- Gawker has the latest on the House Minority Whip’s speaking gig at a David Duke organized conference in 2002 on behalf of EURO, an organization which has been identified as anti-Semitic by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti Defamation League. How he’ll play the ‘I didn’t know I was speaking to a bunch of racists’ card will be interesting in the days to come.
- In actual Alaskan news, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that AIDEA is considering giving MWH a three months extension on their deadline to get the LNG trucking project in order, if there is order to be found, which is seeming increasingly unlikely. Don’t blame AIDEA, however. The LNG trucking program was the brainchild of the Legislature, not of the agency. And things tend to go bad for AIDEA projects when politics gets involved.
- The State Supreme Court invalidated the emergency bison hunt on Kodiak Island by declaring that Bison that roam off of their owner’s land are not feral and cannot be hunted, according to the Kodiak Daily Mirror.
- Politico reports that AZ’s Sen. John McCain is being really smart about the state’s tea party, which censured him last year and hopes to replace him in 2016. His political team is “engaging in an aggressive and systematic campaign to reshape the state GOP apparatus by ridding it of conservative firebrands and replacing them with steadfast allies.” A certain senator might take note.
- The New York Times wonders how 2015 will take the country into the Big Economic Unknowns.
- The Hill has compiled the top ten juiciest political stories of 2014.
- The Alaska House’s Sustainable Education Task Force met yesterday. Instead of making progress, the Dispatch’s report on the meeting seems more like 2013, but with a rinse and a repeat.
- Alaska’s top 2014 Google searches revealed that Alaskan’s were way more interested in actual news than our southern brethren. Our top searches included Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, how to DIY, 4chan, legalize marijuana and domestic violence.
- Politico looked into their crystal ball and put together 15 open political questions for 2015. Question #1 is Can Hillary change?
- The Juneau Empire declares 2014 “spicy”.
- Huffington Post has their best graphics (!) from 2014. I particularly enjoyed their section on politics and world.
- For those that have been yearning for more authentic Alaskakana license plates than the snowy mountains or the standard yellow, then hold onto your hats because starting in spring-wait for it-you’ll be able to purchase grizzly plates for your car!! This latest development came in part due to Rep. Peggy Wilson’s understanding that the current choices just weren’t enough to satisfy Alaskan’s discriminating tastes.
- Not only can your credit cards, computer and emails (cough, Sony, cough) can be stolen by hackers, but The Hill now reports that our very own fingerprints can be stolen by having a picture taken of them from a standard photo camera, even several feet from your hand. I guess gloves are going to be back in vogue for 2015.
- In 2014 we lost many of the movers and shakers that formed modern politics, as we know it. Politico has assembled a list of articles about the top 20 political wonks that departed and why they are important to remember.
Hope that Governor Walker has the intellectual capacity and political courage to stop the Fairbanks LNG Trucking project. Ggiven the amount of oinvestment required, it just doesn’t pencil out. Instead, build a line from Cook Inlet (already exists) or from the Valley to Fairbanks. This section is easy engineering and the least expensive to construct. Transport Cook Inlet gas or import. Either way it makes tons more sense than trucking gas. Tell Governor Walker to engage and not listen to his bafoon Chief of Staff who doesn’t want to upset his FBKS cronies.
Lynn.. click on my nick^ for a link to what I’m talking about here…
Since 1974 I have been advocating using flexpipe for passing gas in Alaska…
and for using it to pass water, slurry, oil, etc…
I knew Parnell & Gang’s AGDC/ASAP was a fatally flawed plan from the gitgo.
AKLNG is a flop too, for many many many reasons;
eg: not enough LNG-tankerships available to haul any more LNG from AK to market,
& ZERO JonesAct LNG-ships available to haul bulk LNG to Hawaii,
unless it’s hauled as containerized intermodal freight in LNG-ISOtanks onboard cargo ships or barges.
Flexpipe of all types and sizes can be made right here in Alaska for much less expense than importing it from anywhere else…
…the shipping cost to AK is a big part of the overall cost.
How much does a Flexpipe Factory in Alaska cost ???
…take a wild guess, and I’ll surprise you with an amazingly cheap & realistic answer.
8″ 1500psi flexpipe gasline, compatible with light alkanes;
methane/ethane/propane/butane/pentane
can be made for $35/ft in AK,
same price as FOB Houston,TX,
and it can be plowed & fully installed between Deadhorse & FBX,
or between BigLake & FBX,
at a cost of under $200/foot with a fat fiberoptic too [likely cheaper!!]
The idiot lawyers & legislators in Alaska have been blowing mega$$$ studying a simple plumbing project..
a gasline is just as simple as a waterline,
it’s just a dang pipe.
In AK water freezes in pipes & gas can cause fires or explode,
crude spews a helluva mess.
It’s not rocket science.
If all the pipelines on the Nslope had to be studied as much as pipelines elsewhere in AK,
BigOil would pack up and go drilling on the moon instead.
AGDC/ASAP intended to grab BILLIONS from Alaska’s Bank and then let the bogus pipeline amortize the theft over a 30-50 year period.
My Flexpipe Gaslines would amortize within just a couple years (for the juicy ones),
and amortize in under 10 years (for the sketchy ones).
Flexpipe is capable of moving all of Alaska’s 5bcfd max-production to market,
without needing to build a whopper steel megapipe.
Using some good ol’ Alaskan Injunooity;
the first flexpipe can pay for the 2nd flexpipe on the fly,
and the 2nd flexpipe can pay for the 3rd flexpipe when the first one is already amortized..
The 5th & 6th flexpipes can be producing enough revenue for AK to totally turn the dismal financial trainwreck around…
..but don’t stop there,
it’s not all about flexpipe =======
======AKRR can replace TAPS as Alaska’s financial backbone too.
>>> and the sky is the limit with fully realizing Alaska’s unique position & location in the global 21stCentury marketplace….
….hint: Nslope gas is in a really great location to make AK 20billion/yr for the next 100 years, and we don’t need to build a gasline longer than 50miles from Deadhorse to do this BizOp.
……..pull my finger 😛
Ditto Lynn….
In response to the resurrection of David Duke, there exists a methodology for politicians, their relatives and friends to become rich . Espouse some sort of whacko vision that appeals to a few fellow whackjobs , create a PAC and/or run for office and voila…the checks come pouring in.
Without a level of intense scrutiny, it is possible to pay whomever you choose ” consultant fees”. I can send you a bill, then you send me a bill and faster than a speeding bullet our bank accounts grow and grow. All you gotta do is whine, bitch , moan, point the finger, stir up the patriots, etc….throw in some raw racism and good old hatred and ca ching!!!
That’s the same thing Sarah figured out, put on a gob of Mary Kay, get in front of whatever camera and start flapping your jaws, and don’t forget the schmaltzy pit bull jokes or blessing of hearts. After the dog and pony show, followed immediately with send your money information, the pariah palookas pay and pay, thinking that their donations will help their new found hero. The engendering of hatred and other emotional head games are the tricks they play on the gullible hoi polloi. No solutions , no hard questions, just send money.
The zealots do nothing, except for playing the crowd, and receive millions that keep them in the money. The whole concept of PACS, campaign donations, etc. needs to be severely curtailed or we end up with the Sharptons, Palins, Dukes, etc. laughing all the way to the bank. If you send the boneheads ANY money the joke is on you. Duke was busted on fraudulent usage of such donations, ie: gambling and other sordid activities, house improvements, etc. No donations, no whack job asking for it…it’s that simple.
Otherwise, they come back like a bad penny and start up again. And you thought Jim Bakker was in jail for major league fraud? Nope, he’s out, dumped Tammi Faye and started up a prepper food channel mixed in with some religion. His new private jet is paid for by the way.
Regarding the high probability of the demise of the Fairbanks LNG Trucking effort, I am of the opinion that the State of Alaska will be many years recovering from the last few years of Administration and Legislative decisions. While one party dominated, I am not saying the other party could have done any better; however, I am certain they couldn’t have done any worse. Of course the mother of all losing schemes (at upwards now of 540 million dollars down the drain) was AGIA – a bi-partisan decision.
I contend that the Fairbanks trucking scheme wasn’t ever going to be a viable source of gas because I cannot understand how you can economically deliver the volume of gas required, on a sustained basis for years, using trucks over the 414 mile Dalton Highway. And how much will this effort have cost us?
Now I sense serious storm clouds are gathering over the AKLNG project. This last week the Legislative Leadership “challenged” Governor Walker to show some leadership regarding budgeting. Well, he did by throwing most of their “pet rocks” out of the boat (still waiting for the Legislative Leadership response to the Governor’s response). Among these “rocks” was the AGDC/ASAP (bullet line) Gas Line project. I questioned how we could afford to support this original gas line project after we obligated significant revenues to the new one. I do understand AGDC/ASAP was touted as necessary to force the producers to seriously pursue the competing AKLNG gas line and we would have a “back up” project. Now my question has been answered – we can’t afford the AGDC/ASAP project. And how will our partners in AKLNG (Exxon, BP, and Conoco) feel about funding this project as they deal with the fall in oil prices and , in the case of Trans Canada, with the probable loss of the XL Pipeline project?
Also, do you remember how critical state government “alignment over time” was to the success of AKLNG. Now many of the key individuals who created and supported AKLNG are gone which cannot help “alignment”. Lastly, who could have seen the collapse of oil prices, and that will certainly limit our ability to participate as an equity partner in any pipe line scheme. We will struggle to meet operation expenses let alone anything else.