Alaska Digest & 2nd Amendment News: Friday, Feb. 4

Time for the end o' the week wrap-up:

• Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On:  There was a 4.6 magnitude earthquake last evening at approx. 8:30. Personal observation: Many of the 'quakes which occur to the north and northwest affect the northern two-thirds of Anchorage, but are rarely felt on the south side of town, where I live. Last night's tremor was something else: there was a barely-discernible trembling, followed by a loud bang and a sharp jolt which rattled dishes and windows, caused the kitchen cabinet doors to open slightly & close with a slap, and moved the couch. It then continued to shake, diminishing gradually over the next 10 seconds or so.
• Money (That's What I Want): The Anchorage School District, amid much hand-wringing and warnings of the dire consequences of poverty, passed a $638 MILLION budget last night, in this city of only 280,000 people. That's right, folks: something close to $16,000 per student. And what do we get for this massive bloat?  A graduation rate in the neighborhood of 52 per cent.
• Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems: The proposed reductions in federal spending also have people in the Bush wringing their hands. It seems that many of the small air carriers here have been receiving subsidies for their flights to remote villages (which means almost ALL of them). Without those subsidies, the numbers of flights would be cut, and air fare would go up. And I thought it was rather expensive already. Example: Current price for a round-trip flight to Homer - 230 miles away, by road, making a 5-hour drive - is $246.  That buys a lot of gas, even at our current price of $3.49/gallon. 
• When Seconds Count: You're familiar with that old saw about how "when seconds count, the police are minutes away"? There's a letter to the editor in today's paper from a gentleman who intervened in an assault, stopping a man from hitting a woman. But here's the money quote: "A man began to assault a woman on Ingra Street. Intervening, I held him in an armlock for 25 minutes until police arrived."  25 minutes. Are you paying attention yet? 
• And finally, there's this: JPFO ALERT: Good Cop ... Bad Cop.  Excerpt:"One of the most laudable movements in America today is the group known as “Oath Keepers”. (Visit the “Oath Keepers” website.)
  The Oath Keepers represent the very best in American law enforcement (as well as the U.S. military … but that’s another story). The police of Oath Keepers are the “Good Cops”, the truly Good Cops.
  These loyal men and women have publicly re-declared that they will keep their oath to support and defend the Constitution from all enemies “foreign and domestic”. To them, this solemn promise is a sacred honor, not just some patriotic homily. This means they have sworn to obey the Second Amendment.
  Sadly, if there are “Good Cops” then there are also some “Bad Cops”. Fortunately for us, the Good Cops outnumber the Bad Cops by at least twenty to one. This is an imprecise estimate, but candid (and very private) discussions with police officers seem to support the reality that, at the most, five percent of cops nationwide are “dirty”.
  What makes a Bad Cop? Two things leap right out front in the personality profile of a Bad Cop: Arrogance and Authoritarianism."  Read the rest.

No More Earmarks = Tough Love

There's a reasonably even-handed op-ed piece in today's Daily News regarding the end of the earmark. Underdeveloped Alaska (and make no mistake, much of this place is still more akin to a third-world country than to a modern U.S. State) has benefited greatly from earmarks for specific infrastructure projects.

For Alaskans, the recent ban on federal earmarks brings to an end a decades-long era in which the state has routinely, and heavily, relied upon those funds for basics like roads or sewer systems.

~ snip~

U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, announced the ban Tuesday. For years, Inouye worked closely with Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens to ensure the needs of the nation's two youngest states were looked out for; both men were unabashed supporters of earmarks as a way to meet their states' needs. Stevens, who died in August, is revered in his home state for having brought home billions of dollars in projects and aid during his 40 years in the Senate -- a legacy Alaska's current congressional delegation has sought to keep alive.

~ snip ~

The ban won't end federal spending in the states. Estimates put earmarks at less than 1 percent of the total federal budget, and Alaska, for example, gets far more from formula-based programs for things like transportation than it does from earmarks.

But it will put added pressure on other funding sources, like competitive grants. And it could leave some communities in a lurch.

Alaska and Hawaii are still young, developing states. While Alaska's infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," which would have bridged Ketchikan and its airport on nearby Gravina Island, became an object of ridicule and an example, for critics, of a broken system, earmarks have helped build the state's infrastructure.

Even today, many communities aren't connected to road systems; hundreds of miles of the Dalton Highway, leading to Alaska's prodigious Prudhoe Bay oil fields, are dirt; and basics -- like water and sewer systems -- are lacking in some remote areas.

To catch a flight from Ketchikan, one must take a ferry to the airport. Kathie Wasserman, executive director of the Alaska Municipal League, said small villages and towns are often unable to get the money on their own -- through taxation or bond issues, for example -- to cover infrastructure projects.

Read the rest at the link, above.

Midweek Stuff

How-Cold-Is-It Dept:  You know it's been cold here when a forecast of temps in the teens are referred to as "a really nice warm-up." On the other hand, it's snowing again - and that's a good thing.

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Enough-Is-Enough Dept: As much as Tea Party enthusiasts wanted to see a strict Constitutionalist in the U.S. Senate, Joe Miller seems to have imploded. Yesterday, a federal judge dismissed his lawsuit, stating that the Alaska courts decided correctly.

A further concern was Miller's earlier statement that he wanted to narrow the gap between Murkowski's total and his own, to make him a 'more viable candidate in the future."  Simply put, because of the protracted legal battle, I'd have to say he has no political future here. All but his most ardent supporters wanted him to accept the loss gracefully, a couple of court battles ago, and walk away.

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Theory-of-Devolution Dept: A State lawmaker is telling Alaska Natives in his district to be more self-sufficient, and that the era of Federal funding is closing. It's a shame that our Natives have been trained, in only one or two generations, to be dependent on Uncle Sugar.

The rest of us should heed the warning, by the way. What happens in the Bush today will happen to the cities tomorrow. Big Brother is broke, and if we're not ready now, then failure is our own fault. (and shame on us for allowing ourselves to be so dependent upon government bloat in the first place.)

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Have a great day, folks.

TARP

Alaska's Governor has sent a letter to our Congressional delegation about the stimulus funds. Read it here. Personally, I would prefer that she spurn the hand-out, and let Alaska muddle on without it.

However, I remember my days in boot camp, when the men were grumbling about an upcoming exercise.

The company commander said, "Gentlemen: if it's inevitable, you might as well relax and enjoy it."