Akidis: Gov. Palin vs. Uncle Fed (Ted)

Look at this article by the Alaska Journal of Commerce featuring Sen. Ted Stevens complaining about funding, next to a very flattering picture. Here's a quote

Federal funding for some special Alaska programs
may be coming to an end over partisan politics, according to Sen. Ted Stevens.
“We are in for a very long, hard intense political year,” Stevens said Feb.
19 at an Anchorage press conference.

Compare that to a quote from Gov. Palin talking about the gasline to FERC officials in DC.

"The state of Alaska is not looking for
handouts," Palin said.
"We want to work with the federal government and the
companies to get this important project built."

Bravo Gov. Palin. Alaska has been a whore of the federal government too long. It's time for a change.

Is Anchorage Daily News Responding to ASP?

ADN has a political blog which we here at ASP try to frequent as much as possible. Kyle does a pretty good job. On February 3rd, ASP launched its first post. Four days later, ADN launches another political blog on Juneau. No offense to the writer (whoever it is), but I would call it average. Now, ADN has launched a third blog, this time written by the editor. Ironically, the first post (at least the first post I can find), entitled "When We Get It Wrong...," came just five days after Akidis' partially retracted post on Stefan Milikowski's reporting, and just eleven days after Akidis posted on Alaska Public Radio censoring their report on the Tongass. The question is, did ADN start the two later blogs because of this site?

I don't know, nor do I care. I don't think in terms of marketing, so it may be violating savvy business practices to point out their sites, but again, I don't care. Welcome to the conversation, gentlemen.

(By the way, Mr. ADN Editor, Lynn wanted me to say that as a woman she found it offensive that in your bio on the blog, you named your two dogs, but you did not name your kid. Best to get that changed. Also, you need to put your name or pen name somewhere, so people don't call you Mr. Editor.)

Samuels Natural Gas Pipeline Presentation

Alaska State Journal has made available online a Natural Gas Pipeline presentation by Rep. Ralph Samuels and Sen. Charlie Huggins. Unfortunately, it is merely a powerpoint presentation (I prefer audio lectures). I really wanted to attend this seminar, but couldn't make the drive. Word is Rep. Samuels has some very knowledgeable staffers working for him, so pay attention. All part of a more "open" government.

Akidis: Stefan Replies

I received an email from Stefan about one of my previous posts entitled "Just the Facts, Stefan, Just the Facts." I am not going to reprint it here, because it was sent to my email address, and I assume it to be a conversation between Mr. Milikowski and me and therefore, I don't think it would be proper to set up his exact quotes for scrutiny.

But, he did dispute my post. My post claimed that Sen. Davis had not been reappointed to the Energy Council. After I checked out some old Senate journals I had printed off BASIS from the last couple years, I confirmed that Mr. Milikowski was right, and I was wrong on this point. My apologies to Stefan, and to Sen. Davis as well.

The other minor point and major point still stand: Portia is not indicated as Lyda's chief of staff on the Senate Bipolar Working Group website. If Portia told Stefan that she was the chief of staff (which I have no reason to doubt), the website ought to be changed. I concede this is a minor point, and not a reason to rip Stefan apart.

The final point, that the tone of the article made it sound like the minority was "crying foul" was unjust because of the nature of the press conference still stands. As a citizen, I could only see the press conference as it was shown online. The centrality of the press conference as an indicator of what a group thinks (as a group) should be maintained. When Stefan began to see that the reactions were different, he needed to bring this up with the Senators he talked with, and ask them why. I fully realize this is a judgment call based on a value that most establishment media do not possess. I don't think this is some conspiracy. It is because we as a society have chosen to say that reporters must report objectively. They can't do that any more than they can set aside their own humanity.

Why did it not cross Stefan's mind to call into question the difference between the reaction of the Senators in the press conference and the reaction of the Senators in personal, one-on-one conversation? It is because, Stefan, like all reporters (and blogwriters) have assumptions when they search for information, and those assumptions can be used to interpret things wrongly or not see things which may be at odds with their assumptions. So, are we to give up on finding objective reporting? Are we citizens doomed to sift through the assumptions of reporters to find out the facts of what really happened? Am I saying that Plato's form of objective reporting does not exist here on earth? Yes. This is not something we should try to hide or shun. This is our humanity, and we should embrace it. (I am not talking about relativism, which modern gnostics and college professors embrace, and only Leninists, Nazis, and other nihilists put into practice.)

Stefan did not ask me to do so, but someone else emailed me, and demanded that I either address my posts or take them down. I consider this an insult. Simply pulling a post that has factual problems with it may be good enough for the Associated Press or al Reuters, but not here. The posts stay. The old post disputing Stefan will be amended with a link to this post, and a disclaimer.

Lynn has alerted me that she will soon be posting an article in which she will have to "eat" some of her words. She didn't say exactly what she meant. Stay tuned; things could get ugly.

Ah, it's always fun to see her with her foot in her mouth.

Urban Sprawl

According to the ADN report here, parking is going to be quite a task for commuters in the days to come. It raises the question of urban sprawl. A movement called New Urbanism seeks to change the way communities use space by changing the zoning laws. Everyone I have talked with about New Urbanism finds some good points in it, but stops short of affirming it completely. New Urbanists tend to hold up cities like Portland, Oregon as ideals, and put down Atlanta, Georgia as planning disasters. If Alaska were to consider something like New Urbanism, the only reminder I would raise is that it isn't merely changing the nature of space. It changes your demographic, public consciousness, and therefore society. So, beware.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Juneau

According to the schedule on Gavel to Gavel, US Senator Lisa Murkowski was in Juneau today to address the legislature. I couldn't listen to it while it was happening, but I plan to listen to it this weekend indepth. It is probably because I am still in my twenties that I have never heard a national politician address a body of state legislators. I am hoping to find some insights in her speech, while I read, for the first time, the Federalist Papers (I am ashamed to say this is the first time). Stay tuned.