Showing posts with label Alaska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alaska. Show all posts

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Alaska's favorite domestic terrorist is trying to get out of prison again.

Courtesy of the SPLC: 

Schaeffer Cox, the imprisoned founder of the Alaska Peacemakers Militia, is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review his 2012 conviction that put him in federal prison for 26 years. 

Michael Filopovic, Cox’s federal public defender, recently filed the petition seeking the Supreme Court review partly claiming lower appeals courts have issued conflicting rulings on legal issues raised in the Cox case. 

”This case … really concerns the outer limits of liability for conspiracy in the federal courts, particularly with respect to statutes involving conspiracy to murder federal officials or federal agents,” Filipovic told Alaska Public Media. 

Specifically, the defense attorney claims, the petition raised the question whether Cox’s talk about murdering government officials, who weren’t specifically identified, posed an actual threat. 

Filopovic argues that threats from Cox and his militia group would have been carried out only if the U.S. government implemented martial law, something he claims was highly unlikely.

"Look I was going to kill you if you did this thing, I even bought weapons and made plans for that very reason. But since you didn't do that thing no harm no foul, right?"

Typically I would say that Schaeffer's chances of getting out of prison were about as good as Donald Trump's chances of finding his own penis without a hand mirror and a pair of tweezers.

However we now live in strange times, where the government does not seem to even recognize terrorism if it is carried out by a white guy, and where even a scumbag like Scooter Libby can be pardoned for obstruction of justice and lying to the feds.

So who knows?

Friday, April 13, 2018

If you want to come to the most dangerous city and state in the United States, well it turns out I live there.

Courtesy of KTVA: 

Based on 2016 stats, Alaska has been named the most dangerous state in the country. 

24/7 Wall Street released its annual report on the "Most Dangerous States in America" on Friday. 

By examining the FBI's 2016 Uniform Crime Report, which was released this week, the report found that Alaska is the most dangerous state in America, and concluded that Anchorage is the state's most dangerous city. 

The report states that in 2016, there were 804 violent crimes per 100,000 Alaskan citizens, 52 murders and 409 adults per 100,000 residents were imprisoned. 

Louisiana, Tennessee, Nevada and New Mexico rounded out the top five. 

Nationwide, of the 10 most violent states, nine are either in the South or the West, while New England states made up half of the country's 10 safest states. 

Overall, the violent crime rate rose in 38 states from 2015 to 2016. In 2016, the national rate was 397 violent crimes per 100,000 citizens, shy of the national violent crime rate at its peak in 1991, which was 758 violent crimes for every 100,000.

This report is actually a few months old, but I only saw it last night when my daughter sent it to me. 

For the record Alaska has been in the top ten most dangerous states for about as long as I can remember.

However being number one is still a little unsettling.

When you grow up here, you just know to follow certain rules.

In the wilderness you make lots of noise and hang your food from a tree when you camp.

In the city you avoid certain areas, keep your neck on a swivel, and keep a dog in your home.

I have had more than my fair share of violent interactions, but virtually all of those occurred when I was a kid and sought out dangerous situations.

As an adult most of my scrapes with the criminal element come from working with people suffering with mental illness or behavioral problems. 

I still think this is a beautiful place to live and visit, but I would caution that if you do keep your eyes open. Wide open.

Sunday, April 01, 2018

Hey, I know that guy!

Yep, that is Bill "Dropzone" Fulton marching with folks who want more comprehensive gun laws in this country.

Man has he come a long way since he was this guy.

To be fair Bill was more or less working undercover at this time infiltrating Right Wing militia groups for the FBI.

Still, he did kind of like guns.

However over the years he has mellowed out a ton.

In fact lately he has been calling for a repeal of the 2nd Amendment on his Twitter account.

Just goes to show that people can grow and evolve, you know if you believe in all that evolution hooey.

Here is the article that accompanied the video up above.

In it you can read how Mudflats "broke nearly every single Sarah Palin related news story."

Hmm, who knew?

Saturday, March 24, 2018

So what are your plans for today? #MarchForOurLives

Courtesy of March for Our Lives:  

March For Our Lives Anchorage students advocate for a number of solutions, which include: 

  • Reclassification of the AR-15 and other military pattern semi-automatic rifles as Class III, Title II under the NFA. Semi-automatic rifles are only fractionally different than fully-automatic rifles, and are just as lethal. Military grade weaponry deserves to be regulated as such. 
  • Reclassification of magazines over 10 rounds of ammunition as Class III, Title II under the NFA. According to a 2013 study on active shooters done by the FBI, active shooting incidents take place over a matter of minutes. Being limited to 10 rounds per magazine, as opposed to 20, 30, or 40 can save potentially dozens of lives within a mass-shooting timeframe. 
  • Repeal of the Dickey Amendment, a 1996 measure which effectively bans the CDC from researching preventative measures for gun violence. 
  • Purchase age increase to 21 years. 
  • Mandate for gun show and private sale background checks. 
  • Mandatory gun safety training accompanying first legal purchase. 

All of these measures comply with the modern understanding of the 2nd Amendment, and in no way infringe on the right of Americans to bear arms. Furthermore, each one individually, and certainly all of them together, show real promise in reducing the risk posed by mass shooters.

Here in Anchorage this march will take place on the Delaney Park Strip starting at 12:00 PM.

I am hoping to get there, but unfortunately I am actually working today so I am trying to move some things around.

But if I can swing it I will see you there.

Sunday, March 04, 2018

Alaska's marijuana industry finally pays more than a million dollars in monthly tax revenue.

Courtesy of ADN: 

In January, for the first time since legal sales began, Alaska's commercial cannabis growers paid more than $1 million in state taxes, according to officials. 

Eighty-one marijuana cultivators paid $1,040,512 in taxes during the first month of 2018, said Kelly Mazzei, excise tax supervisor at the Alaska Department of Revenue. 

Alaska marijuana growers pay the state tax of $50 per ounce of cannabis bud, and $15 an ounce for other parts of the plant, like the trimmings of leaves and stems. 

A total of 1,061 pounds of marijuana, and 797 of trim, were sold wholesale in January.

This may only be of interest to those of us living up here in the Last Frontier, but I have been predicting for awhile that the pot industry would start to be a real source of revenue for the state and I am glad to see that is finally happening.

It of course will never replace the oil tax revenue, but it is at least one tax source that will not be undermined by the switch to renewable resources.

Which by the way could be yet another profitable source of tax revenue if lawmakers would pull their lips of the asses of oil barons long enough to notice.

We are way behind in finding revenue sources outside of the oil industry, and it is going to get ugly up here if we do not become more proactive.

Thursday, March 01, 2018

Alaska's lone Congressman Don Young actually suggested that the holocaust could have been prevented if only the Jews had guns.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

At an Alaska Municipal League (AML) meeting in Juneau last Thursday, Young was asked what should be done to prevent school shootings. “What can municipalities do? 

What can the federal government do to stop the massacre of children in our schools?” asked Dimitri Shein, a Democratic candidate running for Young’s seat. 

Young responded by arguing that teachers should be armed. He then invoked the Holocaust to argue that making sure everyone had guns was the best solution. 

“How many millions of people were shot and killed because they were unarmed? Fifty million in Russia, because their citizens weren’t armed,” Young said. 

“How many Jews were put into the ovens because they were unarmed?”The comment is anti-Semitic, outrageous, and incredibly stupid, but just in case you need a debunking: That is not why or how the Holocaust happened.

Holy shit is this a stupid argument. 

This fantasy that armed individuals can overcome a country's military has been disproved time and time again.

You only have to look to the resistance fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq to realize that.

I sometimes get criticized for picking on Texas, and other states in the South.

I ridicule states like Texas, Florida, Georgia, and others because they are fucked up and deserving of ridicule. 

But that in no way means that I consider Alaska any less fucked up, or any less deserving of ridicule.

And until we finally get rid of this dinosaur and replace him with somebody who actually wants to move our state forward, we deserve every bit of ridicule directed our way.

Friday, February 23, 2018

So Bristol Palin is now back in Texas to continue her divorce battle with Dakota Meyer.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

Bristol Palin has returned to Texas after spending some time quality time with her family in her home state of Alaska amid reports her husband Dakota Meyer has filed for divorce. 

The 27-year-old mother-of-three, who has two daughters with Dakota, took to Instagram on Wednesday to post a snapshot of herself enjoying the Alaskan winter with her two-year-old Sailor Grace. 

'Already missing AK,' she captioned the image, which shows her eldest daughter bundled up in a bright pink snow suit while cuddled in her arms. 

Of course leaving Alaska means that Bristol will be isolated from her support network that she relies on so completely.
What? No Track?

Broken families like this always seem to create a meme of "It's us against the world," which both binds them together and deepens their family pathology.

 On her own Bristol is fairly fragile and cannot stand up for herself without breaking down and making it worse.

During her custody battle with Levi she seduced Dakota into becoming her white knight and used him as her go between when she was on the ropes.

Kind of makes me wonder what poor Texas SOB she has targeted to fight her fight this time?

(P.S. I kind of enjoy talking about this fucked up family again. After all covering the school shootings, Trump presidency, and decline of America can be so depressing sometimes.)

Thursday, February 22, 2018

People with disabilities in Alaska can no longer be paid less than the minimum wage.

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

As of Friday, Alaskan businesses will no longer be allowed to pay disabled workers less than the minimum wage, which is currently $9.84 an hour. 

“Workers who experience disabilities are valued members of Alaska’s workforce,” said the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development Acting Commissioner Greg Cashen, in a press release. “They deserve minimum wage protections as much as any other Alaskan worker.” 

The state announced last week it would repeal the regulation first put in place in 1978. Alaska joins New Hampshire and Maryland as the first states to get rid of sub-minimum wage for employees with disabilities, an act which is entirely legal under federal law, and has been since 1938 when the Fair Labor Standards Act was implemented. 

The minimum wage exception was initially created to help those with disabilities get jobs, but despite its intentions, the legislation still fell short. Disability advocates argue the law is outdated and that many disabled individuals can succeed in jobs earning minimum wage or more, and that no other class of people faces this kind of government-sanctioned wage discrimination. In addition to being paid a sub-minimum wage, employees with disabilities often perform their jobs in what are called “sheltered workshops.” This term is generally used to describe facilities that employ people with disabilities exclusively or primarily, but has been interpreted by disability advocates as a form of segregation in the workplace.

I think this is a very positive step forward for Alaskans with disabilities.

However I do understand why the law was likely implemented in the first place.

After all many of the people diagnosed with a disability require more supervision, and supports, than the average minimum wage worker. 

There is also the fact that many of them cannot make too much money or risk losing their social security payments.

But times are changing and with new workplace modifications, and more reliance on machines doing much of the work, there are increased opportunities for these individuals to find employment that may seem repetitive to some or not intellectually stimulating to others.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Splitsville 2.0: Dakota Meyer and Bristol Palin are reportedly no longer together.

I think this is when we knew the relationship was doomed.
Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

Dakota Meyer has filed for divorce from Bristol Palin a source tells DailyMail.com. 

The veteran filed paperwork two weeks ago according to the source, and move dout of the couple's Austin home around Christmas. 

The couple were married in a private ceremony back in 2016, a little over a year after calling of their first wedding just days before the ceremony. 

They have two daughters, 2-year-old Sailor and Atlee Bay, who was born back in May. Bristol, 27, also has a 9-year-old son Tripp from her relationship with fiancee Levi Johnston. 

Dakota also blocked Bristol on social media says the source. 

Well I guess it's time for some IM sleuths to give themselves a little pat on the back.

There were certainly signs that not everything was going well with these two, but until today there was no definitive information.

Until today that is.


There is already an Instagram photo which seem to indicate that Bristol is back in Alaska for her mom's birthday, and I would not be surprised if that became permanent.

After all, where else is she going to go?

Which makes me wonder if we are not in for another very public custody battle.

You know like the one that started this whole doomed relationship in the first place.
I have a feeling that things are about to get ugly, very ugly.

But then again when have things not been ugly with this family?

Monday, February 12, 2018

Track Palin's trial has been pushed to March 27th.

Courtesy of KTVA: 

Sarah Palin's oldest son is scheduled for trial in a case accusing him of assaulting his father at the family's Alaska home. 

A judge Friday set trial for the week of March 27 for Track Palin after his lawyer said the case would not be ready for a late-February trial as initially set. Palin participated in the proceeding by phone from an undisclosed treatment location. Afterward, the lawyer declined to say what kind of treatment. 

The 28-year-old Palin pleaded not guilty last month to a felony burglary charge in the December incident. He also faces misdemeanor charges of assault and criminal mischief.

I am a few days late in reporting this, mostly because I predicted the trial would be postponed repeatedly and figured all of you did as well. 

In other words this might not be the last postponement we see in this case.

When the trial does take place it is going to be covered by a number of national news outlets so we will be kept well informed as it unfolds.

I would also like to take a moment to address the growing gossip about Bristol's marriage.

Currently there is no definitive evidence that the marriage is over, despite numerous comments declaring it to be so.

Yes it does not appear that Dakota and Bristol are spending much time together, and in fact Dakota has not appeared in any of Bristol's Instagram photos since December.

But that does not constitute proof.

I think we can all predict, based on Bristol's past, that this relationship will not stand the test of time.

But as of now we do not know that it has definitively hit the skids.

Once we have evidence to prove that, trust me I will gladly report that here.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

To just about everybody's surprise it appears that even the Trump Administration has serious concerns about the opening of Pebble Mine in Alaska.

Courtesy of The Hill:

The Trump administration is reviving a controversial Obama administration proposal to block a massive gold mine proposed in Alaska after previously saying it would revive the proposal. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt announced the surprise reversal late Friday, saying that the EPA now believes that the Pebble Mine project would be unacceptably harmful to Bristol Bay and its tributaries. 

Pruitt said he made the call after speaking with various stakeholders involved in the decision, citing serious concerns with the impact from mining and mining waste on the bay. 

“We have restored process, reviewed comments, and heard from a variety of stakeholders on whether to withdraw the proposed restrictions in the Bristol Bay watershed,” Pruitt said in a statement. 

“Based on that review, it is my judgment at this time that any mining projects in the region likely pose a risk to the abundant natural resources that exist there. Until we know the full extent of that risk, those natural resources and world-class fisheries deserve the utmost protection.”

Seriously I would NEVER have thought that freaking Scott Pruitt would put the brakes on this thing. 

I figured that Pruitt carried around an industrial strength condom just so that he could personally rape the land himself.

But I guess this just goes to show you that this Pebble Mine proposal is certain to be an environmental disaster of Biblical proportions.

So bad that even an administration which sees restrictions on development as a personal affront to their capitalist ideals cannot bring themselves to sign off on it.

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Bill Kristol, the man who "discovered" Sarah Palin, finally admits that she helped to usher in the Trump presidency.


Kristol: Palin a harbinger of GOP to come from CNBC.

Courtesy of CNBC: 

Harwood: There are people who trace a direct line from Sarah Palin to Donald Trump. It is characterized as "the dumbing down of Republican politics," an anti-intellectual movement, which is odd from you because you are an intellectual. 

Kristol: Yeah, she turned out to be a disappointment. I mean, when she was picked, she was a popular governor of Alaska who had taken on the oil companies and so forth. I thought Palin as [John] McCain's VP would be a way to almost channel a certain kind of populism into what I would say is a healthy conservatism. 

Harwood: You discovered her on a Weekly Standard cruise, right? 

Kristol: She invited Fred Barnes and me and our families over to lunch at the governor's residence there. And we were impressed by her. And she was charming. And she was different — 42-year-old governor of Alaska, kind of an exotic state. 

I had been originally for John McCain picking Joe Lieberman — a centrist play against Barack Obama. And they chose not to go that way. And then I thought, 'OK, well, why not take the gamble with Palin?' 

But I will say this. For all the alleged dumbing down, the people who ran and won in 2010 and 2012 were pretty impressive, a lot of them. The Republican ticket in 2012 was Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Whatever again you think of them, that's not a dumbed-down ticket. 

So I thought, 'OK, Palin, they didn't win.' And I thought, 'OK, she chose to be a celebrity rather than a politician.' I didn't realize that we were going into a celebrity culture — such a celebrity culture that Trump would actually as a celebrity run and win in 2016. 

I don't think Palin really led to Trump. Was this somehow a bit of a precursor or something? I'm willing to say, 'Maybe so.'

I think that this is as close to an admission of guilt by Kristol, that his infatuation with Palin, and fan like articles on her behalf, directly led to Donald Trump's campaign, that we are likely to get.

But in fact that is exactly how all of this went down.

Make no bones about it, without a Sarah Palin there would simply NOT be a President Trump.

And both Bill Kristol and John McCain are going to have to live with that for what remains of the rest of their lives.

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

So it appears that Todd Palin has a walk on role in a new sitcom.

So Jason Jones, formerly of the "Daily Show," has a new sitcom on TBS called "The Detour."

I have seen it, it sucks ass.

Which I guess makes it the perfect opportunity for Todd to emerge from the wilderness and make his first non-reality TV appearance.

Here's more courtesy of The Wrap: 

Although Alaska has a very distinct personality of its own and fits in perfectly with this season’s long story arc, it’s also a place Jones is familiar with. “I had been up to Alaska a fair amount when I was on ‘The Daily Show’ to cover a ‘certain governor,'” he grinned, referring to, of course, Sarah Palin. Jones spent 10 years as a correspondent working alongside his wife, Samantha Bee, on “The Daily Show” during the Jon Stewart era. By the end of 2015, he had 118 in-the-field segments to his name, a show record.

His character, Nate, has an opinion of Alaska that’s a tad different: “If you’re not born here, you’re certainly running from something,” Nate says in tonight’s episode. “It’s a place you go to disappear.” 

Huskies, moose, glaciers and the Iditarod aside, Jones couldn’t shoot an entire season set in Alaska without filming what the state is most noted for: the Palin family. Jones reached out to them, and they reached back — Sarah’s husband Todd even has a role in an upcoming episode. 

He plays the referee of a kids’ hockey game, who gets into a brawl with an intense coach, played by Jones. “He makes a bad call, and they end up fighting,” Jones said. “As we’re tussling, I threw in the line, ‘I’ve been to your house, Todd! You can’t see Russia!’ And then [Todd] threw back the line, ‘She never said that!'” 

Jones later asked Palin if he was cool with that adlib. Palin smiled and answered, “Yeah, you got your joke in.” 

“From what I hear,” Jones added, “[Sarah] thought it was funny.”

Of course she acted like she thought it was funny.

I think the Palins are just happy that somebody is paying attention to them other than the local police and the tabloids.

I will assume that this filming took place BEFORE Todd got his ass handed to him by Track last month.

Probably more this guy...

...than this guy.
So is this the potential launch of Todd's career as an actor in poorly written sitcoms?

Yeah I would not start counting those Emmys yet. 

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Jordan Loewe tells the Daily Mail that Sarah pressured her to stay mum about Track's abuse.

I was not going to post about this story twice on the same day, but this needs to be shared.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail:  

The college graduate said the Palins were upset with her for involving law enforcement.'I got the cold shoulder for calling the police and tarnishing their name,' Jordan said. 

'I was very particular about when I called the police and I didn't call them often. If I had called the police every time he pulled out a gun, then he would be in jail. 

'To his family, I was still kind of the bad guy for calling the police and blowing this up. The answer to them is, "we don't call the police because that's our reputation". 

'I don't really know what they believe but I definitely got some rude text messages, to say the least, about calling the police.' 

After that famous incident where Track kicked her and threatened to shoot himself, the Palins had this response about her calling the police:  

'I got a text to say I was disrespectful and not respecting their privacy; that I shouldn't have been drinking and I was blamed for that. 

'There was never any responsibility put on Track or what he did or what happened. 

'I think safety over reputation or a last name, that's pretty important. I still can't believe that they took priority over my life and Charlie's life. 

'I disappointed them by calling the police and asking for help because I thought I was going to die.' 

So to the Palins this young woman being murdered, or their son committing suicide, was preferable to bad publicity.

That is some seriously fucked up thinking right there.

Here was the bizarre rationalization that Sarah offered Jordan about Track's violent behavior:

Jordan said that she sat down for a heart-to-heart with the Palins a few weeks after Track attacked her. 

'Sarah said to me: "Track has always had an outlet for his violence. He's played hockey his whole life and it's applauded when you get in fights with people and that's how he can take it out. 

'"He would be on the ice and be aggressive and violent. People cheered him on for that. 

'"When he was an adult and stopping playing hockey, he immediately joined the military and that was his outlet for violence. They were proud of him for that just like they were in hockey. 

'"Since he's out of the military, he doesn't have that outlet anymore. So it's hard for him."' 

Jordan added: 'I was hoping she had an idea for somewhere to take his violence but clearly it was just having him take it out on those around him. 

'I remember her telling me, as if, 'This is the reason why you got hit but that's all I have for you.'' 

There is so much wrong there that I almost don't know where to start.

Look I was a very aggressive, and yes sometimes violent, teenager myself.

But my aggression was never directed at women, or those who were weaker than me.

My aggression diminished over time, and even more rapidly when I became a father. When I became a dad that just mellowed me right out.

There is NO excuse for Track at 28 years old to have remained so completely out of control.

And Jordan does not buy that PTSD excuse either:

Jordan said that he never completed the PTSD program and questioned whether Track's problems stemmed solely from the disorder. 

'Track told me he was clinically diagnosed before leaving Iraq with PTSD and that is a serious issue,' she said. 

'But there are other problems there. From what he has told me and what his family and friends have told me, this didn't come from the military. '

Track has had a history of violence from a young age. He got suspended for fighting in high school. This came from just deep-rooted mental health issues from childhood or adolescence that were never addressed or taken care of. 

'His mom likes to say "PTSD, he came back different". He did - he came back a lot worse. But it exacerbates the problem, like alcohol does. 

'I think part of the problem is that Track has never gotten in trouble for anything that he has done. He's attacked multiple people, he's pulled guns on multiple people and has never really gotten in trouble. I wasn't the first and I won't be the last. 

'If he's gotten away with this much so far – what could happen to him? Not only that, if he goes to jail, his family is going to pay for a lawyer, bail him out and there's never really been consequences. 

'All these people being quiet and trying to sweep this under the rug, whether it's his family or friends, that's the problem.' 

Bingo!

And haven't WE been saying that exact thing for years now? 

Track may have some rage issues that are part of his psychological make up, but those can be addressed and controlled through therapeutic interventions and medications.

I work with this population, I know.

But rather than get him the help he has needed since adolescence his parents simply swept the problems under the rug, and then used their money and influence to cover for him.

That tactic has helped to destroy Track's relationships, led to the abuse of family members, and almost got both Jordan and Todd killed.

Awesome job there Sarah.

If only you had listened to the IM community all of this could have been avoided.

Jordan Loewe's Daily Mail interview is a terrifying tale of abuse, and confirms much of what we suspected about Track Palin.

So yes Jordan gave a rather extensive interview to the Daily Mail which was published yesterday.

Here are some of the very troubling snippets: 

DailyMailTV has viewed records of the calls made to Jordan from a number registered to Track Palin. 

In one call from 2016, Track says: 'Obviously, if you're coming out here, and you're going to bring anybody else out here, then your person who you're going to bring out here is a hostile intent, and I'm going to treat him like a hostile intent I'm going to put him in the ground. I'm going to bury him.' 

Jordan told DailyMailTV: 'This is a violent person. This is a really dangerous, unstable person. I started recording him and saving every voicemail he left me.' 

The 24-year-old revealed the physical assaults, harassment and psychological torture she endured as her ex awaits trial for assaulting his father at the Palin family compound in Wasilla, Alaska last month. 

Jordan says that she was inspired to tell her story by the #MeToo movement, which for some reason really tickles me.

Jordan says that they started dating in 2015, and though there were some red flags, their relationship seemed relatively normal until Track took a contracting job in Iraq.

While he was gone Track became convinced that Jordan would cheat on him and called her constantly: 

'He was checking in at every location that I was at. He blamed it on being out of the country and I blamed it on that too, because he wasn't like that before.' 

As the long-distance relationship progressed, the phone calls and messages became relentless. 

'It was out of control. I think he had a lot of free time. He was stuck in a building with Wi-Fi and could blow up my phone with texts and calls. 

Jordan thought things would mellow out once he returned. They didn't.

'Track was very possessive about me and going out in public and being around my old group of friends,' Jordan said. 

'He was so threatened by my girlfriends, guy friends, my family, my brother - anybody. He didn't want me around them. 

'He tried to make everybody in my life out to be a bad person and would find any flaws they had as people and make them well known to me.' 

Jordan claims that Track did not seem to drink that much, but when he did he was violent and abusive.

He would sometimes use Bible verses to convince her that he would change. (Who does that sound like?)

Then came the night of the attack in 2016:

'He wanted to see who the text was from but I wouldn't show him my phone. We were in his car and at this point, I was ready to leave,' she said. 

'I wanted to get in my in car and go home. He was trying to get my phone out of my hand and I was very adamant that he was not getting it. 

'I wouldn't give him my phone and he pushed me on the ground. I was laying and he was on top of me, and still just trying to pull it out of my hands and was hitting me in the face, telling me to let go, let go, just give it to me. 

'I wouldn't give it to him so he started kicking me and kneeing me and finally got it out of my hands and threw it across the driveway [of the Palin family home]. 

'I found my phone and the screen was cracked but I tried to call 911 and it wasn't working. I wanted to get out of there and go hide but he had my keys so I couldn't leave.' 

Jordan eventually managed to make it into the house to hide under Trig's bed, but not before Track put the barrel of  his mother's pink AR 15 in his mouth and threatened to kill himself.

Yes, this AR-15. The one that Ted Nugent gave Palin because, you know, the more guns you have, the safer you are.

After that night, the night Track was arrested, Jordan found out she was pregnant.

Unbelievably she decided to make another go at the relationship. (Because doesn't every young child deserve to have a dangerous, out of control parent in their life?)

Jordan claims that Todd and his friends took all of Track's guns out of his house after the assault, but that Track is never without a gun.

He's a gun fanatic. They are hidden in different places - his car, hunting bag, garage, bedside table, storage unit. 

'You can take away the guns that you see but he knows where other guns are hidden. 

'Even after there were no guns - there were still guns. He has friends who would bring him a gun or would buy him a gun. 

'There will never be a day that Track doesn't have access to a gun if he's not in jail.

'Jordan said that Track often carried a gun with him and in particular when he was around strangers. 

'It was a regular thing that when he was yelling and mad, he had a gun in his hand. 

'After a while it didn't even faze me. Looking back that's so crazy. He never pointed a gun at me but he has had a gun in his hand, telling me he was going to kill me. He has put a gun to his head and in his mouth multiple times.'

Track's abuse continued through the pregnancy, and eve after little Charlie was born.

This was Track's response to seeing Jordan get dressed up for work:

'He started screaming, "There's no way, who are you working with? Did someone get hired at your work? What did you do after work? What time did you leave work? Where did you go when you left work?" 

'Charlie was now awake and screaming. I said I'm going to leave, I'm not doing this. 

'He shoves me back down and tells me I'm not leaving. This is while I'm holding Charlie who is 8lb, he was really little. I was really scared because this is the first time he had pushed me while I'm holding Charlie. 

'I stand up and dart for the door and he grabs me by the shoulders. He tells me I'm not leaving, I live here now and I need to grow up. 

'He shoved me onto the floor and I didn't want to let a single hand off of Charlie, so I couldn't catch myself or anything, and I fall to the floor with Charlie in my arms.

'I run to my car and set Charlie in the carrier and lock all the doors. I'm hiding in the backseat with him trying to get Track away from us. He's banging on the windows and throwing rocks at the car. 

'I buckle Charlie in, climb into the front seat, start my car and go down the driveway. It was a gravel driveway so he's picking up handfuls of rocks and throwing them at my car. 

Track chased her down in his truck and tried to run her, and the baby, off the road.

Track also dared her to call the police so that she "could read give our son one more embarrassing headline to read when he grows up."

So she didn't call the police that day, but she did leave him. 

Jordan also says that Track never attended any of the counseling sessions he was court ordered to attend, including the ones he was supposed to complete in order to have joint custody of his son.

The Daily Mail post includes audio of some of Track's harassing phone calls, and they are the stuff of nightmares.

Essentially Jordan's story confirms just about every single thing we have been saying about Track for the last eight or nine years.

He is a violent, out of control sociopath, whose family has covered for him, and enabled him at every turn.

And it took Track almost killing his dad, to finally get them to stop letting him skate by.

Friday, January 12, 2018

The good news, Wal-Mart is giving out $1,000 bonuses to some employees and raising their minimum wage to $11.00. The bad news, they are closing 63 of their Sam's Club stores, including all of those in Alaska.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Walmart has announced that it will lay off thousands of workers across the country as it closes dozens of Sam's Club locations. 

The announcement comes on the same day the retail giant announced it was raising its starting minimum wage for new employees to $11 an hour. 

The company told Business Insider that 63 Sam's Club stores will close. 

Some locations reportedly stopped business suddenly on Thursday without giving advance warning to employees.

Along with the higher minimum wage, Walmart announced earlier Thursday that it would expand parental leave and give some employees one-time bonuses of up to $1,000 following the passage of the GOP tax overhaul.

Well that last part's nice, you know for those Wal-Mart employees who managed to keep their jobs.

Ironically the announcement about the store closings only happened after Paul Ryan made these remarks:  

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised Walmart's gesture to raise its employees' wages on Thursday, calling the tax bill a major help to middle-income families. 

"Today marks 20 days since the Tax Cut and Jobs Act became the law of the land," Ryan said. "Already, this new law is helping to improve the lives of middle-income families across the country. You saw the announcement from Walmart just this morning: more than a million Americans are due to receive their bonuses because of tax reform."

You know if this weren't so damn pathetic it would almost be funny.

I first learned about this when I received a text yesterday informing me that all of the Alaska Sam's Club locations had suddenly locked their doors.

Courtesy of KTVA: 

All Sam’s Club locations in Alaska are closing, as part of an unannounced nationwide rollback of the Walmart-owned wholesale club’s stores. 

KTVA viewer Joe Gerace, owner of the Chevron gas station outside the Dimond Fred Meyer, said he visited an Anchorage Sam’s Club location for before-hours business shopping Thursday and found security officers turning customers away at the door.

Now personally I'm a Costco shopper so this does not directly affect me, but it does mean that suddenly there are a bunch of unemployed Alaskans looking for new jobs.

Monday, January 08, 2018

Track Palin plead not guilty today, by phone.

Courtesy of the WaPo:

Sarah Palin’s oldest son pleaded not guilty Monday to a felony charge in the case accusing him of assaulting his father at the family’s Alaska home last month. 

Track Palin’s lawyer entered the plea to a burglary charge on his behalf at his arraignment. The 28-year-old did not attend the hearing in person, but participated by phone. His parents also did not attend. 

During the brief proceeding, Palin said only, “Yes, ma’am,” when the judge asked if he was on the telephone line.

I think this one burglary charge is kind of a stretch, because I don't think that Track took anything, except for Todd Palin's pride of course.

Breaking and entering would seem like a reasonable charge, as does the assault, but I am not sure that burglary will fly.

By the way Dennis Zaki and I had planned to drive out to Palmer for this hearing today, but we learned that a number of media outlets were planing to cover the trial and realized that Track was too much of a pansy to face them by showing up in person.

And that of course also meant that Todd and Sarah would certainly not make an appearance either, so why waste our time?

Track also has a pretrial court date on February 2nd, and his actual trial is scheduled for February 26th.

I do think he has to definitely show up in person to that last one.

P.S. By the way Track is now using Dakota Meyer's old attorney, Kimberlee Colbo, in his battle with Jordan Loewe over her attempts to change the child custody arrangement.

My question is who the hell is paying THOSE attorney fees?

Saturday, January 06, 2018

If you are planning to come to Alaska in the winter, you might want to pack your shorts.

Courtesy of USA Today: 

If you want to escape the cold, should you head to ... Alaska? 

While most of the lower 48 states continue to endure a hideous deep freeze, Alaska has had an unusually warm start to winter. 

In fact, several locations in northern and central Alaska — such as Utqiaġvik (Barrow), Bettles, Kotzebue and McGrath — all had their warmest December on record, according to climatologist Brian Brettschneider. Fairbanks had its 2nd-warmest December. Over the first three weeks of the month, the city was a whopping 20 degrees above average. 

And midday Tuesday, at 48 degrees, Anchorage's Merrill Field Airport was warmer than almost the entire Lower 48 states, including cities such as Jacksonville, Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans. 

Anchorage had its fifth-warmest December: an average temperature more than 7 degrees above average.

Alaska wasn't just warm in December: Utqiaġvik (Barrow) had its second-warmest year on record. In fact, the tiny city on the state's north coast warmed so fast in 2017, the weather data from the city were automatically flagged as unreal and removed from the climate database, the Capital Weather Gang said. 

The weather up here is warming so rapidly that the permafrost is melting and whole towns are in danger of collapsing.

In Anchorage, where I live, I have only had to shovel my driveway about four times this winter and honestly the snow was so minimal that I probably could have skipped one of those.

Typically I would have shoveled more than a dozen times by now, and have snowdrifts five feet high along my driveway.

The other day somebody asked me if this was how winters usually are up here, and I replied with "They are now."

I don't know what this means long term, but we could see a say when people flock to Alaska to escape the freezing temperatures in the lower 48.

Won't that be a kick in the ass?

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Apparently her engagement did not prove a big enough of a distraction so Willow Palin takes to social media to defend her out of control brother.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

The 23-year-old hairdresser took to social media and blasted her brother's critics on Friday, saying: ' I swear the second people decide to post a rude comment about someone else's family ... all of the sudden they come from a family full of frickin saints who have done no wrong.' 

She also took aim at one woman in particular who wrote: 'Well at least her brother didn't kick the s*** out of the fiance. By the way is Willow knocked up yet? You know, like following in her sister's footsteps.' 

Willow responded by mocking the woman,saying: 'Still wanting to be young and hip trying to keep up with her daughter. Twice divorced. Spends majority of her time trolling Instagram. Takes enjoyment out of her sad life to make unnecessary comments that doesn't get her anywhere.' 

She also commented: 'Bout to lose my shiete and call all these cowards out.' 

It appears that Willow is having some trouble spelling "shit."

Here let me help.

It's P-A-L-I-N.

Well, at least that's how Alaskans spell it now. 

First let me just say that I was perfectly willing to leave Willow out of all of this.

As I have said a number of times in the past, she is my favorite Palin.

However.....I guess she wants to be involved, so now she is involved.

For one thing the idea that she is calling somebody else out for trying to be young and hip, when her mother dresses like this...

...is laugh out loud funny.

Secondly Willow needs to remember that the only reason that anybody gives two shits about any of this is because he mother trotted the whole family out on that 2008 RNC stage and tried to pass them off as the All American, Norman Rockwell, Frontier Family.

If she had not attempted to thrust her dysfunctional, inbred family onto the American people like that then all of this would only concern the immediate family, and the people of Wasilla standing behind their doors with the rifle barrels placed against the peephole waiting for Track Palin to come for one of them.

Thirdly I understand that Willow might be a little upset that she was forced to prematurely announce her engagement to Jethro Bodine's dumber cousin, but she should not take it out on the folks making comments on social media.

She should take it out on her parents.

After all, aren't they really the source for all of these problems?

Friday, December 22, 2017

Track Palin's bail paid by friend, so he can return to his now gun free house while wearing an ankle monitor. Update!

Courtesy of ADN:  

Palin, 28 and the oldest son of the former Alaska governor, was approved for house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor by a Palmer judge on Wednesday afternoon. 

He had been jailed on $5,000 bail and release to a third-party until then. Magistrate Judge Tara Logsdon signed off on the change. 

Big Lake resident Kaleb Westfall posted Palin's bail Thursday with $5,000 cash, according to a receipt in the court file with Palin's charges. 

If Palin doesn't comply with his conditions, the state gets the money. 

Under Logsdon's order, Palin can live alone at his Wasilla home. But he is under 24-hour supervision by Alaska Pretrial Services with an ankle monitor and a facial recognition device that tests for alcohol. 

The private company is also charged with clearing Palin's home of weapons and pills. 

Company owner Dennis Johnson said late Wednesday morning "that's being conducted as we're speaking." 

Palin can leave the house only for specific reasons: work at a Palmer drilling company; medical visits; and legal or court visits. He can drive himself.

So that is proof that Track's family would have left him to rot in jail rather than pay for his bail themselves.

According to Radar Online Palin taped Track's attack on Todd:

Multiple sources told Radar that the former vice presidential candidate recorded the terrifying incident because she “wanted to be prepared” for any potential legal action.

“They knew he was coming, and were ready,” a family insider told Radar. “They wanted to be prepared for anything.” 

Local police refused to comment on the existence of a video recording of the incident, but a source told Radar that if cops do have the tape, they cannot release it to the public for months. 

They knew he was coming and yet they did not call the cops until he already started beating on Todd?

Good planning.

And yer even with all of this going on apparently Sarah still wants to visit Track and bring both Piper and little Trig to see him as well.

I am not sure that is a wise idea at this point, especially as he starts going through withdrawals due to no access to alcohol or drugs.

That could be quite terrifying for both Trig and Piper.

I also hope that somebody is on suicide watch right now.

Track just lost everything, and the drugs he takes to cope with his demons, that leaves him especially vulnerable to truly bad decisions, and the idea of taking his own life to punish his family is sure to be one of them.

Update: Jordan Loewe gives interview to the Daily Mail:

Loewe, however, told DailyMailTV that Track's parents had not always been in favor of involving authorities. 

'He's told me he was going to kill me and his parents knew that,' she said. 

'They didn't want me to call the police. They know, there's no doubt about it. I think they wish they didn't know but they know. 

'I did stay quiet each time, I never spoke about anything before this. I wanted to respect their privacy and mine and I just didn't think the world needed to know. 

'But I'm at the point that keeping quiet didn't do anything and he's hurt more people, so it's time to speak up.' 

Loewe said that she was angered by the court's decision to allow him to be released on a low bail. 

She said: 'I think he has a lot of issues – not just instability but a lot of mental health issues that have never been addressed. I think there's a bit of PTSD there but that's not the main problem. There's a lot of problems and that maybe just adds to it. It's the same with alcohol, it exacerbates it.' 

Jordan said she was unaware if Track, a veteran who served in the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, in Iraq, was using drugs. 

'When I was with him, he was sober for year at that time and there was still a lot of violence problems,' she said. The issues are there, with or without substance abuse. He doesn't think have a problem so much as anyone wants to help him – you can't help yourself.' 

So Jordan was getting constant death threats from Track and his parents dissuaded her from calling the police? Apparently they were willing to risk her life, rather than force their son to get help.

Yeah, a little counseling is NOT going to turn any of this around.

Track either accepts being in therapy for the long hall, or he is going to kill somebody. 

Period.