

Begich (D) is up 814 votes over Senator Stevens (R), with another 38,000 votes to go - in strong Democratic districts in Alaska.