Donald Trump's nominee for Education Secretary cites grizzly bears as reason for guns in schools.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump's education secretary nominee, said it should be up to states whether guns are allowed in schools, citing grizzly bear protection as part of her answer. 

She also said she would support Trump if he moved to ban gun-free schools zones, a position he advocated on the campaign trail. 

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who represents Sandy Hook, the site of the 2012 school shooting, asked DeVos if she believes guns have "any place in and around schools." 

"I think that is best left to locales and states to decide," she said. 

After Murphy pushed DeVos about why she can't say definitively whether they belong, DeVos brought up a story Sen. Mike Enzi told earlier about a school in Wyoming that has fences around it to protect against grizzly bears. 

"I will refer back to Sen. Enzi and the school he is talking about in Wyoming. I think probably there, I would imagine there is probably a gun in a school to protect from potential grizzlies," she said. 

The comment drew some laughs in the room.

I actually watched this live as it happened, and even tweeted about it.

Went to school in Alaska. Never once had grizzly bear show up in classroom. https://t.co/aJwkE2SFu4

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) January 18, 2017

I kind of forgot about the exchange until I saw it show up again last night and thought it needed to be shared here on IM.

First off I am sure that all of you know that I consider the idea of guns in public schools to be just about the dumbest idea imaginable.

Having said that I thought I should share that I actually worked at a school where a grizzly bear once ambled onto the playground.

We had moose show up with some frequency but this was our first bear.

In case you are wondering the protocol was to bring the children into the school, no running, and to then notify the authorities that there was a bear in the area.

No shots were fired, because we are Alaskans and we know that is an ignorant overreaction.

We actually went back out later in the day as if nothing had happened, and the bear never made a return visit again.

Simply put there is NEVER a good reason for guns to be in a public school setting, and no not even if a grizzly bear shows up.

P.S. By the way this was only one of the pathetic answers provided by DeVos, you can see many more by clicking here.

Wild Alaska Grizzly Bear suffers heart attack and dies while running uphill, all caught on camera.

I have to say that during my many years in Alaska I have heard some very wild bear stories, but this one may be the strangest.  And the fact that it was caught on camera simply makes this almost too bizarre to believe.

There is a lot of talking at the beginning but the action starts around the 1:17 mark.

This is in Kodiak, Alaska for those who are curious.

Sarah Palin's ferocious, and possibly rabid, birthday cake.

Apparently this is the cake that SOMEBODY made for the Grizzled Mama for her birthday tomorrow.

In case you can't read it the writing says "Happy Birthday Gov. Sarah Palin Mama Grizzly Extraordinaire."

Well if this does not call for a caption contest I don't know what would.

Have fun!

P.S. Here is the original Tweet with the picture.

Occasionally Alaska reminds you of why it is called the "Last Frontier." And it uses bears to do so.

Courtesy of the Newsminer:

The teenage outdoor education students, having progressed to the point of being on their own in the vast Alaska wilderness, were lined up single file for a river crossing when the grizzly burst with fury into the front of the line, badly mauling two in the group and injuring two more.

Those in the front screamed of the bear's presence. The bear was with her cub when she attacked, according to Alaska State Troopers.

The teens were in a group of seven participating in a 30-day backcountry course conducted by the National Outdoor Leadership School when the attack occurred Saturday night in the Talkeetna Mountains north of Anchorage. They were rescued early Sunday after activating their emergency locator beacon and tending to their most seriously wounded.

Those in the back of the line heard the warning, with the two at the front of the line taking the brunt of the attack, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Another group of seven students and three instructors was waiting about six miles away for a helicopter hired by the Lander, Wyo.-based NOLS, said Bruce Palmer, a spokesman for the organization, which leads many such excursions in Alaska and elsewhere.

Palmer said the worst injured with bear bite wounds are 17-year-old Joshua Berg of New City, N.Y., and 17-year-old Samuel Gottsegen of Denver. They were being treated at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. Hospital spokeswoman Crystal Bailey said both are listed in serious condition after troopers earlier said the injuries were life-threatening.

When the bear broke off the attack, the teens activated a personal locator beacon they carried to be used only for an emergency, Peters said.

The Rescue Coordination Center operated by the Alaska Air National Guard called troopers around 9:30 p.m. to report the activated signal. A trooper and pilot in a helicopter located the students in a tent shortly before 3 a.m., but decided the two most seriously injured would need a medical transport aircraft with a medically trained crew.

There are basic rules that Alaskans learn to follow when going into areas that have bears:

• Make lots of noise to give plenty of warning of your approach. I don't see how seven teenagers stomping through the woods could NOT have made a tremendous amount of noise,
• Avoid deep brush so as not to surprise or crowd the bear. These young men were crossing a river, which you would imagine would provide a plenty of visibility to allow both the bear and the teens to see each other and take evasive measures.
• There is safety in numbers.  Seven is a fairly substantial group, but in this case not substantial enough.
•  Bears are unpredictable, especially mothers with their cubs. I believe that THIS last guideline made the others superfluous.

These unfortunate young men came upon perhaps the single most dangerous situation one could encounter in the wilds of Alaska, and that is a bear with cubs to protect.

From the description of the incident one would assume the bear had plenty of time to take her cub and flee the scene, but for some reason chose to attack instead. Even though it sounds like the teens were doing everything right.


Calling out to alert bears of human presence and give nearby animals a chance to flee is among the skills learned in the course.

"The students say they were" doing that, Palmer said.

I sometimes get a little attitude from the friends and family that I take out on hikes in the wooded areas round the city, for being overly cautious about wearing layers, bringing liquids, making lots of noise, and keeping to the paths while hiking in areas with limited visibility. But I always remind them that even only minutes away from our homes we are STILL deep in Alaska, and that Alaska is not aware that it has been civilized.


We have had quite a number of attacks in and around Anchorage, but you always tell yourself that if you follow the bear safety rules you should be okay. I think this incident with these young men is a reminder that even doing everything right, ultimately offers only minimal protection in a place as wild and unpredictable as Alaska.

It has not even aired yet but already "Sarah Palin's Alaska" is potentially damaging Alaska tourism and putting both humans and the wildlife in jeopardy.

From the Guardian:

John Toppenberg, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, said scenes in an online trailer for the programme appeared to show the former Republican vice-presidential candidate breaking the rules of Wolverine Creek, a famous spot where bears – and humans – come to fish. "It's clear from the video that she violated the guidelines," he said, calling her actions "a travesty".

In a preview of Sarah Palin's Alaska, a part nature documentary, part candid camera of the daily life of one of America's most controversial political families, the former state governor is seen fishing for salmon with husband Todd and family members. She can be seen apparently holding her rod towards brown bears on the river bank, while the party's boat appears to be closer to the bears than guidelines advise. The Alaska department of fish and game says people in a boat must not fish within 30ft of a bear. "It's clearly irresponsible," said Toppenberg. "She is encouraging the violation of important guidelines. Humans can get too close to the bears."

The irony of a right-wing conservative, who boasts of hunting moose and shooting wolves while campaigning for more oil drilling in Alaska, transforming herself into a nature fan for primetime has not been lost on environmentalists.

Large brown bears gather in Wolverine Creek because the fishing is so easy and the animals have, in the process, become a tourist spectacle. But Toppenberg warned that by behaving in an apparently irreverent manner, Palin was doing nothing to foster responsibility among visitors. "She is encouraging the violation of important guidelines that allows tourism to flourish in Alaska. She is inviting future problems with the tourism industry and, in particular, the bear-viewing industry," he said.

This may seem like a minor infraction to people living outside of Alaska, but up here we take the guidelines about the proper way to behave around bears very seriously.

Remember millions of people will be watching this ridiculous program and assuming that the ex-Governor of the state, and a person who self identifies as a "Mama Grizzly", would know the proper way to behave around these potentially dangerous animals.  If even a dozen or more people from the lower forty-eight come up here believing they can interact with the animals in the way that Palin does on television, we could have some very, very dead tourists.

We have seen just how deadly the failure to give these animals proper respect has been to even those who believe they know better. 

Even when people know what to do the animals can be extremely aggressive and unpredictable.



And even those of us who feel relatively safe from bear attacks living in Anchorage have had some very rude awakenings in the last few years.

As an Alaskan I have been stunned, and horrified, at how Palin is misrepresenting our state and how to behave in the wilderness.  From standing up in a boat that might have to beat a hasty retreat, to approaching feeding bears, to the proper way to handle a firearm, the show is one giant steaming pile of mooseshit.

As our Governor, and then as a VP candidate, Sarah Palin has been embarrassing Alaskans, and forcing us to correct misinformation, for almost three years now.  Sadly it looks like she has no plans to stop anytime soon.  I just hope that the foolish example she is setting does not get anybody killed.

New SarahPAC advertisement is so lame that by the end it makes a bear scream in agony.

You know as I watched this I kept wondering what happened to Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman, Sharron Angle, Christine O'Donnell, and even fellow Alaskan Joe Miller?  Why didn't they make the cut and also end up in this video? Because THEY disappointed their Queen that's why!

For them there is no "morning in America" because THEY are losers, and Palin does NOT want to be associated with losers.

She wants to be associated with Ronald Reagan, a grizzly bear passing a kidney stone, and lots, and lots, and lots of American flags. In other words she wants to be associated with a corpse, a vicious killing machine, and merchandise made in China.

If that doesn't just scream "qualified to be President" than by God I don't know what does!

Alaska, where the only thing wilder than our Grizzly Bears, is our politics.

While I have been distracted by a dabbler in witchcraft in Delaware, a Palin booty shaker in LA, and my favorite comedy duo's rally sized smack down of the Beckerheads, apparently there have been some earth shattering developments in our local politics. (And no I am NOT talking about that earthquake yesterday.)

Sarah Palin's "butt boy" gets Teabagged by farm subsidies.

So last week Alaska blogger extraordinaire AkMuckraker discovered that Joe "Federal dollars are destroying Alaska" Miller might just have taken a little taste from the federal teat himself in the form of farm subsidies. 

"What?"  You are undoubtedly saying. "A politician endorsed by Sarah Palin might be a hypocrite?  How can such a thing be possible?"  I know, right?

But don't worry because Joe "the antler collector" Miller's people TOTALLY said "nuh-uh" and claimed that it was a smear by a liberal doody-head who runs a communist, socialist style blog that makes stuff up. Here is the exact quote:

"This is a manufactured story from a Democratic blog. Joe has owned land near Delta Junction since 1999, but the land is not under production, and he's received no federal farm subsidies for it." (Obviously as you can see the "doody head" part was IMPLIED.)

But wait! Butt boy did not receive "federal farm subsidies for IT." Does "IT" mean there might be other parcels of land for which he MIGHT have received some of that sweet, sweet federal money? 

Alaska Dispatch wondered that too.

After Alaska Dispatch received Miller's farm subsidy records under the Freedom of Information Act and told the Miller campaign about them on Monday, Miller's staff confirmed he received federal payments for 140 acres of cropland he owned in Kansas between 1990 and 1998.

"Like the vast majority of farmers in that region, Joe received payment from the USDA in exchange for managing his crops according to government standards," said campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto in an e-mail Monday night.

Aha! Well that just about destroys my faith in anti-government wingnuts who want to give back federal dollars and tax Alaska residents into the poor house to make up for their loss to our economy. (That really IS the only way this works you know.)  The only thing that could disappoint me more about the Teabaggers was if they campaigned for Miller while traveling around Alaska in a luxury yacht.

Seriously?  I supposed next you will tell me that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny aren't real either!

Shit!  Okay what's next?

Lisa Murkwski's Write-In campaign may spell disaster for the candidate. 

As you probably know Lisa Murkowski's entire hope of winning this three way Senate race hangs on the ability of Alaskan's (many from rural villages with a less than stellar success rate for educating their inhabitants) to spell her name correctly. 

But Lisa is confident that people have seen her name around long enough that they should be able to spell it with no trouble.

Sadly the same cannot be said for her own campaign staff. 

Personally I do not believe all is lost.  All that Lisa has to do is change her name to "None of the above" before November and she should be a shoo in.

Tanks, but NO tanks.

Yesterday there was a gubernatorial debate between Ethan "I am going to keep running for something until I win" Berkowitz, Sean "Sarah Palin quit and all I got was this stupid job" Parnell, and some other guy whose name I don't even care enough about to type out.

(I was totally going to watch this debate, but then I got distracted by watching some paint drying on my living room wall.)

However the joke is on me because apparently Berkowitz did what until now nobody thought was possible.  He got Sean "listening to my speeches even puts ME to sleep" Parnell to show an emotion. No really!  An actual, human like emotion.  Here read it for yourself.

Now it was Berkowitz' turn to ask Parnell a question. He pulled a white propane tank from behind his chair, barbecue grill size, with an "Ethan Berkowitz for Governor" campaign sticker plastered on the front, and hefted it onto the speakers' table. "This is the only natural gas that's been brought down from the North Slope, and we had to do it ourselves," he said (watch for the new TV spot coming tomorrow), calling the governor out on what little has been done to to bring Alaska gas to market.


A somewhat red-faced Parnell angrily stood up and lugged the tank off the table, dumping it on the floor behind him before touting his efforts toward a gas line and helping encourage more Cook Inlet natural gas production.

Did you read that? "A somewhat red faced Parnell."  That could be actual anger.  Or embarrassment. Or I guess that tank might have been really heavy.  But anyhow it completely dispels the rumor that Parnell is in actuality a barely animated clothing store mannequin.

However I must caution Ethan on attempting any more antics designed to get under Parnell's skin.  After all Alaska IS still a predominantly red state, and if voters begin to believe that Parnell actually has a pulse he might just win this thing.

Palin endorses another "mama grizzly". This one, Star Parker, is an ex-welfare "mama grizzly" who has had four abortions and once attempted to sue the White House.

Here is the endorsement from the Star Parker for Congress website:

"I'm proud to endorse Star Parker for California's 37th Congressional District. Star has an incredible story and a passionate commitment to her community and our great nation. Rising up from being a single mom on welfare, Star worked hard to build a non-profit network that seeks to reduce poverty and create a brighter future for America by promoting free market solutions and personal responsibility.

"There is no doubt that she will bring a new level of enthusiasm and energy to Washington for American values, limited government, and economic growth. She's a dynamic leader who is committed to building a more prosperous environment for the families in her district and ushering in positive change. Please join me in supporting Star and her message of hope, opportunity, and self-reliance."

Even though Star Parker is African American, and we all know how much difficulty Palin has with the black community, she is definitely wing nutty enough to earn a Sarah Palin endorsement.

For one thing she once attempted to sue the White House because in order to learn what kind of misinformation about the health care bill was being disseminated, and by who, they asked the American people to send that information to them.  Oooh bad White House for trying to learn who was lying about your intentions, bad!

And not only does she not support abortion (Hey she got hers, screw you other people!), but she also does not believe in gay marriage, birth control, or even EVOLUTION!



So like I said, skin color aside, she is a perfect candidate to receive the "Sarah Palin mama grizzly seal of approval!"

If you are thinking to yourself right now, "Where have I heard Star Parker and Sarah Palin mentioned together before?" You are probably remembering the incident way back in August 2009 when Sarah, who had been completely off the radar since her sudden resignation, was supposed to make her triumphant return to the spotlight and join Ms. Parker in an event at Changepoint church in Anchorage.  Unfortunately for Ms. Parker Palin blew it off, just like three other previously scheduled appearances, because...well because her plastic surgery had not quite healed yet actually.

Do you know what our city has that your city does not have? Grizzly bears, that's what! Jealous?

Anchorage residents love their creeks, their salmon and their bears, until they start to run a little too wild.The bears, in particular, ran wild this summer.

Three people were mauled by grizzlies. A handful more were chased. One bear was shot because she and her cubs had become habitual threats to humans, a whole bunch of whom were so frightened they abandoned Far North Bicentennial Park.

The Anchorage Waterways Council on Friday night pulled together some experts on bears, fish and creeks, to discuss what to do.

"Obviously, bears have been a hot topic, a highly contentious topic," said Sean Farley, a bear researcher with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "We have some social decisions that need to be made."

The problem, as speakers quickly made clear to the standing-room-only crowd, is that those social decisions are tangled up in some sort of Gordian knot.

Almost everyone, and most especially the Waterways Council, wants to see Anchorage creeks filled with salmon. Along with being a sign that the creeks are healthy, the salmon, as Council executive director Holly Kent pointed out, nourish ecosystems with marine nutrients.
All kinds of critters benefit.

Unfortunately, grizzly bears - which can be a threat to humans - are among those critters. Anchorage each summer hosts close to a couple dozen, if not more.

"They're not really a wilderness species like we once thought," Farley said; they are simply a hungry species.

Anchorage is uncharted territory here. There are no other major cities dealing with grizzly bears regularly roaming popular trails so close to so many people.

"Anchorage, as far as I can tell, is a unique city in this regard," Farley said.

I know this may seem a little off topic for this blog, but the Grizzly bear issue last summer essentially pushed every other issue in Anchorage to the back of our minds. It was that bad.

For the first time in ten years I did not go to my favorite hiking trials, and kept the kids close to the house or in the house at all times.

Like many residents of Anchorage I live right on the edge of a wilderness area and there have always been numerous bear sightings all around my house.

I was born in Anchorage, and have always been very aware that we share our city with a virtual menagerie of exotic creatures, but the Grizzly situation has never been as dire as it was last year. Most encounters are peaceful, with a few hikers or bikers receiving a bluff charge by a sow now and then and that being about the most frightening interaction. But last year there were three maulings in and around the Anchorage area.

As much as I love living in such a beautiful untamed area, I also do not relish being a prisoner in my own house. And if the bear situation continues to worsen then that may be exactly how many people in the city will feel.

I also do not relish the idea of more bear hunting close to my city. (We have enough domestic shootings already.) However I agree that something absolutely must be done.

Summer will be here soon and I understand that weather experts predict a very nice one indeed. I am planning to hit the trails and I don't want to have to worry about serving as a chew toy for an 800 pound carnivore. I am sorry if that sounds selfish, but I prefer my ass cheeks "un-chewed".