Identity Inc. is militantly dedicated to convincing Alaska children they should transition from one gender identity to another with the use of puberty hormone blockers.
In material published on its own website, the gender identity group says that although hormone treatments are “off label” for gender transition purposes, they have been used safely for years, a claim that is disputed by some who have gone through the treatments and suffered long-term consequences. The group provides “consent forms” for youth and their guardians to sign, showing they fully understand these consequences. The group’s health clinic then writes the prescription for the drugs for the confused children.
Rep. Mary Peltola wants Alaskans to go to Identity Inc’s website and support the group. In a “Pride Month” social media message, Alaska’s only House representative wished everyone a “Happy Pride Month,” and encouraged Alaskans to volunteer with Identity Inc. She linked a donation page for the group.
The question of whether children can truly provide consent to chemical castration and the blocking of normal hormones is controversial, with critics explaining that children are too young to fully understand the consequences that these drugs have on them permanently.
Antony Latham, a retired general practice physician and the chair of the the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, wrote, “Gender dysphoria is a persistent distress about one’s assigned gender. Referrals regarding gender dysphoria have recently greatly increased, often of a form that is rapid in onset. The sex ratio has changed, most now being natal females. Mental health issues pre-date the dysphoria in most. Puberty blockers are offered in clinics to help the child avoid puberty. Puberty blockers have known serious side effects, with uncertainty about their long-term use. They do not improve mental health. Without medication, most will desist from the dysphoria in time. Yet over 90% of those treated with puberty blockers progress to cross-sex hormones and often surgery, with irreversible consequences. The brain is biologically and socially immature in childhood and unlikely to understand the long-term consequences of treatment. The prevailing culture to affirm the dysphoria is critically reviewed. It is concluded that children are unable to consent to the use of puberty blockers.” His paper is at this link.
But while British courts have concluded children cannot consent to puberty blockers, this new gender medicine a big business in the United States, where doctors conspire with pharmaceutical companies to hook kids on puberty-blocking drugs. The kids then become lifelong customers of Big Pharma for the chemicals needed to maintain their new gender appearance.
Rep. Peltola is pushing the chemical-gender agenda on Alaskans during Pride Month, possibly out of step with the majority of Alaskans.
The U.S. Coast Guard responded to a reported fire aboard the Wilderness Discoverer, a 178-foot passenger vessel, in Glacier Bay National Park.
All 51 passengers and 16 crewmembers were safely evacuated and transferred to the Sapphire Princess cruise ship.
The Coast Guard received an initial distress call from the crew of the Wilderness Discoverer at 7:30 am, urgently requesting assistance to combat a fire that had broken out on the vessel. Coast Guard watch-standers in Juneau initiated rescue using Coast Guard cutters Pike and Anthony Petit, along with an Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew. The National Park Service also provided additional resources to support the rescue operation.
“The safety of the passengers and crew is our utmost priority,” stated L.t. j.g. Maximilian Carfagno, the command duty officer at the Sector Juneau command center. “The quick launch of our assets and the exceptional teamwork demonstrated by the Sapphire Princess were instrumental in ensuring the timely rescue of all individuals involved.”
The blaze was extinguished, and there were no reported injuries or pollution resulting from the incident; other cruise ship traffic remained unaffected.
Amid good weather conditions of 5-mile visibility, winds at 15 mph, and 3-foot seas, the Coast Guard and the National Park Service are facilitating the towing of the Wilderness Discoverer to Ketchikan. The vessel will rendezvous with the tug boat Taku Wind, which will be responsible for towing the vessel south.
At present, eleven crew members remain aboard the Wilderness Discoverer to assist with the towing operation and ensure the safety of the vessel during transit.
Wilderness Discoverer, operated by UnCruise Adventures, offers luxury adventure cruises in Alaska. The ship was built in 1992 in Rhode Island and refurbished in 2011. The ship guest capacity is 76 and it can have a crew of 27.
My previous articles in Must Read Alaska about the Office of Children’s Services have generated several positive meetings with legislators and their staff interested in resolving these systemic problems.
They’ve acknowledged the repetitive patterns of shocking behavior by OCS that have plagued Alaskan families for decades. They realize any further delay to meaningful reform will result in more families being destroyed and some children being trafficked.
State officials from OCS, Department of Law, and Office of Public Advocacy are a different breed, though. They typically don’t return my calls or respond to emails. On the rare occasions I’ve had an opportunity to talk with them, they’ve walked away or hung up the phone.
These executive branch bureaucrats are supposed to be public servants, but instead are prone to retaliate when their actions are questioned. They live in an echo chamber insulated by hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state funds which buys them loyalty. Working together, these three agencies have suppressed our constitutional rights to liberty and justice with their greed for more money and power.
Decades of failures by some legislatures and governors to reform OCS suggest we should redirect our focus to reforming the judiciary branch. It’s common sense after all. Laws and policies mean nothing when our judges ignore them and get away with it.
Bad judicial behavior – the norm
Take AK Mom’s case for example. Her five children were taken by OCS one night under an unsubstantiated claim of “emergency medical abuse.” Existing laws to protect the family’s rights were blatantly ignored by the judiciary. A judge was required to make a finding, within 48 hours, that there was a substantial chance each of the five children had to be removed immediately to protect their lives.
No judge did that though, likely because there was absolutely no evidence to support OCS’s actions.
Two years later, the judiciary still hasn’t forced OCS to prove anything. In April, a trial started but Judge Kristen Stohler gave the entire two weeks of allotted time to OCS. AK Mom was not given a chance to present any evidence in her favor. She’s had expert witnesses on standby for over a year, ready to testify she did nothing wrong, but the judiciary keeps stringing them along.
What AK Mom’s family and supporters hoped would be an opportunity for justice ended up as a cruel and expensive tease. Her legal bills increased by $20,000. Judge Stohler appears to have joined forces with OCS to play the delay game when the truth makes our government look bad.
The trial won’t resume until mid-July. After a few days it will be put on pause again and not start again until late October. A judicial system that denies a family a chance at justice and reunification for two years is an outrage, but stringing out the trial an additional seven months is pure viciousness.
Most of AK Mom’s kids were in attendance in the courtroom throughout the two weeks to support their mother. They wanted to go home but that critical fact meant little to Judge Stohler.
What the public is watching is a slow moving trainwreck with five innocent kids on it. The judiciary can stop it but won’t.
The harm to AK Mom’s family grows daily. The day after the trial was put on hold George ran away again from another foster home. He was gone all night, but no one from OCS bothered to inform AK Mom. She found out about it the next morning from a friend who sent her an APD Missing Juvenile Alert.
It’s practically useless under our existing system to file a complaint against the judges involved, and they know it. Any complaints go into the black hole known as the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct, an agency notorious for protecting judges behind their closed doors.
Good judicial behavior – a rare glimmer of hope
Two weeks ago, Alaskans got a glimpse of what judges should do when OCS breaks laws. Bethel Superior Court Judge Terrance Haas showed Alaskans he not only cares about families but was courageous enough to face down OCS. Haas issued an incredibly rare public sanction against OCS for their callous behavior towards a 12-year-old girl in their custody.
This girl had expressed suicidal ideations, causing OCS to remove her from a foster home and admit her into a hospital. OCS kept her there alone for a week. They didn’t bother to notify the girl’s parents, tribe or guardian ad litem. They just left her there, by herself, for a week — a 12-year-old thinking of suicide.
As usual, OCS’s actions violated several laws but for once a judge called them out. His order drew attention to one of the primary problems in our foster system — OCS, DOL, OPA and the judiciary operate in a largely secret environment, creating outcomes the public and the Legislature are not aware of.
Judge Haas will likely need legislative and public support to hold on to his job. OCS is renowned for retaliating against people who stand up to them, and the Bethel judge just did that — in a major way. Even though Haas’s next retention election isn’t until 2028, OCS may not wait that long to retaliate. OCS has extremely deep pockets and influence over many individuals; some eager to curry the favor of a powerful bureaucracy, and others who can be manipulated by fear.
Watch your back Judge Haas; false claims against you or your family may surface out of nowhere.
Judges like Terrence Haas are rare, but Alaskan families put at risk by OCS misconduct desperately need more like him. Fortunately, the Legislature has the power to ensure federal and state laws protecting families are upheld by more competent, knowledgeable, and humanistic judges like Haas.
A few months ago, Sen. Mike Shower and Rep. George Rauscher introduced similar bills seeking judicial reform. SB 31 and HB 82 quickly got bogged down in committee, but Chairs Sen. Scott Kawasaki and Rep. Sarah Vance can make up for lost ground by working on them over the summer.
I submitted comments and proposed amendments to both bills back in March. One amendment called for the creation of specialized family courts with judges selected by non-partisan elections. Former Attorney General for Gov. Hickel, Edgar Paul Boyko, was a very outspoken proponent of legislatively created family courts towards the end of his career.
My next article will focus on these proposed amendments and Boyko’s recommendations as a viable solution to a decades long nightmare.
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.
The U.S. sent over $1.3 billion to China and Russia since 2017, according to a new analysis that details a string of problematic spending projects funded by taxpayers.
The watchdog group, Open the Books, and U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, released the analysis, which detailed an array of examples they deemed troubling “including $770,466 to a state-run lab in Russia to put cats on treadmills” and another project for nearly $100,000 for gender equality cartoons.
“It is gravely concerning that no one in Washington can actually account for millions sent to Russia and China for pointless projects,” Ernst said. “But I have the receipts.”
Ernst and Open The Books found at least $490 million in taxpayer dollars paid to groups in China and another $870 million paid to organizations in Russia since 2017 via U.S. grants and contracts.
Ernst introduced legislation last week to require all taxpayer dollars sent to Russia and China be tracked and publicly disclosed. A House version of the Tracking Receipts to Adversarial Countries for Knowledge of Spending (TRACKS) Act was introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc.
Gallagher said “we know the federal government has wasted more than one billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars on our adversaries.”
“This is crazy, but to make matters worse, this may only be the tip of the iceberg,” he added.
Adam Andrzejewski, CEO & founder of OpenTheBooks.com, has echoed the call for more transparency of government spending. Often, it can take years to find out where federal funds went and how they were used.
“Holding firms responsible to publicly report where and how they use their grants and contract awards can deputize private citizens and make them part of the solution,” he said.
Here are a list of examples of federal spending projects found by the analysis:
$58.7 million from Department of State, including $96,875 for gender equality through exhibition of New Yorker magazine cartoons
$51.6 million from Department of Defense, including $6 million for tech support of the military “deployment and distribution command” software – delivering equipment and supplies anywhere our military is deployed, even though the DOD Inspector General warned the Pentagon about using Chinese IT companies on DOD projects
$4.7 million to a Russian company for health insurance that was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022
$4.2 million from Health and Human Services, including $770,466 to a state-run lab in Russia to put cats on treadmills
$2.4 million on Russian alcohol and addiction research
$2 million funneled to China’s state-run Wuhan Institute of Virology to conduct dangerous experiments on bat coronaviruses and transgenic mice
$1.6 million to Chinese companies from National School Lunch Program, which means taxpayer dollars from the CARES Act meant for American farmers went to Chinese agriculture exporters
$1.45 million for pandemic virus tracking in Russia
Subsidies for the Russian space program by funding the Russia Space Agency and vendors
Former Vice President Mike Pence filed his candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission on Monday morning, joining a Republican field that includes former President Donald Trump.
Pence served as the nation’s 48th vice president. He will have his formal kickoff event in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday, which is also the day he turns 64 years old.
Pence served as the 50th governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017, and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. He was vice president from 2017 to 2021.
He has been to Alaska several times during his term as vice president, mostly for brief fuel stops on his way overseas. But he and his wife Karen are big supporters of Samaritan’s Purse, and have traveled north to show their support to military veterans and their spouses at Operation Heal Our Patriots at Lake Clark, where the organization, founded by Franklin Graham, hosts veteran couples at Samaritan Lodge. The Pences were out at the lodge in the summer of 2022.
Pence sets up an interesting contrast with Trump, as both of them went through the Jan. 6 protest of the certification of the 2020 election, when objectors to the certification took over the U.S. Capitol. Conservatives have differing viewpoints on the role of Trump vs. the role of Pence, who has criticized Trump for his actions that day. Some conservatives say Pence should have overturned the election of Biden, but he maintains he had no credible basis to do so.
“President Trump was wrong,” Pence told dinner guests at the Gridiron Dinner, a formal event in March. “I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
Pence is a conservative Christian who opposes abortion and transgender ideology being pushed on children. He has been laying the foundation for his candidacy for months, with appearances in the early voting states, such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
With Trump holding a strong lead among conservative voters, Pence may serve as a reminder to voters that there were are other considerations regarding Trump’s record. It could create drama and distraction from the rest of the GOP field, which includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, commentator Larry Elder, Dallas businessman Ryan Binkley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is also planning to announce on Wednesday, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is planning to announce this week.
Photo: Mike and Karen Pence with a military couple at Samaritan Lodge in the summer of 2022.
Saudi Arabia has announced a significant reduction in oil production after a tense meeting between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its Russia-related satellites on Sunday.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia revealed plans to cut its oil output by 1 million barrels per day for the month of July.
The new reduction is in addition to an existing cut, which will now be extended until the end of 2024. The United Arab Emirates and several other major producers also agreed to extend their production cuts.
OPEC and its Russia-led allies, some 23 nations known as OPEC+, will maintain current production targets until the end of the year. Each member of the cartel has a certain production quota.
OPEC+ has a significant share of the world’s oil output and by cutting production, will boost crude oil prices, unless a sagging world economy lowers demand. Riyadh, however, has shown frustration with Russia, which hasn’t kept its end of the bargain to reduce oil production. Russia disputes that characterization.
Experts believe that the production cut by Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, will have a notable impact on global oil prices, at least in the short term. But the kingdom has been losing market share in the Asia, and its current 500,000 barrel-per-day cuts failed to have an effect on oil prices.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy is one of the highlighted speakers at a major private equity investment conference in Berlin, Germany. The details of the trip have been kept under wraps.
Among the other notable speakers — and there are many — are David Rubenstein, the co-founder of the Carlyle Group, and Ellie Rubenstein, his daughter, who was appointed by Dunleavy to the Alaska Permanent Fund Board of Trustees. Ellie Rubenstein is shown on the agenda in her capacity as a founder of an investment group called Manna Trees.
The conference is a mega-gathering of private equity investors and others. Kim Kardashian is one of the speakers a what is promoted as “the leading gathering in private capital. “It’s the most senior. The most global. And with the most LPs. 4,000+ decision-makers. 1,300+ LPs. 2,000+ GPs. From 70+ countries,” the agenda says.
Interestingly, while many speakers are from Carlyle and Blackrock, Dunleavy is the only state governor listed as a speaker and is the only elected leader on the speaker list. There are no Chinese or Saudis listed on the agenda. All of the speakers are from Western entities.
Key topics include impact/ESG (environmental, social, governance social scoring), growth, DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion social scoring), tech, returns, value, innovation and much more. See agenda highlights here.
“Nowhere else will you will hear from so many CEOs of leading private capital firms. Leading speakers for 2023 will include: KKR, Carlyle, Investcorp, Blackstone, General Atlantic, Bain Capital, EQT, Silver Lake, Vista, Ares Management, Blackrock and many more,” the website declares.
David Rubensteinmade his first millions of dollars in Alaska in the 1980s by exploiting a tax loophole that allowed him to make huge deals on net operating losses with Alaska Native Corporations.
The Rubenstein family has been expanding their influence in the 49th state ever since. In 2014, Rubenstein’s then-wife [Alice Rogoff] helped elect a governor in Alaska who in turn opened up the state’s $80 billion Permanent Fund, a fraction of which is managed by the Carlyle Group, to special interests. Rubenstein’s daughter was appointed to the board of that fund last month,” wrote the New York Post in 2022.
Rubenstein’s wife (now ex-wife) purchased the Anchorage Daily News, and then ran it into the ground financially, but also engaged in king-making politics, as she helped get Gov. Bill Walker elected in 2014. By 2017, the newspaper was sold during bankruptcy proceedings.
Dunleavy has much to talk about regarding Alaska — carbon credits and a possible natural gas line.
Last year’s LGBTQ Pride parade and festival in Soldotna was far better attended than this year’s event on Saturday at the Soldotna Creek Park, even though the weather cooperated and there was plenty of advertising.
Although drag queen performers were brought in from Anchorage, their performances weren’t as overtly lewd this year. Last year’s raunchiness was dialed back. There was no twerking at the children in attendance. In fact, the number of children attending the LGBTQ event dropped by 75% this year.
Isaac Kolesar attended to observe the event, and he wore a shirt that proclaimed, “GROOM DOGS, NOT KIDS,” which brought many people into an uncomfortable dialogue with him.
Kolesar, who is the owner of Redemption MMA, a mixed-martial arts studio, said he bought the shirt from a company called “Gays Against Groomers,” and that his intention was to simply observe and record the LGBTQ advocacy event, which has been the subject of much controversy on the Kenai Peninsula.
Kolesar said that a couple of people became confrontational with him, and some used their bodies to physically block him so no one could see him, but for the most part people just spoke plainly to him their disapproval of his shirt’s message. He sat in a chair that the festival organizers had set up for elected lawmakers — no elected lawmakers were in attendance, however.
In an interview with Must Read Alaska, Kolesar said he often gets confused with the owners of St. Elias Brewing Company, which is what many LGBTQ activists were posting on social media during and after the event. He’s not an owner, he said. “I have no authority there, I own Redemption MMA.”
Kolesar says he agrees with many gay individuals who believe their community has been hijacked by a radical transgender agenda. He said he respects gay people and know that most of them just want to live in freedom and peace, like everyone else.
Kolesar says that the grooming of children is something that everyone should be able to agree is wrong, but many of those who approached him were hostile to him being at the event. They told him he should leave because his presence was disrespectful. And soon they started posting lies about him on Facebook. But he has everything on film, because he was really just there to document it all and bear witness on behalf of children.
Although there were several booths, including Planned Parenthood, most of them were brought in from Anchorage, and attendance was somewhat about half of what it was in 2022.
A couple of members of the Queens Guard, another group from Anchorage, allowed their firearms to be seen and were keeping an eye on Kolesar, who had left all his firearms at home. He had no intention to have his presence escalate anything except respectful exchanges of ideas.
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is offering a unique opportunity for Alaskans to buy land in the 2023 Alaska State Land Auction, known as offering #495.
The auction features a diverse selection of 209 parcels spread across the state, with options ranging from road-accessible properties to remote parcels for those seeking a more secluded lifestyle.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy expressed his enthusiasm for the auction, highlighting the deep connection Alaskans have with their land.
“Alaskans are especially connected to the land in our great state, and buying property where you can build a home or enjoy the outdoors is an essential part of living here,” Gov. Dunleavy said. “Land auctions are just one of the ways DNR helps implement my administration’s vision of putting Alaska land into Alaskans’ hands, and I encourage everyone to consider taking advantage of this opportunity.”
Alaska residents interested in acquiring a piece of the Last Frontier can submit sealed bids for the available parcels through various channels. Bids can be submitted online, in person, or by mail until Oct. 3 at 4:30 pm. The apparent high bids will be announced on Oct. 24. Each bidder has the potential to win and purchase up to two parcels, providing an excellent opportunity to secure multiple pieces of land. There is a discount for veterans.
To aid bidders in making informed decisions, free auction brochures can be downloaded from the DNR Land Sales website atthis link. The brochures contain essential details about the available parcels, including their locations and accessibility.
In the event that some parcels remain unsold at the auction, Alaskans, non-residents, or businesses will have the chance to purchase them through Over-the-Counter sales. Starting on Nov. 28 at 10 am, interested parties can explore the OTC section on the Land Sales website to view the available parcels. The DNR also offers competitive in-house financing options to facilitate land purchases, providing additional support to prospective buyers.
For the latest updates on the Alaska State Land Sales, interested individuals can follow the DNR Land Sales website or subscribe to email notifications at https://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/landsales/email/.
For direct assistance, inquiries can be directed to [email protected], or individuals can call 907-269-8594 on weekdays from 8 am to 4:30 pm. TTY services are available at 711 or 1-800-770-8973.
