Ugh ... Politics Again

Is It Over Yet? Dept:  The senatorial race in Alaska is heating up, and not for the better. The incumbent, Mark Begich (D), is in the fight of his life, and trying to force his opponent (Dan Sullivan) into playing the defensive.

But Sullivan's running some spots that aren't negative, which is a nice change of pace in modern American politics.

If anyone cares, this is the latest go-round.


On Her Way Again Dept:  Long-time readers may remember the tale of Sarah Outen, a British woman who was sailing around the world, and wound up on Adak Island in the Aleutians.

Now she's traded her boat for a bicycle as she treks across North America. The new story can be found here.


What Did They Expect? Dept: There's an article in what passes for Anchorage's newspaper bemoaning a report that between "6 percent to 7 percent of Alaska families receive government help to pay their bills. That's more than twice the national average. The large seasonal tourism and fishing workforce, combined with more than 140 villages that are exempt from public assistance time limits because of few job opportunities, both contribute to the outsize rate."

It's hardly surprising, given the facts they report. Most Americans would be shocked if they ever visited many of the villages in the Alaskan bush. No running water, no sewers, no businesses, and no jobs. These Natives were proud hunter-gatherers, living a migratory subsistence lifestyle until not much more than a generation ago.

As soon as the government "helped" them by providing permanent shacks homes, their lives became more dependent on Outside help. It's a shame, truly.