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‘Truth Unmasked’ project shut down by GoFundMe, funds seized and returned to donors

Suzanne Downing
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48
‘Truth Unmasked’ project shut down by GoFundMe, funds seized and returned to donors

NO EXPLANATION GIVEN FOR WHY ‘MASK’ PROJECT BROKE ‘RULES’

Update: Must Read Alaska has taken down the first video of this project because the doctor has been subjected to harassment. Well update readers when we can share more.

Bernadette Wilson of Anchorage was mystified when she woke up Tuesday morning to find that her GoFundMe.com page, to raise money for a mask-awareness project, had been shut down by the fundraising company.

And then she was in shock: All the funds she had raised to make three videos and get them on the air had been stripped out of her account and sent back to donors. The $4,800 in donations had been refunded to the dozens of donors backing the project.

Wilson had already produced two of the TV spots and reserved the advertising time, and GoFundMe would give her no explanation of why her page was shut down. When she sent a note to the help desk asking for the rationale, she received the vaguest of answers:

Wilson’s “Truth Unmasked” project, which is a temporary public information campaign and not an ongoing nonprofit or entity, was designed to get the word out from medical doctors in Anchorage willing to go on the record about the correct use of masks, because only one side of the medical debate was being highlighted in the political arena, where policy decisions are being made.

Some doctors have spoken to Must Read Alaska privately about their concerns about the mask mandates, but they’ve been reluctant to speak up. After all, they work in a sector that is highly regulated and regulation agencies can cause them economic harm.

Wilson found three who would go on camera to discuss the problem with incorrect usage of masks in the current pandemic environment.

On Monday, a mask mandate was put into effect by Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz for all people in the municipality who are in spaces where they are “sharing the air” with others. Democrats are pressuring Gov. Mike Dunleavy to enact a statewide mask mandate.

Wilson’s first spot was published yesterday on YouTube and has had more than 9,000 views. It features neurosurgeon Dr. Paulson of Anchorage. It’s been since taken down since Dr. Paulson has been harassed after it aired.

Wilson, who owns Denali Disposal, has ads under production with other doctors, and has time booked on radio.

Wilson said she is busy launching another fundraising website to try to restore the funds to the project, since she has committed the $4,800 that it gained in the few days the fundraising campaign was live.

New start: ‘Truth Unmasked’ project now called ‘Alaskans Deserve Better,’ funds roll in

Will tomorrow’s PFD be the last one you’ll ever see?

Suzanne Downing
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Will tomorrow’s PFD be the last one you’ll ever see?

The 2020 Permanent Fund dividend check will hit the pocketbooks of Alaskans starting tomorrow. Some 90 percent of eligible Alaskans will get the funds deposited directly into their bank accounts. The rest will see the funds mailed to them later in July or as their eligibility is determined.

Some of the checks will be garnished and go directly for past child support payments or other debts.

This year’s oil royalty check will be $992, one third of what is should have been under the statutory calculation, but all that the Alaska Legislature’s majority members could give, since they needed the rest of the Permanent Fund dividend dollars to pay for government programs.

July 1 isn’t just when the dividends will start arriving — it’s the beginning of the 2021 fiscal year. And the budget that was approved for the coming year is already going to come up short.

The Alaska Department of Revenue forecasts a budget deficit of several hundred million dollars next year. In fact, even if Alaskans don’t get a Permanent Fund dividend next year, the budget will still be short on cash, due to precipitously dropping oil prices.

For the coming year, Unrestricted General Fund (UGF) revenue, before accounting for the transfer from the Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve, is forecast to drop from $1.6 billion in fiscal year 2020 to $1.2 billion in FY 2021.

The revenue for the UGF portion of the budget is expected to be less than $0.7 billion from oil and gas, and less than $0.4 billion for other sources.

The Permanent Fund is expected to transfer $2.9 billion to the General Fund in FY 2020 and $3.1 billion in FY 2021. These amounts include funds for both payment of dividends and general government spending.

But while the revenues are in tough shape, due to global economic forces, the State Legislature has approved $5.3 billion in spending for FY 2021.

Legislators are going to be in a tough spot next year. While Gov. Mike Dunleavy asked for significant cuts during his first year in office, the public and many in the Legislature took that as an affront, and a recall campaign began against him.

This year, he took a softer approach, although he did veto $210 million in unrestricted general funds (UGF) spending approved by the Legislature. He didn’t veto so much as to attract a veto override, as legislators are now beginning to realize the gravity of the state’s financial situation. The shortfall in the 2021 budget is believed to be another $200 million or more.

With low oil prices and production, the revenue-to-spending ratio has only worsened, and the Constitutional Budget Reserve has been nearly drained.

As of May 31, the balance of the Constitutional Budget Reserve was $1.93 billion, which will not be enough to make up the difference for the 2022 budget, especially if any of the funds are needed to patch up the 2021 budget this fall.

‘Cancel culture’ petitions continue: Rename Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

Suzanne Downing
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51
‘Cancel culture’ petitions continue: Rename Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

On Tuesday, a petition at Change.org popped up to change the name of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail to something … it doesn’t say what, but not Tony Knowles.

Knowles was a two-time governor and former mayor of Anchorage. The petition also cites him as a member of the Democratic Party, which has a racist heritage, and a beneficiary of white privilege who attended a school founded by a slave trader — Yale University. Also, he’s an “oilman,” another apparent strike against him.

“The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail that runs along Knik Arm in Anchorage bears the name of a politician — Tony Knowles, a former Democratic Party governor who was also an oil man from Oklahoma,” the petition states.

[View and sign the petition here.]

According to the petition, which was started by Sherri Jackson, the trail crosses land that has been used by indigenous people for 1,000 years and should not bear the name of a person who belongs to the political party that fought to preserve slavery in the 1800s, and the party that opposed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.

“Further, Tony Knowles graduated from Yale University, which was founded by a wealthy slave trader. His successes in life are owed to his white privilege and education at a university founded on the same white privilege,” Jackson’s petition states.

“We believe the naming of this trail should be given to the Village of Eklutna so it can bear the name of a tribal leader, rather than a paid politician.”

The petition is addressed to Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and, as of this writing, has eight signatures.

Recently, Berkowitz gave the fate of the Captain James Cook statue at Resolution Park, just above the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, to the Village of Eklutna to decide. A handful of activists posted their names on a petition to have the statue removed, but it’s now a decision that the chief of the Eklutna Village will make.

Berkowitz gives Captain Cook statue to Village of Eklutna to decide fate

Juneau Assembly considers new ‘systemic racism’ committee to screen laws

Suzanne Downing
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20
Juneau Assembly considers new ‘systemic racism’ committee to screen laws

The Juneau Assembly voted Monday, 5-4, to hold off on a new proposal that would create a committee to review every ordinance and resolution for “systemic racism.”

Proposed by Assembly member Rob Edwardson, the committee would have the power to step between a proposed legislation and the public hearing process, and review most of the major Assembly actions before they could proceed.

The committee would have power to interfere with projects, such as the major bond package being proposed by former Mayor Bruce Botelho, which would fund a new City Hall, a new arts center connected with Centennial Hall renovations, a new city museum, and more.

The committee would have the power to stop or dramatically slow down the public process if a majority of the seven committee members object to some aspect of an ordinance or resolution, in effect creating another layer of bureaucracy. It could become the most powerful committee on the Assembly because of its ability to stop such a broad array of legislation.

Instead of having a public hearing on the proposal at the next Assembly meeting on July 13, the Assembly voted to take it up in the Committee of the Whole for more discussion, and hold a public hearing later in July.

Juneau Assembly is not the only city council that is working on a “systemic racism” committee. On Monday, Portland Mayor Kate Snyder proposed a committee develop a vision for improving racial equity in the Rose City, which has been torn apart by Antifa and Black Lives Matter mobs.

The Portland committee would be asked to come up with a vision for how the city and its departments can address racism. It would not insert itself into the legislative process.

‘High holy day’ cancelled as Juneau Assembly says no to fireworks show on July 3rd

Suzanne Downing
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0
‘High holy day’ cancelled as Juneau Assembly says no to fireworks show on July 3rd

The Juneau Assembly had earlier cancelled the Fourth of July parade due to the current pandemic, but had said the fireworks display on July 3 could proceed, if everyone who came to town to watch the display wore face masks.

But Monday night that changed.

The Assembly stuck a knife through the annual fireworks show, which typically is shown late on July 3, or at about midnight on the 4th. The mask portion required an emergency ordinance, and it failed.

The fireworks show is a beloved tradition in most of America, and Juneauites often drive in from the Mendenhall Valley to watch it from their cars or along the waterfront, as the fireworks are shot from a barge in Gastineau Channel. Volunteers put on the show, rain or shine.

In Juneau, the Fourth of July weekend is the biggest celebration of the year, a time when people have family reunions, baseball games, foot races, parties, and barbecues. In what is somewhat a secular town, July Fourth is a high holy day.

But not this year. On a 5-4 vote, the Assembly majority worried that people would get COVID-19, and wouldn’t wear masks or stay six feet apart to prevent the pandemic from spreading in the community. The Assembly ordinance that was up for a vote tied a mask mandate to the fireworks show, and the whole measure failed.

Mayor Beth Weldon, and Assembly members Wade Bryson, Greg Smith, Rob Edwardson, and Michelle Hale voted in favor of the fireworks show.

But Assembly member Loren Jones said that there’s a lot of drinking in Juneau during that evening.

“The town is not ready to be opened up that much,” he said, a sentiment echoed by the others who voted to kill off the fireworks.

Former mayors to Berkowitz: Please use public process in decision on Cook statue

Suzanne Downing
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Former mayors to Berkowitz: Please use public process in decision on Cook statue

(The following letter was addressed to Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and the Anchorage Assembly and signed by four former mayors)

Many residents are concerned with the lack of pubic process in the recent unilateral decision by Mayor Berkowitz to leave the fate of the Captain Cook statue in Resolution Park to the Native Village of Eklutna.  I and several other former mayors share in that concern.  

The statue was donated to Anchorage by the British Petroleum Corporation in 1975 and installed in 1976.  Ironically, their gift was in celebration of the 200th anniversary of our country’s Declaration of Independence from England.  

It was designed by renowned sculptor Derek Freeborn and replicas of this same work appear in other areas where Captain Cook explored, including Hawaii, Australia, British Columbia and our sister city of Whitby, England, where Captain Cook began his naval career.

The sudden impetus to remove and/or re-locate the statue seems to be an extension of similar actions throughout the country, where historical monuments that some people consider offensive are now targets of removal, often times through criminal vandalism, and without a true public process.

While we are happy that the good citizens of Anchorage have not resorted to such acts, the lack of public input into any decision regarding the Captain Cook statue leaves us wondering:  “what’s the rush?” The best public decisions are those that are thoughtful and inclusive. 

Resolution Park is a dedicated municipal park and as such, any decision altering the park should go before the Park and Recreation Advisory Commission and to our knowledge that has not occurred.   We would also think that the Historical Advisory Commission would want an opportunity to have input.

Perhaps a process similar to the one used to name public places would be appropriate.  In that process, four citizens, two appointed by the mayor and two by the assembly meet, hold a public hearing and decide on naming recommendation based on a set of prescribed criteria.  That recommendation then goes to the Assembly which also holds a public hearing and then makes the final decision.

We are encouraged by the comments of Eklutna Village Tribal President Aaron Leggett, also a curator at the Anchorage Museum.   He suggested that the best course of action may be not to remove the statue but to enhance the exhibit at Resolution Park to include historical information and recognition of the Dena’ina people who inhabited the Cook Inlet area when Captain Cook conducted his explorations.  

Governor Dunleavy recently responded in a similar vein when the subject of removing historical monuments and works of art was discussed.  He said it is important to retain our history but, where appropriate, to add additional works of art and/or historical information to enhance and to add context to what already has been displayed.

Captain Cook was one of the world’s greatest explorers and cartographers.  The fact that his journeys brought him to Alaska is of great historical significance.  

He was not a political figure, nor a colonialist.  He justly deserves recognition and any decisions regarding what form that recognition takes can only benefit from a robust and open public process.

Mr. Mayor and Assembly members, we urge you to consider using something similar to the public facilities naming process and to follow the established lawful procedures regarding changes to our parks so that all voices in our community have an opportunity to be heard.

Sincerely,

Former Anchorage Mayors                                                                                                                                    Dan Sulllivan                                                                                                                                                        George Wuerch                                                                                                                                                        Rick Mystrom                                                                                                                                                              Tom Fink                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

District 7, SCC Republicans endorse Gattis over Kurka

Suzanne Downing
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7
District 7, SCC Republicans endorse Gattis over Kurka

District 7 Republicans in Wasilla have endorsed former Rep. Lynn Gattis for House District 7, and today the State Central Committee of the Alaska Republican Party followed suit.

Gattis is running against Christopher Kurka in the Republican primary. Whoever wins will face Jamin Burton, an undeclared candidate who is going straight to the General Election.

“No other candidate came close to Lynn’s evaluation and resume. She is committed to working with her fellow Representatives to improve our economy and create meaningful jobs as well as pursue our platform. Her past tenures in the House has proven her commitment to our Alaska ARP platform, goals, and values,” the District said in its request to the State Central Committee to join it in the preprimary endorsement.

Gattis is a former representative for the district, winning in 2014 with 64 percent of the vote over Verne Rupright, a nonpartisan. Before that, she had represented the area that was then known as District 9, shuffled during redistricting.

In 2016 she ran for Senate and lost to David Wilson. Colleen Sullivan-Leonard, the current District 7 representative, has chosen to retire, which leaves this an open seat.

Gattis attended UAA and studied in aviation technology. She is a pilot with over 40 years work experience, including with Gattis Aircraft, and as an aviation business manager overseeing more than 50 employees. She also has a farm in Wasilla, where she has raised cattle and grown and sold hay.

She served on the Mat-Su School Board from 2010-2012. While in the Legislature, she served on House Finance, was Chair of Education, chaired the Mat-Su Valley Delegation, was a member of Transportation, Fisheries, State Affairs, and Economic Development & Tourism Committees.

Berkowitz seeks to declare sovereignty over State offices, facilities to enforce his mask mandate

Suzanne Downing
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62
Berkowitz seeks to declare sovereignty over State offices, facilities to enforce his mask mandate

CONTRADICTS ATTORNEY GENERAL IN MEMO TODAY

Mayor Ethan Berkowitz says the mask mandate for the Municipality of Anchorage does, indeed, extend to State-owned offices and facilities, in direct opposition to a memo released last week by the State Attorney General.

The mayor’s attorney Kate Vogel wrote that “Anchorage’s masking requirement applies to indoor public and communal areas, to include State-owned offices and facilities.” That’s not what the AG said last week.

“The Attorney General’s memo sows confusion and unnecessarily risks the health and safety of Anchorage residents who do business with or work for state agencies,” she wrote.

She said that under Alaska law, a home rule municipality possesses all legislative authority not withheld by the legislature, and that the legislature has not acted to restrict Anchorage’s authority with respect to issuing mask mandates, nor has it exempted state-owned buildings.

“Undermining a local public health order with respect to senate buildings is ‘not necessary to carry out the purposes’ of disaster preparedness — it is bad for the health of our community. The Attorney General’s memo also puts State of Alaska employees in legal jeopardy by giving them inaccurate legal advice,” she wrote, on Mayor Berkowitz’ letterhead.

Sources close to Must Read Alaska have said that two labor unions have indicated they’ll strike or sue if forced to wear masks.

Within minutes of the mayor’s notice, the House Democrats issued a press release in support of the Mayor’s position, calling Clarkson’s memo politically charged.

“The attorney general issued a memo claiming that state offices – including the Atwood Building and other offices in Anchorage – are exempt from a Municipality of Anchorage requirement that residents wear masks in public places to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“By discouraging the use of face coverings in state buildings, the attorney general is placing state employees at greater risk of catching COVID-19 on the job,” said Rep. Zack Fields (D-Anchorage). “This is the latest reckless decision by the Dunleavy Administration that puts front-line workers at risk.”

“If we want to beat COVID, it makes sense to use face coverings when indoors,” added Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D-Sitka). “Just yesterday, Vice President Mike Pence noted that face coverings slow the spread of the virus, and our chief medical officer, Anne Zink, has been putting forward this message since the beginning of the pandemic. I encourage the attorney general to adopt the advice of our vice president, our chief medical officer, and nearly every other medical authority who has spoken on this subject rather than undermining efforts to use face coverings to help stop COVID-19.”

State Offices exempt from Berkowitz mask mandate

Reddit shuts down pro-Trump discussion group

Suzanne Downing
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3
Reddit shuts down pro-Trump discussion group

One of the most popular discussion/message groups on the social media platform Reddit was shut down by the company today. The channel had over 790,000 subscribers before it was dismantled for frequent rule breaking, and not meeting the company’s “expectations.”

r/The_Donald was what is called a “subreddit,” group where people discussed and posted funny memes in support of President Donald Trump. But it was a rough-and-tumble neighborhood on Reddit, created in June, 2015 immediately after Trump announced he was running for president. When it was shut down this morning, it was one of the most active forums on the Reddit platform.

Reddit describes itself as the “front page of the Internet.” The company in June of 2019 had quarantined the forum and required users to click an opt-in button before showing it. It also prevented advertising that Reddit allows on other forums.

According to Wikipedia, the r/The_Donald subreddit had a lengthy documented history of hosting conspiracy theories and content that was racist, misogynistic, islamophobic, and antisemitic.

Social media companies are taking a more active role in policing hate speech online, as advertisers have pulled their ads off of pages such as Facebook and Twitter because of what they see as hate speech.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman announced in a post that r/The_Donald channel is just one of about 2,000 newly banned subreddits, including at least one prominent liberal group, “Chapo Trap House,” which has about 160,000 regular users and which was a pro-Bernie Sanders group. Most of the groups banned were dormant.

The website posted the following explanation:

“All communities on Reddit must abide by our content policy in good faith. We banned r/The_Donald because it has not done so, despite every opportunity. The community has consistently hosted and upvoted more rule-breaking content than average (Rule 1), antagonized us and other communities (Rules 2 and 8), and its mods have refused to meet our most basic expectations. Until now, we’ve worked in good faith to help them preserve the community as a space for its users—through warnings, mod changes, quarantining, and more.

“Though smaller, r/ChapoTrapHouse was banned for similar reasons: They consistently host rule-breaking content and their mods have demonstrated no intention of reining in their community.”

The new Reddit rules are as described here:

  • It starts with a statement of our vision for Reddit and our communities, including the basic expectations we have for all communities and users.
  • Rule 1 explicitly states that communities and users that promote hate based on identity or vulnerability will be banned.
    • There is an expanded definition of what constitutes a violation of this rule, along with specific examples, in our Help Center article.
  • Rule 2 ties together our previous rules on prohibited behavior with an ask to abide by community rules and post with authentic, personal interest.
    • Debate and creativity are welcome, but spam and malicious attempts to interfere with other communities are not.
  • The other rules are the same in spirit but have been rewritten for clarity and inclusiveness.
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