Wasilla resident's awesome response to Senator Inhofe's snowball argument against climate change.

I have little doubt that most of you remember James Inhofe's ridiculous argument against climate change last week.

Well one of our Wasilla residents (No not THAT one.) has written a rather eloquent, and factual response.

I have met Bill Hess, in fact until a few years ago he was a fellow Alaskan blogger.

He is a good guy, and he, of course, knows what he is talking about when it comes to how climate change has effected those of us in what used to be the frozen north.

(H/T to Democratic Underground.)

So I guess the ceremonial start of the Iron Dog took place in Anchorage yesterday. Ho hum.

The Iron Doggystyle expert posted this on her Facebook page yesterday:

 In downtown Anchorage today for the ceremonial kick-off of the world's longest, toughest snowmachine race – the Iron Dog! Tomorrow is the official start where tough teams comprised of two racers on individual sleds that they've spent months wrenching on speed across Alaska through unbelievable conditions, upwards of 100 mph wide open to the elements! Racers brave blizzards in pitch blackness atop frozen rivers to do their barehanded repairs of shocks, tracks, engines or anything else that gets thrashed during this crazy-tough endurance competition; they skip open Arctic waters between Native villages; they dodge wild animals throughout the 2030-mile extreme adventure that ends next Sunday in Fairbanks. These athletes live life vibrantly – and girly men don't race the Iron Dog. We're pulling for Team 11 (this is Todd's 22nd Iron Dog!) but wishing every team a safe, unforgettable, rewarding week.

"Girly men don't race Iron Dog."

That I guess that is supposed to be an insult to women. However Snowdrift Snooki seems to forget that Susan Butcher won the Iditarod, a race infinitely more difficult than the Iron Dog, four times.

And as the Alaska Dispatch noted the crowd for this race was only a fraction of the size that shows up to cheer on the dogsleds at the start of the Iditarod.  (Otherwise known as The Last Great Race.)

Interestingly enough this is turning out to be one of the worst years for the Iron Dog on record.

This from the Iron Dog website:

The Iron Dog trail between Rohn and Nikolai will be challenging for pro class racers as they hit the trail Sunday, according to trail class riders who arrived in McGrath Saturday evening. “It’s 90 miles of just tussocks and zero snow,” said Charles Preston of trail class Team 80. “So you can go about a half a mile before you overheat, and stop, wait for a half-hour. It’s miserable,” he said.

Yeah that sounds exciting.

By the way none of the local news outlets that even bothered to cover the start of this race mentioned a word about Todd Palin.

Apparently the only place he is still considered a legend is over at the Sea O'Pee, SarahPAC, and in his own mind.

The Iron Dog is coming to Anchorage.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

The Iron Dog is roaring into Anchorage. 

After months of speculation about a move to the big city, the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday night approved a resolution in support of establishing a ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage beginning with this winter's race. After the Feb. 20 ceremonial start, the 2,031-mile snowmachine race will start for real the next day on Big Lake. 

In a press release issued Tuesday, Iron Dog executive director Kevin Kastner said the plan to bring the race to Anchorage has been in the works since 2010. 

“With the addition of Anchorage, I believe we are making a great contribution to a refreshed legacy of winter tourism and starting a new chapter for motorsports and snowmachining advocacy,” Kastner said.

Of course much like the Iditarod, which has its ceremonial start in Anchorage and then starts for real in Willow, this Iron Dog race start is just for the cameras. 

And you know what cameras mean.

Which I will assume means that police will be on high alert in case one of the Palins wants to start another drunken brawl, like they did during their last family trip to my hometown.

And of course having it here means I will have no good excuse not to drive downtown to see the start of the race so that I can report back to all of you concerning any drama that might take place.

I highly doubt I will have any Sarah Palin sightings however, as it is well known how she usually views the start of the race.

Buck up or stay in the truck, that's my motto.

For those who are wondering I really do not expect to see Levi entering this race this time around.

I have not heard anything officially, but when Levi first discussed the possibility back in March, he undoubtedly believed that his custody case would be over with by now. However such is not the case, and with attorney fees piling up Levi really does not have the kind of  money he needs to participate.

That's too bad really, because if both the Palins AND the Johnstons were to show up at the same race I would DEFINITELY make it a priority to be there.

Get your popcorn kids, it is Todd Palin's long awaited debut as the host of the Sportsman Channel's "Iditarod Unleashed!"

That was it? Okay was anybody actually able to make out what mush mouth was even saying?

I have had more intelligible conversations with falling down drunks when I worked as a bouncer.

What a sad fate for a man who once held a real job, provided for his family, and had some small bit of infamy as the husband of the first female governor in Alaska history.

And now he is nothing more than a glorified purse carrier, who gets paraded around during her public appearances, and gets tossed a on-air gig or two to funnel some cash his way.

Somebody decides to interview Todd Palin about the table scrap his wife threw his way, narrating the Sportsman Channel's Iditarod coverage.

Look this is the job I got for you, so stop bitching and just do it!

This is from Breitbart so don't feel obligated to click the link if you don't want to.

I will provide all of Todd's girly voiced quotes here:

Palin is usually a behind-the-scenes guy. The supportive spouse. But he felt compelled to get the word out about the Iditarod. "I'll do whatever I can to promote this great race," Palin told Breitbart Sports. "I know some of the mushers and I know how much work it is to take part in it." (There are mushers living in Wasilla, and it is conceivable that Todd knows some of them, but I seriously doubt he knows muhc about the work that goes into their races.)

While not a camera hog by any stretch of the imagination, Palin enjoyed filming the special programming. "I don't like to watch myself on TV," said Palin. (We don't either.) "But this was a lot of fun." 

The Palin family is no stranger to the iconic Iditarod. "They used to have the restart in Wasilla before they moved it to Willow for the more consistent snow," Palin said. "We watched for many years with the kids on snowmachines. It's a big event for all Alaskans." 

While Palin is not a musher, he is a champion Iron Dog racer. His success in Alaska's other big race gives him a special appreciation for those who take part in the Iditarod. "Both are the ultimate," Palin said. "In certain stretches, you can actually go faster than a snowmachine when mushing with a dog team. They're so powerful, sometimes you're just hanging on."  (Yes except for most consider the Iron Dog the race run by those without the cojones to run the much more challenging Iditarod.)

"The people involved in this are just like the Iron Dog family," Palin said. "A tight knit group that will help anyone, anyway they can." 

Todd and Sarah Palin attended the Iditarod Mushers Banquet in Anchorage this year to show their support for the big race and all those who participate in it. (And by "Show their support" they mean receive a paycheck for making an appearance and talking about a sport that they know nothing about.)

"I'm just thankful that Sportsman Channel was excited to show the Iditarod and to come up here to share these ultimate races with the rest of the nation," said Palin.

The Iditarod is now over, and most people who wanted to watch the race, were able to do so either on news programs here in Alaska, where it was heavily covered. (Unlike the Iron Dog.) Or by purchasing Insider subscriptions which provided unfiltered access to the race. (And no high pitched voice clumsily describing things to them either.)

I have not yet heard how the Iditarod folks feel about a Palin being connected to their race, but I cannot imagine they are very happy about it.

After all virtually NOBODY wants to associate with the Palins anymore.

I think it is pretty clear that this gig is part of Palin's negotiation with the Sportsman Channel to employ her layabout family in some way along with her.

I imagine that Willow has been put in charge of her wig, and when Sarah flies down to Arizona to film her segments, Bristol will be standing by with her newly minted "skin school" diploma and a shovel full of spackling paste to fill in her craters.

After all the family that grifts together begrudgingly stays together. 

Sportsman Channel presents Iditarod Unleashed. Hosted by a man who, much like these canine athletes, was neutered and put on a leash years ago.

Isn't it nice that Granny Grifter gets work for her layabout husband as well?

Hey maybe I'm just being mean and the Sportsman channel, much like John McCain, actually believed that Todd Palin was man enough to run the Iditarod.

Speaking of man enough, the second place finisher this year was a woman.

And believe me she is more man than Todd Palin will ever be, and more woman than he will ever get.

In attempt to demonstrate how close he and Sarah Palin still remain, instead John McCain shows that he is completely out of touch. Update!

So McCain does not even realize that Palin is now a semi-permanent resident of HIS state?

Oh yeah they are SO close!

And for the record Senator the Iditarod is truly the toughest race in North America, and the Iron Dog is for those who don't have the balls for that yet still want to look tough. (Sorry Levi, but it's true.)

I really hated watching Letterman bring up that whole apology thing again. I said way back then, right before the flying monkeys came after me, that he was setting a dangerous precedent and that NOBODY should ever apologize to that bitch.

And look what has happened to everybody who dared to criticize her since.

Update: Speaking of the Iditarod it looks like this year's champion is Dallas Seavey.

The Sportsman Channel is making move to expand its brand, attract new advertisers, and using Sarah Palin to help facilitate that. Good luck with that.

After posting yesterday about Palin's rare press outing, and the aggressive pimping of her new soon to be cancelled show "Amazing America," I started to receive numerous links that suggest the Sportsman channel is really hoping to hit the big time using Palin to attract media attention.

First there is this from a  PR Newswire story in May:

InterMedia Outdoors, Inc. (IMO), the industry leader and largest provider of Outdoors content, and parent company of The Sportsman Channel (TSC), today announced that it chose not to renew its programming agreements with The Outdoor Channel (TOC), in order to shift its highly-rated and award-winning television shows to The Sportsman Channel. IMO will also increase its commitment of resources to TSC, integrating new and upgraded programming and content from IMO's vast market-leading properties, which extend across print, television, radio and online mediums. 

"We are going to build The Sportsman Channel into the leading outdoor network, both in distribution and ratings, and shifting all of our programming to TSC is a major first step in that direction. We have led in every Outdoors category we have entered-magazine, internet, and television production-and now we will lead in networks," says InterMedia Outdoors CEO Jeff Paro. "No other channel in the Outdoors category has ever had this kind of promotional strength behind it. We will actively and aggressively program TSC with hunting, shooting and fishing content, with a focus on high-quality original programming, production of our own shows, and partnerships with producers. TSC will be a better network for the consumer and a better value for the distributor."

So that was the plan about seven or eight months ago, and then this weekend those plans seem to have come to a head. A head with a giant ugly wig sitting on it.

Back in March they also decided to aggressively pursue more mainstream advertisers:

Effective Monday, the Sportsman Channel aims for advertisers beyond its roots — “hook and bullet advertisers” — to larger and more mainstream companies that covet the audience for shows like Steven Rinella’s “MeatEater” and Patrick Flanigan’s “Shell Shocked!”

And who have they been able to sign up with this new focus thus far? Well they hooked this big fish for one: 

Cheaper than Dirt!, America’s Ultimate Shooting Sports Discounter, has signed three significant advertising deals with Sportsman Channel for 2014. 

Cheaper than Dirt will be airing commercials spots on Sportsman through the following platforms: renowned series “Meet the McMillans,” the “Armed Citizen File” on NRANEWS Cam & Co., and a full-year of various advertising on the network throughout 2014.

Who Nelly!  Now THAT'S impressive!

But did Palin bring anything new to the table?

Well possibly,

Courtesy of ABC News:  

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will again have a presence on national television after race organizers signed a deal with the Sportsman Channel. 

The agreement, announced Wednesday, makes the Sportsman Channel the official network of the nearly 1,000-mile race from Anchorage to Nome. The race, billed as the world's longest, hasn't had a network deal since 2009.

No definitive proof  that Palin helped to broker this deal, but if not it would be an awfully big coincidence. And who is it again that does not believe in coincidences?

All I can say is that if the Sportsman channel thinks having Palin on board is the key to long term success they might have done themselves a favor by checking with John McCain and the Tea Party first. 

Speaking of Palin she might want to watch herself as hosts of the Sportsman channels programs sometimes meet a violent end.

Stay low Sarah. What am I saying, there are very few people lower than Sarah Palin. 

Let's take a short break from politics to enjoy something uniquely Alaskan.

These pictures below come to us courtesy of our friend Dennis Zaki who was downtown yesterday for the unofficial start of the Iditarod here in Anchorage.

 I have sometimes been critical of the way sled dogs are treated up here in Alaska (Though I have to admit things are much better for them now than in the past.), however you cannot help but to be impressed with the enthusiasm these beautiful animals demonstrate at the opportunity to pull that sled.

As somebody who has ridden on the back of a dogsled I can tell you that getting the dogs to run is NEVER the problem, the problem is getting them to stop.

According to my e-mail it looks like Dennis is headed out to Willow for the official start of the race today, so perhaps he will gift us with a few more of his amazing photos.

Iditarod pictures from Dennis Zaki and heavy snow crushes a local church like a bug.

Dennis sent me these great photos of the start of the Iditarod yesterday. (The Anchorage start that is)

Four time winner Lance Mackey

I have not been sharing our weather woes with all of you, but this year is on track to be the snowiest winter in Anchorage history.

Yeah I know what you are saying, "But Gryph you live in Alaska what do you expect?"

Well I expect snow alright but this year it is fucking ridiculous!

There was SO much snow this year, and our plow trucks were so overworked trying to keep up, that my street did not get plowed for almost two months.  That's right TWO months!

In fact for awhile it was literally reduced to a one lane road, with eight foot snow drifts crowding us together. We actually had to dodge into each others driveways to let other cars drive past so that we could work our way out of the neighborhoods and onto the well plowed main roads beyond.

Anyhow, just in case you think I am whining, the other day my daughter came in all excited because one of the main roads leading to our neighborhood was closed off due to the roof of a local church collapsing.

Here is a picture I took of the remains of the church the other day as I drove home.

That church has been at that location since 1959, and the last expansion of the facility was in 1982.

I actually attended the Sunday School program at this church after I was kicked out of asked to leave my Episcopal church further up the road. But Abbott Loop was a Pentecostal church so you just KNOW I wasn't going to last long there. ("I'm sorry just did anybody actually SEE Jesus roll that rock back and leave the tomb? No I will not just shut up and eat my graham cracker!")

Anyhow that building has survived decades of snowfalls, but simply could not  make it through this winter in one piece.

I am not letting it get to me though. I mean spring has to come sometime, right?

Right?

Time to examine some Alaska stories that have nothing to do with you-know-who.

Hey do you remember that whole "global warming" thing that the Republicans keep telling you is a bunch of hooey?  Well it is getting ready to kick in big time thanks to Alaska permafrost, which is now no longer permanent, and no longer very damn frosty:

In a study that calculates what will happen if Arctic warming trends continue as predicted, Schaeffer and his co-authors estimate that almost two-thirds of the Earth's permafrost could melt by 2200, releasing vast stores of carbon-based greenhouse gases into the air, almost certainly accelerating climate warming in the Arctic and across the globe.

Perhaps soon the palm trees and flamingos in Spenard will no longer have to be made of plastic.

You animal lovers out there will be thrilled to learn that Alaska wildlife officials are appalled that Federal government will not let them slaughter wolves to increase caribou herds for human hunters. Undoubtedly Obama's fault.

It looks like four time Iditarod champion, and this year's favorite, Lance Mackey has run into a little bad luck.

Defending champion Lance Mackey dropped three dogs minutes after arriving in this chilly village checkpoint -- a move he says dampens his chances of winning a historic fifth-straight Iditarod.

This is kind of surprising considering how incredibly confident Mackey was at the start of this race.  At least that is how he appeared to my friend Dennis Zaki at the start of this most grueling of races.


Lance Mackey at the Iditarod Ceremonial start from Dennis Zaki on Vimeo.


There is talk of a brand new program coming from my home state called, wait for it, "Mounted in Alaska." And before you ask, no it is not porn.  Though personally I kind of wish it was.

And last but not least,  please remember if you do come to Alaska, the Moose are only for looking, NOT TOUCHING!

The moose kicked the unidentified woman several times -- including in the chest and shoulder -- but she was not injured badly enough to go to the hospital, according to police spokeswoman Anita Shell.

Witnesses told police that the moose kicked the woman, in her 20s, after she tried to pet it as it walked by, Shell said.

Yes, I know they are cuddly looking.  But so is Glenn Beck, and look how batshit crazy he is!

Frigid Alaska days, unexpected guests, and interesting gossip about Sarah Palin.

Go ahead and blink a couple of times and wipe away the sleep dust, just so you can be sure that you are indeed seeing what your eyes tell you they are seeing.  Yes that is Arizona Governor Jan Brewer at the start of the Iditarod in Anchorage, with none other than a vaguely bearded Todd Palin.

How odd is that? Well I find it very odd, and more than just a little surprising.

I guess it did not come as much of a surprise to  Brewer's Twitter followers however, since she has been tweeting updates about her trip for the last two days.

In Alaska for a few days for my first vacation in over two years as Governor...heading out to dinner tonight with my husband
4 Mar via Mobile Web

Had a great dinner last night at Pizza Olympia in Anchorage...now off to the Iditarod Race
11 hours ago via Mobile Web

Had a good morning at the Iditarod Race...now taking a Denali flightseeing tour
8 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Now if THAT was not weird enough (And take it from me that is certainly weird enough!), I just heard some very interesting information today from somebody in the know, who says that the Grizzled Mama herself has been working with a local guide to learn how to handle a rifle with more competence, and that she also has a film crew with her shooting an episode for "the show" up by the Denali highway. 

That is all I know right now, but apparently it was assumed that I would know what was meant by "the show."  However, to be honest, I really have no freaking idea.

The last I heard "Sarah Palin's Alaska"  had NOT been renewed for a second season.

Which leads me to wonder if in fact it WAS renewed for another season but is being kept on "the down low" for some reason, or if Palin is filming some completely NEW version of her reality show, or if this is being filmed for something completely different.

I also have to wonder how Governor Jan Brewer fits into this, or whether she has anything to do with it at all.

All I can do is report what I know so far and hopefully get the chance to flesh it out as more information becomes available.  In the meantime if any of YOU hear anything please leave a comment or send an e-mail and let me know.

As of right now I am very, very curious.

My day downtown watching the start of the Iditarod. (Well sort of.)

I took a little time away from the computer to spend the afternoon downtown watching the "only for the cameras" start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.  The real start will be tomorrow in Willow, but since Anchorage is the biggest city and we are all too lazy to drive out to Willow, they put on a little show just for us right on Fourth Avenue. Aren't we spoiled?

I didn't bother to take my own camera since I knew that Dennis Zaki would have his, and that he would take much better pictures than I ever could, and that he would gladly share them with all of you.  And so he did.

Perennial favorite DeeDee Jonrowe.

 I cannot tell which hat is the more ridiculous.

I love receiving puppies in the mail!

(Just kidding this is how they transport the dogs.)

Returning champion Lance Mackey was there with the same great team he had last year .

Here is Lance Mackey's team taking off like a rocket down 4th Avenue. Lance is the crowd favorite to win it again this year which would make five consecutive wins in a row.

Martin Buser was also a crowd favorite. (Those of you from out of state might remember him from his brief appearance on Palin's reality show.  Though I am sure he would rather people not remember him for that.)

Colorful characters abound during the Fur Rondy celebrations.

You know despite what people may think of Alaska, it really is only acceptable to wear road kill on your head during Rondy.

Oh.  Well I guess I stand corrected then don't I?

Sarah Palin makes appearance at Daytona 500.

Palin said she was "having fun and not thinking about the politics of this," but didn't miss the chance to energize her base in one of the most critical regions of the largest swing state.

"This is awesome," she said. "It's all-Americana event. Good, patriotic, wonderful event that's bringing a whole lot of people together. I think this is good for our country." (I am sorry, but how is watching a bunch of guys driving around a racetrack "good for our country"?)

Sporting a black coat, blue jeans and heels — no hand notes — the self-described "hockey mom" got the full experience in her first visit to the Daytona 500.

She sat through the pre-race driver meeting, muscled her way through pit road, took to the stage on the infield and wished drivers a safe race. She drew roars from throngs of racing fans, many shouting "We love you, Sarah!"
Palin wasn't with her husband, Todd, on Valentine's Day. She told the crowd he was back in Alaska preparing for the Iron Dog snowmobile race. (Well this may actually be true. The Iron Dog starts this Sunday February 21 and the racers just had banquet last Saturday. Besides it is a much better reason than that whole "fixing the roof" excuse.)

"Whether it's racing cars, dogs, snow machines, it's an event like this that brings all Americans together," she said.

Palin took just two questions from the only two reporters around her entourage, consisting of about a dozen security personnel and managers. That didn't stop her from doing what she does best: getting out in the crowds and mingling with supporters.

"I'm thinking about this good, active, speed-loving event that a lot of Alaskans, too, are really in to," said Palin, adding that some elements — minus the snow — were similar to the famous Iditarod sled dog race. (Oh yeah Daytona and the Iditarod are almost EXACTLY alike. One is a bunch of guys, in souped up cars, turning left for five hundred miles and the other is a race that covers 1170 miles of the most inhospitable environment on the planet and that can take anywhere from a little over a week to almost a month to finish. But hey, a race is a race right?)

"We've got our snow-machine races up there. This is, of course, on a much greater scale," she said. "Same type of sport, though, same type of risk-taking, speed-loving all-American event that we participate up north. We love it. You bet." (To read the rest of the AP article just click the title of this post.)

Well this is certainly Palin's type of crowd. Any group of people who would spend Valentines Day watching a bunch of adolescent walking billboards driving their expensive toys around a racetrack are probably not the most politically savvy potential voters in the country.


I mean the guy has a Hefty trash bag logo across his chest!

I think that Sarah should follow his example. Perhaps she could have her plastic surgeon's name stitched onto her blouse, or News Corp emblazoned across the back of her jacket, or SarahPAC printed on one sleeve and C4P down the other.



After all it is not the FIRST time Sarah would have used her body to sell a product. Of course in John McCain's case it was not terribly successful.

Update: Okay I am going to have to offer a mea culpa to my visitors who take umbrage that I lumped ALL Nascar fans into one category.

Clearly there are some people who enjoy the races who are not ignorant, or Palin-bots, or even Republicans. And to those people I apologize for my insensitive generalizations.

And besides, as more than one commenter pointed out, they DO always turn to the left, so maybe these are in fact MY people. Stranger things have been known to happen.

The 2008 Iditarod starts today.

This is the one time of the year that Alaska gets the most national coverage.

The sports channels will cover the race, the national news stations will mention us often, and the animal rights people will start sticking pins in their Alaskan musher voodoo dolls.

I, for one, always find myself conflicted about the race.

On the one hand it is traditional and I cannot remember a time when we did not at least visit one or more of the Fur Rendezvous events.

On the other hand I do understand where the animal lovers are coming from. It is a 1,100 miles across the most inhospitable climate on the planet. The dogs face sharp ice that can cut through their booties and leave their feet cut and bloody, sharp icy winds that can steal their body heat and leave them hypothermic and disoriented, and a relentless pace pushes their bodies to the extremes of canine endurance.

You know what? I guess I am not so conflicted about this after all.