The reward for information leading to the resolution of the case of missing Anchorage barista Samantha Koenig has been increased to $41,000, and a Facebook page has been launched to facilitate her recovery. Here's the latest flyer:

Click to enlarge or visit the Facebook page
-- http://www.facebook.com/help.find.samantha?sk=wall

Samantha Koenig suddenly disappeared from her job at Common Grounds Espresso located at 630 E. Tudor Road around 8 P.M. on Wednesday February 1st. Video from the scene, which has not yet been publicly released by police, shows a man wearing a dark hoodie and possibly a baseball cap entering the shop, then prodding her towards the Old Seward Highway. Based upon Samantha's demeanor and the man's actions, police have concluded a high likelihood of a kidnapping. APD spokesman Lt. Dave Parker said releasing the video wouldn't help solve the case, noting "There's nothing in there that will help us identify the perpetrator. We've already told people it's a male wearing a hoodie and that's about all we can tell." Apprehension of the suspect could be delayed by the fact that the coffee stand didn't report Samantha as missing about noon on Thursday February 2nd because it normally closes down at night. By the time police suspected an abduction, snow had covered up tracks and scents.

When Common Grounds re-opened on February 2nd, owner Michelle Duncan said the door was locked and the windows boarded and locked, but the security alarm hadn't been set and nothing was cleaned. In addition, all the cash was missing.

Samantha's father James Koenig has launched an all-out effort to find Samantha. Due to an outburst of local generosity, he was able to increase the reward figure from an initial $10,000 to $41,000. Flyers like the one posted here are being distributed, and collection buckets have been set up at some local businesses. Even Fairbanks is getting involved; Interior Graphics & Printing are doing flyers for free.

Samantha Koenig has has three sisters and two brothers, all of whom are assisting in the search.

The Daily Mail calls our attention to a Newsweek article entitled "Life With Trig: Sarah Palin on Raising a Special-Needs Child", in which she discusses the joys and challenges of caring for a special needs child. Trig is almost four years old now, and Palin says that when he wakes up each morning, he welcomes each day with applause and laughter.

Summary: Palin notes that the presence of Trig in her life does complicate many everyday activities like doctor’s appointments, social gatherings, travel accommodations, mealtimes, and even a night of uninterrupted sleep more difficult. Indeed, this may have been the one factor causing her to pass up running for President. But in the final analysis, Palin says she wouldn’t trade those difficulties for any convenience or absence of fear, proclaiming that God knew what He was doing when he blessed her family with Trig. Of course, it helps that she has a network of loving friends and a big, supportive family to call upon to help, including a husband who spends many sleepless nights with Trig when he becomes restless.

Not mentioned is the fact that Sarah Palin has become financially prosperous, which certainly confers upon her much more flexibility in meeting Trig's needs. Two and a half years ago, she was living on a governor's salary, Todd's earnings, and facing a legal debt approaching $500,000 due to the ethics jihad being waged against her. Today, because of free market demand for Palin's worldview, she's a millionaire. In contrast, the chief ethics jihadi, Andree McLeod, became a virtual pauper because of her OCD-style obsession with Palin's ethics, unable to afford the $725 for a box of long-sought Palin e-mails. Amazing how karma swings back and forth. But Palin says she has become more thankful and more compassionate toward others who have less as a result of having Trig in her life.

Trig's lucky that his mother is pro-life. Additional discussion on Conservatives4Palin.

Ed. Note: All posts about the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative can be simultaneously viewed HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

On February 3rd, 2012, five former mayors of Anchorage, Alaska publicly endorsed the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative, which would amend the Anchorage Municipal Code to bar discrimination against gays in housing and employment. Appearing jointly in person were Jack Roderick (1972-75), Tony Knowles (1981-87), Rick Mystrom (1994-2000), and Matt Claman (interim mayor 2008-09). Appearing by video was U.S. Senator Mark Begich, who served as mayor from 2003-09. All are Democrats except for Mystrom, who professes to be a Republican. Knowles is also a former two-term governor of Alaska.

It's no surprise that Democrats would endorse it; since George McGovern ran for President in 1972, the Democratic Party has nationally become tagged as the party of "fruits and nuts", meaning they're more interested in protected classes than they are in people as individuals. Democrats promote diversity and multiculturalism as end goals rather than a means to a more flexible Americanism. So Mystrom's reaction is of interest because he's a Republican. "This isn't a Democratic thing or a Republican thing, it's just simply the right thing," said Mystrom. Mystrom further explained “if any human being is diminished for any reason, it diminishes us all…if this saves one person, one group, on young person from being bullied, it’s worth it.”

The opposition immediately fired back. Another former mayor, Tom Fink (1987-94), said he wouldn't vote for the ordinance and didn't feel discrimination was a problem in the city. Current Mayor Dan Sullivan has not taken a public position on the initiative, but he was an early proponent of putting it before the people. When Sullivan vetoed the similar Ordinance #64 in 2009, one of his justifications was that such a controversial question could best be decided by voters.

The Alaska Family Council also responded. Officially, Council President Jim Minnery said that he has been lining up support among Alaska legislators and Anchorage Assembly members and had plans to hold a pastors' briefing for local church leaders. Minnery claims that a number of elected officials will come out in support of the Council, and attaches significance to the fact that Dan Sullivan has not endorsed the gay initiative. Unofficially, the Alaska Family Council's Chairman, Dave Bronson, also expressed indirect opposition to the initiative; in an LTE to the Anchorage Daily News where he was defending Anchorage Baptist Temple Pastor Jerry Prevo's property tax exemptions, Bronson wrote ..."The left clearly wants to discredit both Pastor Prevo and Jim Minnery, of Alaska Family Council, prior to the April 3 election as it attempts to ram through its gay rights ordinance. It seeks to kill the (opposing) message by shooting its messenger(s)".

Nevertheless, it is important for those of us who oppose the initiative to represent it ACCURATELY. In the Alaska Dispatch, Scott Woodham takes Jerry Prevo to task for claiming that the initiative will take away the rights of religious groups, churches, organizations, businesses, religious people, and individuals. Here are two urban legends debunked:

-- The initiative makes no changes to any religious exemptions that churches already enjoy.

-- Employers and proprietors would still be allowed to maintain separate-gender restrooms and to impose reasonable dress codes upon employees.

In the final analysis, should the initiative pass, the sun won't refuse to give its light. The moon won't turn to blood. And Mount Spurr is unlikely to erupt and deposit fire and brimstone upon Anchorage. But the important thing for those of us who oppose the initiative is to execute a fighting retreat rather than an unconditional surrender to the multiculturalist agenda. Should this initiative pass, our next step would be to erect a Berlin Wall of protection around Alaska's constitutional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman to prevent this initiative from becoming a trojan horse to legally sanction gay marriage.

Ed. Note: All posts about the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative can be simultaneously viewed HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

On February 3rd, 2012, five former mayors of Anchorage, Alaska publicly endorsed the Anchorage Equal Rights Initiative, which would amend the Anchorage Municipal Code to bar discrimination against gays in housing and employment. Appearing jointly in person were Jack Roderick (1972-75), Tony Knowles (1981-87), Rick Mystrom (1994-2000), and Matt Claman (interim mayor 2008-09). Appearing by video was U.S. Senator Mark Begich, who served as mayor from 2003-09. All are Democrats except for Mystrom, who professes to be a Republican. Knowles is also a former two-term governor of Alaska.

It's no surprise that Democrats would endorse it; since George McGovern ran for President in 1972, the Democratic Party has nationally become tagged as the party of "fruits and nuts", meaning they're more interested in protected classes than they are in people as individuals. Democrats promote diversity and multiculturalism as end goals rather than a means to a more flexible Americanism. So Mystrom's reaction is of interest because he's a Republican. "This isn't a Democratic thing or a Republican thing, it's just simply the right thing," said Mystrom. Mystrom further explained “if any human being is diminished for any reason, it diminishes us all…if this saves one person, one group, on young person from being bullied, it’s worth it.”

The opposition immediately fired back. Another former mayor, Tom Fink (1987-94), said he wouldn't vote for the ordinance and didn't feel discrimination was a problem in the city. Current Mayor Dan Sullivan has not taken a public position on the initiative, but he was an early proponent of putting it before the people. When Sullivan vetoed the similar Ordinance #64 in 2009, one of his justifications was that such a controversial question could best be decided by voters.

The Alaska Family Council also responded. Officially, Council President Jim Minnery said that he has been lining up support among Alaska legislators and Anchorage Assembly members and had plans to hold a pastors' briefing for local church leaders. Minnery claims that a number of elected officials will come out in support of the Council, and attaches significance to the fact that Dan Sullivan has not endorsed the gay initiative. Unofficially, the Alaska Family Council's Chairman, Dave Bronson, also expressed indirect opposition to the initiative; in an LTE to the Anchorage Daily News where he was defending Anchorage Baptist Temple Pastor Jerry Prevo's property tax exemptions, Bronson wrote ..."The left clearly wants to discredit both Pastor Prevo and Jim Minnery, of Alaska Family Council, prior to the April 3 election as it attempts to ram through its gay rights ordinance. It seeks to kill the (opposing) message by shooting its messenger(s)".

Nevertheless, it is important for those of us who oppose the initiative to represent it ACCURATELY. In the Alaska Dispatch, Scott Woodham takes Jerry Prevo to task for claiming that the initiative will take away the rights of religious groups, churches, organizations, businesses, religious people, and individuals.

-- The initiative makes no changes to any religious exemptions that churches already enjoy.

-- Employers and proprietors would still be allowed to maintain separate-gender restrooms and to impose reasonable dress codes upon employees.

In the final analysis, should the initiative pass, the sun won't refuse to give its light. The moon won't turn to blood. And Mount Spurr is unlikely to erupt and deposit fire and brimstone upon Anchorage. But the important thing for those of us who oppose the initiative is to execute a fighting retreat rather than an unconditional surrender to the multiculturalist agenda. Should this initiative pass, our next step would be to erect a Berlin Wall of protection around Alaska's constitutional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman to prevent this initiative from becoming a trojan horse to legally sanction gay marriage.

Update February 3rd: This post has now become redundant; Susan G. Komen announced on February 3rd that it has apologized and reversed its decision to cut grants to Planned Parenthood. They will amend their criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, expressed satisfaction with the reversal. However, this post remains a useful source of information on how this situation evolved, so it will not be taken down.

Backlash over the decision by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut breast-screening grants to Planned Parenthood has erupted nationwide, and is even wafting over Alaska. Numerous comments posted to the Anchorage Daily News story denounce the decision, although a few brave souls reminded the pitchfork-wielding rabble that, as a private charity, Susan G. Komen can dispense grants to whomever it wants, and if the anklebiters don't like it, they can contribute directly to Planned Parenthood if they so desire. As a matter of fact, the $680,000 in grants have almost been completely replaced by $650,000 in donations from over 6,000 sources, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced an additional $250,000 pledge to match future donations.

The backlash even reached the halls of Congress, where Alaska U.S. Senator Mark Begich was among 26 Senators to sign a letter calling upon Komen to reconsider its decision. The others are Sens. Lautenberg, Murray, Mikulski, Boxer, Cantwell, Gillibrand, Menendez, Wyden, Blumenthal, Shaheen, Merkley, Tester, Akaka, Sanders, (Sherrod) Brown, Leahy, Baucus, Cardin, Feinstein, Franken, and Kerry. All are Democrats except for Sanders, who is an Independent.

Although a bit bowed by the firestorm of criticism, Komen CEO Nancy Brinker was unbroken as she took to YouTube to explain the decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4oOh6JhayA



Komen said the decision stemmed from newly-adopted criteria barring grants to organizations under investigation, affecting Planned Parenthood because of an inquiry by a Republican congressman acting with encouragement from anti-abortion activists. On September 15th, 2011, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), who heads up the House Committee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter to Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood informing her of their intent to investigate the institutional practices and policies of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its affiliates, and its handing of federal funding. He asked PPFA to provide all internal audit reports conducted by PPFA and its affiliates from 1998 to 2010.

Brinker also said that there were additional factors, notably changes in the types of breast-health service providers it wanted to support. However, she noted that some grants would continue this year to three of the 19 Planned Parenthood affiliates in Denver, California’s Orange County, and Waco, Texas because they served clientele with few other breast-screening options.

One group expressed support for Komen. Americans United for Life, the pro-life group that pushed for the congressional investigation of Planned Parenthood, hailed the Komen decision. “As a breast cancer survivor, I was always troubled with this whole idea that the nation’s largest abortion provider was enmeshed in the breast cancer fight when they weren’t actually doing mammograms,” said the group’s president, Charmaine Yoest. “I look at this as smart stewardship.”

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has spent 30 years providing real help to low-income, uninsured and underinsured women. They have invested more than $1.9 billion since their inception in 1982. Their namesake, Susan G. Komen, fought breast cancer with her heart, body and soul. Throughout her diagnosis, treatments, and endless days in the hospital, she spent her time thinking of ways to make life better for other women battling breast cancer instead of worrying about her own situation. Moved by Susan’s compassion for others and committed to making a difference, Nancy Brinker promised her sister that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. One of their signature events is the annual Race for the Cure; each June, there is an Alaska Run For Women held in Anchorage to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer.

In contrast to the Anchorage Daily News, a majority of the 231 comments posted to The Blaze, a more conservative website, are supportive of Komen's decision.

Alaska State Rep. Berta Gardner (D-Anchorage) has introduced a bill which would amend AS 29.45.030(b) by deleting the mandatory property tax exemption for residences owned or occupied by teachers in religious schools originally permitted by HB334 in 2006.

The bill, designated HB305 and co-sponsored by Rep. Lindsey Holmes (D-Anchorage) not only would delete church-owned homes occupied by religious school teachers from the list of properties approved for mandatory ministerial exemptions, but also provides a definition of "minister". To qualify for a ministerial exemption, a minister must meet two criteria:

(1). Must be ordained, commissioned, or licensed as a minister according to standards of the religious organization for its ministers, AND

(2). Must be employed by the religious organization to carry out a ministry of that religious organization.

The second criterion already poses a prospective problem. What's the definition of the word "employed"? Would this still cover religious organizations that do NOT pay their pastoral leaders? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not pay a salary to its branch presidents, bishops, and stake presidents, so if "employed" is defined as getting a salary or financial compensation, it could prevent LDS pastoral leaders from seeking ministerial property tax exemptions for their residences in the future if they choose to apply. As far as I know, no LDS pastoral leader in Anchorage gets a ministerial property tax exemption for his own home, and the LDS Church does not provide residences for its pastoral leaders.

HB305 also exempts church complexes, church schools, nonprofit hospitals, and buildings used for charitable purposes. It also exempts parking lots required by local ordinance for parking near any such structure. The bill will get a hearing in the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee, but Sen. Hollis French is pessimistic about its potential fate in the State Senate.

Note that the bill's list specifies mandatory exemptions; subordinate jurisdictions throughout the state retain the power to add additional exemptions at their own level if they choose.

The Anchorage Daily News also provides other information. The municipal assessor's office has provided the Anchorage Assembly with a list of church residences that benefited from the exemption. The list shows that of the 79 tax-free religious properties in Anchorage, only Anchorage Baptist Temple claims an exemption for teachers. ABT leads the list with 14 exempt properties, followed by the Salvation Army and the Roman Catholic Church with nine each. So far, there has been no specific reaction from Pastor Jerry Prevo, nor has Gardner's Republican opponent in the upcoming election for Senate District H, Don Smith, weighed in. Smith not only is a Republican, but is also a conservative.

Even though Jerry Prevo has acted strictly legal and is willing to accept whatever judgment is rendered by the municipal assessor, this issue is really becoming a thorn in his side. It's provided anti-Christian bigots with an excuse to spew their venom all over the ADN discussion boards. However, there are honest citizens who are genuinely concerned about the effects this controversy will have upon Anchorage Baptist Temple. In an LTE published by ADN on February 1st, Philip Elrod writes "Rev. Prevo has done a lot of good work in Alaska, but many will end up remembering him for the expanding tax scandal instead of his good work, and if it's determined that what he did was actually illegal (and at the minimum it pushed the law and looked very shady, which is partly what 1 Thessalonians 5:22 refers to), the cost especially to his own congregation will be a big one. All Christian leaders need to take this to heart. No Christians are perfect, and most are far from it, but when we slip, we need to admit so with humility and change our course".

One way Pastor Prevo could turn down the heat is to voluntarily agree to allow the teachers' residences to go back on the tax rolls in 2013 as a good faith gesture. That would then put ABT on the same playing field as other churches within Anchorage.

From the Occupy Fairbanks Facebook pageThe prolonged deep cold snap affecting Interior Alaska and sending temperatures plummeting to colder than -60F in many areas has not chilled the enthusiasm or dedication of the Occupy Fairbanks movement. Despite temperatures in Fairbanks bottoming out at -51F, Occupy Fairbanks maintains a continuous presence at Veteran's Memorial Park. The core group of 15 people, augmented from time to time by a larger group of supporters, take shifts ranging from a few hours to 12 hours, using a pair of tents erected in November to keep themselves warm while maintaining a 24-hour presence. The tents are equipped with heaters.

Their main problem now is that their port-a-pottie was removed from the park at the behest of Rep. Tammie Wilson (R-North Pole) after she got a call from a constituent who mentioned a city ordinance about the long term use of portable toilets. Ironically, her constituents live in North Pole, not Fairbanks, so why a Fairbanks city ordinance would be pertinent to someone living in North Pole is unclear. Occupiers cope by using the bathroom in City Hall during the day and urinating in closed containers inside the tents at night. The Occupiers hope to make some kind of arrangement with the borough to have the toilet returned, and are also asking local businesses in the area for permission to set up the toilet on their property.

On their Facebook page, Occupy Fairbanks re-states their three primary goals:

1. Separation of corporation and state; enacting reform in the government to remove the power of corporate lobbyists over our representatives, and to sever the incestuous ties between government and big money. One way to do this is campaign finance reform, entailing a repeal of the Citizens United ruling. This problem represents issues both in the private sector and the government, and change is not possible without reform to both.

2. Fiscal Accountability and Transparency; corporations as well as the government need to held accountable for their collusive fiscal actions. A prime example of this is the exorbitant bailout taxpayers paid to banks that were “too big to fail,” who in turn continue to refuse loans to small businesses and carry on predatory lending practices. No one was or has since been held accountable for this problem (except taxpayers). There can be no such thing as “too big to fail.”

3. Creating awareness through the spread of information regarding local and national issues precipitated by these overarching concerns. The issues we are protesting are relevant to every citizen of our country, and it is paramount that they be informed. Apathy and disinformation are the enemies of democracy, and for too long both have preyed on the power of the individual and the value of the vote. It is high time we took our democracy back.
Occupy Fairbanks has scrupulously avoided the destructive misbehavior by other Occupy contingents, most notably those in Oakland and New York City. Consequently, Occupy Fairbanks is best judged by their own actions rather than the sins of others. But politics is dynamic rather than static, and at some point, the Occupiers must consider moving beyond the Occupy mode and into a different mode. Either get involved in the campaigns of similar-minded candidates such as Ron Paul, or else consider running candidacies of their own. Some of them might make good state legislative candidates, even if they run merely to "spread awareness".

Some quality comments from the News-Miner which provide a good snapshot of local opinion (after the jump):



sonofchulio February 1st around 8:00 A.M:
The perseverance of the local protesters is impressive. They've gone through 2 good cold snaps and some windy, snowy days. For that, I tip my hat.

But I have 3 problems with them:

1. The trespassing issue. Setting up and remaining at the camp, in spite of clear borough camping laws, is a poke in the community's eye.

2. Their presumption that they speak for me when they claim title to the 99%. They don't. They are a subset of the 100%--just like other groups with political motives. Many of the big players and street protesters in the movement are communists and/or anarchists, and neither group speaks for me. Just the opposite, I condemn both.

3. By their existence, OccupyFairbnks is in league with, and in support of, the OWS movement across the nation. They might proclaim that they only support the good stuff, but their support is taken for moral assent by the movement (and the media) for the bad stuff, i.e. street riots, vandalism, public urination and defecation, bank invasions, dock blockades, vermin, and violence within their movement. Even more loathsome are the many reports of racism and Jew hating within the movement.

It's my belief that the national movement is going to explode in the coming spring and summer. I don't mean exploding in more popular support--I mean in violence across the nation, especially at the political conventions. The reaction to Occupy violence might be equally repugnant and violent. This is not a threat, it is a prediction.

Go home, children.

LadyNYC February 1st around 9:00 A.M:
Whether or not ows survives as a movement is almost irrelevant. The issues will remain, and because this is an election year, those issues will be in the forefront of national discourse.

It could be that only the anarchists and communists remain in ows, and that people who advocate peaceful protest will align under a different banner. I don't the national movement will explode this spring and summer simply because the number of supporters will be much diminished if the occupy movement continues with violence. I think some violence is possible, and likely, from the extreme, radical fringes, but they will be in small, scattered groups. I don't see a massive populist uprising happening at all. Far too many people want peace and stability, not more violence and chaos.

As for Occupy Fairbanks, I think they are well-intentioned individuals. But what is the point of their protest at Veteran's Park? This is a question I had back in October, when they started occupying the park. I think the question is as valid today as it was then. They are protesting economic injustices. Fine. Noble, in fact. But when does the protest end? When do they leave the park? If their answer to that is only once there are no more economic injustices, then they'll pretty much never leave Veteran's Park.

Without a clear set of goals, without specific grievances that can be addressed and resolved - locally - they're setting themselves up for permanent protest, and a permanent encampment at Veteran's Park. This has the potential to get ugly in the summer, especially. Given the conservative nature of this community, I can easily see people camping out at Veteran's Park in the summer to protest the protesters. If the borough and city think they have problems now, just wait until that happens.

Occupy Fairbanks needs clearly defined goals. Without goals, they are merely protesting for the sake of protesting. Which is ultimately a waste of time, and a waste of their good, idealism-laced energy. There are ways to make a difference, ways to enact change, neither of which will happen without clear goals.

FreeLiberTea February 1st around 10:00 A.M:
Back in 2011, I heard one of the Occupy Fairbanks folks on the radio say they were going to stay out there "for as long as it takes." What does that even mean?

What's your goal? If you don't have a goal, then how will you know when you've reached it? Or are you just going to stay out there until America magically transforms into an egalitarian utopia?

A better approach might be to go home, warm up, stay informed, and pay attention to mainstream politics. Take note from the recent SOPA/PIPA protest. That was amazing, and it pains me to see people compare it to Occupy Wall Street. The difference? The SOPA/PIPA protest used effective means to reach a specific goal. Contact your senators to stop S.968. Mission accomplished.

What's the Occupy Wall Street equivalent? Camp out "for as long as it takes" until everything fixes itself? How can that possibly work?

DoctorZaius February 1st 12:00 P.M:
A couple of points...

1. Most of us have jobs. I certainly do. I also have not more than one student loan on my head, and have financed the vast majority of my education out of my own pocket through hard labor, so I don't need to be preached to about "getting a job" or "living off of mommy/daddy/student loans."

2. Our demonstration has never disrespected the sanctity of the park. We count many veterans among our active members and supporters, and many more who simply condone our actions. If you personally feel that we are an affront to you, please come down and talk it over with us. The Nose Miner is a horrific place for working out differences.

3. Neither myself, Occupy Fairbanks, Occupy Wall Street, nor any of their supporters or benefactors presume to represent the will and interests of the 99%. Any who do are hypocrites and liars. Rather, what we represent are issues relevant TO the "99%," and to really cut through the rhetoric, relevant to the 100%.

Former Alaska State Representative Vic Kohring, who is considered a charter member of what has come to be known as the "Corrupt Bastards Club", has finally spoken out in his own defense. It is the first installment in a series in which Kohring will tell his own side of the federal Alaska public corruption probe. First published in the new Make-A-Scene, a monthly community publication serving readers in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, Alaska Dispatch has picked it up and re-published it. Lengthy, but worth reading.

Previous posts about Vic Kohring available HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

Summary: Here are the most significant highlights:

-- Kohring apologizes for having accepted money from Bill Allen. He honestly thought Allen's gifts were from a friend with no strings attached, and says he never intended to change his position on oil tax legislation to benefit Allen, and id not vote the way Allen wanted him to vote. Kohring now recognizes how being seen on video accepting money from Bill Allen created the perception of wrongdoing.

-- Kohring's plea bargain, in which he was sentenced to time already served, recognizes the practical difficulties he would have had at his re-trial in Fairbanks. He decided to continue was simply not worth further subjecting his family or himself to the government's chicanery, nor was it worth the risk of losing at the re-trial and potentially being taken away from loved ones for years. Kohring has already spent $1.25 million on his defense. It would not be a level playing field anyway, since Kohring's impoverished, and the Feds have limitless resources. Anyone who tells you that you can get justice in America needs to be sent down to Worksafe. Justice in America is only available to the rich, and our justice system is run primarily for the benefit of lawyers and judges.

-- Kohring claims that the prosecution concealed over 6,000 pages of evidence in his case, much of it crucial, citing the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out the original verdict in the spring of 2011. He also cited the criminal investigation of several of the prosecutors over withheld evidence to further support his contentions.

-- Kohring also reveals that his ex-wife, Tatiana, views our FBI as nearly as bad as the KGB of the former Soviet Union, from where she emigrated nearly 20 years ago. This reveals that there's probably little acrimony over the divorce. No one knows why they divorced, and it's none of our business unless Kohring chooses to disclose it. But Vic Kohring has finally figured out what people like Norm Olson and Schaeffer Cox already knew -- that the FBI are nothing more than highly-paid Zogbots.

Kohring didn't address his ongoing suit against Bill Allen, filed in June 2011. He's suing Allen for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and damage to business and personal reputations. The suit claims that Allen intentionally made false statements about Kohring to the FBI and the public. As a result, Kohring suffered the loss of his reputation, career, family, shame, mortification, and injury to his person, and life in general as his freedom was taken away for a full year, which plaintiff can never get back for which defendants should be held liable. He is requesting a judgment of $100,000.

Otherwise, Vic Kohring is prepared to move on, put closure to this, and stop fighting a battle that he now knows he was destined to lose in the final analysis regardless of the facts, evidence and strength of his case. I never really got the same negative vibes from Kohring as I did from Pete Kott and John Cowdery; while Kott seemed like an opportunistic hustler and and Cowdery a troglodyte with one foot in the grave, Kohring seemed like a straight-up guy who just allowed himself to get sucked in. It's good that he's telling his story, but I think his hopes of ever serving in elective office again are baseless.

In a mildly surprising decision, the Anchorage School District announced on January 31st, 2012, that Florida outsider Jim Browder has been selected to replace Carol Comeau as district superintendent. There'll be a three-month overlap between Browder, who will assume the post in April, and Comeau, who officially retires on June 30th. Browder was one of two finalists for the Anchorage job, along with Kenai Superintendent Steve Atwater. While the two finalists were well-qualified, I thought Atwater had a narrow edge because of his Alaska history and his experience as a rural educator. But apparently ASD decided that Browder's big-district experience took precedence; read ASD's official press release.

School board members were impressed by Browder's success delivering rising test scores in the face of budget cuts in Florida. He cut $95 million over two years when the recession hit that area. Board members apparently attributed complaints about Browder's demeanor in Florida to sour grapes over the cuts as well as a uniquely bad situation at Edison Community College not believed to be representative of what Browder is all about. Board President Gretchen Guess confirmed this, saying "We really focused on the seven years he was at Lee County. The fact (that) across the board, every grade level, every academic area went up over those seven years." Board members were also impressed by the fact that the school district he superintended, Lee County Schools in Florida, had a diverse student population of 82,000; the equally-diverse Anchorage School District averages a student population of 49,000. Because multiculturalism has become official social and cultural dogma, experience in managing diversity is considered a plus.

Compensation: Browder, who has agreed to a three-year contract, will make $180,000 per year; Comeau earned $165,000 per year. Both figures are well below the national average of $239,000 for an urban superintendent according to the Council of the Great City Schools. The district will also pay him up to $10,000 in moving expenses, but will not include a housing allowance. Browder reportedly would like to remain in Anchorage for at least seven years. The board will take a final vote on his contract at a special public meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday, February 3rd at the ASD Education Center

Steve Atwater's Reaction: According to KTVA Channel 11, Atwater released the following statement: “I was honored to be chosen as a finalist and appreciate our School Board, employees, and community support through this time. I offer my congratulations to Dr. Browder, and appreciate the Anchorage School Board selecting me as a finalist. The application process was a positive experience; it helped me gain a deeper understanding of education in Anchorage and Alaska. I look forward to continuing the good work that we are doing to give our students here on the Kenai a world class education.”

General Public Reaction: As comments posted to the ADN story. Mixed reaction, with a considerable number of people expressing concern about his previous human relations squabbles and saying that we shouldn't have hired an outsider. But if the outsider has qualifications effectively matching our needs, why should he be excluded? Browder is also a school choice advocate, which will appeal to charter school advocates; perhaps he can find ways to increase accessibility to charter schools. Since he's now "the man", he deserves an opportunity to show what he can do.

Dominating the weather news in Alaska is an extended outbreak of deep cold during the past two weeks. While South Central Alaska has experienced some effects, with Anchorage dropping below zero every night with only two exceptions from January 13-30, the REAL cold has wrapped its frosty hands around Interior Alaska. The National Weather Service notes that January 2012 will be the coldest on record for Nome, Galena, and Bettles.; on Saturday January 28th, five stations reported temperatures of -60F or colder, while on Sunday, seven stations breached the -60F mark, topped by Fort Yukon with -65F. For Fairbanks, this January could be the fifth coldest on record.

And Fairbanks has an additional complication. Because of its valley location, strong inversions, and the amount of particulate matter pumped into the air, they get ice fog. A video posted by Fairbanks photographer Eric Muehling shows a time lapse of the ice fog progession along with a small inset showing what it's like to drive in it. The video was shot from Farmers Loop road north-northeast of downtown Fairbanks; Farmer's Loop is in the foothills north of town, about 300 feet or so higher in elevation (see reference map HERE). Thus he can see above the inversion, and the video shows the plume from the power plant near UAF in downtown Fairbanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3mKIf0v4h8



But life goes on, as much as possible. On Saturday January 28th, when a fire broke out in North Pole, firefighters from throughout the Fairbanks/North Star Borough responded even though the temperatures dropped to -60F. Fire Chief Jeff Tucker said, “Equipment freezes, pump freeze, people freeze”, although the Tanana Valley American Red Cross responded to the fire with a warm vehicle and warm drinks for the firefighters.



Police stay busy as well. On Friday January 27th, Alaska State Troopers found two unattended children in a black Mercury sedan stuck in a ditch on Chena Point Road at Dolphin Way in Fairbanks. Inside the vehicle were a 3-year-old and 4-year-old, one dressed in a tank top and shorts, the other in a diaper; outside the vehicle, the temperature was -28F. The investigation ultimately revealed that the mother, 25-year-old Kristin Smith, became stuck in the ditch and left the children in the vehicle while she walked a quarter mile to her husband’s home. There, she took some prescription medication and fell asleep, never returning to the vehicle. She has been charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child as well as misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment.

It's unthinkable to be homeless in Fairbanks when the temperature drops to -50F, which is why the Fairbanks Rescue Mission is experiencing an overflow. The shelter, which can provide beds for 140 men and 60 women, is currently housing 175 men, 40 women and 15 children. A growing percentage are males in the 18 to 24 age group, who can be disrespectful and aggressive. Many are those who came north for higher-wage jobs, but who found themselves overwhelmed by Fairbanks' higher cost of living. The shelter is over 70 percent donor-funded, and Fairbanksans have been generous.

The extreme cold also leaves no margin of error for vehicles left outside; if a block heater fails or if a battery gets too old, you'll need a tow. Badger Towing reports the number of tows has tripled since the cold snap began. Downtown Tire and Auto reports their business is up 50 percent. And Ralph Huyck, a service adviser at Seekins Ford, said the dealership, which normally services 20 to 30 vehicles a day, serviced 110 vehicles on January 16th alone.

But this post ends on a more pleasant note. A resident of Kotzebue who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints posted her thoughts about Kotzebue, which she characterizes as "extremely cold and incredibly beautiful", on Segullah. She says her husband loves Kotzebue in the winter, "even the frostbitten cheeks after chopping down the Christmas tree on a 24-mile roundtrip snow machine ride and having to pay $10.99 for a gallon of milk at the one grocery store in town. Kotzebue is strangely exotic for him because it’s so shockingly different from anything else he’s known." What makes Kotzebue special for her is the fact that she was baptized a member of the LDS Church there. The LDS Church does have a branch in Kotzebue, which meets at 5th and Alice; it is assigned to the Anchorage Alaska Chugach Stake.

God bless our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters for taking a powerful stand for unborn life and freedom of conscience, and against growing Federal tyranny. During this past weekend, many Catholic officials across America read a pastoral letter to congregants during services that condemned the Obama Administration's requirement that employers must include contraception and abortion-inducing drugs in health-care coverage. Although not applicable to houses of worship, the requirement will force Catholic colleges, hospitals and other Christian groups to provide these drugs despite their faith-based opposition to them.

In the letter, which varied slightly in style and syntax from one originator to another, Catholic leaders also stated that the Church cannot and will not comply with this unjust law, as it violates the Catholic conscience. Additionally, the church says that it is faced with a difficult decision — either comply and violate its faith, or drop coverage for employees and suffer the consequences. The letter urges congregants to take action and to call Congress in an attempt to overturn the regulation.

As a resident of Anchorage, I am proud to report that Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schweiz joined in the condemnation, publishing a similar letter read to Catholic congregations in the Archdiocese of Anchorage. Here's the most important part of the letter, which spells out the church's intent and what they ask of parishioners:

...The Church cannot comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture, only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend contacting Congressman Young and Senators Begich and Murkowski asking them to support legislation that would reverse the Administration’s decision. This can also be done by visiting www.usccb.org/conscience. This website is also a place to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how we should work together on this matter. You may also go to the Archdiocese web site. There will be a link to the USCCB site for your convenience.
Note that the Roman Catholic Church does not advocate that its parishioners break the law or engage in civil disobedience at this time. Since church-affiliated hospitals and organizations still have another year before they will be forced to comply with the coverage restrictions, there is still time to resolve this situation without resorting to civil disobedience or any other extralegal tactics. The best way is to mobilize Congress to act against this requirement.

Defending the right of the Roman Catholic Church to not include contraception and abortion-inducing drugs in health-care coverage will better guarantee that other religious denominations won't be forced by a tyrannical government to violate their consciences either. I would not want the Federal government to force the LDS Church to confer the Priesthood upon women or to marry gay couples in their temples. The Roman Catholic Church is fighting for the religious freedom of all in this case.

Comments posted to The Blaze story indicates strong support for the Catholic position.

During the regular meeting of the Anchorage Assembly on January 31st, 2012, several ballot propositions and general obligation (G.O.) bonds for inclusion on the April 3rd, 2012 Municipal Election Ballot will be presented for discussion. Scroll down to Section 14, New Public Hearings on the agenda. This post will first focus on the bonds, since they cost us property taxpayers money. If all prospective G.O. bonds are approved as currently written and ultimately passed, property taxpayers will see an increase of $16.39 per $100,000 assessed value on their properties (assuming 70 percent debt reimbursement on the school bond). The Municipality of Anchorage has not yet disclosed how much in previous bonds will be retired this year.

A preliminary list of mayoral and school board candidates is available HERE. No Assembly seats are up for grabs.

Prospective General Obligation Bonds:

(1). AO 2012-3: Provides $27,472,000 to pay the costs of various road, storm drainage and related capital improvements; a list of projects is available on page 3 of this supplement. Applies only to the Anchorage Road & Drainage Service Area (ARDSA), although all voters within the Municipality of Anchorage will vote on it because of the "full faith and credit" clause. If approved and passed in present form, it will increase property taxes within the ARDSA only by $8.68 per $100,000 assessed property value.

(2). AO 2012-4(S): Both this one and AO 2012-4 are on the Assembly's agenda; AO 2012-4(S) is the most current version. Provides $2,750,000 to pay the costs of constructing, renovating and equipping various park and trail improvements and recreational facilities; a list of projects is available on page 3 of this supplement. Note that this parks bond is more important than most because it calls for the repair/replacement of failing bridges on the trail system. If approved and passed in present form, it will increase property taxes by $0.79 per $100,000 assessed property value.

(3). AO 2012-5: Provides $1,588,000 to pay the costs of Areawide Emergency Medical Service and Public Transportation Improvements and related capital improvements; a list of projects is available on page 3 of this supplement. If approved and passed in present form, it will increase property taxes by $0.39 per $100,000 assessed property value.

(4). AO 2011-119(S): This was already approved on December 6th, 2011. Provides $59,077,000 to the Anchorage School District to pay the costs of educational capital improvements, career and technical education upgrades, design projects and districtwide building life extension projects; the link posted above also includes a list of the projects. The bond is eligible for 70 percent state debt reimbursement.

-- With 70 percent state debt reimbursement: It will increase property taxes by $6.53 per $100,000 assessed property value.

-- Without 70 percent state debt reimbursement: It will increase property taxes by $14.67 per $100,000 assessed property value.

Prospective Ballot Propositions:

(1). AO 2012-1: Authorizes the Municipality of Anchorage to grant a real property tax exemption of the first $150,000 of assessed value to the eligible widow or widower of a person killed in military service of the United States.

(2). AO 2012-2: Authorizes personal use of certain common fireworks on private property without a municipal permit for a limited number of hours in annual celebration of the new year, subject to restrictions. It will be restricted to the three-hour period beginning 10:00 P.M. AST on December 31st and ending at 1:00 A.M. on January 1st.

(3). AO 2012-11: A ballot proposition amending Anchorage Municipal Charter Section 17.13, Definition of "Publish", to allow electronic publication instead of newspaper publication.

(4). Gay Nondiscrimination Initiative: Since this was accomplished using a petition campaign, no Assembly ordinance was necessary. Here is the wording of the question to appear on the ballot:

“Shall the current Municipal Code sections providing legal protections against discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, physical disability, and mental disability be amended to include protections on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender identity?”
If passed, it will get applicable sections of the Anchorage Municipal Code updated to add the phrase "sexual orientation or transgendered identity" to the laundry list of protected classes, but employers and proprietors would still be allowed to maintain separate-gender restrooms and to impose reasonable dress codes upon employees. In addition, the initiative leaves untouched existing law (AMC 5.20.090) that allows religious groups and denominational institutions to give preferential treatment to people of the same faith.

A couple of efforts to open dialogue about race have made the news this week, offering a contrast between a mature collaborative approach directed towards ALL Alaskans launched in Anchorage, Alaska vs. a hysterical finger-pointing witch-hunt directed AGAINST Whites launched in Duluth, Minnesota.

In Alaska, the First Alaskans Institute has launched Alaska Native Dialogues on Racial Equity, a series of community conversations designed to promote healing and raise awareness. The dialogues also aim to push for public policy solutions and to help create racial equality for all Alaskans. The key word in that last sentence is "all"; it's not intended to be a "blame Whitey" campaign. In one of the two videos released as part of the campaign, the Institute's Andrea Sanders talks about how Alaska Native children in urban areas have difficulty correcting stereotypes. However, she notes that intentional dialogue can go a long way toward healing through a proactive and positive approach, explaining that when people talk openly about how racism has personally impacted them, they begin a process of healing, of overcoming that baggage and continuing on their path.

So although the impetus for this campaign comes from an Alaska Native organization, it is designed to be more collaborative and less judgmental. They resist the temptation to jump on the "Hate Whitey" bandwagon. As a result, initial public reaction mined from the Alaska Dispatch story shows people are more interested in civil communication than in shouting at one another.

Screenshot of typical Un-Fair campaign posterHowever, the city of Duluth, Minnesota took the opposite approach. A loose umbrella coalition called the Twin Ports Coalition, comprised of the City of Duluth, St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services, the Central Labor Body, Lake Superior College, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Wisconsin-Superior and the YWCA, launched what is called the Un-Fair Campaign. Unlike the Alaska First Institute Campaign, the Un-Fair Campaign is NOT designed to promote healing and raise awareness; instead, their goal is to rant about so-called "white privilege" in their community. Their campaign, which will include seven months of events, billboards, a website, public service announcements, and various media splashes, is directed strictly against the White community; they want White people to become aware of the unfairness of judging people by their race and of their responsibility to help bring racism to an end. If this doesn't meet the criteria of a witch hunt, I don't know what does.

Even though Duluth is 90 percent White, this "hate Whitey" campaign is being led by progressive anti-racist whiggers and the white elite; Mayor Don Ness is personally leading the charge. Also note the prominent involvement of three universities; this is no surprise since colleges are the incubators of anti-racist hatred and apostate doctrines such as "white privilege". The Duluth News-Tribune has editorially abandoned all sense of journalistic impartiality and has been fully co-opted to act as a cheerleader for this campaign, as you can see in their editorial. Here's a YouTube video of a local news report (after the jump):





Proponents of white privilege doctrine maintain that white people receive advantages in life merely because of the color of their skin. They attempt to defend it by saying that most white people are unconscious of this privilege. Since there is no way to objectively or empirically prove otherwise, which would require one to prove a negative, this line or argument -- and indeed, the whole concept of white privilege -- is invalid. It also can promote a distorted sense of entitlement and resentment against the White community by various non-white communities. And it's only a matter of time before gay activists will use this as a pretext to start squawking about "straight privilege".

Don't forget that the campaign against Jews in national socialist Germany started with Adolf Hitler talking about "Jewish privilege". And the much lengthier and more destructive campaign against the bourgeoisie in the Soviet Union started when the Bolsheviks began talking about "bourgeoisie privilege".

Guess which one of these two campaigns attracted attention on Stormfront? Yep, the Duluth campaign, a 15-page thread HERE and a shorter 7-page thread HERE. Neither Minnesota Public Radio nor Fox21 nor the Duluth News-Tribune had the balls to accept public comments on their stories. Although the national media seems to be ignoring this story for the moment, the Council of Conservative Citizens noted that "The website for the [Un-Fair] campaign is viciously anti-white. It shows pictures of fair-skinned white people and then depicts them as the enemies of non-whites. It claims blacks and immigrants are being treated unfairly by whites. It’s absurd claims will only fuel actual racial hatred, the hatred directed at white people". At Occidental Dissent, Hunter Wallace wrote "In 2011, the 12th Annual White Privilege Conference was hosted in Bloomington, Minnesota. The ongoing destruction of the Mall of America by the Black Undertow wasn’t raised as a topic of discussion there". But numerous comments were posted elsewhere, and it didn't take a David Duke to trigger an outbreak of White racial consciousness:

AkamuSlayer January 28th 4:40 P.M. (posted on the YouTube channel):
God damn, I've never been racist in my life, but shit like this, open attacks against me, my family and my people, are MAKING me more racist than I have ever been. You ask us to ignore skin colour, then in the same breath tell us we're evil for being white, you tell us race is a social construct, then in the same sentance tell us that our race is evil and needs to be stopped. Make up your mind, if races don't exist, why are we targeted for our race?

You people are the racists, not us.

CaliforniaVolante January 28th 9:15 P.M. (posted on the YouTube channel):
I'm white and have lived first in an entirely black neighborhood growing up and now live in an entirely hispanic neighborhood. I've experienced nothing but racism and resentment from others for my skin color, but have not returned that hatred. I've never done wrong to these people, yet billboards and media like this justify hatred toward whites every day.

I am offended by this, and I say this in the kindest manner I know how.

fuck yourself and to the "minorities" especially FUCK YOU

Robert Goldstein January 28th 8:37 P.M. (posted on Northlands News Center):
This campaign is incredible. Instead of treating everyone equaly and combating all forms of racism, it targets whites specifically, even ridiculing them with markings written across their face branding them evil pale skinned racists. This is true reverse discrimination, funded by the ADL, SPLC and other Jewish run government institutions.

They imply that white communities need to embrace multiculturalism and abandon their "northern european values" Although USA was founded exclusively by Europeans and has been 90% European descent up untl 1965 when the immigration laws changed. Now its forbidden for whties to exist exclusively and show a natural healthy cultural identity and solid cohesion. We are witnessing mass indoctrination and systematic ethnic cleansing in a Cultural Marxist implementation. When will you guilt ridden suicidal "evil" "racist" White Europeans wake up and realize you are being systematically forced into the dustbin of history within your own nations?

Tammy Schmid January 25th 8:16 P.M. (posted on Northlands News Center):
My husband was in the military for 21 years. We served with all nationalities and made friends with them. My children were brought up to recognize racism and fight against it. They were taught to judge a person by that person's actions not looks. I am appalled that because I'm white I'm being labled a racist. I have been discriminated against by other nationalities because I'm white. Those billboards do not fight against racism but are encouraging it. If these groups want to fight racism then fight ALL racism and discrimination.
It seems like the Alaska example is better to follow than the Minnesota example.

Get ready to take a crowbar and pry open that wallet a bit wider, Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer. The Obama Administration wants to squander $3.2 billion of our money promoting healthier school meals during the next five years, and intend to impose it as an underfunded mandate upon the states, although costs will be offset in part by a reimbursement increase of 6 cents per meal.

Specifically, the Administration proposes an overhaul of U.S. school meal standards that replaces breaded patties and canned fruit with fresh tomatoes and chef salad. The new standards will drop a daily requirement for meat or a meat alternative with breakfast and require more fruit and food rich in whole grains. It will be the first major change to school meals in 15 years. Read the U.S. Department of Agriculture's full press release HERE, and read the 80-page explanation of the new rules HERE (takes about three minutes to download).

Chief Food Nazi Michelle Obama offered an explanation, saying “As parents, we try to prepare decent meals, limit how much junk food our kids eat and ensure they have a reasonably balanced diet. When you’re putting in all that effort, the last thing we want is for our hard work to be undone each day in the school cafeteria. When we send our kids to school, we expect that they won’t be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods that we try to keep them from eating at home. We want the food they get at school to be the same kind of food we would serve at our own kitchen tables.” Of course, Michelle failed to mention that parents could maintain that control by sending their kids to school with a PACKED LUNCH, the way many students did when I went through school in the 1960s.

Reaction from the food industry is mixed. While the American Frozen Food Institute, which represents 90 percent of U.S. frozen-food production, praised the proposal, a 2011 survey by the Washington-based National Potato Council indicated that 60 percent of district-school food-service directors expected costs to increase and more food to be wasted under the proposal. The Council's pessimism is justified, considering that U.S. schools served 2.9 billion free lunches, about 500 million reduced price lunches and only 1.8 billion full-price lunches as part of the National School Lunch Program in fiscal 2010. We taxpayers pay for those free and reduced-price lunches; in March 2011, then-school board candidate Bob Griffin disclosed that 42 percent of Anchorage School District students received free or reduced-price meals.



The experience of the Los Angeles Unified School District does not portend success for this new healthy foods campaign. LAUSD introduced a new healthful menu at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year in which they got rid of chocolate and strawberry milk, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, nachos and other food said to be high in fat, sugar and sodium, and substituted vegetarian curries and tamales, quinoa salads, pad Thai noodles, black bean burgers, tostada salad, fresh pears and other similar healthful items. The result: Many of the meals have been rejected en masse, participation in the school lunch program has dropped by thousands of students, and principals report massive waste, with unopened milk cartons and uneaten entrees being thrown away. Students are ditching lunch, and some say they're suffering from headaches, stomach pains and even anemia. At many campuses, an underground market for chips, candy, fast-food burgers and other taboo fare is thriving. As a result, LAUSD is now backtracking, getting rid of beef jambalaya, vegetable curry, pad Thai, lentil and brown rice cutlets, and quinoa and black-eyed pea salads, and putting hamburgers and pizzas back on the menu.

In the past, LAUSD has offered uneaten school meals to non-profit agencies that feed the needy in the local area, so it isn't a total loss. But it's still one hell of a waste. Obesity isn't merely a food consumption issues; it's also exacerbated by lack of physical exercise.

So how did LAUSD embrace such a radical change? Pressure by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, both of which gave awards to LAUSD for improving its school lunches last week. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a misnomer, though; an examination indicates that it is an extremist organization promoting vegetarianism and even an outright vegan lifestyle, which precludes both meat and dairy. PCRM also maintains active ties with another extremist group, PETA. So LAUSD embraced an extremist agenda, and paid the price. Or, more specifically, citizens whose tax dollars pay for LAUSD's operations paid the price, subsidizing massive food waste by students.

It will be interesting to see how the Anchorage School District and other Alaska school districts respond to these new guidelines -- and whether they'll be more successful than LAUSD.

Another self-proclaimed "community voice" has launched an attack upon Anchorage Baptist Temple Pastor Jerry Prevo over the church's numerous property tax exemptions. Professional sourpuss Elise Patkotak, who's been a bitter and vindictive critic of Prevo in the past, complained on January 24th, 2012 that even if Prevo didn't break the law, "it all just feels sleazy". Typical leftist tactic -- exalt feelings over facts. Patkotak also attempted to equivocate Prevo, who's been married only once and who has never been alleged to commit adultery, with the former serial adulterer Newt Gingrich, currently on his third marriage. Another typical leftist tactic -- erect a straw man. Both tactics straight out of Saul Alinsky's playbook.

But while the Anchorage Daily News has prominently reported on the tax controversy, they have minimized Jerry Prevo's own response to the issue. Fortunately, the Northern Right published a response by Prevo in its entirety on January 17th, 2012. Prevo discloses that when the Anchorage Daily News contacted him in December in preparation for their story, he consulted two different law firms and asked them to examine ABT's tax-exempt properties, determine if the exemptions were proper, and if not, how to make it right.

Both law firms advised ABT they believed the church was in compliance with the law. ADN quoted Kevin Clarkson to that effect, and a letter from Thomas P. Amodio also validates ABT's exemptions. Prevo indicates he is fully cooperating with the municipal tax assessor's office, and will comply with whatever final decision is rendered.

Jerry Prevo believes much of the kerfluffle is inspired by opposition to the fact that he has been a positive and articulate spokesman for traditional family values since the 1970s, fervently opposing the promotion and statutory protection of the homosexual agenda, and led public opposition to Ordinance #64 in 2009. Fueling his suspicion is the fact that although Bent Alaska first publicized the tax issue in August 2011, ADN didn't really start pushing it until January 2012, a mere three months before the municipal election during which voters will get the opportunity to weigh in on a new gay nondiscrimination initiative. Thus the tax issue is being used as a wedge issue to fuel a Yes vote on the initiative. Prevo explains this in the Northern Right:

...It seems this issue comes up about every time "special rights" for homosexuals comes up in our city which is coming up in April. If passed, these "special rights" for homosexuals will take away the rights of religious groups, churches, organizations, businesses, religious people, and individuals.

I have opposed "special rights" for what the Bible calls immoral behavior since the 70's. It seems these recent accusations are again a move to diminish my opposition to these "special rights".
What's ironic is that those who demand that Jerry Prevo and ABT stay out of the discussion on gay rights impose no such demands upon those churches who support the proposed gay initiative. Four local churches are involved; St. Mary's Episcopal, United Methodist, Immanuel Presbyterian and Joy Lutheran. Yet no one, including Jerry Prevo himself, questions their tax exemptions or their right to engage publicly in social advocacy without forfeiting tax exemptions. The bottom line: Either it's O.K. for ALL churches to engage in public issue advocacy -- or NONE of them. The only restriction upon churches is against endorsing specific candidates from the pulpit.

It is legal for Anchorage Baptist Temple, like any other entity, to take advantage of property tax exemptions. It is also legal for Anchorage Baptist Temple, like any other entity, to lobby for additional tax exemptions. Consequently, those who still have an issue with these exemptions are best advised to direct their attention towards those who granted or enable the exemptions; namely, the Municipality of Anchorage and the Alaska State Legislature. The Anchorage Assembly exercises control over local taxes, and it was the legislature which passed HB334 in 2006, which broadened the scope of the exemption to include religious school teachers and ordained ministers who run ministries. Those who object to the exemptions should contact their local assembly member to express those objections, and contact their state representative or senator to advocate for repeal of HB334.

The best solution:

-- Limit property tax exemptions for churches to the primary church complex and the senior pastor's residence.
-- Provide an appeal process so churches can apply for additional tax exemptions as desired.
-- Grandfather ABT's remaining exemptions to leave them in force as long as the present occupants live in the properties. Once the present occupants leave, the properties would be placed back on the tax rolls.

For the third time, a federal grand jury has returned an indictment against Alaska Peacemaker Militia members Schaeffer Cox, Coleman Barney, and Lonnie Vernon. The superseding indictment returned before U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Bryan in Anchorage on January 23rd, 2012 now adds murder conspiracy charges to the preceding indictment, with a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. As a result, the original trial date of February 6th has been pushed forward to May 7th. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner published the most informative story, but the Alaska Dispatch adds some additional details about the arguments in the courtroom.

Karen Vernon is not named in the new indictment, but she remains jailed on separate federal charges of threatening a federal judge, his family and an IRS employee. Likewise, Michael Anderson was not re-indicted; he was taken into custody as a material witness on December 6th, 2011, but was released on December 13th. It is believed the feds are trying to pressure Anderson to become the third snitch in the case, joining Gerald Olson and William Fulton.

-- Read the complete 24-page indictment HERE.

The murder conspiracy charges are reflected in Counts 12-16 of the new indictment:

-- Count 12: Alleges that Cox, Barney, and Vernon did knowingly, willfully, and
unlawfully conspire and agree together and with other persons known and unknown to the grand jury to kill, with premeditation and malice aforethought, officers and employees of the United States, including law enforcement officers.

-- Count 13: Alleges that Coleman Barney did knowingly carry a firearm, specifically a semiautomatic assault rifle, a ParaUSA AR-15 .223 rifle, during and in relation to a crime of violence, that is, conspiracy to murder.

-- Count 14: Alleges that Lonnie Vernon did knowingly carry a firearm, specifically a semiautomatic assault rifle, a Sig Arms .223 rifle, during and in relation to a crime of violence, that is, conspiracy to murder.

-- Count 15: Alleges that Schaeffer Cox did knowingly carry a firearm, specifically a handgun, during and in relation to a crime of violence, that is, conspiracy to murder (the type of handgun was not specified).

-- Count 16: In summary, alleges that all three defendants engaged in solicitation to murder an officer of the United States, and implies that Cox was the ringleader.

The new indictment also includes seven criminal forfeiture allegations in which the federal government is requesting that weapons found be permanently forfeited to the federal government.

Of interest is the appearance of the phrase "and others known and unknown to the grand jury" repeatedly found in certain parts of the indictment. While this phrase may be used to cover the activities of the snitches involved in the case, it may also imply the feds could be considering charges against other people, it may also be the reason why Alaska Citizens Militia leader Norm Olson expressed concern on January 11th about the possibility that federal snitch Gerald Olson may be trying to rope him into the case. Olson supports Cox in principle 100 percent but denies ever urging Cox or his cohorts to break the law.

During the hearing, all three defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. Two strategems by the defense team to derail the indictment, challenging the constitutionality of referring to grenade launchers and canisters loaded with bullets as "destructive devices", and claiming the Gerald Olson had effectively "kidnapped" Cox in the weeks leading up to his arrest, were rejected by Judge Bryan. But this simply illustrates the expertise of Cox's defense team; they leave no stone unturned.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that at least 12 supporters of Schaeffer Cox and his cohorts had come down from Fairbanks and were present in the courtroom, along with the wives of all three defendants, Marti Cox and Rachel Barney in the audience, and Karen Vernon in the dock in a prisoner jumpsuit.

On January 23rd, 2011, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) was temporarily detained by TSA personnel at the Nashville airport when he tried to board a flight to Washington D.C. After triggering an alarm during routine airport screening, TSA personnel sought to give him a patdown. Sen. Paul refused and asked to go back through the scanner a second time; TSA refused his request. They temporarily detained him, but in accordance with Article I, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution, did not take him into custody; local police soon arrived to escort him out of the area, and Sen. Paul made alternative flight arrangements.

But Sen. Paul's experience is likely to give renewed impetus to two TSA-related bills prefiled in the Alaska State Legislature. Alaska State Rep. Sharon Cissna has prefiled two bills designed to address the issue of body scanners and physical patdowns. The primary target of these bills is the Transportation Security Administration.

-- HB262: The short title is "No Required Patdowns/Scans For Access". Adds a section to AS 11.76 defining a new Class A misdemeanor entitled "Interference with access to public buildings or transportation facilities". Defines it as requiring a person to submit or consent to physical contact by any person touching directly or through clothing the genitals, buttocks, or female breast, or requiring a person to submit or consent to any electronic process that produces an electronic image of the genitals, anus, or female breast or otherwise creates an electronic image of the person that exposes or reveals a physical characteristic that is normally hidden from the public. Rep. Cissna is personally invested in this bill because of her experience with TSA; she even gave testimony to Congress in March 2011.

However, HB262 exempts correctional facilities, probation officers, restricted access area of a law enforcement building or federal building, a courtroom, offices of the Alaska Court System, or a courthouse that is occupied only by the Alaska Court System and other justice agencies. So about the only area not exempted is the screening area at an airport. The bill clearly is intended to impose restrictions upon TSA screening at airports. The bill has now been referred to Finance and Judiciary.

Problem: While HB262 is well-intended, if passed, it would impose a Hobson's choice upon a TSA screener. If the screener pats down a traveler upon direction by a supervisor, the screener could be prosecuted for a misdemeanor. In addition, it creates the appearance of a state law intending to supersede a federal practice. Consequently, I predict that TSA would immediately file suit in state court if HB262 is passed. What's more possible is that HB262 was conceived as a hammer to promote passage of the milder HB270, described in the next paragraph.

-- HB270: This is the related bill that Rep. Cissna is co-sponsoring along with Reps. Max Gruenberg (D-Anchorage) and Chris Tuck (D-Anchorage). The short title is "Warning Of Airport Patdowns/Scans". Applies only to areas where screening of passengers and cargo is being actively conducted. Amends AS 02.15.050 by adding subsection which requires a warning notice to be posted in such areas, and prescribes the size and text of the warning. Imposes no penalty for non-compliance. The bill has now been referred to Finance and Transportation. Rep. Tuck also has some personal investment in this bill since he recently released a video of a commercial in which he warned of the prospective radiation hazard of whole body scanners.

Since HB270 does not impose a penalty upon someone for complying with conditions of employment, it is not as potentially problematic. Passage would not likely trigger a lawsuit by TSA. Nevertheless, the secondary value of both bills is to send a legislative message to TSA that they need to clean up and humanize their act a bit more.

The bubble which suddenly inflated in a matter of days and propelled Newt Gingrich to an unexpected victory over Mitt Romney in the January 21st South Carolina primary seems to be extending to Florida as well. In the first Florida poll conducted since South Carolina, InsiderAdvantage found that Gingrich leads with 34 percent, while Romney is second with 26 percent. Rounding out the field is Ron Paul with 13 percent and Rick Santorum with 11 percent; 14 percent are undecided, and two percent want someone else. InsiderAdvantage contacted 557 registered Republicans in Florida.

This is a significant turnaround from three previous Florida polls taken one to two weeks ago by PPP, CNN/Time, and Sunshine State News/VSS, all of which showed Romney anywhere from 15 to 26 points ahead of Gingrich. Adding to InsiderAdvantage's credibility is the fact that they were the first pollster to pick up the dramatic shift from Romney to Gingrich in South Carolina just days before the primary.

Update: A Rasmussen survey released after this post indicates a similar outcome, with Gingrich at 41 percent, Romney at 32 percent, Santorum at 11 percent, and Paul at 8 percent.

In general, contributing factors to the shift towards Gingrich in South Carolina included Gingrich's willingness to call out the media in his exchange with John King, Romney's dithering about the release of his tax returns, possible backlash against the last-minute revelation by one of Gingrich's ex-wives that Gingrich had proposed an open marriage, and, to a lesser extent, Rick Perry's endorsement of Gingrich and Sarah Palin's "endorsement-that-was-not-quite-an-endorsement". Some exit polls showed that many voters thought Gingrich more electable than Romney.

In the Weekly Standard, Fred Barnes attributes Romney's lack of success in South Carolina to the lack of a "big idea". While Gingrich's campaign was perceived to be based on the big idea that he’ll crush Obama in debates and win the White House, Romney’s insistence on touting his years as a corporate turnaround expert at Bain Capital and his understanding of the economy simply didn't produce the same level of enthusiasm or momentum. Gingrich stirs up the masses by throwing them raw meat, while Romney insists on serving a leisurely, sedate seven-course dinner.

To get back on track, Mitt Romney must go on offense and expose Gingrich's vulnerabilities. He must paint a picture of Gingrich as an unstable loose cannon who's unpopular nationally, with independent voters, and even within his own party, with 23 percent of Republicans saying they would not support him as the nominee in a recent ABC poll. Romney must also overcome perceptions that he is the candidate of the rich, and emphasize how many jobs were created during his tenure at Bain Capital.

Nevertheless, even if Romney loses Florida, the Chicago Tribune doesn't think it's the end of his campaign. Both Arizona and Michigan are considered Romney-friendly turf, and Romney literally owns Utah. Caucuses in Nevada, Colorado, and Minnesota will benefit from a more organized campaign, giving Romney and Ron Paul a boost over Gingrich. Then comes Super Tuesday, when 10 states will allocate a total of 407 delegates; Alaska is expected to be split primarily between Romney and Ron Paul. Comments to an Anchorage Daily News story about South Carolina indicate a pronounced dislike of Gingrich. With few debates left on the horizon, Gingrich won’t have the time, the exposure, or the money to build the type of national campaign Romney has already started to build. The Tribune does project a two-point Gingrich victory in Florida.

On January 20th, 2012, Alaska Dispatch published an article discussing an interview with Alaska Citizens Militia leader Norm Olson earlier this week about developments in the Schaeffer Cox case. Apparently there is scuttlebutt spreading that one of the Fed's two snitches in the case, Gerald Olson, is trying to not only implicate Norm Olson in the case, but to also imply that Norm Olson may roll on Cox in order to discredit Olson within the militia community. The fact that the Feds are apparently preparing to present new evidence and request additional indictments from a grand jury on January 23rd, combined with the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), exacerbate Olson's concern. Update: On January 23rd, a superseding indictment was presented in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, and Cox pleaded not guilty.

Background: Gerald Olson is the "dirty" snitch in the case, having made three felony charges go away in exchange for his cooperation. Despite defrauding numerous customers, he ended up pleading guilty only to second-degree theft, and got probation. In contrast, William Fulton, who formerly owned Drop Zone Security, is the "clean" snitch, facing no charges, but who suddenly disappeared from view after the initial arrests of the Schaeffer Cox crew in March 2011. What's even more intriguing about Fulton is that he was under Federal control in October 2010 at the time of the famous Tony Hopfinger incident during a Joe Miller campaign appearance in Anchorage; this has triggered speculation that the Feds may have encouraged Fulton to deliberately stage a provocation to sabotage Miller's Senate campaign and deliver the November victory to Lisa Murkowski.

Alaska Dispatch refers to a warning sent out by Norm Olson to other militia followers on January 11th addressing these concerns. Further research reveals that this was in the form of two separate messages posted on their forum. The first message was posted at 11:35 A.M. on January 11th:

Schaeffer Cox is facing additional federal charges involving "conspiracy to murder."!! The feds will present their "evidence" before the grand jury on the 23rd. It will be the 3rd time that the feds have added new "evidence" and have gone to the grand jury for additional indictments.

Also heard that JR Olson (Confidential Informant who wore a wire for the feds in trade for making his own 3 pending felonies "go away") has implicated me, claiming he has an audio tape of a phone call to me (or from me?) about Schaeffer. I am alleged to have urged Schaeffer to avoid arrest and prosecution by going into hiding and becoming a fugitive. I wouldn't be surprised to get a visit from the feds. They'll probably have "conspiracy to aid and abet a fugitive" or "hampering a federal investigation" or some such BS to charge me with.

From what I can put together, the new "evidence" is based entirely on audio tapes. I believe that the federals have resorted to manufacturing evidence from parts of normal conversation. The feds are hungry and are itching for a showdown. They don't seem to understand the law of unintended consequences.

I do think it is interesting that the federals may be "casting the net" over a wider group of patriots. This, together with the federal's authorization to arrest without warrant or cause does give me pause...
Later in the same thread, Olson notes that the information he received is from reliable sources on Schaeffer's defense team. Obviously, Schaeffer Cox has a much better defense team than did Edgar Steele.

The second message was posted at 6:30 P.M. on the same day. Here's the pertinent part:

I want everyone to know that I have, and still do, and will continue to support Schaeffer Cox 100%. Nothing will change that. I will NOT become a Judas against him, regardless of the false evidence that may be created by the feds.

It may be, repeat MAY BE, that the federals are trying to drive a wedge between me and my good friend Schaeffer. Some unusual things are going on around me, with people I know, and crimes that have taken place that I'm being accused of. The latest BS concerning JR ("Gerald") Olson and the alleged link between him and me are absolutely bogus.

Please do not give any credence to the rumors that I assisted in any way Schaeffer's arrest.
From these two messages, Norm Olson has made two things quite clear:

(1). He did NOT urge Schaeffer Cox to avoid arrest and prosecution by going into hiding and becoming a fugitive.

(2). He does NOT intend to roll over on Cox; he will continue to support him 100 percent.



The possibility that the Feds will base much of their case on audio tapes means that Schaeffer Cox's defense team must be prepared to challenge the authenticity of the tapes, and they need to line up some audio experts with experienced resumes. They must be prepared for the possibility that the prosecution will use every strategem to exclude any audio experts from testifying in Cox's behalf. The Edgar Steele case also revolved somewhat around audiotapes, and Steele's defense team engaged two experts, former New York City detective Dennis Walsh and George Papcun, who holds a PhD in acoustic phonetics and whose resume showed work on the Jon Benet Ramsey trial, to challenge the tapes' authenticity. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan convinced Judge Lynn Winmill to reject them. Later in the trial, Judge Winmill changed his mind about George Papcun, but imposed conditions logistically impossible for Papcun to meet, requiring him to travel from Bora Bora to Boise, ID in less than 24 hours. Obviously, Papcun could not meet that requirement, and so could not testify.

Naturally, Steele was convicted, and subsequently sentenced to 50 years in prison. The snitch in that case who actually planted the bomb, Larry Fairfax, got a 27-month wrist slap. There was barely a pretense of justice in the Steele case, and not even a pretense of justice in the Schaeffer Cox case. It's glaringly obvious that the Feds want to destroy and bury the Schaeffer Cox crew.

Representatives of various pro-family groups, some of which have been smeared as "hate groups" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, have delivered a response to the SPLC, bringing the culture war to their very doorstep on January 17th, 2012. The SPLC actually published a complete account on their Hatewatch blog, albeit with the customary left-wing spin, referring to the people as "anti-gay extremists".

Although the specific number of protesters was not provided, this press release shows who had committed to show up:

-- Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), Chicago, IL (the SPLC has smeared AFTAH as a "hate group");
-- Dr. Patrick Wooden, pastor, Upper Room Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Raleigh, NC;
-- DL Foster, founder, Gay Christian Movement Watch, Atlanta, GA;
-- Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs, Liberty Counsel, Lynchburg, VA;
-- Tim Johnson, Fredrick Douglass Foundation, Washington, D.C.;
-- Rachel Conner, representing Abiding Truth Ministries (smeared by SPLC as a "hate group")
-- Pastor Glen Sawyer, New Mt. Zion Church of God in Christ, Elizabeth City, NC
-- Pastor Wil Nichols, Victorious Praise Fellowship COGIC, Durham, NC
-- Pastor Jon Robinson, Kingdom C.O.M.E. Ministries, Clairton, PA
-- Pastor Kenneth Jefferson, Greater Harvest COGIC

Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel reflected the group's predominant opinion when he said “In the past few years the SPLC has inexplicably chosen to lay on the line any credibility it once had as a serious civil rights advocacy group to, instead, push a left-wing extremist political agenda. The SPLC has moved from monitoring actual hate groups like the KKK and neo-Nazis to slandering mainstream Christian organizations with that very same hate group label. By extension, the SPLC is smearing billions of Christians and Jews worldwide as haters simply because they embrace the traditional Judeo-Christian ethics.” He summed it up by characterizing the SPLC as simply a well-funded MoveOn.org.

Pastor Patrick Wooden, who was interviewed before the protest by Peter LaBarbara of AFTAH, said that he was saddened by the SPLC’s deviation from its historic role of defending racial minorities in favor of defending the homosexual lobby. “I think every African-American ought to be appalled, ought to be angry, and begin to wave their fist in the air and declare black power and say to the homosexual lobbyists, the homosexual groups, how dare you compare your wicked, deviant, immoral, self-destructive, anti-human sexual behavior to our beautiful skin color.”

In response, SPLC Intelligence Director Mark Potok, who is a gay Jew, said in part “Our listing of anti-gay hate groups is completely unrelated to religion, Christianity or the Bible. These groups are listed because they repeatedly lie in an effort to defame LGBT people, an exercise they’ve been extraordinarily successful at. The idea that we are criticizing these groups because they represent Judeo-Christian morality is simply ludicrous.”

But what's really ludicrous is that during the first decade of this century, the SPLC, which had heretofore limited their focus to racist organizations in the South, also began to target nativists, immigration restrictionists, and patriotic miltias. They also began to categorize pro-family groups as “hate groups” for opposing the homosexual political agenda and condemning homosexual behavior as immoral. Groups specifically condemned as “hateful” by the SPLC include the Illinois Family Institute, Mass Resistance, Abiding Truth Ministries, and Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH); the Family Research Council has also been condemned by the SPLC. By casting a wider net, the SPLC has been able to disingenuously claim that the number of hate groups in the United States had increased, which keeps the donation spigot cranked wide open and the shekels flowing.