Sunny Afternoon

After that last storm I was sure summer was gone. But today it must have been 70. Brent took us out in the boat. We went and looked at the sea lions basking near the boat harbor - Emmy thought that was pretty cool. Then we went fishing. I caught 3 flounders, 3 bullheads, and nearly caught a greenling. Jeremy caught a few bullheads, and Brent was the recipient of most of Emmy's attention, so he didn't actually get to fish that seriously. So, no fish dinner, but we had lots of fun anyway. Emmy did great in the boat and Brent let her "steer" the kicker. Maybe I'll post some pics soon of the sunny day. But am too tired just now.

Near-Darwin award goes to...

This guy is probably pretty embarrassed right now:

Don Carroll, one of the two seasonal hotel employees rescued Monday on the Stampede Trail after a hike to the "Into the Wild" bus near Denali Park, admits he had been rescued earlier this summer, wearing only a hoodie and jeans, after getting lost on another hike. (That time, he guided rescuers to his location with a phone text message.) "If police see me (hiking) in the woods, they're going to arrest me," Carroll, of subrurban Chicago, told the local daily paper. "The chief ranger said he's not going to come looking for me anymore." In his latest escapade, Carroll says, he and friend Jia Long He got lost and separated from their gear after visiting the abandoned bus made famous in the book and movie "Into the Wild," about vagabond Chris McCandless's death from starvation in the bus in 1992. Carroll and He avoided starvation over the weekend by eating berries. Carroll adds in his defense that he did a lot of hiking in the park this summer that did not require his rescue.

Kicarwigmi - In Anchorage

I came up to Anchorage for a few days to present at the Koniag Shareholder committee Meeting, which is this morning. We will be playing Alutiiq Animal Bingo.

We had Indian food last night at a place called Namaste, which is new. Alberta says there may even be another Indian Restaurant opening up, which would make three in Anchorage, and also three statewide, since no other community to my knowledge has an Indian restaurant. I sooooo wish Kodiak had one. There are so few restaurants there that even the good ones get tiresome after a while.

Jeremy's B-Day

Check out this video of Emmy singing Happy Birthday for her Daddy. Today is Jeremy's birthday. We are going to have a little cookout, nothing fancy. Nothing like the cowboy-themed surprise party we had for him when he turned 29, but then, that's one thing you can't ever do more than once.

Bubble Wrap

Emmy just discovered she can stomp bubble wrap to pop the bubbles. She is too light to pop many of them without a great deal of effort.

Health Care Reform town hall with Obama

This is worth taking the time to watch.

Baby Mommy and Baby Daddy

Emmy has had these two dolls for a long time, but just recently named them Baby Daddy (in blue) and Baby Mommy (in pink). She has a bunny she calls "Me" and last night she had Baby Mommy and Baby Daddy sleep with their arms around "Me". So cute. It is interesting how she has also recently expressed a strong liking for pink, even though we have never tried to teach her that certain colors are for boys and others for girls. Recently when we were going to give her her first haircut she said "I want a pink haircut." She must have learned that at daycare. Yeah, let's blame those other peoples' kids.

Racism still alive in Alaska

A Native person was attacked in a hate crime in Anchorage, and a man and woman have been arrested in connection with the video they took of it. Perhaps this was their idea of a fun date? This is one of the saddest things I have ever heard. Many a time I have heard people say that there isn't really racism anymore against Native people, all the time perpetuating jokes about drunk Natives, and passing it off as "just a joke". I bet this couple who attacked the person in Anchorage thought it was pretty funny as well, to beat up on a person who didn't even fight back.

With their video camera rolling, a young white couple threw eggs at an Alaska Native man and kicked him, slinging slurs in what appears to have been a racially motivated assault, police said Thursday. During the attack, the victim held his hand out trying to shake the hands of his aggressors, police said. The assailants, who were arrested Thursday night, recorded the downtown assault in two short clips and posted them on the video-sharing site YouTube... (read the full article here)

See also the post by Alaska Real.

Essay competition

For more information, go to the website here.

Radio Show tonight

Tune in to Spruce Tip Brew on KMXT 100.1 FM...7-9 pm tonight.

Dog Bunk Bed

Hansel took over Ivan's dog house, so Ivan decided to take the top bunk.

Defaced stop signs

I have been noticing a lot of stop signs in Kodiak with "Obama" spray painted underneath the "Stop" on the sign. Most of them are in the same blue spray paint and have the same handwriting. I find it sort of threatening towards our president, and I hope that whomever is in charge of sign maintenance will at least paint over the writing, since replacing that many signs is likely to be expensive. Today I saw someone on one sign had scrawled "don't" above the "stop" and "obama" on one sign. Though it was a bit heartening to see someone disagree with the "Stop Obama" person, I just see the problem getting worse, and more graffiti is not solving any issue or contributing to true community discourse. Is this the modern day version of civic involvement?

Health Care Reform: Why all the lies?

Let's just get some things straight here. I am not saying I know all of the details of the proposed health care overhaul, but I am smart enough to know that not everything people are saying is true. Let's go over a few that are featured on the Pulitzer prize winning Politifact website:

1. The health care reform plan would set limits similar to the "socialized" system in Britain, where people are allowed to die if their treatment would cost more than $22,000. FALSE!
2. Forty-five percent of Americans went without needed care because of costs in 2007. TRUE (based on survey responses).
3. "As many as 22,000 Americans die each year because they don’t have health insurance." TRUE.
4. "All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services." FALSE!
5.In the health care bill, The 'Health Choices Commissioner' will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None. FALSE!
6.The health care reform bill "would make it mandatory — absolutely require — that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner." FALSE!

Where are some of these outright lies coming from? You know something is being threatened in a big way when the politics get this outrageous. What could be at $take here? I pray that our leaders come to a solution that helps those of us who are uninsured or underinsured, and do not let the in$urance companie$ pressure them into weakening such greatly needed reforms.

Update: Well, now we know where some of these messages are coming from HAHAHA...
Quoted from Sarah Palin's official facebook page:

And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

End of America Scenario: Choose Your Own Apocalypse

There is an article on SLATE magazine outlining the top 144 scenarios for the end of America, which I should acknowledge I found out about from a fellow blogger though not on his blog. They have a thought-provoking application, "Choose Your Own Apocalypse" where you pick your top 5 scenarios and they tell you what kind of apocalypse you have chosen, as well as where your fall in comparison to other readers. Since I plan on penning my own post-apocalyptic book one day I thought I would give it try. Here are my most recent results:

I don't know about you, but I can't figure out why there is such a push back against health care reform. I know a lot of people who don't have health insurance and cannot afford it. The price on my health insurance has gone up, while my benefits have gone down, but I am considered lucky, because I at least HAVE health insurance. We need to do something soon, and it angers me that it has become so politicized. So please join me in contacting our Senators to let them know where you stand.

You deserve the affordable health care you need, when you need it. The right to keep good health insurance offered through your job, or if you don't have that, the right to choose decent coverage you can afford, a choice of doctors who provide quality care, and the security that you can't be denied insurance if you change jobs, move or get sick.

or, Create a Petition

Change.org

Sun'ami - In Kodiak

We have had quite the variety of weather since arriving back in Kodiak. At the moment it is beautiful sun after a day or two of torrential rains. I had my first salmonberries of the summer today and got all nostalgic, thinking of all the beautiful summers I have spent growing up and later, returning to this island. I went down to the beach and sat there on the rocks looking at the ocean and remembering why I belong here.

Since the weather could change at any minute I am not going to waste time sitting here on the computer. I believe I'll take myself to the upper deck and admire the Three Sisters Mtns. for a while...