Author: Elise Patkotak

Let’s be real here. Betsy DeVos was never qualified to lead the Dept. of Education. Hell, she isn’t qualified to lead the PTA in Kaktovik. She opens her mouth and stupidity spills out so rapidly you need to put a bucket under her chin to catch all the crap. She goes before the Congress and cannot answer the simplest questions about her department and its activities. The only solution she can come up with for school shootings is arming teachers. I mean, why bother to even say that. Why not just hand out the NRA position paper with bullet points Continue reading →

The state legislature has begun what has become its never ending sessions in Juneau on the same note they ended their sessions last year after multiple extra sessions were added to their regular schedule. And what was the problem, you ask? Well, there were two different philosophies at work in Juneau. There was the philosophy that said we need government services, we’ve cut as much as we can, the people of Alaska need to start chipping in for the services they get from the government. The other side insists we can still have a free ride if we accept absolutely Continue reading →

Every time I hear another politician or gun lobbyist or the NRA suggest that we make our schools into armed camps instead of even discussing reasonable gun regulations I want to scream.  Are we really a nation so enamored of guns and violence that we would rather imprison our children for eight hours a day in what would essentially be an armed fortress with locked doors and armed guards rather than admit at assault rifles are meant for war, not hunting, not protection.

School is supposed to be a place where you are safe and can have the good times Continue reading →

So Subway Jared is in jail as a pedophile. And soon, fingers crossed, his cellmate will be Jared Kushner.

Seriously, folks. We are expected to believe that Kushner met at the White House with representatives from two major lending institutions who then turned around and gave hundreds of millions in loans to his company. The defense he’s using… excuse me while I urp in my mouth a bit here… is that he has nothing to do with his company since entering White House service.

So based on that reasoning, I’m expected to believe that never once did the thought occur Continue reading →

My mother in what I can only guess was the 1930s while she was either in high school or college. Clearly not married with kids given the unstressed look on her face. She lost that relaxed look soon after I was born.

I always dreamed about somehow waking up one day and finding myself as slim and beautiful as she was. It never happened. It’s a toss up about which one of us was more disappointed by that. Continue reading →

Here’s how my family handled working with their kids when we were growing up. They didn’t.

My Uncle Joe and my dad both had stores… one grocery, one grocery and then beer. Both had sons. Neither thought working with that son all the time was a great idea. So during our teen years, my brother got a job outside of the store and my cousin Joe came down to the shore in the summer and worked for my dad. The theory was that while my cousin Joe might give his father grief and slightly get away with it, he knew Continue reading →

So the Anchorage Assembly a few years ago passed an equal rights ordinance that extends protection to transgender people. This action, which was really nothing more than basic humanity exerting itself on behalf of people whose voice is too often drowned out by hate in the guise of religion, has apparently sent some members of the conservative “Christian” right into a tizzy. They fume and squeal over how many straight male sex offenders will now dress up as women to try and get into the ladies’ restroom to do god knows what to god knows who.

So here’s my question Continue reading →

This is only for Lisa Murkowski because, quite honestly, Dan Sullivan doesn’t really have any connection to Alaskans and so doesn’t care what we think and Don Young is just… well, he’s Don Young so no learning curve is possible.

Anyhow, Lisa apparently thinks the issue of mass shootings in schools is complicated and needs study. Well guess what. It’s been studied to death. The problem is the NRA just doesn’t like any ideas for stopping the violence that involves sensible gun legislation that is always one of the top recommendations.

So let me break this down for you as Continue reading →

Just imagine for a moment that Obama appointed his brother in law to a high position in the White House based on no discernible skills and then put him in charge of reorganizing the government, creating peace in the mid-east and handling all issues of cyber security for the White House. Now imagine a Republican congress finding out that Obama’s brother in law couldn’t get permanent top secret clearance and yet was allowed access to it for over a year. Hear those screams for impeachment?

Amazing, isn’t it, that there are currently no screams coming from this Republican congress. I Continue reading →

Today is my Bird TLC day but because I am snowed in and my driveway won’t get plowed until the afternoon, I wasn’t able to go in today. So there I was up, dressed, dogs medicated and dogs and birds fed by 8 with my mornings plans canceled and too much coffee in me to go back to sleep. So what did I do? Well, so far I’ve:

1. Matched my Tupperware with lids and threw out all those lids and containers that had no mates. I matched approximately 12 containers with lids and threw out about 300.

2. Did Continue reading →