Alaska’s cruise ship head tax

A couple of recent articles in the Juneau Empire and Bradner’s Economic Digest have pointed out that Alaskans may be losing cruise ship business as a result of a head tax instituted a couple of years ago.  Of course, opinions differ, but we need to look at the qualifications and  ability (or inability) of each [...]

Our economy: The next big hit

Some folks are saying the economic freefall appears to be at an end.  But there’s new legislation on the horizon that will send us over the edge. Click on the image to view the full cartoon. Published 5/7/2009.

Energy independence, past and present

We wouldn’t want to go back to the “good old days,” but sometimes we need a reality check as many folks strive for “energy efficiency” in today’s world.  Click on the image to see the comparison. Published 4/22/09.

Justice in the Ted Stevens prosecution

The Department of Justice team in the Ted Stevens prosecution has given justice a black eye.  We hope Attorney General Eric Holder and Judge Emmet Sullivan have taken the first steps to keep our courts from regularly becoming a political tool during election campaigns.

Hit and Run Prosecutors

When U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Department of Justice would be requesting dismissal of charges against Senator Ted Stevens, many Alaskans felt two emotions.  First, we were glad “Uncle Ted” was off the hook.  Then we got mad, because he was the person we wanted in the Senate.  We felt cheated by the [...]

Award Winning Alaskan Cartoonists

This year’s Alaska Press Club awards included second place for cartoons from this website, which are also published weekly in the Ketchikan Daily News, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Weekly Standard (online) .  Each cartoonist’s entry consisted of three cartoon samples from 2008.  Here is an excerpt from the Alaska Press Club’s Awards Listing: Category [...]

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

It seems the Palin administration is reluctant to say any bad words about their Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA).  To any observer, however, it is apparent that the Denali Pipeline folks are moving ahead at a much faster rate than the Canadian Company, TransCanada. This spring the Denali group had over 80 people in Tok [...]

Our economic storm

Every day we learn of something new the administration has done to move the U.S. away from our values, both economically and socially.  When we see what has been done, and hear rumors about the next step, it’s no wonder we’re reluctant to stay in the stock market. But President Obama likens the stock market [...]

Senator Begich speaks

Yep, he said a few words. But is he supporting Alaska’s oil industry, or the Democrat Party’s tactics to delay offshort oil drilling? Published 2/21/2009

Alaska Legislature Soupline

This year it could he hard to tell the difference between the normal parade of legislative requests and the average soupline.  Some of the askers will be more needy, and the legislature will obviously have less to hand out.  Stay tuned for an interesting legislative session. Published 1/24/2009.