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Salon.com reports today that staffers of the Tea Party Express were ferried around the state on a Holland America cruise ship. The tickets for the cruise were $1,499, but the group maintains that it was cheaper than buying plane tickets, paying for hotel rooms, and feeding the staffers.
The cruise allowed the staffers to attend and organize events at every port that the ship stopped at, according to Tea Party Express political director Bryan Shroyer. The group was founded last year in Sacramento by several veteran GOP operatives to take in the resurgence in grassroots support, known as the Tea Party movement.
"Employees would regularly run up bar tabs of more than $1,000 a week and charge it to Russo, Marsh or King Media, which would then bill TPE for the expense under a concocted fee." said Kelly Eustis, a consultant who worked for Tea Party Express. She left in October 2009 according to the Daily Caller.
This is interesting since Joe Miller didn't even file paperwork to run against Murkowski until 4 months ago.
more to come....
Friday, September 17, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
When will it end?
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Senator Murkowski says now that she plans to announce Friday whether or not she will run a write-in campaign. In the past few days there were rumblings and official talk of her running on the Libertarian ticket. this would have required the candidate elect to voluntarily step aside after he had won his own primary, and the blessing of the higher-ups of the Libertarian party.
Monday both sides were tripping over themselves to give statements and get press coverage about how things really were. David Haase, the libertarian candidate, said that he would not be stepping aside, while the Murkowski said that she couldn't "in good faith" run on the libertarian ticket. She also stated: "(I) will not wrap myself in the flag of another political party for the sake of election at any cost" even though she admitted publicly that she was in talks with party leadership.
Other notable quotes include this gem: "As disappointed as I am in the outcome of the primary and my belief that the Alaska Republican Party was hijacked by the Tea Party Express, an Outside extremist group, I am not going to quit my party". That "extremist" group got two thousand more votes than she did on the day that matters most, election day.
------------
Prediction time:
Will Sen Murkowski run a write-in campaign?
Does she have a realistic chance of winning if she does?
Senator Murkowski says now that she plans to announce Friday whether or not she will run a write-in campaign. In the past few days there were rumblings and official talk of her running on the Libertarian ticket. this would have required the candidate elect to voluntarily step aside after he had won his own primary, and the blessing of the higher-ups of the Libertarian party.
Monday both sides were tripping over themselves to give statements and get press coverage about how things really were. David Haase, the libertarian candidate, said that he would not be stepping aside, while the Murkowski said that she couldn't "in good faith" run on the libertarian ticket. She also stated: "(I) will not wrap myself in the flag of another political party for the sake of election at any cost" even though she admitted publicly that she was in talks with party leadership.
Other notable quotes include this gem: "As disappointed as I am in the outcome of the primary and my belief that the Alaska Republican Party was hijacked by the Tea Party Express, an Outside extremist group, I am not going to quit my party". That "extremist" group got two thousand more votes than she did on the day that matters most, election day.
------------
Prediction time:
Will Sen Murkowski run a write-in campaign?
Does she have a realistic chance of winning if she does?
Monday, September 13, 2010
Take A Hike!
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The National Park Service has recently proposed raising the rate to climb Mount McKinley by 250%, going from $200 to $500 for the 2011 climbing season. Also included in the proposal was a 60% raise in the cost of a permit to climb Mount Rainer. The fee, which is officially called the climbing cost recovery fee, is used to train climbing park rangers.
Both parks have separate funds for search and rescue that are federally funded and do not receive money from the climbing fees.
In a letter to park service Director Jon Jarvis, three climbing activist groups protested the increase at Mt. Rainer and the proposal to raise the climbing fee for Mount McKinley in Alaska's Denali National Park to $500.
In the letter from the Access Fund, American Alpine Club and American Alpine Guides Association states the increases are "unnecessary and unfair."
The letter also states: "We fear that these added costs will make the unique mountaineering opportunities available at Denali and Rainier too expensive for many Americans..." the letter also argues that the Park Service is raising rates without an appropriate amount of public comment.
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So how much is too much?
Are there other options?
Required climbers insurance to cover rescue costs?
The National Park Service has recently proposed raising the rate to climb Mount McKinley by 250%, going from $200 to $500 for the 2011 climbing season. Also included in the proposal was a 60% raise in the cost of a permit to climb Mount Rainer. The fee, which is officially called the climbing cost recovery fee, is used to train climbing park rangers.
Both parks have separate funds for search and rescue that are federally funded and do not receive money from the climbing fees.
In a letter to park service Director Jon Jarvis, three climbing activist groups protested the increase at Mt. Rainer and the proposal to raise the climbing fee for Mount McKinley in Alaska's Denali National Park to $500.
In the letter from the Access Fund, American Alpine Club and American Alpine Guides Association states the increases are "unnecessary and unfair."
The letter also states: "We fear that these added costs will make the unique mountaineering opportunities available at Denali and Rainier too expensive for many Americans..." the letter also argues that the Park Service is raising rates without an appropriate amount of public comment.
---------------------
So how much is too much?
Are there other options?
Required climbers insurance to cover rescue costs?
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Week-ending Update:
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Week-ending update:
Glenn Beck was in the state today, and along with Sarah Palin held an event. It was small by either ones standards, only 4500 tickets, and all but 700 of those have been sold. ticket ranged in price from $74 - $225. It was interesting to note though, the AP devoted a full 124 words of 382 to the subject of the 60 protesters outside. thats a full third of the story(32%).
edit: looks like the story over at the AP has changed! The story is now 122 words longer with the caption: "THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below."
More Rumblings that Murkowski could run on a separate ticket or as a write-in candidate. The Wall-Street Journal reports that the Libertarian Party is in talks with Murkowski. Steve Wackowski, Murkowski's spokesman, said a decision could come by next week. Look for it early in the week if it does come... press releases from campaigns tend to be that way.... :) The Miller campaign points to a conversation with the Murkowski campaign that both candidates would come together after the primary "so the Republicans would have a unified front". Interestingly, and very intelligently, Scott McAdams is keeping his mouth shut and not saying much recently. His plan of letting the GOP hang themselves may just work if Murkowski stays in the race and divides the vote.
Week-ending update:
Glenn Beck was in the state today, and along with Sarah Palin held an event. It was small by either ones standards, only 4500 tickets, and all but 700 of those have been sold. ticket ranged in price from $74 - $225. It was interesting to note though, the AP devoted a full 124 words of 382 to the subject of the 60 protesters outside. thats a full third of the story(32%).
edit: looks like the story over at the AP has changed! The story is now 122 words longer with the caption: "THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below."
More Rumblings that Murkowski could run on a separate ticket or as a write-in candidate. The Wall-Street Journal reports that the Libertarian Party is in talks with Murkowski. Steve Wackowski, Murkowski's spokesman, said a decision could come by next week. Look for it early in the week if it does come... press releases from campaigns tend to be that way.... :) The Miller campaign points to a conversation with the Murkowski campaign that both candidates would come together after the primary "so the Republicans would have a unified front". Interestingly, and very intelligently, Scott McAdams is keeping his mouth shut and not saying much recently. His plan of letting the GOP hang themselves may just work if Murkowski stays in the race and divides the vote.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
State suing over drilling moratorium
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The State of Alaska has filed a law suit against the federal government in reference to the recent offshore drilling moratorium. The moratorium, which has negatively affect the drilling in Alaska's outer continental shelf, was announced in a joint press conference between Governor Sean Parnell and Attorney General Dan Sullivan.
The Governor's office have asked the government to vacate any moratorium involving Alaska because they didn't consult with the state before any such moratorium was put in place, which is required by law. Parnell also claims that the feds didn't consider the economic ramifications of any such ban on the local and state economies.
The mere existence of the drilling moratorium is in question though, and critics of the governor were quick to point out that there is no specific arctic offshore drilling moratorium. They reference a visit two weeks ago when Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, who told reporters at a press conference in Anchorage, that there is no Arctic moratorium.
Nevertheless, his boss U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar felt the need to confuse matters when, last week, he said that in "essence" there was a ban on arctic drilling even though Alaska was not mentioned specifically, and that his office has decided to not issue any new drilling permits until more reviews were completed. The ban only has an effect on deep-water drilling, so shallow arctic drilling should not be effected.
Parnell also stated that he tried to meet last week with the Interior secretary when he was visiting last week, but that he refused. Salazzar held several public events in Barrow and other locations which the Govenor did not attend.
Shell claims that the ban has already cost over 600 jobs and has issued this statement:
"We believe the State of Alaska is fully justified in filing this lawsuit, given the actions of the Department of Interior and the importance of offshore development to Alaska. Unfortunately, our progress in Alaska has been severely compromised by unforeseen events that are not related to our specific program in the Alaska offshore. Our inability to drill is not only costly to Shell, but also to a state that is working hard to create jobs and find new oil supplies for the Trans Alaska Pipeline by promoting responsible offshore development."
The State of Alaska has filed a law suit against the federal government in reference to the recent offshore drilling moratorium. The moratorium, which has negatively affect the drilling in Alaska's outer continental shelf, was announced in a joint press conference between Governor Sean Parnell and Attorney General Dan Sullivan.
The Governor's office have asked the government to vacate any moratorium involving Alaska because they didn't consult with the state before any such moratorium was put in place, which is required by law. Parnell also claims that the feds didn't consider the economic ramifications of any such ban on the local and state economies.
The mere existence of the drilling moratorium is in question though, and critics of the governor were quick to point out that there is no specific arctic offshore drilling moratorium. They reference a visit two weeks ago when Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, who told reporters at a press conference in Anchorage, that there is no Arctic moratorium.
Nevertheless, his boss U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar felt the need to confuse matters when, last week, he said that in "essence" there was a ban on arctic drilling even though Alaska was not mentioned specifically, and that his office has decided to not issue any new drilling permits until more reviews were completed. The ban only has an effect on deep-water drilling, so shallow arctic drilling should not be effected.
Parnell also stated that he tried to meet last week with the Interior secretary when he was visiting last week, but that he refused. Salazzar held several public events in Barrow and other locations which the Govenor did not attend.
Shell claims that the ban has already cost over 600 jobs and has issued this statement:
"We believe the State of Alaska is fully justified in filing this lawsuit, given the actions of the Department of Interior and the importance of offshore development to Alaska. Unfortunately, our progress in Alaska has been severely compromised by unforeseen events that are not related to our specific program in the Alaska offshore. Our inability to drill is not only costly to Shell, but also to a state that is working hard to create jobs and find new oil supplies for the Trans Alaska Pipeline by promoting responsible offshore development."
GOOGLE INSTANT.
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Well folks it's here, the future that is, Google Instant.
This year the amount of info on the internet will exceed 1 zettabyte. Thats 1 million times all the info in all the worlds libraries, or so says the Google employee on their info page.Thats a massive amount of information to look thorough just to give you your favorite cookie recipe.
The novelty of this way to search is that you can recognize a search with just a glance much quicker than you can type it out completely. Google claims that it can save 2-5 seconds per search.
Here are some quick facts about Google Instant from their website::
A few other facts of note:
zettabyte (ZB) = 10^21 or for the tech savvy: in binary 2^70 = 1 sextillion wiki
Well folks it's here, the future that is, Google Instant.
This year the amount of info on the internet will exceed 1 zettabyte. Thats 1 million times all the info in all the worlds libraries, or so says the Google employee on their info page.Thats a massive amount of information to look thorough just to give you your favorite cookie recipe.
The novelty of this way to search is that you can recognize a search with just a glance much quicker than you can type it out completely. Google claims that it can save 2-5 seconds per search.
Here are some quick facts about Google Instant from their website::
- Before Google Instant, the typical searcher took more than 9 seconds to enter a search term, and we saw many examples of searches that took 30-90 seconds to type.
- Using Google Instant can save 2-5 seconds per search.
- If everyone uses Google Instant globally, we estimate this will save more than 3.5 billion seconds a day. That’s 11 hours saved every second.
- 15 new technologies contribute to Google Instant functionality.
A few other facts of note:
zettabyte (ZB) = 10^21 or for the tech savvy: in binary 2^70 = 1 sextillion wiki
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The United States Honor Flag
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The United States Honor Flag flew over the capital building in Juneau yesterday. The flag was once flown over Ground Zero in New York City after September 11 and now tours around the country paying tribute to those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Today the flag went to Hoonah to honor the two slain police officers.
The recent tragedy of the officers murders has caused a strain on local police departments which have redily volunteered manpower to cover the shortage in the small town. The Hoonah PD only had 3 people to begin with, and the recent shooting leaves only the chief of police John Millan.
The United States Honor Flag flew over the capital building in Juneau yesterday. The flag was once flown over Ground Zero in New York City after September 11 and now tours around the country paying tribute to those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Today the flag went to Hoonah to honor the two slain police officers.
The recent tragedy of the officers murders has caused a strain on local police departments which have redily volunteered manpower to cover the shortage in the small town. The Hoonah PD only had 3 people to begin with, and the recent shooting leaves only the chief of police John Millan.
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