Essentially, the scheme captures and stores CO2 either in depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs or in forests. Do this, and the feds give you free money, popular in these parts. Not so popular is when the feds change the rules somewhere down the line, not unlike what they’ve done since statehood, not unlike what any pusher does to an addict after he gets you hooked.
Reporting on this has been skeptical, waiting for details. One organization calling itself We are the people of Alaska stood up an anti CO2 capture website and have been banging away on Tom Anderson’s morning radio show for a week.
As with any Next Big Thing, the devil as always is in the details, and as the details are (and will be) in flux, perhaps we ought to mention some big picture considerations.
There is both good news and bad news associated with this proposal. The good news is that it is free money, that several Lower 48 oil producing states (TX, LA, ND, WY, WV) are positioning themselves to participate, and that a decent CO2 capture and sequestration program would position Alaska nicely for future gas to liquids (GTLs) and coal to liquids (CTLs) activities. Finally, the producers are fully supportive as for the most part, they already have most of the injection infrastructure in place.
The bad news is that it is free money. Think of the pusher mentioned earlier. Additionally, it opens the door for remarkable graft and corruption like we have seen in the renewables / green energy world. Sadly, twice elected Alaska congress critter Rep. Mary Peltola appears to be an early adopter, with her husband Gene incorporating to get a piece of the newly baked pie. Think of Paul Pelosi’s stock trades with insider information and you won’t be far off. Additionally, most of us have figured out that the free stuff is the very most expensive stuff of all.
One of the rightful criticisms of this is that it panders to ESG (Environmental, social and governance), a scheme that uses pressure from banks, lending institutions, wall street, investment houses to support investments that are properly woke. Even Governor Dunleavy bragged about Alaska participating in ESG since before it was fashionable. I think ESG’s high point was last year, with significant pushback nationwide. And this is before the states roll out any of the large caliber anti-trust guns on its practitioners. Does the left want to inflict ESG? Absolutely. Will they try? Absolutely. Can they? Nope.
Both pieces of legislation in the House are complex, which worries me, as the more complex legislation is, the more difficult it is to determine what little nuggets of corruption are buried in it. As long as CO2 storage and sequestration do not shut down current or future resource development (think coal and logging), I think we ought to have that discussion. Whether we adopt it or not is another thing entirely, so color me skeptical.
I like that other leading energy producing states are participating. I do not like additional free money into Alaska, as it will be instantly spent. A return to defined benefit pensions for police and fire and more money for education are the current examples. I do not like that Gene Peltola is positioning himself to participate in the insider trading criminal enterprise known as the democrat party, as this is not going to end well for Alaska. He won’t be the only one, I expect.
Still, this is a start. The more discussion, the louder that discussion is, the better. The governor and his staff need to be front and center answering questions, as trust me no longer works when dealing with a government, any government at any level.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
Anchorage School District has a committee that secretly meets to decide if certain pornographic books, which may be thinly disguised as “educational,” should be in the school libraries and available to children.
This district has the power to say what pornographic literature is “appropriate” for students at various age levels. Parents are not needed.
The formal process noted in its Administrative Regulation AR 6144(a)appears well written, but the process itself is secret, hidden from parents and everyone else.
If an individual complains about an obscene book at the school level, the principal and other school personnel decide if it should remain in that school’s library.
But if a person complains about an obscene book that is in several school libraries, then the complaint is heard by the secretive District Controversial Issues Review Committee.
Just who is on this committee? It is heavily weighted in favor of the school district. There are eight school district members, two student members, and three community members.
This is typical of the Anchorage School District, when it comes to committee make-up. It allows the district to say, “See, we had community involvement,” even though the token community committee members are outnumbered by district personnel.
Here’s the kicker: You will never know who the majority of these committee members are, nor will you know how they were selected.
When the former Deputy Superintendent Mark Stock consulted with counsel about this committee, counsel stated that providing names may inhibit the process from occurring.
Is keeping this committee membership secret more important than the public knowing the makeup of the committee?
The district may have understandable concerns about releasing student committee names. But the district seems to have few concerns about providing controversial pornographic books to those same students.
And the school board even shut down a parent when he read from one of the obscene books. The board doesn’t want to hear what is actually in one of these books when children are present.
Here’s the worst part: Minutes of the Controversial Issues Review Committee are not even kept. Should the community be able to know the results of their meetings and the discussion that ensued? Do parents and the public not have the right to know which pornographic books meet the “educational” goal and still contain graphic sexual information? What about the Alaska Open Meetings Act?
The vote of each committee member is also a secret that flies in the face of the district’s own accountability principle: “The District will be open, transparent and accountable to the public.”
The district may be in even deeper trouble than mere transparency problems. Alaska Statute AS 11.61.128, “Electronic Distribution of Indecent Material to Minors” has very specific prohibitions including: “the person knows that the material depicts the following actual or simulated conduct:
(A) sexual penetration;
(B) the lewd touching of a person’s genitals, anus, or female breast;
(C) masturbation;
(D) bestiality;
(E) the lewd exhibition of a person’s genitals, anus, or female breast; or
(F) sexual masochism or sadism; and
(3) the material is harmful to minors.
(b) In this section, it is not a defense that the victim was not actually under 16 years of age.
The superintendent, the school board and other school personnel, especially librarians, may be subject to providing indecent material to minors, a Class C Felony.
A final report from the “anonymous” secret committee is submitted to the person who challenged the material. That report also goes to the superintendent and the school board.
How that report is written and provided to the school board and the complainant without any meeting minutes is unclear.
Author Alex Gino changed his/her mind after publishing George, and wanted the title to be “Melissa’s Story,” but the book was already published, so he/she is encouraging people to use pens to change the cover. Read more about that situation at this link.
The final report is also placed on the district’s controversial concerns website, which is three pages clicks down from the home page.
But first, one must know where to look. Don’t try to find information by putting your request in the ASD home page search bar.
If you try to search for the controversial concerns page on the ASD home page, you will get a blank page. Here it is:
So much for transparency about pornographic books.
After some page clicking and searching on the ASD web site, one can find the controversial concerns information. Here is the secret page, known as Page/19019: https://www.asdk12.org/Page/19019.
One book was challenged as inappropriate for students is “George/Melissa” a novel for middle school readers by Alex Gino.
The initial request for reconsideration was evaluated by an ad hoc committee that consisted of nine ASD employees and no community members.
The parent’s complaint said there were two references to child hormone therapy, two references to gender reassignment surgery, and the confusing use of pronouns throughout the book.
The challenging parent then appealed the decision.
Here was his major concern: “How, specifically, is the notion of a student cutting of their own penis with scissors conveyed via gesture appropriate for an elementary student?”
Here is the committee’s response: “The reference to a scissor gesture in the groin area is not by the main character, but an older sibling.”
The committee would not even use the word “penis” in its rebuttal.
The secret committee disapproved the appeal and said that this book “is not pervasively vulgar” and that, “removal of the book from elementary schools would mean restricting access for the intended audience of the title.”
It should be noted that the book, by its own publisher, Scholastic, is meant for middle school students, but the ASD is placing it in elementary school classrooms and libraries.
What else is the Anchorage School District hiding from parents and the public? We know the district is hiding at least one student’s gender identity from parents. Are there other secret committees that help a child transition to a different gender?
Alaskans in Southcentral dusted off their tuxedos and gowns and traipsed through the deep snow to the Dena’ina Convention Center for the second inaugural ball for Gov. Mike Dunleavy in Anchorage on Saturday evening.
Among legends and luminaries at the event were Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, former Rep. Dick Randolph, former Sen. Willie Hensley, and U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, whose husband, Gene Peltola, was one of the inaugural ball sponsors as he continues to launch his consulting company that is trying to get a piece of the carbon credit market in Alaska. Must Read Alaska did not see either of the U.S. senators for Alaska at the event.
Gov. Dunleavy receives a birch basket as a gift from NANA Regional Corp.
Former Miss America Emma Broyles lit up the room with her rendition of the National Anthem, and Gov. Dunleavy presented a $15,000 check from the inaugural committee to Special Olympics in honor of Broyles, who had made her mission to support Special Olympics, and in honor of his former Chief of Staff, the late State Sen. Ben Stevens. The governor talked at length about Stevens and how he didn’t follow in his father U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens’ footsteps, but forged his own pathway, and was a great man in his own right. Dunleavy gave a nod to Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, and hinted that she may be a candidate for governor in 2026.
Rep. Neal Foster talks to fellow ball attendees at the Dunleavy-Dahlstrom Inaugural Ball in Anchorage on Feb. 18.
Must Read Alaska noted the presence of Wasilla Rep. and House Speaker Cathy Tilton, Nome Rep. Neal Foster, CEO of Maniilaq Association Tim and Alisa Gilbert, Bernadette Wilson of Americans for Prosperity, Yolanda Clary, Forrest Wolfe, Jessica Nicole, Matt and Laurie Fagnani; Sarah Erkmann Ward, Lorne and Rina Bretz, former Lt. Gov. Loren and Carolyn Leman, former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, Sen. David and Aleta Wilson; Mayor Dave and Deb Bronson, Attorney General Treg and Jody Taylor, Republican National Committeewoman Cynthia and Ken Henry, Lindsey Williams, Portia Erickson, Sarah Hetemi, former Rep. Sara Rasmussen, Sen. Dan Sullivan State Director Chad Padgett, Jim Egan, Matt Schuckerow, and Art Hackney.
Also, Dunleavy Chief of Staff Tyson Gallagher, Nick and Dharna Begich, Elizabeth Stevens, Dan and Roberta Zipay, Fairbanks Republicans Cheryl Markwood and Seth Church, Anchorage Assemblyman Randy and Heather Sulte, Rick Green (Rydell), Anchorage Republican Women’s Club President Judy and Randy Eledge, former Rep. John Lincoln, Anchorage Assembly candidate Leigh and Jake Sloan, Rep. Dan Saddler, Steve Johnson, Mike Robbins, Jason and Carmela Warfield, and Fairbanks’ Babara Haney.
Although some legislators were not in attendance, many did attend the inaugural ball in Juneau on Jan. 20.
Ice sculpture in the shape of Alaska.
John Binkley, a former state senator and longtime Fairbanks businessman whose son is the majority owner of the Anchorage Daily News, was the emcee. When Dunleavy was introduced and went up to the stage, there were fireworks shooting straight up from pyrotechnic devices. One of them would not shut off, no matter how much the technician pushed the stop button, but Dunleavy busted up the crowd by joking that all that was needed now was a balloon to float into the room.
Alaskans for Honest Elections, working repeal ranked choice voting, had someone moving through the crowd trying to get signatures for the petition which needs 26,000 signatures on it before next year.
Back in December, I wrote an article outlining how Alaska’s unelected judges and attorney generals have repeatedly highjacked grand jury investigations into the Office of Children Services.
My article contained quotes from former State Rep. Tammie Wilson who in 2016 said “OCS has become a protected empire”, and “poor parents are often targeted”. Wilson called it “legal kidnapping” and said, “parents will do anything to get their children back.”
Some readers felt most of this was old news and wasn’t applicable in the Dunleavy administration, which took control of OCS in 2018. They noted Wilson had abruptly quit the Legislature in January 2020 to work for Dunleavy. They believed Wilson had helped straighten out OCS and it was on the right path.
These readers were dead wrong. The situation at OCS has gotten worse in the last six years under Dunleavy. OCS now backs up their kidnapping vans to the homes of respected middle-class families in addition to the poor. Their thirst for new victims appears unquenchable and Wilson appears to be compromised. She knows all about the tragedy you’re about to read yet has been powerless to stop the ongoing trauma. Is your home next?
The problem isn’t isolated to OCS and Dunleavy. Alaska’s judiciary and its legal system bear full responsibility for allowing this tyranny to go unchecked. The backstop of constitutional rights many of you have assumed exists in our state is a fiction. A chummy club of judges, lawyers, guardians ad litem, and expert witnesses make a comfortable living off this legal kidnapping. Their paychecks and prestige appear to take priority above the interests of the children they’re sworn to protect. The professionals dominating our courtrooms fiddle while Alaska burns to the ground.
Consider the gut-wrenching ordeal of a Mat-su Valley family that follows.
OCS’ reckless and willful destruction of this bi-racial family over the last 2 years is an absolute outrage. It would take a book to adequately describe all the trauma OCS has dished out to “AK Mom” and the five children she adopted as infants from 2005 to 2012, all with disabilities. However, I will attempt to encapsulate this ongoing tragedy here in the next 2000 words by focusing on the second child she adopted, “George.”
George was born into this world with cocaine and marijuana in his system. AK Mom, a registered nurse, brought him home from the hospital when he was seven days old. Over the next 13 years George would be diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, attention deficit disorder, and disruptive behavior disorder. In addition to these setbacks, he is autistic. Obviously, George could be a handful at times. He’s the kind of kid many Alaskans want to ignore, but his condition is a product of our failed drug and rehabilitation policies.
George was one of the lucky FASD kids though. To his adopted mom, George was an absolute blessing and a child to be cherished. AK Mom loved him as though he was her biological son. She attended to all his needs and would defend him to her death. For 13 years she had successfully navigated through all these challenges and George’s future was beginning to show significant promise. In 2019, a medical doctor observed that George was a “remarkable boy” from a “remarkable family guided” by AK Mom.
AK Mom made substantial sacrifices so that George and his siblings could be raised in Christian schools. An experienced educator very familiar with the kids described them as polite and respectful. When given tasks they were good at following directions and helping younger students. The educator acknowledged that some of the kids behaved improperly at times, but AK Mom never made excuses for them. She always cooperated with the school in formulating and carrying out appropriate consequences for any improper conduct. The educator called it a privilege to work with the family.
Similar observations have been consistently made by licensed social workers and behavioral health professionals. A provider to children with developmental disabilities recognized AK Mom as “not only a good mother but an exceptional caregiver.” Another registered nurse said AK Mom has the patience of a saint and is especially well-suited for parenting children with FASD, having become highly educated in appropriate ways to deal with behavioral issues.
AK Mom and her family were very active in their church. One woman, herself a former guardian ad litem, praised the way that AK Mom handled troublesome situations with her children. She recounted how those in the church noticed a remarkable change in George over the last several months the family was together. This woman knew that AK Mom had brought George to a new psychiatrist who used Genomind technology to get him off unnecessary medications while maintaining essential ones. The behavioral changes had been remarkable. She told me George was alert, communicative, and beginning to engage with the church members in a very positive way.
On April 2, 2021, the night before George’s world suddenly fell apart, the family attended a Good Friday cantata at a different church where they were first time visitors. The family had started off the school holiday at a local park and doing trampoline jumping. By chance they had heard about the cantata, and it was George’s idea for the family to cap off a great day together by attending the service.
The Caucasian mom and her 5 Alaska Native children stood out in the crowd of 50 people that night. Today, two years later, people from that church still remember how well behaved the family was before, during, and after the cantata. One person remembers talking with George and how excited he was about his upcoming 14th birthday on Easter Sunday. As George and his family enjoyed the church’s presentation of the Last Supper, they had no idea they too had just eaten their last supper together.
The next afternoon, George’s family was summoned to the Alaska CARES center in Anchorage. While George and his siblings were held in one room, AK Mom was interrogated in another. The interrogation was led by Dr. Barbara Knox, the Medical Director of CARES. Knox sat at one end of the room flanked by two Protective Service Specialists. To their left sat two “navigators” who are supposed to assist families. Behind Knox in a hidden room with a two-way mirror sat two Anchorage Police Officers. At the other end of the room, alone by herself, sat AK Mom.
After a quick round of introductions, Knox did most of the talking. The navigators said nothing. To give readers a sense of what that interrogation felt like, an ADN headline from Nov. 15, 2021 provides a good summation: “Mass exodus at Alaska child abuse clinic as medical director accused of bullying and misdiagnoses.” The story quotes a former forensic nurse at CARES whose position was eliminated in March of 2021 after she registered multiple complaints about Knox. The nurse said, “I am very fearful for anybody who has to bring their kids to Alaska CARES right now.”
George’s family were some of those unfortunate people the forensic nurse feared for. Knox is long gone from CARES, yet AK Mom’s nightmare continues. Significant evidence exists indicating Knox was intentionally duped by the OCS and she was used as a tool to gain control of the five children and intentionally harass AK Mom. The Protected Empire is out to punish people who stand up to them.
The problem with Alaska CARES and its connection to OCS goes much deeper than most people want to publicly admit. The fear is real. None of the sources I’ve spoken to want to be named publicly. Some have expressed fear their children and grandchildren will be targeted by the Protected Empire.
If lawful and well-respected community members can be harnessed by this fear, imagine how easily manipulated those with past blemishes are. This is one of the reasons why a special grand jury investigation into the OCS and the legal system that protects the Empire is imperative.
After six hours of interrogation, Knox told Alaska Mom that they were taking her children away from her. No judge was involved in this decision. The state’s claim against AK Mom was “Medical Abuse”. A fancier phrase the professionals like to use is “Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy”. OCS defines MSBP as “unnecessary and harmful or potentially harmful medical care at the instigation of the caregiver.”
Knox then asked AK Mom to go into the adjoining room and help prepare her children mentally to be taken away. When AK Mom told her children what was about to happen, one of George’s brothers curled up on the couch and started crying uncontrollably. George’s 12-year-old sister “Karen”, who wasn’t on any medications asked, “they’re taking us for meds?” When another adult responded “yes”, Karen said, “then I don’t have to go.” OCS took Karen anyway.
Before they were separated, Karen grabbed a paper towel and a marker, drew a heart and then wrote “I love you Mom” and gave it to her mother. Karen, George, and their siblings were then all taken by OCS to the Alaska Native Medical Center where they were held for the next few days. George didn’t get to celebrate his 14th birthday as he had excitedly anticipated on Good Friday. His wrapped presents remained unopened. He never got to taste the birthday cakes his mom had baked for him to share with friends at church and later at home with his loved ones.
But OCS was just getting started with their reckless and senseless infliction of pain on George. OCS and ANMC took him off the medications the psychiatrist using the Genomind technology had prescribed. A nurse who witnessed the resulting carnage described it as awful and horrible.
After a few days inside ANMC, George and his siblings were placed together in an emergency foster home for a few additional days. Then OCS split them up and sent them into separate homes. By April 26 George had been moved by the OCS five times. He had already tried to run home to AK Mom once, walking several miles before he was picked up and returned to OCS.
On May 1, George got in an argument during breakfast at his most recent foster home near Dimond Center and had applesauce thrown on him. He went up to his room, packed his belongings into his duffel bag, and headed out the door towards his mother. He didn’t know how to get there, other than knowing he lived in the valley away from the mountains. He couldn’t cope with his FASD, ADHD, DBD, and autism on his own anymore. Somehow, he had to find his way home.
By 6 pm that evening, George found himself sitting on a bench alongside the southbound lanes of Glenn Highway, just north of the Memorial Plaque outside of JBER. He was tired, hungry, and his rheumatic leg was in extreme pain. Wearing clothes now stained by the dried applesauce, George tried to think of what to do next.
George wasn’t sure how far he’d walked or how much further he had to go. He knew he was in a bad situation. The sun was descending across the sky, and he sensed home was still a long way aways. He bowed his head between his knees.
Google Maps reveals George had walked 20 miles in the past 10 hours. He had at least 35 more miles to travel if he took all the right turns. But sunset was only 4 hours away and he never would have made it.
What George didn’t know was that no one was looking for him. His foster family had not reported to the Anchorage police that he had run away. How George was found in this condition and brought to safety was a complete miracle of God. It’s an amazing and incredible story that will be told some other time.
Today, nearly two years later, the ending to this tragedy has not yet been seen. OCS has moved the children an aggregate of 55 times in the past 22 months. Two more moves are currently being considered. OCS has prevented AK Mom and her other four children from seeing her youngest child, “Damien”, now 11 years old, since Aug. 26, 2022.
Last summer the second youngest child, “Lawrence” was put in the care of an opaque “transport company” for months where he was stored in locked motel rooms in both Fairbanks and Anchorage. Like his older brother George, Lawrence has been diagnosed with FASD, ADHD, DBD, an anxiety disorder, and autism.
Lawrence tried to escape from his second story motel room in Fairbanks by lowering himself with a sheet out a back window. He fell and hurt his ankle and didn’t get far before being returned to the transport company. The Protected Empire has treated Lawrence like a piece of cargo while all the judges and lawyers fiddled on with their sophisticated, reprehensible tunes.
This case represents just the tip of the iceberg of government tyranny in Alaska. Since writing my original story, my inbox has been flooded with several more nightmarish accounts about OCS. Last month, the 2022 Principal of the Year learned the hard way what happened when our Legislature passed HB 172 sponsored by Dunleavy’s office.
Twelve years ago, a resident from the village of Hoonah and his family learned how easy it is for State officials to lock up innocent people and ignore their ethical responsibilities. I have it on excellent authority there are many more innocent people locked away in our prisons.
Our burgeoning state government has become like a leach. No longer able to sustain itself on the flesh and blood of the poor, and recently your PFD, it has turned its attention to the middle class and even the affluent. Beware of expressing your faith publicly like Principal Fulp did.
What has happened to this place that we used to admirably call the Great Land? My sense is it all starts at the top, as documented some 3000 years ago in Ecclesiastes 5:7. History repeats itself.
Alaskans have the power to overcome this tyranny, but only if we have the will. We must quit thinking in terms of Democrat Party this and Republican Party that and become united under the concept of Justice for All. Start calling and emailing the offices of your elective representatives and the Governor.
Grab a picket sign and join sit-ins that are being scheduled throughout the state at government offices and courthouses. Demand independent grand jury investigations and support constitutional amendments that will return elective power to the people over judges and prosecutors. Influence your local city councils and tribes to pass resolutions denouncing this tyranny. Insist that oaths by public officials be taken seriously and criminal sanctions be imposed when willfully violated.
Most importantly, please join me in prayer. Lift your voice so God and those around can hear your plea and join in. Pray for the reunification of AK Mom’s family. Pray for the release of Thomas Jack Jr., from prison back to his loved ones. Pray for Justice for the countless other Alaskan families who have been victimized by OCS and our legal system. Pray that those individuals responsible for each of these State caused tragedies will seek redemption for their souls. Pray that Alaska’s leaders will renew their faith in God and be guided by the following instruction found in Zechariah 8:16-17:
“These are the things you are to do: speak the truth to each other; in your courts, administer justice that is true and conducive to peace; don’t plot harm against each other; and don’t love perjury; for all these things I hate, says God.”
Be sure to lift up George in your prayers – that he will soon reach home and finally unwrap those two year old gifts he’s resolved not to open until then.
Amen.
David Ignell was born and raised in Juneau, where he currently resides. He holds a law degree from University of San Diego and formerly practiced as a licensed attorney in California. He has experience as a volunteer analyst for the California Innocence Project, and is currently a forensic journalist and author of a recent book on the Alaska Grand Jury.
Ninety-eight year old former President Jimmy Carter has chosen to receive hospice care at his home, according to an announcement by the Carter Center on Saturday:
“After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention. He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.”
Carter, a Democrat born in Plains, Ga. who had served as the governor of Georgia from 1971-1975, was president from 1977 to 1981. America’s 39th president, he served one term and lost to Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Carter made an indelible impression on Alaska’s future when he used the Antiquities Act to temporarily designate 56 million acres as 17 national monuments by executive order on Dec. 1, 1978.
In 1980, he signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. ANILCA established more national parks, national wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas than any in history and “has been called our country’s most significant conservation law. It was my honor to work with Congress and citizens throughout our great nation on the passage of ANILCA,” Carter said. There are many Alaskans who disagreed with ANILCA and has been the subject of legal disputes over the decades over the “no more” clause, which said the federal government would withdraw no more lands.
The signing of ANILCA was a historic time for Alaska. Sen. Ted Stevens, Sen. Mike Gravel, and Congressman Don Young were in office at the time; all three have passed in the past 13 years.
Carter and his wife Rosalynn were longtime volunteers and supporters of Habitat for Humanity.
In recent years he has suffered from cancer, both liver and brain, and he fell and broke his hip in 2019. Carter is the first U.S. president to reach the age of 95, and in 2017 was the oldest former president to attend a presidential inauguration, which was on the 40th anniversary of his own inauguration. He was born the same year as the late President George H.W. Bush, who died in 2018.
When I was a little girl, I always thought it was pretty cool that my own birthday was a day before Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. We wrote essays about our favorite president, and I couldn’t help but be drawn to Lincoln. I liked thinking I had something in common with him. We have such active minds as children, and what connects and draws us to others is so amazing. That’s what national holidays and long weekends and school parties and essays about presidents are for: Celebrating the things that connect us and make us Americans, delighting in our common bonds, honoring the past, and looking to the future.
Presidents’ Day celebrates the birthdays and lives of President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln, and honors all of those who have served as our nation’s leader. Widely considered the two best presidents in our nation’s history, Washington and Lincoln were humble, respectful, and wise. Their demeanor won the hearts of the American people. Their leadership guided us through two wars that shaped the identity of our nation and changed the course of world history.
Lincoln gave us one of the most famous and eloquent speeches in U.S. history. Washington gave us a foundation of moral fortitude and the triumph of a common cause in our fight for freedom. These men were trailblazers who fathered our independence and liberty. They are the quintessential role models of leadership and service.
And I find it very interesting that amongst all of their accolades, you won’t find a college degree. From humble means, they both had minimal formal education. And yet no one could argue that they were uneducated. Their thirst for knowledge motivated their life long journeys of self-education.
It wasn’t long ago that a school day in America started with the Pledge of Allegiance. Values like “liberty and justice for all” were the pillars of high quality education and strengthened our communities. Children were taught how to read and write and how to think for themselves, not what to think nor programmed with ideological indoctrination that violates the rights of parents. Education is the springboard to that American “pursuit of happiness.” It inspires us to reach new heights, like the moon, or the presidency.
Education also reminds us to not repeat the mistakes of the past. A solid foundation can prepare you for life’s inevitable difficulties, and pave the way to a brighter future.
Thomas Jefferson said, “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; …whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.” Well, we are noticing.
I think Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln would agree that we have a crisis in our public education system. They might weep at the state of our high school seniors graduating unable to read. A strong nation can be brought to its knees when an entire generation is crippled by a failed education system.
However, across the country there is a movement of parents and students alike who, like Jefferson, recognize the immeasurable value of an excellent education, and know that power is in their own hands.
Public schools are failing. Alaska is nearly dead last in the nation. It is time for us to look for solutions that create real results. Market competition, school choice, accountability for every tax payer dollar spent, reducing bloated administrations and supporting teachers, there are many avenues to explore. But none of the solutions are throwing other people’s money into a hole of problems and expecting different results.
I find the best way to honor those who came before us is to learn from their stories. Washington and Lincoln were some of the most revered and admired men in our history, and they educated themselves.
We can trust parents to know what is best for their children. We can flip school budgets upside down, investing the money where it belongs with school vouchers for students. We can get back to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. It’s time for radical solutions. It’s time to be trailblazers like the great presidents before us, honoring the past, looking to the future.
As you enjoy a day off this holiday weekend, please take a moment to consider…how would you solve the education crisis? The future of our nation depends on it.
Rep. Jamie Allard serves in the Alaska Legislature on behalf of the people of Eagle River.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is leading a coalition of 21 states, including Alaska, that are calling on President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations under federal law. Doing so will free up resources to confront the deadly opioid crisis with the seriousness it deserves.
The opioid crisis has affected every state, county, city, town, and community in the United States, the group of top law officers said. Last year, more than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses—and synthetic opioids like fentanyl were responsible for more than half of those deaths.
In the letter sent Feb. 8, the attorneys general say that the federal government knows precisely how the drugs are entering the country. Cartels like the Sinaloa cartel and Cartel Jalisco New Generation import raw materials from China, use them to produce deadly synthetic opioids at low cost, and traffic those poisons across the southwestern border and into American communities.
Between October 2021 and June 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 8,425 pounds of fentanyl smuggled into the United States.
“These cartels are doing much more than just smuggling poison into the United States. They are assassinating rivals and government officials, ambushing and killing Americans at the border, and engaging in an armed insurgency against the Mexican Government,” the law officers said.
Last year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated two cartels — Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel — as foreign terrorist organizations, and asked the federal government to do the same. He asked the president that illicit fentanyl be designated a weapon of mass destruction. But in his State of the Union address, the president all but ignored the crisis at the border with Mexico and the flood of fentanyl coming over the border.
Federally designating major cartels as foreign terrorist organizations would give state and federal law enforcement agencies increased authority to freeze cartel assets, deny entry to cartel members, and allow prosecutors to pursue stricter punishments against those who provide them material support, the attorneys general wrote in their letter to the president.
Attorney General Miyares was joined by his counterparts in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
In 1954, an amendment to the newly revised Internal Revenue Tax code was added: The Johnson Amendment.
This amendment restricted the political activities of tax-exempt organizations, including churches. The amendment prohibited tax-exempt organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates or contributing to political campaigns. While it does not prevent them from engaging in issue advocacy or expressing opinions on public policy issues, it does restrict their ability to engage in certain types of political speech.
It remains in effect today.
Our government has no compelling interest in this amendment. It is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment.
The Johnson Amendment was introduced by Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson, a Texas Democrat, who later became president and brought us the “Great Society” and the “War on Poverty.”
Supporters of the amendment argue that it maintains the integrity of the nonprofit sector and prevents tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from being used for partisan political activity. However, the first organization described in the code is religious, indicating that the amendment specifically targets churches.
It is noteworthy that the Johnson Amendment was introduced as a reaction to the Facts Forum and the Committee for Constitutional Government. Both organizations at the time worked to campaign against politicians like Lyndon B. Johnson. The Johnson Amendment was introduced to shut down this political zeal.
But why churches and religious organizations? It’s important to understand the history behind it first.
Even before the dream of the establishment of an American culture and society, early colonialists came to the New World for many reasons. Large numbers sought freedom from religious and political persecution, risking their lives and the lives of their families to travel thousands of miles over unfamiliar oceans and hostile territory to find it.
Religion played a significant role in the lead-up to the American Revolution, and many churches and religious leaders were actively involved in the movement for independence from England. The church provided a moral and intellectual foundation for the revolution and played a key role in organizing and mobilizing support for the revolutionary cause. Religious groups and leaders provided practical support for the revolution, providing funding and supplies for the Continental Army and serving as chaplains and spiritual advisors to the troops.
In the subsequent years of this constitutional republic, religious groups and leaders were involved in debates over the meaning and interpretation of the Constitution. They continued to use religious language and imagery to promote their views and shape public opinion.
The church played a key role in shaping American culture and society in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Churches and religious organizations were involved in efforts to establish public schools and universities, promote literacy and education, and provide social services and support for the poor and disadvantaged.
In addition, the church continued to be an important voice in American politics and public life. Many religious leaders and groups have been involved in debates over issues such as civil rights, women’s rights, slavery, government corruption, and other issues. They used their platforms to promote their views and advocate for policy changes in working through political dynamics.
If not for the church’s commitment to the abolitionist movement, slavery might have perpetuated for much longer than it did. The church not only preached the gospel; it lived it, addressing societal issues the Gospel stands against.
Eric Metaxas, in his new book, “Letter to the American Church,” asks, “Have we forgotten that pastors in the eighteenth century spoke boldly from their colonial pulpits against the tyranny of King George III, and opposed him by name? Was it not their voices that helped us to gain our freedoms and that helped us to create a Constitution in which all of our freedoms were enshrined in a way that has been the envy of the whole world ever since? Were pastors from their American pulpits in the nineteenth century not allowed to speak against those candidates who expressed racist and pro-slavery views? Did they not even have an obligation to educate their congregations on such things and to encourage them to choose leaders who shared God’s views? Finally, were pastors in the twentieth century not allowed to speak out against candidates who advocated for Jim Crow laws? Do we think they ought to have been?”
Because of the Johnson Amendment, the voice of American churches has been intentionally gagged. The Johnson Amendment has done more than restrict First Amendment rights in America. Over time, the Johnson Amendment has removed the will, faith and courage of churches and religious organizations to participate in these important debates and to have an actively meaningful voice in shaping public policy. By restricting their political activities, the amendment has silenced religious groups and leaders, denying them the opportunity to advocate for policies and candidates that align with their beliefs and values.
Today, the church is blind, deaf, and dumb, and focused solely on money. It must return to debating the public policies that wove our national fabric, to vetting political candidates who will support our Constitution, to addressing the critical issues which are repressed by the mainstream media, and to critiquing the “woke” agenda which intentionally damages our children and divides us as a society.
In conclusion, Eric Metaxas says it best:
“There are a host of reasons—and excuses—for the behavior of many pastors and Christian leaders…. The American Christians of our own time have taken to using the term “the Gospel” in a new way, as though by doing this they hope to set religious and theological issues apart from all else, as though this were possible.
And so now, when many American church leaders shrink from taking a particular stand, they often say that they are doing so “for the sake of the Gospel.” It is “for the sake of the Gospel” that we will not contest these things, they say, that we will assiduously avoid taking sides in these terribly divisive “culture wars,” and will even more assiduously avoid being identified with any political party or candidate.
The idea is that anything that might conceivably be accused of “being political” is manifestly out of bounds. When is speaking against injustice “merely political”?
When and how did “Gospel-related” issues retreat to where they can only be those issues of justice that fall on one side of the political spectrum? Are we to be hoodwinked so easily? Who decided that being political means we are not being Gospel-oriented?
Michael Tavoliero is a realtor in Eagle River, is active in the Alaska Republican Party and chaired Eaglexit.
U.S. Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) announced that Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan will serve as the vice chair of the Senate Western Caucus in the 118th Congress.
“Senator Sullivan knows the west and issues unique to the states we represent, which is why I am honored to have him join me in leading the Senate Western Caucus,” said Sen. Lummis. “The Senate Western Caucus focuses on everything from natural resources and energy to broadband and economic development, which is why there is a need for a vice chair to help champion our priorities. From energy to timber, rural health care to economic development, Senator Sullivan has established himself as a leader on issues that greatly impact western states, and I’m thrilled to work alongside him to defend the western way of life.”
“It’s an honor to serve alongside Senator Lummis as the new vice chair of the Senate Western Caucus in the 118th Congress,” said Sen. Sullivan. “Since my time as Alaska’s attorney general, I’ve recognized that Alaskans face many of the same challenges and share many of the same priorities as Americans in other western states. We all want to be able to access our federal lands, grow our economy with opportunities for upcoming generations, and elevate the voices of our indigenous communities, which are conveniently ignored by this administration. But we face a federal administration, beholden to far-left radical environmental groups, trying to shut us down at every turn and centralize authority with bureaucrats in D.C. Alaska is ground zero for this battle, having endured 43 executive orders and actions targeting our great state by the Biden administration. I look forward to working with Chair Lummis and my fellow caucus members to fight back against the unlawful actions of the Biden administration and to stand up for our constituents’ right to have an economy and responsibly develop our resources.”
Prior to serving in the U.S. Senate, Sullivan was commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources where he managed one of the largest portfolios of oil, gas, minerals, renewable energy, timber, land and water in the world. During his tenure, he developed numerous strategies that spurred responsible resource development, energy security and a dramatic increase in good-paying jobs across several critical sectors in the Alaska economy. He also developed a comprehensive plan to streamline and reform the state’s regulatory and permitting process. He was also the Alaska Attorney General.
