Columns 2012

My mother used to tell me stories the circumstances her parents faced when they first emigrated from Italy. Signs on buildings stated, “Italians not allowed”.  Job postings contained the added words, “Italians need not apply”. So when I moved to Barrow and heard stories from friends there about the days, not that long past, when Natives and dogs were both banned from certain establishments, I thought I had a frame of reference that allowed me to understand their pain. But I didn’t, not really.

I’m not sure anyone can have a true frame of reference for what Alaska Natives faced

Although I find myself on the cusp of Romney’s 47% in that I’ve worked my whole life and paid taxes but now do indeed draw a government pension and use Medicare, I can’t shake the feeling that I would fall on the distaff side of his equation. It’s probably best I do. That’s where I’m most comfortable.

The other feeling I can’t shake is that Mitt Romney’s 47% comment itself doesn’t bother me as much as the context in which he made it. There he stood, speaking in front of people for whom $50,000 is an evening’s meal as opposed

I’ve written before about libraries and the part they played in my childhood. I figured that role no longer existed because of the huge amount of media access now available from birth through death. Why go to a library when you have the world at your fingertips? I watch my friend’s three-year-old grandson manipulating her cell phone and iPad and think that books and libraries will soon be a thing of the past.

Since I grew up in a family without a lot of disposable income, a library was critical to my insatiable reading habit. I can’t remember not having

Forty years ago yesterday, Oct. 3, 1972, I first set foot in Barrow. I’d signed up for a two-year tour with Indian Health Service. After a whirlwind one-day orientation in Anchorage at ANMC, I was sent directly to Barrow to relieve some nurses who had their vacations on hold due to a shortage of staff. I didn’t leave Barrow again, except for some medivacs to Fairbanks, until the following July. For someone who a week before had been enjoying dinner and a play on Broadway, the culture shock could not have been greater.

I’d spent the past two nights at

In March 1962, a freak storm hit Absecon Island in New Jersey. Absecon Island is most famous for being the island on which Atlantic City is situated. But it also has three little bedroom communities that line its down beach area called Ventnor, Margate and Longport.

This storm was unlike anything seen on the island in a long, long time. Hurricanes were something that happened in the fall and islanders expected them. But March, while usually a little windy and cold, was not supposed to bring with it a storm that would flood the island, cause the Million Dollar Pier

My cousin Joe’s son, Joe 3, decided after a brief stint as a city reporter for a small town newspaper that he wanted to go into a career with greater potential. So he went back to school and got a doctorate in philosophy.  I believe his father best expressed his feelings at this choice when he opened a newspaper to the want ads and declared, “Do you see an ad saying, ‘Wanted: Doctor of Philosophy for high paying job.’”

Despite my cousin’s concerns, we apparently need philosophers because the world continues to be a complicated place. Despite what some might

OK, Alaska Dental Society, pay attention because this is how it’s done. When there is a need for your services in an area you do not normally service, instead of fighting with those who would provide the service, you work with them to make sure that the service is performed well and to everyone’s benefit. Check in with the Alaska Veterinary Medical Association (AKVMA) if you have any questions about how to do this.

Once again my overwhelming admiration and affection for those who take care of some of our most helpless critters has been justified. The AKVMA has provided

I have never been one for scary movies. As a kid I went to them because that’s what everyone else did. On Saturdays, our mothers give us 50 cents and sent us around the corner to the Surf Theater for a double feature with 20 cartoons guaranteed to keep us out of their hair for at least four to five hours. We did this every Saturday except for summers when we went to the beach instead. The beach was free and back in the day, saving 50 cents a week was not to be sneezed at.

When the double feature

I think that under the heading of giving credit where credit is due, we should acknowledge the many, many Republicans who denounced US Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) and his asinine remarks about women and rape. I am almost certain that the majority of them meant it and were not just saying the right thing to avoid election losses.

The lesson that really needs to be taken from this incident is not that this man is a complete blithering idiot. That’s a given. The lesson that needs to be taken from this is that for so long as science is treated

A friend pointed out to me that the two lead stories in the paper this past Sunday involved healthcare. One story was about a baby who recently died of cancer. The other was about a wounded warrior who was deemed not eligible for VA healthcare because he had a less than honorable discharge.

The friend asked me how we got to determine who did or didn’t deserve health care in our society. It’s an interesting question.

I hear from a lot of people who think that if you don’t have health care and you get sick, tough luck. It’s your