Columns 2007

Last week I wrote a column about the abuse faced by Native women throughout this state at the hands of their own husbands and relatives.  The angry mail I received in response was quite amazing for a number of reasons.  One is the fact that some letter writers believe that since I am not Native, I apparently am not able to tell when a Native woman is being abused. The second, and perhaps more disturbing aspect of the mail, was how many women who wrote were so angry and full of what can only be called hate because I mentioned

Here’s one of those things you just never really forget.  I was enjoying a social evening with friends some years back in Barrow. One of the people sitting around the table was a police officer. He told us a story, a story that obviously disturbed him. I think he hoped someone around the table could explain it so wouldn’t seem so bad.

Here’s the story.  A husband and wife were picked up by the police for public intoxication and placed in separate cells for their own protection until they sobered up. This was hardly the first night they’d spent in

There’s probably not much left to be said about the shooting at Virginia Tech last week. But I do want to say this. I don’t want to live in a society in which we have to arm teachers in the classroom so they can kill anyone threatening our children. That’s how it may be in war torn Third World countries. But not here. Not in America.

That may sound ludicrous, but it was the first response of one of my friends as a way to avoid future tragedies.  “Arm all the teachers”, he said. And he was serious. “If just

Some things in life are just not meant to be.  Karl Rove attempting to rap while in a tuxedo and doing a dance that would make Nixon look loose and rhythmic is one of them.  How he can ever again be taken seriously as a power broker in Washington after that video hit U Tube is beyond me.

Here’s another thing that was never meant to be in America – rule by the majority of the people.  “What,” you gasp.  “Treason!” you shout.  Well no, not really.

A short moment of research on Google using the phrase “Democracy versus Republic”

OK, now that all the political pundits and talking heads have had their chance to pick last week’s election apart, it’s time for a layperson to check in with her perspective. I claim the title of layperson since I can honestly say that I NEVER pay attention to most of the issues we vote on until absolutely forced to by an impending election. And even then I tend to hang up on all the recorded messages because I’m just too old and have way too little time left in life to listen to them.

So my preparation for an election

I was listening to a show on NPR about the chaos caused in Iraq by the wholesale firing of all Baathists after the invasion.  While the reasons for the purge will probably be debated for a long time to come, and no one who has an ounce of sense in their heads doubts that some Baathists were very bad people, the result of the wholesale purge was total collapse of the civil service system in the country.

Yes, I can hear the laughter now from those who are thinking that maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea here. Get

OOPS! Guess the column did run in the paper today, so here it is.

As a GAL in this state, I am thrilled that the issue of full staffing for OCS and the need for more foster parents is actually catching some attention, if not more money, down in Juneau.  Usually, issues like this take a back seat to gas line talks, revenue projections and whether Mr. Whitekeys should be named the new state fossil.

So I hate to be the one to point out any flaws in this plan to hire more social workers, but I will. The simple

Ah yes, the “babe” factor.  Our governor has it and yours doesn’t.  Our governor has it to such a degree that even Barack Obama could stand to take a few lessons from her.  Anyone doubting the power of the babe factor need only look at her approval ratings.  More than three months into her administration and her numbers hover in the 70% favorable.  Now that’s a babe factor and a half.

There are some who might argue that Palin has those huge numbers as a direct result of the unbelievably low numbers registered by our former head of state –

Now that Fur Rondy and the Iditarod have safely made it through Anchorage with all the snow they could possible want, would it be horrible of me to suggest that I’ve had it with winter.  I’m done with ice.  Snow has lost its amusement value for me.  Bragging to my relatives about how low the temperature got last night is no longer fun. 

I’m tired of the twenty-minute dressing routine I have to go through every day before I walk my dogs. My feet long to stroll without little wire grippers between them and god’s earth.  My hands long to

Here’s the thing about kids. They have a talent for sniffing out hypocrisy.  If you want to know why the war on drugs is such a miserable failure, you need go no further than this.  “Don’t smoke pot. Drugs are bad for you,” has limited effectiveness when spoken by someone holding a glass of wine. It’s the hypocrisy factor.

We all start out life thinking our parents are omnipotent. The first time we catch them in something less than the truth is usually the first time we start to question their previously unquestioned power in our universe.

When I was