REFLECTIONS

In this issue: 1. Prop 8 Trial 2. Union Deal 3. Terrorists
4. Fish & Game 5. Exxon 6. ChiComs 7. Gardens

Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy –

1. Prop 8 Trial. One of the things that the gay rights community in California has demonstrated is the complete inability to lose gracefully. They took their defeat at the polls when California voters passed Proposition 8 last November very poorly. Proposition 8 defined marriage as the union between one man and one woman in the state of California and overturned the actions of leftist judges and gay elected officials to impose homosexual marriage in the state via fiat. Following the loss, a number of homosexual activists started churning the Prop 8 donor lists, hunting down the donors, and harassing, threatening and bullying them. A number of donors were fired from their jobs for supporting the proposition. This sort of brutish thuggery is not uncommon among those on the left. Last week, a trial in federal court to overturn this constitutional amendment began. One of the tactics by homosexual activists was an attempt to get the entire proceedings broadcast on either Court TV or on you Tube. This would allow the activists to identify pro-Prop 8 witnesses and supporters so they could be targeted for threats, violence, intimidation and physical harm. This attempt was denied by the presiding trial judge and via a 5-4 SCOTUS opinion late last week. At this point, the proceedings will not be broadcast. For a group of people that loudly and forcefully demand tolerance and acceptance from one and all, they exhibit remarkably little tolerance for opposing opinions. Their goon squad tactics will not buy them many friends or supporters in the years to come. When you start acting like the very worst stereotypes of old fashioned mob or union enforcers, you will end up getting treated like those guys were treated – which is not a healthy position for anyone.

2. Union Deal. The secret negotiations between the House, Senate and WH on ObamaCare dragged on last week. Stories noted that the final version would still leave 12 million people uninsured, giving democrats yet another opportunity to come back and do this again in the not so distant future. The most infuriating report came late last week that gives all union health plans a pass from new taxes on the high priced “Cadillac” health care plans. Essentially, as long as you are in a union, you will be protected from new federal taxes on your health care plans. The news was greeted with rumblings from state Attorneys General from several right to work states wondering why their states are going to be subsidizing union members in other states. This is little more than a shakedown of non-union Americans by the unions. Expect it to end up in the final legislation should it pass.

3. Terrorists. Yet more examples of the complete lack of seriousness by the Obama administration on the war against Islamic extremism appeared last week. They now want to try the captured Bali bomber in American criminal court. This is an interesting position, as the terrorist attack took place in Indonesia. It killed over 200 Indonesians and a few Americans. The Indonesians captured the vermin and have been holding him since capture. So where does this administration get off bringing this pork swilling Muslim into the US for trial in and American court room, with full constitutional rights, in front of a federal judge? How will this make us any safer? How will it deter future attacks? Does anyone in Holder’s (In)Justice Department have a clue what they are doing? In a related story, NYC has asked Holder’s (In)Justice Department for $400 million to cover the first two years of Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s trial in NYC. After that, they will need another $200 million to cover security arrangements. As of this weekend, it looks like the senate may block funding for the trial, forcing Holder and Obama to relent and hold the trials in front of a military tribunal at Guantanamo where they belong.

4. Fish & Game. Fish and game here in Alaska is managed by a Board structure. It includes the Board of Game and the Board of Fisheries. Members of those top level Boards are normally appointed out the regional Fish and Game Advisory Boards which are publicly elected. Local greens periodically attempt to take control of the advisory boards by showing up for the elections in large numbers and running stealth candidates interested in conservation and diversity of resource management. Over the last week, there were two elections for local advisory boards – one in Anchorage and the other in the MatSu Valley. In both, the greens had a slate of candidates. In both, local conservatives turned out in droves and elected candidates for all open seats. We are in good shape for another couple years. Good show by all involved.

5. Exxon. A state judge in Alaska ruled last week that the Palin Department of Natural Resources had violated due process rights of Exxon Mobil when they took away exploration and development leases for Point Thompson on the Alaska North Slope. The state and Exxon Mobil have been in a running gun battle for years over exploration on those leases. The state’s position is that development is not proceeding in a timely manner consistent with the leases. The producer’s position is that things are precisely on schedule. In order to speed up the process, the last two administrations – Murkowski and Palin started pushing Exxon Mobil a bit harder. The Palin Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Tom Irwin pulled the leases and the entire mess went to court. Since that action, the state has allowed Exxon Mobil to do some exploratory drilling. We will hope that this decision reintroduces some sanity into the discussion. It is never a good idea to spend an inordinate amount of time in court with your lease holders. ADN, Weds.

6. ChiComs. It appears that Google has finally had enough from ChiCom government computer hackers. Late last week they presented the Chinese government an ultimatum to allow it to run unfiltered in China or they would cease operations. The ultimatum appears to be triggered by ChiCom computer attacks on Google e-mail accounts intended to discover information on Chinese anti-government activists. Over 20 other companies also have reported Chinese attempts to hack into their systems over recent months. The cyberwar threat from China is real, government funded, and they do a good job with what they have. Chinese cyberwar capabilities are and will continue to be a formidable military threat to this nation and businesses worldwide for a long time to come. All that being said, I am not real sympathetic with Google’s problems in China, for Google has been allowing the ChiCom government to filter content ever since they were allowed in China. Additionally, Google is well known for modifying its search algorithms to point users to web content that fits its political view of the world; a very leftist view of the world. For example, during the recent CRU climategate, CRU-tape Letters, Google searches tended to point users to locations critical of climate skeptics. The only way to force Google to behave themselves in this regard is to use other search engines. Bing or Dogpile work pretty well.

7. Gardens. Everything we see out of the Obama WH is staged. The most recent example is a Food Network program called the Iron Chef. It staged an episode where the chefs took produce from Michelle Obama’s WH garden and used that produce to cook with. It turns out that the scene showing the chefs picking the produce from the garden was staged. Imagine that.

More later — AG

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776.

Note: Interesting Items can be found also at the following locations: MatSu Valley News and the home page. Rod Martin’s The Vanguard site is also a long-time supporter of this column. Alex Gimarc is a long-time member of the Town Hall Conservative group.