(no longer) The Northernmost Jew

301. My letter in the Anchorage Daily News

2010-06-25T14:14:00.002-08:00

..... I submitted this using the pen name Sharon Bloom .....

Neither Helen Thomas nor Rosie O'Donnell are Native American. Shouldn't they have the courage of their convictions and go "home"?

The comments posted to their website:

(from Brian_Sweeny) Bravo Ms. Bloom.

(from bad_bwai) Sharon Bloom: Thanks again for calling out these anti semitic boneheads.

(from nodsasgoodsasaqutuq) Can someone please explain to me what Ms. Bloom's letter is about? I missed something obviously.

(from TOP) nodsasgoodsasaqutuq Rosie O'Donnell pushed openly for a move to Communism by seizing all of BPs assets. Today the popular leftists announced on her radio show that, “Helen Thomas was right (Jews get the hell out of Palestine).” This has apparently upset Ms. Bloom.

(from chrisinak) RE: bloom letter explanation. I think that it means that Ms. Bloom is an apoligist for Israel and places the goals of a foreign county above the standing of her own country.

300. math equation

2010-06-18T00:35:00.001-08:00

Euler, Gauss, Pythagoras redo Einstein

299. Sign

2010-06-06T22:58:00.002-08:00

This sign is by the gate to the Salvation Army campground in Wasilla.

298. Healthcare bill

2010-03-16T18:11:00.002-08:00

(Letter in today's Anchorage Daily News I wish I had written)

Let me get this straight ... We're trying to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president that also hasn't read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a Treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke.

What could possibly go wrong?

........*****.........

(Quote from Nancy Pelosi)

"We Need To Pass This Bill So You Can See What's In It."

297. Celebrate Purim at Starbucks!

2010-02-27T12:13:00.003-09:00

Some Egyptian cleric is complaining that the Starbucks logo is queen Esther. Pretty amazing when you consider the logo is a mermaid.

296. Cold beer

2010-02-23T17:41:00.002-09:00

295. Why even HAVE license plates in Alaska?

2010-01-26T13:50:00.019-09:00

294. Moose licks

2009-12-28T23:06:00.003-09:00

My friend lives in Wasilla. I'm not sure what mud he's been driving through, but the moose have been licking it off his car.

293. I disregard anything the UN has to say about Israel (like the Goldstone Report) becasue I think the UN is biased against Israel. Here's why:

2009-11-09T16:50:00.003-09:00

1.

In 1975 the UN voted that Zionism is Racism. So they feel that considering Israel a Jewish country, or a country for Jews is racist. They have no problem, however, with Saudi Arabia forbidding any display from any religion other than Islam. You would not be allowed to wear a lapel pin with a Christmas tree on it. Any houses of worship except mosques are forbidden. Yet Israel, with churches, mosques, a huge Bahai temple, and whatever the Druze have, in addition to synagogues, they consider racist.

2.
Countries permanently sitting on the U.N. Security Council: China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States

Countries eligible to sit on the U.N. Security Council: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoro Islands, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'lvoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Rwanda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Countries NOT eligible to sit on the U.N. Security Council: Israel

3.

The UN criticized Israel for their 1976 attack on Entebbe. (They wanted to vote to condemn Israel, but the US made it clear they would veto this.) The Secretary-general of the UN, Kurt Waldheim (yes, the Nazi who dropped pamphlets into Russia calling for the murder of all the Jews) said that Israel's raid on Entebbe airport TO FREE THE ISRAELIS AND JEWS THAT THE HIJACKERS WERE HOLDING HOSTAGE AND THREATENING TO KILL "constitutes a serious violation of the national sovereignty of a United Nations member state."

So when I see anything about the Goldstone report, I remember how they felt about Israel's totally justified raid on Entebbe.

292. Patty Cake

2009-10-08T01:22:00.002-08:00

Occasionally I have been asked for the recipe for my world-famous Patty-Cake. So here is my delicious and super-easy recipe.

you need:
- boxed chocolate cake mix. Get one with pudding in it.
- whatever the boxed cake mix says you need to add
- LOTS of powdered unsweetened cocoa
- vanilla extract. Get the real stuff, not the imitation
- peppermint extract. Get the real stuff, not the imitation
- stick of butter, not margarine, softened at room temperature
- 1 lb package of powdered sugar
- cream
- merangue powder (avaiable at JoAnn's)
- whatever garnish you want to use, if any

Mix the mix for the cake with whatever it tells you to use on the box.

Add in A LOT of unsweetened cocoa powder. More is more.

Bake the cake according to the directions on the box.

Let the cake cool before icing. Do NOT make the icing until you are ready to ice the cake.

To make the icing, mix together the sugar, the butter, a bit of vanilla extract, a bit of peppermint extract (not too much peppermint, or it will taste like toothpaste) A LOT of unsweetened cocoa (a lot a lot a lot) and a couple of spoonfuls of merangue powder. The icing will probably be too thick or powdery. Add a couple of drops of cream and mix it through. Keep adding cream, only a few drops at a time until it seems right.

Ice the cake right away. Then add any optional garnish.

Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least a few hours.

suggestions for optional garnish:
- get a bag of peppermint hard candies. Before unwrapping each candy, hit it with the blade of an ulu a few times to break it up. Sprinkle the candy pieces over the cake.
- Get some York peppermint patties. Cut them into wedges as though you were slicing a pizza. Arrange the wedges on the cake in a geometric pattern.
- Make some extra icing but leave out the cocoa. Use a bag for decorating cakes with icing and use this tannish-white to decorate the cake.

291. Letter in the Anchorage Daily News

2009-09-29T00:10:00.000-08:00

The Anchorage Daily News printed my letter to the editor. Local radio talk show host Dan Fagin read it on the air and said it was his favorite.

"Jimmy Carter explained that I dislike Obama because I'm a racist. Now can someone explain why I dislike Carter?"

290. "The Beast"

2009-09-21T03:20:00.010-08:00

A couple of years ago, I printed some pictures of vegetables from the Alaska State Fair. Here are some that I took of a 127 lb cabbage, names "The Beast". In some pictures I put a dollar bill in to give an idea of size. The little girl in the picture is four.

Unfortunately, the man who grew this said that really large cabbages do not taste very good, so The Beast will end up as mulch for new, smaller cabbages.

289. The last 3 Letters to the Editor of the Anchorage Daily News that I had printed

2009-08-30T22:59:00.002-08:00

I don't understand why Snowzilla is considered any more of a nuisance than extravagant Christmas decorations that people drive by to see. Many outspoken people, especially talk show hosts, will defend people's rights to have these decorations. Perhaps Billy Powers should string some colored lights between Snowzilla's mittened hands and call it a Christmas decoration. He will then have people all over the country speaking out on his behalf. [printed December 28, 2008]

The article "Evidence mounts that dogs have morals," (May 17) said that evidence seems to indicate that dogs have morals, empathy, compassion, and emotions. I have just one word to say on behalf of dog owners everywhere: "Duh!" [printed May 21, 2009]

The Palins are being criticized for making too much of a fuss about Letterman's sexual remarks about their 14-year-old daughter. Can you imagine the outcry if similar remarks were made about Obama's daughters? [printed June 20, 2009]

288. Waiting for surgery

2009-08-09T02:31:00.001-08:00

An aquantance of a friend in Iceland desperately needs gall-bladder surgery. She is on a waiting list, and it will probably be another month at least. The doctors are just keeping her doped up on morphine until it is her turn for surgery.

I don't think I want socialized medicine.

287. Letter to the Editor I WISH I had written

2009-07-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

I was appalled to see President Obama at the Major League All Star baseball game wearing a Chicago White Sox logo jacket. I'm assuming that Linda Kellen Biegel will soon be filing the ethics complaint on our behalf.

-- Ken Anderson

Girdwood

286. Activities conflict

2009-07-02T18:49:00.002-08:00

Here is a conflict I'm having trouble with: I'm at the Mensa Annual Gathering. There are about a zillion activities to choose from. Tomorrow the Kabbalat Shabbat and a lecture on complex numbers conflict with each other.

And one thing sacreligious: The showing on The Rocky Horror Picture Show begins at 11:30!

285. Giving a talk tomorrow

2009-06-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

In case anyone is interested, I am giving a talk tomorrow about different sizes of infinity, and the relevance to statistics. If you wish to attend, it will be in Neuberger Hall at Portland State University at 1 pm.

284. Which way should you go?

2009-06-08T02:56:00.003-08:00

Here is an amusing picture I took in Anchorage

283. More stupid complaints against Palin

2009-05-28T15:04:00.003-08:00

Sarah Palin improperly accepted a gift of a hockey stick from a youth hockey league. Also, the press release concerning her selection as vice presidential candidate was improper. In an interview, she expressed her opinion on a mining initiative. She also went to a breakfast for parents of children with Downs syndrome, leaving her staff to deal with Alaska's legislature for the day. She had meetings regarding being John McCain's running mate in her office, which was using state property to further her political future.

Those are five of the complaints against her.

Michael Geraghty, investigator for Alaska's State Personnel Board, is starting to dismiss complaints against Palin without bothering to waste time and money on hearings. The state is beginning to get sick of these stupid complaints, which they feel is beginning to seem like harassment and is wasting taxpayer's money.

Some guy who was turned down for a state job he applied for last year has files eight complaints against Palin. They were all dismissed without a hearing.

Radio talk show host Dan Fagan said that he felt the people filing these complains were just out to harass Palin, and to get their names in the paper. Now some are writing letters to the radio station to get Fagan fired.

282. Juneau is rising!

2009-05-19T21:58:00.004-08:00

(copied from the NYT)

As Alaska Glaciers Melt, It’s Land That’s Rising

JUNEAU, Alaska — Global warming conjures images of rising seas that threaten coastal areas. But in Juneau, as almost nowhere else in the world, climate change is having the opposite effect: As the glaciers here melt, the land is rising, causing the sea to retreat.

Morgan DeBoer, a property owner, opened a nine-hole golf course at the mouth of Glacier Bay in 1998, on land that was underwater when his family first settled here 50 years ago. “The highest tides of the year would come into what is now my driving range area,” Mr. DeBoer said. Now, with the high-tide line receding even farther, he is contemplating adding another nine holes.
“It just keeps rising,” he said.

The geology is complex, but it boils down to this: Relieved of billions of tons of glacial weight, the land has risen much as a cushion regains its shape after someone gets up from a couch. The land is ascending so fast that the rising seas — a ubiquitous byproduct of global warming — cannot keep pace. As a result, the relative sea level is falling, at a rate “among the highest ever recorded,” according to a 2007 report by a panel of experts convened by Mayor Bruce Botelho of Juneau.

Greenland and a few other places have experienced similar effects from widespread glacial melting that began more than 200 years ago, geologists say. But, they say, the effects are more noticeable in and near Juneau, where most glaciers are retreating 30 feet a year or more.
As a result, the region faces unusual environmental challenges. As the sea level falls relative to the land, water tables fall, too, and streams and wetlands dry out. Land is emerging from the water to replace the lost wetlands, shifting property boundaries and causing people to argue about who owns the acreage and how it should be used. And meltwater carries the sediment scoured long ago by the glaciers to the coast, where it clouds the water and silts up once-navigable channels.

A few decades ago, large boats could sail regularly along Gastineau Channel between Downtown Juneau and Douglas Island, to Auke Bay, a port about 10 miles to the northwest. Today, much of the channel is exposed mudflat at low tide. “There is so much sediment coming in from the Mendenhall Glacier and the rivers — it has basically silted in,” said Bruce Molnia, a geologist at the United States Geological Survey who studies Alaskan glaciers. Already, people can wade across the channel at low tide — or race across it, as they do in the Mendenhall Mud Run. At low tide, the navigation buoys rest on mud.

Eventually, as the land rises and the channel silts up, Douglas Island will be linked to the mainland by dry land, said Eran Hood, a hydrologist at the University of Alaska Southeast and an author of the 2007 report, “Climate Change: Predicted Impacts on Juneau.” When that happens, Dr. Hood said, the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge, 4,000 acres of boggy habitat, will be lost. “That wetland will have nowhere else to go,” he said. In some places along the coast, the change has been so rapid that kayakers whose charts are not up-to-the-minute can find themselves carrying their boats over shoals that are now so high and dry they now support grass or even small trees.

In and around Juneau, “you can walk around and see what was underwater is turning into grassland and eventually into forest,” Dr. Hood said. The topographical changes have threatened crucial ecosystems and even locally vital species like salmon. “The lifeblood of our region has been salmon species and their return — and what is the impact when they return and the streams are dry?” said Mayor Botelho, who was born and raised in Juneau. “The salmon is bound to our identity as a region, who we are.” He said he did not think that any species were in imminent danger, but added, “Anyone who is following climate change has to see that there are risks, perhaps great ones.” Dr. Hood said many people in Juneau had hoped to maintain a waterway called Duck Creek as a salmon stream. But small streams like that “appear to be drying out,” he said. “There are a lot of people in town saying, Let’s just let it return to a greenway.”

Relative to the sea, land here has risen as much as 10 feet in little more than 200 years, according to the 2007 report. As global warming accelerates, the land will continue to rise, perhaps three more feet by 2100, scientists say.

The rise is further fueled by the movement of the tectonic plates that form the earth’s crust. As the Pacific plate pushes under the North American plate, Juneau and its hilly Tongass National Forest environs rise still more. “When you combine tectonics and glacial readjustment, you get rates that are incomprehensible,” Dr. Molnia said.

In Gustavus, where Mr. DeBoer’s property is, the land is rising almost three inches a year, Dr. Molnia said, making it “the fastest-rising place in North America.” In addition to expanding the golf course, Mr. DeBoer is negotiating with the Nature Conservancy to preserve some of the newly emergent land. He can do both, he said, because the high tide line has pushed almost a mile out to sea since his family first homesteaded on the property. Where the shoreline is relatively flat, “it doesn’t take much uplift to make quite a bit of difference,” Mr. DeBoer said.

Kristin White, a 28-year-old schoolteacher who grew up in Haines, a town north of here, is from another family in the area whose real estate grew as land rose. When her father tried to sell some property in Haines, she said, “he had to have it resurveyed.” But for Ms. White, who has vivid memories of visiting the Mendenhall glacier as a child, the gain in acreage has been bittersweet. Seeing the glacier retreat, she said, is “as if you lived in the Smoky Mountains and you were used to seeing certain peaks — and they disappeared. It’s just totally, totally sad.”

281. Creation and perfect numbers

2009-04-30T12:48:00.007-08:00

In math, a "perfect number" is a number that is equal to the sum of its proper factors. (A proper factor of a number is any positive integer that divides evenly into that number besides itself.) The proper factors of 6 are 1, 2, 3 and 1+2+3=6, so 6 is a perfect number. If you add up the proper factors of 28 you get 1+2+4+7+14=28, so 28 is a perfect number.

The first eight perfect numbers are 6; 28; 496; 8,128; 33,550,336; 8,589,869,056; 13,743,8691,328; 2,305,843,008,139,952,128. As you can tell, they are far between. Any even perfect number will end in a 6 or an 8, and will be a triangular number (a number that works for setting up bowling pins). We don't know if there are any odd numbers; no one has found any, but no one has proven there aren't any. We do know that if there is one, it would have to be larger than 10^300.

6, the first perfect number is important in religion. According to Berashit, G-d created the world in 6 days. Is this a coincedence? Saint Augustine (354-430) wrote "Six is a number perfect in itself, and not because G-d created all things in six days; rather, the converse is true. G-d created all things in six days because the number is perfect."

This year we celebrated Birchat Hachama, a holiday that comes once every 28 years, when, according to Jewish tradition, the sun is at the same point as it was at creation. So the sun goes through a 28 year cycle, a cycle that is 28 times as long as it takes the earth to go around the sun. Is it possible that G-d made it this way because 28 is a perfect number?

So now, can anyone tell something in creation that centers around the number 496?

280. News story out of Alaska

2009-04-22T00:36:00.001-08:00

(copied from the internet news)

Alaska school punishes students for taunting moose

Print Tue Apr 21, 10:19 pm ET

PALMER, Alaska – Eighth-graders at an Alaska school have been disciplined for taunting and frightening a moose so severely it suffered a fatal injury.

School district spokeswoman Catherine Esary says the physical education class at Colony Middle School in Palmer was let outside Monday before teachers realized a moose was on the grounds.

A teacher witnessed the taunts. Esary wouldn't say what the students did.

Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters says the moose's panic prompted the animal to throw itself into a wall repeatedly, which caused its death.

Esary cited privacy concerns in not saying how many students were involved or how they were punished.

279. White House Seder

2009-04-13T13:29:00.004-08:00

The seder at the White House used Hagaddahs printed by Maxwell House coffee. I read some comment that the White House could certaintly get something nicer. I disagree. I think the Maxwell House Hagaddahs are an American minhag. Lots of American Jews, myself included, grew up with them. The covers changed over the years; the ones we used were red and yellow.

278. Earthquake Tuesday

2009-04-08T02:16:00.004-08:00

According to the Anchorage Daily News:
A shallow earthquake strongly shook a large swath of Alaska. The magnitude 4.7 quake struck at 12:13 p.m. Tuesday and was widely felt in southcentral parts of the state. The earthquake was centered 20 miles north of Anchorage, where it was accompanied with a loud boom. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center says the quake also was felt in other communities, including Wasilla and Palmer. Monitors at the center say the temblor was felt in a large area because it was fairly shallow, about 16 miles deep. The center says there are no reports of injury or damage and no tsunami is expected from the quake.

According to the New York Times:

277. latest news out of Alaksa

2009-04-07T00:47:00.015-08:00

Mt. Redoubt has been having lots of eruptions. The ash only came to Anchorage once, and it was not a lot. You cold see it in the air as it fell and the air smelled like sulfur. Some other areas got a lot more than we did. A lot of flights were cancelled in and out of Anchorage.

A bill passed in the Alaska House of Representatives to abolish daylight savings time here. It is on its way to the senate. DST really is pretty pointless here. And of we did away with it, Shobbos would only go to about 1 am Sunday morning in July.

The House also passed a bill that would do away with Groundhog Day in AK an d have Marmot Day instead. There are no groundhogs here, but we do have a few species of marmots. We would not give the marmot any weather-predicting abilities, but would add marmot trinkets to the other stuff available as souvenirs.

People have been charging Palin with ridiculous charges of improprieties. They all end up being dismissed, but not until after she has to pay a lawyer to respond. So far she has had over half a million dollars in legal bills. The latest ethics violation charge: Palin wore clothes with the "Arctic Cat" logo to the start of the Iron Dog snowmachine race. Arctic Cat is a company that makes snowmachines and is her husband's sponsor. The person who filed the complaint said it was abusing her position. Palin said she id not have a deal to wear the clothes; she wore them because they are warm and the weather was cold.

The convictions against ex-senator Ted Stevens were thrown out of federal court because prosecutors hid evidence in his favor. However, he was convicted a few days before the elections last November. After 40 years as senator, he lost the election, although it was pretty close. He would almost definitely have won if he had not been found guilty. At least it looks like they will not be changing the name of Ted Stevens International Airport.

276. An open letter to President Obama from my schanuzers

2009-02-05T23:01:00.003-09:00

January 26, 2009

Dear President Obama:

We are six dogs that have all been rescued by humans. We have heard that you are looking for a dog to keep you company in the White House. As rescues, we are asking you to consider rescuing an older dog who needs a home. Lots of people are interested in taking cute fluffy puppies. Please set a good example for the country by adopting a pre-loved dog who needs a new home and still has a lot more love to give. In fact, since we are naturally pack animals, why not take two?

K-9 Lifesavers, 202.509.7776, is one of the big rescuers in the area. They currently have a pair of black Labradors, Lucky and Lukey, who need a home. Retrievers are dogs who would be very patient with annoying press people or anyone else. You can contact them to see what else they have; they have a lot of dogs. If you are interested in hairless dogs, we are sure they can help you.

Sincerely,
The Six Schnauzeteers

They also mailed him a copy and posted it on their blog, woofies.blogspot.com .

275. Presentation on Jewish history in Alaska in NYC

2009-02-01T13:29:00.001-09:00

In case anyone is interested:

There will be a presentation on Jewish history at the Alaska House, 109 Mercer St. in NYC on Tuesday, February 3, from 7 to 9:30 PM.

From their writeup:

..................###################................

What is the Jewish history of Alaska? What is the Jewish contribution to Alaska and its Native People? What is Alaska’s humanitarian contribution to the Jewish plight?

Alaska House will feature a special reception and presentation of Dr. Ruth Gruber, an acclaimed American journalist, photographer, writer, humanitarian and former United States government official, who will address theses questions and the prodigious Jewish connection to Alaska.

Ruth Gruber served as a Special Assistant to Harold Ickes, the Secretary to the Interior during Franklin Rooselvelt's presidency in 1941. One of her major assignments was to study Alaska's potential for homesteading G..I.'s after World War II. Additionally she advocated for Jewish refugees from the Holocaust and Alaska Native peoples rights and culture. She went on to write many books, including Inside of Time: My Journey from Alaska to Israel. Alaska House will recognize Gruber's history-making achievements coinciding with the annual conference for the Council of American Jewish Museums.

Please contact Ellaine Legaspi at ellaine@alaskahouseny.org for additional information.

..................###################................

274. A city called Chicken

2009-01-29T16:42:00.008-09:00

Turkey may be the name of a country, but in Alaska there is a city called Chicken. You can drive there in the summer or fly there year-round. according to the 2000 census, there are 17 people who live there, although in the summer a lot more go there to mine for gold. they have no electricity, plumbing, telephone, or internet service. They get mail delivered twice a week.

Coordinates are 64° 4′ 14.66″ N, 141° 52′ 29.62″ W

Here is their website, maintained outside of Chicken since they have no internet service. http://www.chickenalaska.com/chicken/index.html The website includes Chicken souvenirs, information on the village, driving directions, etc.

Why is it named Chicken? In 1902 the post office was established, so the gold miners living there had to come up with a name. The village of Eagle had been named for the eagles in the area, so the people in chicken decided to name their village for the birds in the area. However, they could not agree on how to spell "ptarmigan", so instead of naming after the birds in the area, they named it Chicken instead.

No, they do NOT have a college called Cluck U.

273. Anchorage schools closed due to warm weather

2009-01-19T05:28:00.003-09:00

The schools in Anchorage were closed for 3 days last week, Wednesday through Friday) due to weather. This rarely happens. However, the temperature soared and was around 44° F (7° C) for these days.

Sounds harmless enough, doesn't it? For the month previous, we had a lot of cold weather and a lot of snow. Then, when the weather got above freezing, the snow and ice began melting, and became wet ice. The city became a large ice skating rink. I was unable to make it to my car, parked on a slanted driveway. (And yes, I do have grippers / spikeys / cleats / whatever-you-call-them that go over my shoes.)

Right now there are a lot of puddles everywhere, the whole city is wet. The temperature is supposed to go back down below freezing sometime this week, and all this will become ice. Let's see what happens then...

272. Hamas (with cartoon stolen from thre internet)

2009-01-09T15:27:00.004-09:00

As I see it, there are two possible solution to the Israel-Hamas problem:

1. Israel can attack harshly enough to scare Hamas into living in peace

2. Israel can return to 1946 borders

271. Cold spell in Interior Alaska

2009-01-07T03:03:00.002-09:00

OK, I know that every place has hot spells and cold spells, but when Alaska has cold spells, as the Interior is, it causes problems. I have a friend who was visiting in Fairbanks (where it has been around -45° for the past week) and was planning to drive back to Valdez, where she lives. But it is not safe to drive back in weather that cold - if you break down or get stuck in a snowbank, you can freeze to death. Right now she is stuck in Fairbanks. There are places where airplanes can not land because of ice fog, so they can not get groceries or mail. Some places are running low on food.

270. LONG LIVE SNOWZILLA!!!!

2008-12-23T23:09:00.016-09:00

Anchorage resident Billy Powers used to build a 16 ft snowman in his front yard, nicknamed “Snowzilla”, every year. His reputation spread internationally. News crews came from Russia and Japan. Unfortunately, poop-head neighbors complained. The city decided that the extra traffic was a nuisance, and Snowzilla himself was “unsafe”. Snowzilla was destroyed.

You’d think the tale would end there. But anonymous people came during the night and rebuilt him, now 25 feet tall. As of now, the new Snowzilla stands. Neighbors in the area signed a pro-Snowzilla petition.

....%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%....

Here is an editorial from our paper:

Public Enemy Number One: Snowzilla, the Giant Snowman

By Dan Fagan, posted on December 22, 2008

I don’t know about you, but I can rest easier now knowing my government is at work, using tax dollars to make our streets safe. For far too long Snowzilla, the giant snowman, has wreaked havoc and terror on the streets of Anchorage.

Now this despot of society has been neutralized and will no longer be able to hurt anyone. Anchorage code enforcement officers, the city bureaucrats who are the real heroes of our city, have put an end to Snowzilla.

For several years now the 16-foot-tall Snowzilla has stood tall in Airport Heights, striking fear in the hearts of men and children alike. But the end of Snowzilla is a perfect illustration of why we pay taxes. So city bureaucrats can justify their positions by destroying snowmen.

Some cranky, scrooge-like neighbors have complained about the extra traffic brought into their neighborhood after families all over Southcentral traveled to show their kids Snowzilla during the holidays. Our city bureaucrats with the full force of government behind them got behind the cranky neighbors and made sure no more Snowzilla for the kids--a trip that has become a family tradition for some. City code enforcement officials declared Snowzilla a public nuisance and safety hazard.

Snowzilla is big and if he were to lose his temper, there is no telling what could happen. Maybe he would kidnap Fay Raye, climb to the top of the Atwood building and fight off small airplanes.

Yes, it is a good thing the city issued a cease and desist order to the family that built Snowzilla. We are all the safer for it.

The city bureaucrats were clever in their quest to destroy Snowzilla. At first they placed signs at his feet (or where his feet would be if he were not a snowman) ordering him to cease and desist himself. But since Snowzilla doesn’t understand government bureaucrat-speak (who else says cease and desist) city officials tacked a public notice on the door of the family that created Snowzilla.

The Powers family had been building Snowzilla in their front yard since 2005. "The kids had spent hours and hours of work on it," Billy Powers said on Sunday. Now Snowzilla is just a big pile of snow rubble. Powers said he doesn't plan to rebuild. If he does rebuild, city bureaucrats will come and arrest him.

That’s right, you read that correctly, the city is threatening to arrest an Anchorage father if he builds a snowman for his kids.

Welcome to the nanny state.

....%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%....

This picture is of a protester outside City Hall

....%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%....

The general opinion amoung Anchoragians is that Snowzilla is no more of a nuisance than the houses that put up fancy Christmas lights displays that some people drive by to see. (And he uses no electricity!)

If you would like to get involved, there is a website to raise money for the legal defense of Billy Powers.

http://www.snowzilla.org/

....%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%....

Here's an idea - Lots of talk-show hosts are quick to protest whenever there is any objection to any Christmas displays. Maybe Snowzilla should hold a string of Christmas lights.

....%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%....

If you want to see Snowzilla, he is at 1556 Columbine St, between 15th and 16th. But don't go. Apparently it is annoying the city.

269. Guess how many airline seats are still available as of nighttime on December 18 to fly from Alaska to the contiguous 48 in time for Christmas?

2008-12-19T09:38:00.001-09:00

zero

The newspaper recommends that if you are desperate you can drive to the Yukon (Canada) and try to get a flight from there.

268. Now a published T-shirt author!!!

2008-11-23T10:11:00.004-09:00

I am now a published T-shirt author! Mental floss magazine was looking for new ideas for t-shirts, so I submitted an idea. They bought the idea for the sum of $125 plus a t-shirt. Here is the article from the magazine's blog:

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20164

(No, I am not telling you to buy one. I don't get commission or royalties or anything like that, so I don't care if you buy one or not!)

267: Palin again

2008-11-03T02:08:00.005-09:00

There is a local performer "Mr. Whitekeys" who does a lot of political humor, almost all focusing on Alaska. He used to have a regular act at the Fly-By-Nightclub, until they closed. My roommates and I decided to go see his performance in Valdez for a fundraiser. We had bought the tickets before Palin was added to the ticket, but once she was, we figured it could only help the show. It did. One woman in his troupe was as good at imitating Palin as Tina Fey is. I don't remember everything, but she did a great song number "Girls just wanna have guns" to the tune of "Girls just wanna have fun".

I still like Palin. Not enough to make me vote for McCain, however. I am voting for McCain mainly because I dislike Obama intensely.

There have been people complaining that she hunts. This makes no sense. The other candidates are not vegetarians. Even if they don't kill the animal themselves, someone must kill it for them.

Regarding "The bridge to nowhere" that people have been making a fuss about: Ketchikan is the at the southern tip of Alaska, next to Canada. They have about 7,400 people. Because of the topology, the city can not expand anywhere, and their airport was built on nearby Gravina Island, with a population of about 50. Because of it's location, This airport is a bit of a hub for planes flying north. Originally there were plans to build a bridge connecting Ketchikan with Gravina Island. Right now there is ferry service between them. Palin had originally been for the bridge, including while she was running for Governor in 2006. Palin supports developing Alaska, and this would be part of it. However, once she was governor, she canceled the project. People have complained about her "flip-flopping". However, she only canceled it when the cost went up dramatically. I can understand how someone can support a project at one price but not at a much higher price.

Regarding the clothing expenditure: I've heard people say that it is proof she she not a "regular person" if she spends so much money on clothes for the campaign. I think the opposite is true - the other candidates did not need to buy new clothes because they already had them! I can promise you that Palin does not need these clothes for work in Juno or Wasilla! In Alaska, the saying is "Fashion means your fur hat is dead." I could definitely see her needing other clothes for a lot of the country. (I am probably going to buy an outfit in Portland, OR before presenting my master's thesis at Portland State University.)

The report on "Troopergate" was pretty mixed, and mild in any direction. Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan said that he was reassigned because he refused to fire Mike Wooten, Palin's ex-brother-in-law. Palin said he was reassigned because of performance related issues. The investigation determined that not firing Wooten was certainly not the only reason he was reassigned, but it probably contributed to it. They said that she did abuse her power, but that she may reassign or fire the commissioners. As for Wooten, I think any police officer that uses his taser on his 12 year old stepson (Palin's nephew) and is carrying an open can of beer in his squad car should be fired. In his defense, he was not on official duty while driving and is allowed to use the car for personal use, although no one is allowed to have open alcohol while driving. And the 12 year old did ask to be tasered. No, I don't mean he was causing problems that led to be tasered, I mean he literally asked to be tasered out of curiosity. But you don't taser a curious 12 year old, you tell him no.

266. Sarah Palin for Vice President?

2008-09-01T01:50:00.002-08:00

Friday morning I was woken up with an "OH MY GAWD!" from my roommate. The news had just come out - McCain had chosen Sarah Palin, Alaska's governor, to be his running mate. My friend Julie and I had joked about the possibility, but didn't really expect it to happen. Since then, everyone has been asking me for my thoughts on the matter. So here are some random thoughts on the matter, in no particular order:

I think she is a gutsy person. I believe she will do what she feels is right, not what she thinks is popular at the moment. And she won't care whom it pisses-off. I also think she is extremely intelligent.

She is very anti-choice. This I'm against. I think she would not even accept exceptions for the life of the mother.

My biggest problem with her is that she has had no foreign policy experience. No one knows where she stands on any international issues. In today's world, I think that foreign policy is the most important issue. And she is the running mate of a 72 year old cancer survivor.

She is for drilling for oil in ANWR. This is good IMO. Why should we be so dependent on foreign oil, when there is so much here? And most of the countries we are buying oil from are countries to whom I would rather not give money.

One of the criticisms of her I've been seeing is that she is the governor of a state of only 650 thousand people. But numbers is not the only issue. I think that Alaska had a more diverse population with unique problems. It is probably more challenging than other states to govern.

Is this pandering to women? Or at least the women who were upset when Hillary did not get the nomination? Many people seem to think so. However, McCain chose a woman who will NOT appeal to many of Clinton's supporters.

Is it pandering to the Evangelicals?

I think she has more experience than O'Bama, not that that is saying much.

She is currently under investigation for "abuse of power". I don't think anything will come of it. though. Her sister was involved in a messy divorce, and then Palin fired her sister's ex-husband.

She ran against the incumbent governor and won. That isn't that much of an accomplishment, though. I think my schnauzer could have won against Murkowski. (see entry #252)

On the internet I've seen several critisism of her for sponsoring a bill supporting what one called "aerial slaughter of wolves". She did support a bill in favor of killing wolves from airplanes. So what? I voted for the bill, although it was voted down. The native population depends on the meat they get from moose, and the wolves were a threat. It's not like people who are bored rent planes and go shoot wolves for the hell of it.

Having been a beauty queen is not a something in her favor for political office, but it shouldn't be a negative either. I've seen comments putting her down for it. People seem to think that, at least for women, attractiveness and intelligence are inversely proportional. That just isn't true. (Look at Danica McKellar!)

Other criticisms have been that she describes herself as a "hocky mom", although hockey is not a popular sport. And she mentions eating moose stew. Guess what - many Alaskans eat moose! Isn't it supposed to be better for the world if you eat local food?

All things considered, I like her.

265. Some pictures we took at Carhenge

2008-08-28T01:53:00.002-08:00

264. I should never complain about the cold here again (but I probably will)

2008-08-20T13:00:00.001-08:00

current temperature in Vostok, Antarctica: -105 F / -76 C.

263. Flights in and out of Alaska are cancelled for a bit

2008-08-11T02:48:00.002-08:00

Some volcano in the Aleutian Islands erupted, and the winds are blowing the ash across the flight paths. It sounds like a lot of ash - blew 6.5 miles up from the volcano. The flights in and out of Alaska are all cancelled for the time being.

262. New World's Record

2008-08-09T22:50:00.002-08:00

The standing world record for the most people hugged by one person in a hour is 765. Alan Baltis broke the record with 833. This was at the Annual Gathering for American Mensa in Denver, Colorado. I'm mentioning this here, because I was one of the people who helped him set the new record. After receiving my hug from him and getting my hand stamped (so that no one gets counted twice), I went to the hotel lobby to send down more people. The Guinness people are looking at the videotape of the event before declaring it a new record.

261. Re: Presidential Primaries

2008-07-04T11:03:00.002-08:00

Hillary Clinton did not win the primary. Good thing too. If she became president, it would probably further alienate the US from the rest of the world. When leaders come to the US, the leader hangs out with our president, and their spouse hangs out with the president's spouse. Would world leaders, who are almost always male, want their wives to hang out with Bill?

260. I got tickets! Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah

2008-06-07T15:34:00.004-08:00

We almost never get big names here. So when Elton John decided he wanted to have a performance in every state, everyone got exited. Tickets were $133 each (this includes the official cost and the BS fee they add to every ticket), although tickets with an obstructed view were slightly less. They sold out in under an hour. They decided to add a second concert, and those tickets also sold out within an hour. Stephen called to try to get tickets, but couldn't get decent seats so he didn't get them. (At first I was annoyed, but then I thought about how the Sullivan Arena was not built for acoustics, and there is no point in going to a concert if you can't hear well.)

Stephen ended up buying tickets online from a scalper for the second concert a week before the concert. Then he read a review of the first concert and saw that Sir Elton John did not have backup; it was just him and an acoustics piano, he decided he didnt want to go. I spread the word that I had an extra ticket, we got a few calls, and I ended up going with a friend of my boss.

The concert was fantastic! He did not need backup singers or other instruments. He was great, and sang for about three hours. It was an older crowd; no surprise there. The crowd was so old that some people actually had records with them to try to get him to sign the cover. (Remember records? Big black disks?)

259. A picture for Israel's 60th

2008-06-02T17:06:00.002-08:00

258. B 4 U DIE

2008-05-27T14:02:00.011-08:00

One of Alaska's slogans is B 4 U DIE. This means you should see Alaska before you die. To help, here is an list I stole from the anchorage Daily News of 7 things you can do in Alaska, with my comments in brackets.

Midnight baseball [see my entry # 225]
...Watch a genuine semi-pro baseball game played at midnight -- without any lights on the field. Don't worry, this game won't get called on account of darkness. It happens in Fairbanks on Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. On June 21 here, not far south of the Arctic Circle, there'll be nearly 23 hours of daylight and enough twilight in between so that visibility is not a problem, unless the low-rolling sun blinds the first baseman.
...The Midnight Sun Game has been a tradition since 1906. The Alaska Goldpanners team has hosted it since 1960. Future major-leaguers who've participated include Tom Seaver, Dave Winfield and Barry Bonds.
...The gates of Growden Memorial Park will open at 8 p.m. for those with $10 early entry tickets available online at goldpanners.com, 9 p.m. for the rest of you. The game starts around 10:30 p.m. At midnight, the action will pause while the state song is sung in Inupiaq in the fading light. But the sky will brighten as the game resumes and runs until 1:30-2 a.m.

Arctic Swim
...You've surfed in Hawaii, snorkled in the Bahamas, splashed in the Seychelles. Now there's only one ocean left for your lifetime list -- the really, really cold one. So drive up the Dalton Highway (big spenders can take a plane or bus, but it's actually on the road system) to the Arctic Caribou Inn (907-659-2368) in scenic Deadhorse. There you can catch a tour bus for $39 that will get you past the Prudhoe Bay security gate (driver's license or passport number required) and right to the edge of the freshly thawed sea where you can don your trunks and wade way, way out there until the shallow water finally gets deep enough to swim in.
...Make sure you have towels and dry clothes waiting for you on shore. If polar bears are cavorting in the water, stay with the bus.

Zipper down [In my plans, if I don't chicken out. Roller coaster drops make me sick.]
...Zip lines -- cables stretched from point to point that you can clip onto and glide down -- have popped up all over Southeast. Juneau and Ketchikan each boast beautiful, relatively leisurely tours through the canopy of the northern rain forest with routes that include both zip lines and suspension foot bridges.
...But the Icy Strait Point Zip Line in Hoonah is the King Kong of the big zippers. Said to be the longest and tallest zip line in North America. Harnessed into the seat, you cover a distance slightly more than one mile in about 90 seconds, plunging 1,330 feet in a screamer of a ride that makes all the amusement park thrill machines and roller coasters seem downright perambulatory.
...The scenery, if you notice it, is stunning. The whole event, which includes a guided tour from the village up the mountain to the starting tower, takes about an hour. The cost is $90 per person, and each rider must weigh between 90 and 275 pounds. The trip is only available on the last Saturday of the month now through August and on days when cruise ships call on Hoonah. Check the schedule and book online at http://www.icystraitpoint.com/.

Snow battle on July 4 [I took one of this flightseeing tours and landed on Mt. McKinnley, but I do't think it was on July 4.]
...America's fight for freedom started with a snowball fight that led to the Boston Massacre that led to Yorktown. So what better way to celebrate the nation's independence than with a good-humored brawl with frozen ballistics? And what better place for that battle than on the flanks of the nation's highest mountain?
...The benefit of planning your Fourth of July snowball fight on Mount McKinley is that there's always plenty of snow available, even on the hottest summer day.
...Take a flight-seeing trip on a ski plane from a Talkeetna-based service like Talkeetna Air Taxi (talkeetnaair.com) or K2 Aviation (flyk2.com) and arrange for a landing on a glacier at the base of Denali. You can run around hurling snow at your friends for a few minutes or a couple of hours at rates ranging from $75 to $340 tacked on to their regular Denali tours.
Uncle Sam wants his take, too, though, so you'll need to either have a National Parks Pass or pay a $10 entrance fee ($20 for a family) to Denali National Park and Preserve.
...All patriots hate taxes, but we love users' fees.

Celebrate
...One of the biggest parties in Alaska, Celebration is a three-day festival of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian tribal members that takes place in Juneau every other year. Lucky for us, this is one of those years.
...The event will start with the Grand Entrance Procession -- thousands of Alaska Indians in traditional garb, dancing, singing, drumming, smiling and waving, at 8 a.m. on June 5 and wind up with the Grand Exit at 9 p.m. on June 7.
...Sponsored by the Sealaska Heritage Institute (sealaskaheritage.org), Celebration includes performances, Native crafts, contests for the best red ribbon seaweed and the best soapberries and other Native foods, the oh-so-cute Baby Regalia Review and many other excuses for melding tradition, culture, education and fun. All are welcome, and you won't see anything like this in the Lower 48. A three-day pass is $25, $12 for seniors and students. One-day passes are $10 and $5.

Fish with the bears [I prefer to stay far away from the bears]
...It doesn't take courage to catch most fish. But only truly determined anglers will keep their lines in the water while a 1,200 pound brown bear demonstrates interest in the same fishing hole. Alaska is full of places where you can cast for stupendous salmon or trophy trout, places that also just happen to be prime bear viewing spots.
...Ursine-human co-mingling is generally discouraged, but sometimes it's unavoidable and, as long as you mind your manners and keep your distance, most bears are inclined to do the same. All the same, better outfitters will have a guide to keep an eye on your clawed companions and tell you to reel in your lure and depart, real peaceable-like, if anything seems amiss.
Peak season double occupancy three-night stays at accommodations in Katmai National Park (katmailand.com), among the more famous of these double hot-spots, are hard to come by and run about $1,542. That doesn't include the flight in.

Feast on a king
...Many gourmets attest that there is no food on earth so fine as Alaska king crab. And king crab is never so fine as when fresh. And it is never so fresh as when hauled kicking and snapping straight from the ocean, slaughtered onshore and hurled into a pot of water boiling on a driftwood fire.
...There is no guide service or tour package we could find that guarantees this experience for any amount of money. It is free. Priceless, you might say. But it helps to know the right Alaskans, those who have devoted vast time and fortune into the acquisition of boats, crab pots and life on the Alaska coast.

257: quote from Barak Hussein Obama Jr

2008-05-17T16:51:00.004-08:00

Obama was being interviewed for Atlantic magazine.

Question: "Do you think that Israel is a drag on America's reputation overseas?"

Obama's answer: "No, no, no. But what I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore, does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of a resolution to this problem provides an excuse for anti-American militant jihadists to engage in inexcusable actions, and so we have a national-security interest in solving this, and I also believe that Israel has a security interest in solving this because I believe that the status quo is unsustainable. I am absolutely convinced of that, and some of the tensions that might arise between me and some of the more hawkish elements in the Jewish community in the United States might stem from the fact that I'm not going to blindly adhere to whatever the most hawkish position is just because that's the safest ground politically."

Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef told WABC radio his group hopes Obama will win the presidential election

256. Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T00:21:00.002-08:00

A local radio station asked people to call in and say why their mother is special. I called in. So, here is why my mother is special.

When I lived in New York, I had irregular working hours, and I got hooked on "The Bold and the Beautiful". Then we moved to Portland, OR, where B&B was not shown. My mother taped B&B every day and mailed me the tapes. She's great, not just for sending me the tapes themselves, but this shows that she is willing to humor me on silly things.

She won a dessert coupon from some restaurant around here, but since it is a bit out of her way (she lives in NY) she said I could have it.

255. Happy Yom HaAtzmaut # 60 !!!

2008-05-08T16:48:00.007-08:00

My daughter has a weekly column in the Oregon Daily Emerald, "The Independent Student Newspaper at the University of Oregon". Here is today's column (Cartoon is from from Dry Bones, and is 18 years old, but I like it.)

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Zionism misunderstood

In today's political climate, you might think I am hesitant to admit I am a Zionist. The very word itself carries a heavy stigma. Still, after years of broken dialogue, incessant violence and determined defense, I am happy to say that today Israel turns 60, and despite how you might feel about my homeland, I am hopeful for the future of a dynamic and thriving Israel.

You might not agree with me. In fact, many of you might even go so far as to equate Zionism with racism. Perhaps you blame the entire ideology for the suffering of the Palestinians. Or, maybe you just go out of your way to deviate from Bush's ideas and America's policies. It's okay; you're a self-proclaimed progressive; you root for the underdog.

I wish I could say that your stance is unique, but it's not. In fact, it's fairly common to disagree with the establishment of Israel. After all, if a major point of reference is a biblical text and the claim that God promised the land to Abraham, then who, in liberal, free-thinking academia, can possibly acknowledge this idea? We're skeptical, and for all we know, the Bible could be a result of some profound, inspired psychedelic trip.

One could also argue against the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the League of Nations Mandate, the UN partition of 1947, the admission of Israel into the UN in 1949, the diplomatic relations Israel has with most other states and most importantly, the stable democratic society that flourishes and continues to thrive today. I mean, honestly, how ethical are governmental institutions anyway?

Still, it is worth nothing that, despite contrary propaganda and common misconceptions, the Jewish people have every right to their homeland. The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Russian Pogroms and the Holocaust have actually demonstrated that the Jewish people need a homeland. They need a less formidable answer to "The Jewish Question."

It's not as though, after the Romans forced them into exile in 70 CE, the Jews returned 1,800 years later demanding their home back. In actuality, Jews maintained ties to and a continuous presence in their homeland for 4,000 years, including a language and a distinct culture. Throughout history, Jews have cultivated present-day Israel, planting the seeds for economic opportunity for Jews and Arabs alike.

Pursuant to the 1947 Partition Plan, the British Mandate of Palestine was divided into two countries, and while the Jews accepted this proposition, the Arabs rejected it outright and sought to destroy the Jewish state.

For more than 30 years, until the peace treaty with Egypt, the surrounding Arab states maintained a state of war with Israel, including boycotts, the support of terror attacks against the civilian population and the open proclamation of an objective to destroy them. Yet, Israel did not attack or retaliate except in self-defense. In fact, it has returned land to Syria and withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula. It has withdrawn from the Gaza strip and several parts of the West Bank. The only reason that the Israelis have attained more land than the Palestinians is due to actions taken in self-defense.

These cooperative gestures, rather than being effective as precursors to a peace, were taken as signs of weakness. Withdrawing from the Security Belt in Southern Lebanon only brought Hezbollah 20 miles closer to Israel's northern border. The withdrawal from the Gaza Strip resulted in terror for the citizens of the Israeli city of Sderot as Gaza became a launching pad for long-range missiles.

How ironic is it that despite the fact that terrorist organizations fund suicide bombers and launch rockets into Israel, Israel is constantly berated for not cooperating with them?

It is unfortunate that the Palestinians are so misrepresented by their own government and are forced to live in difficult circumstances, enduring checkpoints and shortages of necessities. While Israel welcomed and absorbed Jewish refugees forced out of the Arab countries, the displaced Palestinians have become pawns in the hands of Arab countries anxious to promote hatred of Israel and Jews throughout the world.

Israel is one of the smallest and youngest countries in the world. Yet it has become an epicenter for medical and technological breakthroughs, economic prosperity and a vibrant culture, and has done so in the face of a constant struggle to defend its people and justify its very existence.

While the word "Zionism" has evolved into a demonizing pejorative, the concept itself actually has nothing to do with the Palestinian people, warfare or the displacement of others. It is a declaration of support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. It is a statement of solidarity among the Jewish people and an outcry against several millennia of oppression and genocide. It is necessary and legitimate. It is anything but racist.

254: Pictures taken April 25

2008-04-29T01:38:00.008-08:00

These were taken in Anchorage on April 25, 2008, around 9 pm. We had up to 22 inches of snow. It is sort of weird to have the sun out so late but still have it snow so hard. Normally the law says we may not drive with studded tires after May 1, but this year we just got a 14 day extension.

It was in the 50s earlier this week.

253. Fabric store in Jerusalem

2008-04-25T00:04:00.002-08:00

Here is a picture I took of a fabric store in Jerusalem on Jaffa Road near King George. I don't know why they named the store Alaska. I asked the people who were working there, and they don't know either.

252. A tribute to Frank Murkowski

2008-04-13T20:55:00.002-08:00

251. Outhouse Races

2008-04-03T11:45:00.013-08:00

One event of Fur Rondy was Outhouse Races. Each team must build an outhouse, and have people to push the outhouse along the path. There must be a person in the outhouse during the race. It was fun to watch; there were a lot of collisions. Team names included "Poopsie Daisy", "Royal Flush", and "We're #1 and #2".

250. The Running of the Reindeer

2008-03-11T12:16:00.008-08:00

Spain has The Running of the Bulls. We have The Running of the Reindeer. No one was hurt except for a few people who slipped on the ice. It was too crowded for me to be able to take pictures, so here are some pictures other people took. Some people thought it was sick that vendors were selling reindeer sausages, but I figure that livestock shows sell hamburgers, so it is OK as long as no one feeds any to the reindeer.

249. Ice bowling

2008-03-07T23:57:00.005-09:00

"Only wimps bowl on wood"

248. Fur Rondy!

2008-03-04T00:42:00.004-09:00

New Orleans has Mardi Gras, Anchorage has Fur Rondy. This is short for Fur Rendezvous, an annual festival which began with fur trappers in 1935. Festivities include dog sled races, outhouse races, The Running of the Reindeer, blanket tossing, ice sculptures, ice bowling, Native Alaskan crafts fair, carnival rides, fur bikini contest, etc. It ends with the beginning of Iditarod.

I will report on different activities in the next few days.

pictures: a few children watch the sled dog races on the statue of local canine hero Balto, Fur Rondy banner across fifth Avenue.

Wikipedia links: Fur Rondy, Iditarod, Balto

247. Bring Anchorage to the board!

2008-02-24T13:29:00.003-09:00

The powers-that-be at Hasbro have decided to come out with a worldwide Monopoly edition. They are having people vote for the cities that will be included as properties. There will be 22 cities on the board.

Right now there is a list of 68 cities. You can vote for up to 10 a day. (I've been voting for Jerusalem, New York, Vancouver). The top 20 votes-wise will make it to the board.

If you want a city that is not on their list, you are allowed to write in one city a day. Anchorage did not make it to the list. (Neither did San Francisco or Birobidzhan.) The next stage will consist of people voting from the 20 cities that receive the most write-in votes. So everyone has to go on and nominate Anchorage EVERY DAY while we can to get it into the top 20 of the write ins.

You can go vote at http://www.hasbro.com/games/kid-games/monopoly/ .

******

While we are on the subject, if you look at the list of 68 cities, you will notice it does not say what countries the cities are in. Would you like to know WHY? Originally the list called each by city-comma-space-country. But then someone got upset that Jerusalem was listed as "Jerusalem, Israel" and complained. So Hasbro dropped the country names.

******

Wow, I managed to get in Alaska AND Israel into the same topic. I rock!

246. Newest coldest point

2008-02-07T12:55:00.000-09:00

OBrien Creek, Alaksa was -67 F / -55 C.

245. Chandalar Lake update

2008-02-04T01:36:00.000-09:00

yesterday -61 F / -52 C

244. Want to live in Chandalar Lake?

2008-02-01T19:16:00.000-09:00

temperature yesterday: -56 F / -49 C.

243. Why "no longer" The Northernmost Jew?

2008-01-31T12:47:00.000-09:00

Someone asked me why I changed the title of this blog from "The Northernmost Jew" to "(no longer) The Northernmost Jew". Well, it's because I moved south. All the way to Anchorage.

To be fair, I never was really the northernmost. I met a Jewish man who lives in Kotzebue. And I know there is a family in Barrow, the northernmost city on the North American continent. I'm not sure how many are in northern Siberia.

The northernmost Jewish community that I know of is in Fairbanks, north of Anchorage but south of Deering. (The community was founded in 1904, the same year as Stuyvesant HS and the NYC subway system.)

The most northern place where anyone lives is Alert, one of the islands north of Canada. If I ever get to alert, I'll let you know. If anyone knows of a Jew who lives in alert, let me know. (I think Alert has a population of 5.)

Lattutude (locations listed N-S)
the North Pole (the real one, not the town) 90.00
Alert (Nunavet, Canada) 82.47
Barrow (Alaska) 71.30
Kotzebue 66.90
the Arctic Circle 66.56
Deering 66.08
Fairbanks 64.83
Anchorage 61.19
New York City 40.72
Jerusalem 31.78
the Equator 0.00

242. Another Dry Bones cartoon

2008-01-28T00:23:00.000-09:00

241. Back to Alaska

2008-01-11T10:13:00.000-09:00

After two weeks in Israel (where it was nice and warm) and a week in NYC (where it was somewhat warm except for one day) I was NOT in the mood to return to Anchorage where it is 8 F / -13 C.

But now that I'm here, I realize that it is a lot less bad than it sounds. It has been snowing pretty constantly, but there has been very little wind. It is nice and crisp outside, and rather pleasant.

(Although Deering was down at -30 F / -34 C, with a windchill of -46 F / -43 C. Buckland is predicted to be -45 F / -43 C. I think I'll stay down south in Anchorage.)

Of course, it is WAY better than NY at 90 F / 32 C .

240. Pictures from Israel in honor of the season

2007-12-24T07:28:00.000-09:00

Since it is Christmas Eve, here are two photograhs I took in Jaffa (a suburb of Tel Aviv). The words across Santa Claus say "Happy Holiday" and the words with the drawings say literally "Holiday of the Birth" which means Christmas.

239. Airport Lounge

2007-12-16T17:46:00.001-09:00

I'm currently in Newark Airport, first class lounge, waiting for my flight to Tel Aviv. (I'm not flying first class, but I got in with some people who are.) Almost everyone here is on a laptop. (There is free wireless access, and the tables have electrical outlets on them.) It just seems strange to look around and see everyone ignoring everyone else on a laptop. (Myself included, I suppose.) The few that are not are reading or talking on cell phones. My daughter is several tables down because we couldn't all find electrical outlets near each other. She says that if I want her I can IM her.

But wait - There is a group of people over there sitting together, and actually TALKING to each other. Three men, two women, a few little kids, all pretty religious looking. They actually look like they enjoy each other's company. Talking - is that allowed in here?

238. Walking to work

2007-12-15T12:14:00.000-09:00

Alaska is the state with the most people who walk to work, 7.4%. This is because of little villages like Deering, where everything is within half a mile of everything else, there are no roads that lead there so it is difficult to get cars, and gas costs like $10/gallon. The national average is 2.5%.

As fat as cities go, Boston was names the "large city" with the most people who walk to work at 12.5%. In case you are curious, New York City has 9.4%. We have villages which are not "large cities" so they don't make the list, but almost 100% of the people walk to work.

237. This makes NO sense

2007-11-24T07:48:00.000-09:00

WHY is Olmert arming the Palestinians?

Olmert approves supply of 25 armored vehicles to PA

Despite IDF, Shin Bet's warning that equipment could reach terror organizations, prime minister agrees to hand over to Palestinians armored vehicles from Russia, 2 million bullets as goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Abbas ahead of Annapolis summit

Hanan Greenberg
Latest Update: 11.21.07, 08:33

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved the supply of 25 armored vehicles to the Palestinian security organizations in the West Bank, as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Annapolis Peace Confrence.

The move was approved despite the defense establishment's strong objection. The Palestinians will also receive from Israel 2 million bullets...

"We are asking the Palestinians to fight terror. How are they supposed to do that, with stolen Israeli cars?" a senior official at the Prime Minister's Office said in response to the criticism over the planned move, which was approved a week ago....

Security sources still believe that this is a dangerous move. Although the armored vehicles are considered defensive rather than offensive equipment, weapons transferred through official channels have been known to reach Hamas in the past.

According to defense establishment officials, a large number of terror cells are located in the West Bank city of Nablus, where the equipment is slated to arrive.

[My own comment - I don't even think Israel should be supplying Gaza with electricity and water.]

236. Orthodox Feminist girls schools in Jerusalem

2007-11-19T01:36:00.000-09:00

Two new Orthodox girls schools push egalitarianism in Jerusalem

By Brian Blum

photo: Beverly Gribetz, principal of Tehilla School in Jerusalem, with her students, Oct. 23, 2007.

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two new cutting-edge schools that opened in Jerusalem this fall are pushing the envelope on modern Orthodox education in the Jewish capital — and challenging rival schools to follow suit.

The Shalom Hartman Institute, a popular pluralistic Orthodox educational institution that already has a junior high and high school for boys, opened a girls school for grades seven through nine, and educator Beverly Gribetz started a girls school called Tehilla for grades nine and 10.

With a decidedly liberal bent that includes allowing girls to study Talmud and lead prayer services, the schools are positioning themselves to challenge the status quo in girls’ religious education in Jerusalem and throughout the Orthodox world.

“Hartman is very clearly flying the feminist flag,” Hartman parent Lori Glashofer said.

Talmud study is absent from the majority of Orthodox girls schools in Israel and girls leading prayer services is virtually unheard of in the Orthodox world. School officials at Hartman and Tehilla also say they will not discourage girls from going to the army, whereas most Orthodox schools in Israel encourage girls to avoid compulsory military duty by exercising the option to do national service instead.

Founded by North American immigrants, Hartman and Tehilla will compete with their Jerusalem rivals for the daughters of Jerusalem’s liberal Orthodox families, many of whom are also originally from North America.

Among Hartman and Tehilla’s competitors are the prestigious Pelech School, the Omaniyot Torah and Arts High School and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s Ohr Torah.

The 30-year-old Hartman Institute was founded by Montreal native Rabbi David Hartman. The new girls school, officially called Midrashiat Habanot, is run by his son, institute co-director Rabbi Donniel Hartman, and Chana Kehat, founder of the religious feminist group Kolech.

Kehat describes Hartman’s girls school as “Orthodox but open-minded” — much like the Hartman school for boys, which has been open since 1986.

Students employ a critical approach to the study of Jewish texts, and volunteer work is part of the weekly schedule — elements that have made the boys school a top choice for modern Orthodox families in Jerusalem.

Additionally, a revolutionary new program will bring a sex-education curriculum to both the boys and girls — one of the first ever among religious schools in Israel.

It wasn’t easy to open the two new schools. Aside from finding students, faculty and funds, Hartman and Gribetz had to overcome the objections of the Israeli Educational Ministry.

At first the ministry opposed the opening of both schools, claiming Jerusalem did not require any additional classroom space for Orthodox girls.

Eventually the ministry relented.

“The educational authorities recognized us as a serious voice in the religious community,” Donniel Hartman said. “Here was a group of liberal Orthodox Jews that takes feminism and modern Judaism seriously. Their biggest concern was that the opening of our school wouldn’t come at the expense of other schools.”

The schools’ openings have devastated one school, however — the Evelina de Rothschild girls high school, which until recently was run by Gribetz.

During her stint as principal of Evelina, Gribetz was accused of falsifying hours on her time sheet and suspended from her post for six months. Subsequently she was cleared, but Gribetz left shortly thereafter to start Tehilla in September 2005.

Without the innovative Gribetz, an immigrant from the United States who was a headmistress for several years at the Ramaz School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Evelina’s decline accelerated and it lost a considerable number of students with the openings of Hartman and Tehilla.

Evelina is slated for closure, with the Hartman school designated to become its successor under a deal worked out with the Education Ministry. Hartman already has taken over some of Evelina’s facilities and faculty, and the 148-year-old Jerusalem school likely will be phased out entirely within three years.

Meanwhile, Gribetz, who also has taught at the rival Pelech, has gone on to make waves at Tehilla.

Gribetz first tried to open Tehilla in 2005, but the Education Ministry shut it down because it had no license. After a court ruling from the appeals board of the Education Ministry ruled in Gribetz’s favor, Tehilla reopened this September.

Some parents suggested that the ministry’s objections to Tehilla had to do with ideology.

“Beverly believes girls should get a good education,” Tehilla parent Naomi Stahl said of Gribetz. “Other places believe they should get ‘an appropriate education for girls.’ ”

Gribetz says Tehilla emphasizes a creative approach to learning, bringing in well-known rabbis and professors to teach Talmud, professional musicians to teach music and artists to run art electives. She also says she wants Tehilla to be an “integrated school” with students from an array of religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.

For its inaugural year, the school drew students from nearly 25 feeder schools, according to Gribetz.

“When the first family from the Horev school” — a traditional Orthodox institution — “came to interview,” Gribetz said, “we asked, ‘Are you sure you’re in the right place? Your daughter will be learning Talmud in this school.’”

“They said they were willing to try it,” Gribetz said. “We know that half the girls coming to Tehilla wore a tallit at their bat mitzvahs. This coming-together of students is unique in Jerusalem.”

Tehilla student Daniella Slonim says the integration effort hasn’t been very successful so far. Many of her classmates, she notes, are native English speakers from similar backgrounds.

But she had praise for her teachers.

“There were girls who were failing subjects or wouldn’t listen or were not getting good grades in their previous schools. Now they’re getting 90s,” Daniella said. “The teachers all want you to do well.”

Unlike at Hartman, Tehilla has not yet instituted girl-led Torah readings. Gribetz says she’ll let the school’s evolving community decide the controversial issue.

Hartman, which this fall is hosting the popular egalitarian Orthodox Shabbat minyan Shira Hadasha while its regular Jerusalem locale undergoes renovations, has no such qualms.

Asked if Hartman would accept a girl laying tefillin for services, Donniel Hartman said, “Absolutely.”

Hartman student Ayelet Kagan, who has laid tefillin herself and whose mother regularly lays tefillin, says she’s not so sure she wants to do so at her new school.

“Maybe the school would” accept it, Ayelet said, “but the girls would still think it’s over the top.”

235. The cartoon says it all

2007-11-11T22:21:00.000-09:00

234. It's all relative

2007-11-08T18:10:00.000-09:00

Tuesday (Nov 6) I was in Portland, getting on a plane to fly back to Anchorage. In back of me a group was talking; they obviously were flying from Phoenix to anchorage, and had to change planes in Portland. It had been about 92 F (33 C) in Phoenix, and they hated it.

Just as we were getting on the plane, they made an announcement that it was 30 F (-1 C) in Anchorage. They all cheered! Probably caught some people by surprise.

233. Anyone in Portland OR reading this?

2007-09-25T23:59:00.000-08:00

If anyone reading this is in Portland, the Jewish Students Union is putting up their succah in the Park blocks at Portland State University from 10 am to 3 pm. Go help them!

232. Winter is coming

2007-09-17T23:29:00.000-08:00

The weather has been pretty nice lately - most days have been around 60 F / 16 C, perfect short-sleeves-with-no-jacket weather (although last Wednesday, September 12, was really rainy, cold, and yucky). But the signs of winter are beginning in Southern Alaska.

Last Saturday, September 15, was a nice summer day, with the autumn equinox still 6 days off. It was, however, the first day we can legally drive with studded tires.

But yesterday, September 16, there was snow on the top of the Chugach Mountains. That's the first sign. (see picture)

Last night I checked the weather prediction and there was a 'severe weather advisory' for Anchorage: "Potential Frost For Parts Of Anchorage And The Matsu Valley  Tonight / Mostly clear skies and light winds tonight will set the stage for quickly dropping temperatures after sunset and near freezing temperatures. At greatest risk are areas in east Anchorage and low-lying areas. / It is strongly recommended to bring plants indoors tonight. Those with agricultural interests are advised to take necessary precautions."

The state high yesterday was at Noatak, 71 F / 22 C. The state low was Deering, 30 F / -1 C.

And today, September 17, there was frost on the grass when I woke up.

The weather prediction for the week is pretty much highs in the mid 50s and lows in the high 30s.

(photography credit - some guy I don't know. I wanted to take a picture of the mountains on my way to work, but could not find my camera. Later in the day I saw some guy downloading photographs. I asked him if he happened to have taken any new pictures of the mountains and he had and said I could use them.)

231. 9/11 and Alaska

2007-09-11T23:46:00.000-08:00

When thinking about 9/11 almost no one thinks of any effects it may have had on Alaska. Alaska, however, is isolated from the rest of the US, and many of the communities in Alaska are isolated from any other area. We are more dependent on airplane service than the rest of the country. In the days after 9/11, no airplane flights were allowed. Even tiny private planes were grounded.

Many people were stranded away from home when the airplanes were grounded. Some people, rather than wait for flights that had know of knowing when they would fly, rented cars and drove home. This is harder to do when you have to get to Alaska, which involved a several day's drive through Canada. There is also a lot of Alaska with no roads, and villages to which you can not drive.

Most of Alaska gets groceries by airplane. While I know of no village that ran out of food, some people did mention that market shelves got noticeably emptier.

Mail also goes in and out of Alaska by airplane. Not only could people not get mail to or from the rest of the country, villages could not get mail from each other.

Many villages do not have doctors. A person from a small bush town (like Deering) must fly to the nearest village with a doctor or hospital. In case of an emergency, like someone in a small village having a heart attack, each hospital keeps a plane ready to go to any village in a moment's notice. (If the weather prevents flying, that person is SOL.)

The problem that seems to have caused the most concern was stranded hunters. Hunting is very popular in the Alaskan bush, where it is the easiest and cheapest source of food. Many Alaskans rely primarily on the meat from hunting. Many hunting trips involve camping in the wilderness. A hunter is dropped off by airplane in the middle of nowhere. he makes arrangements with the pilot to pick him up at a specific time a few days later. The hunter has supplies for the few days but not much else. A number of hunters were left stranded because the pilots that were supposed to pick them up were not allowed to fly. Many hunters had no way of contacting the outside world (These areas do not get cell phone service) and did not know anything about 9/11's events. All they knew was that were there with a very limited food supply and the pilot who was supposed to pick them up didn't. After a couple of days, even though the country was still not allowing any flights at all, the Alaskan whoever-is-in-charge decided that planes could go to pick up these hunters.

230. My letter to the editor

2007-08-30T23:31:00.000-08:00

[Today's Anchorage Daily News printed my letter to the editor. Picture is of the dogs who inspired it. L-R Max, Trouble, Argos, Preston]

Columnist Joel Stein says that dogs don't feel affection toward people, that they are just "using" us ("All this fuss about dogs is just crazy," Aug. 14).

People are always using other people. It is what makes society work. Businesses use customers to stay in business while their customers use them for services. My employer is using me to get work accomplished; I am using it to get money. Married people use each other for companionship, love, sex, money, housework, and care.

But dogs? As my mother used to say, "We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made."

229. Kinko's in Alaska

2007-08-17T13:50:00.001-08:00

228. Top reasons to live in the Arctic (from Kotzebue's website)

2007-08-02T02:05:00.000-08:00

This sort of nonsense doesn't happen in the latitudes of the far North. (see pics)
Thunder (and Lightning) storms are vanishingly rare.
70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit are considered HOT days.
24 hour sun for 20 days in June, 24 hour Dark for 20 days in December, equal 12hr sun/dark at March and September Equinoxes. Always changing!
The Sun is in a different position at any given time of the day. In other words, that morning commute 'sun in your eyes' will only be for about a week.
Aurora Borealis -the Northern Lights- always inspiring and viewable 6-9 months of the year!
No fleas, no cockroaches, no ticks, few spiders (unless you bring 'em with you).
Little chance of sunburn, sunstroke or skin cancer.
Less light pollution for viewing the stars and planets.
Less crowding, less traffic. You can usually walk where you need to go.
Cold air is heavier, so aircraft fly better in the cold (to a certain degree).
With Global Warming, the climate is only improving! '

227. We're getting civilized here!!

2007-07-15T23:09:00.000-08:00

Alaska's first Dairy Queen just opened in Anchorage. There is a rumor that we will get a Target next year. I want Trader Joe's!!!

226. This past Shobbos

2007-06-27T23:53:00.000-08:00

Last Shobbos was the one closest to the summer solstice. Candle lighting time was 11:24 pm on Friday. Havdalah was 2:02 am Sunday morning. (source: The calendar from the Lubavitch Jewish Center of Alaska)

225. Midnight baseball

2007-06-24T02:33:00.000-08:00

Since 1906, Fairbanks has had a tradition of "Midnight baseball". Every year, on the longest day of the year, the Alaska Goldpanners baseball team plays a game. The game begins at 10:30 pm and mostly ends sometime between 1 and 2 am. They do not use (or need) any artificial lights. In Fairbanks the sun dips below the horizon for about an hour, but it is still very light out. This year the Oceanside Waves beat the Alaska Goldpanners 5 to 1. Every year they invite a different, out-of-state team to play.

There is a short break at midnight to sing "Alaska's Flag", the state song.

224. LOOOOOONG sign

2007-06-11T00:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the signpost at the entrance to a walking trail at a park in SE Anchorage. The top sign is always there. The others are added as wild animals are spotted. In case you can't make them out, here is what thet say:

1. MULTI-USE CORRIDOR (this is the permanent sign)

2. "BEAR ALERT,'' read the words splashed above a snarling bear drawing on the uppermost sign.

3. "Please be aware,'' said the sign below. "Very protective cow (moose) with two babies."

4. "MOOSE ALERT,'' read the headline above the drawing of a bull moose on the sign at the bottom.

223. Ode to an Oosik

2007-05-23T08:04:00.000-08:00

Everyone in Alaska knows this poem, but few others. I can't find any mention of who wrote it. Keep in mind that oosiks are often a couple of feet long. You can get them in any souvenier shop here, or on ebay.

ODE TO AN OOSIK

Strange things have been done in the Midnight Sun,
and the story books are full---
But the strangest tale concerns the male,
magnificent walrus bull!

I know it's rude, quite common and crude,
Perhaps it is grossly unkind;
But with first glance at least, this bewhiskered beast,
is as ugly in front as behind.

Look once again, take a second look -- then
you'll see he's not ugly or vile --
There's a hint of a grin, in that blubbery chin --
and the eyes have a shy secret smile.

How can this be, this clandestine glee
that exudes from the walrus like music?
He knows, there inside, beneath blubber and hide
lies a splendid contrivance -- the Oosik!

"Oosik" you say -- and quite well you may,
I'll explain if you keep it between us;
In the simplest truth, though rather uncouth
"Oosik" is, in fact, his penis!

Now the size alone of this walrus bone,
would indeed arouse envious thinking --
It is also a fact, documented and backed,
There is never a softening or shrinking!

This, then, is why the smile is so sly,
the walrus is rightfully proud.
Though the climate is frigid, the walrus is rigid,
Pray, why, is not man so endowed?

Added to this, is a smile you might miss ---
Though the bull is entitled to bow --
The one to out-smile our bull by a mile
is the satisfied walrus cow!

222. Kosher Restaurant

2007-04-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

Anchorage has a kosher restaurant! They don't have a mashgiach, but they use all kosher ingrediwnts, ordering their meat from Albertson's in Seattle. They are Falafel King, on 1oth and Gambell. Great schwarma!!!

221. Another article pirated from the Anchorage Daily News

2007-04-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Israelis laud Alaska sailor for 1947 Exodus mission

REUNION: Seward man was on crew of Jewish refugee boat that inspired novel and movie.

By BRANDON LOOMIS Anchorage Daily News Published: April 2, 2007

A young Alaskan named Jack Johnson sailed into history and an Israeli hero's stature in 1947, but never really realized it until he returned to the Mediterranean this winter at age 80.

Johnson, a Seward resident who in December retired from piloting ships around Alaska, had a dizzying youth during World War II and then found himself at the right bar in southern France to help Jews press their case for a homeland. While he was ashore in Marseille after ditching one sailing gig and pursuing a young lady, he said, the Zionist group trying to slip Jewish refugees past a British blockade into Palestine asked him to join their crew.

The Orthodox Russian Christian originally from Kodiak had witnessed the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp, he said last week, and he wanted to help Jews any way he could. He signed on to crew aboard the Exodus, a ship that attempted to move some 4,500 refugees and in so doing is widely credited with evoking the world's sympathy toward formation of Israel.

But the British, who governed Palestine at the time and responded to Arab fears about immigration, turned the refugees back while killing one crew member and two passengers. For all these years Johnson thought his mission was incomplete.

"I figured we failed," Johnson said after returning from a February tour of Israel that he bought at a fundraising auction to help establish a Jewish museum in Anchorage. "We didn't get them in there. I was there and the next thing I knew I was back in Marseilles looking for another ship."

The events inspired Leon Uris' novel "Exodus" and its Paul Newman/Eva Marie Saint film adaptation, though Johnson said the fictionalized refugee shipments in that story were only loosely based on the voyage he witnessed.

Johnson had been a young sailor involved in shipping arms to the Soviet Union during World War II when his ship was sunk and he was stuck in Archangel, Russia. While waiting to be repatriated, he said, he was inspired to join the Soviet army, in which he served during the liberation of Polish concentration camps. After the war he went back to crewing on freighters, which is how he found himself at Marseilles.

Home in Alaska in 1953, Johnson scarcely thought about the "Exodus" events for decades, though he remained a supporter of Israel.

"Sailors are funny," he said. "You get off one ship and say, 'Maybe we'll see each other again,' but you never do."

Except, 60 years later, he chanced to see the captain with whom he had served for those 12 pivotal days. At the museum fundraiser he bid $18,500 for a guided trip with Anchorage Rabbi Yosef Greenberg, and once they reached Israel they discovered the captain of the Exodus, now 84, still lived outside Haifa. What followed was a joyous reunion covered by the Israeli media, and a hearty round of thank-yous from Israeli parliamentarians and dignitaries including former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"I couldn't understand it at first," Johnson said. Then those who praised him told him they considered the Exodus ship a crucial point in securing United Nations support for Israel. The Holocaust survivors trying to reach Israel didn't make it immediately, but their plight reached the world.

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Acharonot reported the tearful meeting between Johnson and Exodus captain Ike Aharonovitch, though it said Aharonovitch at first didn't recognize his short-time second mate.

"The two sat together for hours," according to the Yediot Acharonot report. "Ike brought out his 'Exodus' album, and they recalled the difficult battle, how they were surprised by the British who attacked them suddenly in the open sea, how they threw potatoes and canned goods at the British and how they tossed the brazen British overboard.

"Ike chain-smoked. He looked excited, and his eyes were twinkling. Johnson's tears flowed."
Johnson said Thursday that he always had wanted to go back to Israel, and that his wife had never been there. His first request to Greenberg was to find the grave of his dead crewmate, beaten by the British boarding party during the riot. To his surprise, a tour guide said he knew Aharonovitch's daughter, and that the 84-year-old captain still lived.

Johnson's treatment in Israel has given him renewed appreciation for the events, he said.
"I'm still kind of amazed, looking back and realizing I was a part of it," Johnson said. "It gives you kind of a strange feeling and strange emotions."

For Rabbi Greenberg, Johnson turned into more than a museum donor. He'll be the subject of an exhibit in the museum, for which organizers hope to break ground next spring. Photos from Johnson's return and information about the 1947 sailing will go into the exhibit.

"We thought it would be a wonderful trip to Israel," Greenberg said. "But what it turned into -- the whole Exodus story -- was just unbelievable. Something that was to support the museum becomes part of the museum."

(photo: Rabbi Yosef Greenberg of Anchorage, left, and Jack Johnson of Seward recently visited Israel 60 years after Johnson was on the crew of the Haganah ship Exodus, which attempted to bring 4,500 Jews from Europe to British-controlled Palestine in 1947 after World War II. The British Royal Navy boarded the ship off the coast of Palestine, killing three people and removing the passengers in Haifa port for deportation to France. Johnson was reunited with the ship's captain, and both were featured in a photo in the tabloid newspaper Yediot Acharonot.)

220. New Term: " Iditaquest champion" - for Lance Mackey (and dogs!)

2007-03-18T13:41:00.000-08:00

Once again, I am going to pirate a column from the Anchorage Daily News.

Mackey's spectacular tale won't reach ears of Outside sports fans

Beth Bragg

Funny how Alaskans always manage to capture the nation's attention when they do or say something silly, but become invisible when they do something remarkable.

I'm talking about Lance Mackey and his storybook journey into sports history.

His back-to-back victories in the world's longest and gnarliest sled-dog races set a new standard for toughness in Alaska but barely registered a blip Outside.

About 18 hours after Mackey had crossed the finish line in Nome to add the Iditarod championship to the Yukon Quest title he won exactly four weeks earlier, I called ESPN Radio in Connecticut to ask if Mackey's feat had been reported on any of the network's many news reports.

It had not.

Here in Alaska, people are celebrating the team of wonderdogs that helped Mackey coin a new phrase -- Iditaquest champion -- and script a story every bit as compelling as anything the world of sports has served up in recent memory.

Outside, the only dogs getting attention are the underdog basketball teams hoping for a March Madness upset.

"To be honest -- and it's unfortunate -- but people don't care. They don't understand it,'' said John Seibel, a former Anchorage sportscaster who now hosts a four-hour nightly talk show that airs nationwide on ESPN Radio. "It's pretty frustrating to me because I covered it for three years. In the Lower 48 it gets a little blurb when it's over, and then you've got idiots like (radio host) Jim Rome who, whenever a dog dies, jumps all over it and calls it the I-Killed-A-Dog.''

It's disheartening to remember how the national media fawned over a legally blind musher who placed 57th in last year's race. Mackey's story is far better, yet it's not getting much play outside Alaska.

He's the Lance Armstrong of mushing, a cancer survivor who has endured as much as any athlete in headlines today.

A softball-sized lump was removed from his neck, along with his salivary glands and some muscle, after Mackey was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in the months between the 2001 and 2002 Iditarods. He was still undergoing treatment when he entered the 2002 race, sponsored by doctors amazed at his resiliency and toughness.

He didn't make it to Nome that year, but by the next season he was winning races. In 2005, four years after surgery and radiation, Mackey won the Yukon Quest and placed seventh in the Iditarod.

Last year, he repeated as Quest champ and was 10th in the Iditarod -- minus his left index finger, which he persuaded doctors to amputate. Nerve damage from the cancer had made the finger useless, a source of pain and a disadvantage on the trail. As Mackey told a Peninsula Clarion reporter, "I gotta keep doing what I love, even if it means sacrificing a digit to do it."

All the while, Mackey was challenging conventional wisdom that says the same driver can't win the 1,000-mile Quest and the 1,100-mile Iditarod in the same year.

On Tuesday, he proved everyone wrong. He crossed under Nome's famous burled arch to win the Iditarod, 28 days after he had claimed the Quest title in Fairbanks. Eight of the nine dogs in harness had completed both journeys with their master; together, they mushed 2,100 miles in less than 40 days and looked no worse for the wear: As Mackey jumped for joy and raised his arms in victory, the dogs wagged their tails.

Had they been running in the Lower 48, they'd have run coast to coast.

"It's almost hard to realize truly what he's accomplished,'' said his dad, 1978 Iditarod champion Dick Mackey. "It's enough of a high to win the Iditarod, you know, but to have won both races with the same dog team is such an unbelievable feat.''

It's a feat that begs for comparisons, so here's one: Mackey's twin victories are like a runner winning the Boston Marathon one week and the London Marathon the next.

But unlike marathon runners who get nourishment at feed stands along the race route, Mackey barely ate or drank from Shaktoolik on, some 219 miles. Without salivary glands, he must chase food with water, because he can't swallow on his own. The procedure proved too time-consuming as he battled to beat Paul Gebhardt to Nome.

This was the biggest and most phenomenal Iditarod finish since Libby Riddles mushed into an Arctic blizzard in 1985 to become the first woman to win the race. That achievement made headlines worldwide, and understandably so. Riddles shattered images, showing that guts and grit aren't traits exclusive to those equipped with a Y chromosome.

Now it's Mackey who has shaken the mushing world, although with little fanfare beyond Alaska.

But that's OK. Let the rest of the world mock our bridges to nowhere and scorn our efforts to open ANWR while we revel in a story that could only happen here, a story about an iron-man musher and his kennel of wonderdogs.

219. More letters to the editor re: "Big Wild Life"

2007-02-22T23:43:00.000-09:00

Letters printed in the Anchorage Daily News:

Big Wild Life? Sounds like an ad for the zoo. As a life-long resident of Anchorage, I say we have "360 degrees of Awesome." (by someone else, 2/12)

It took two marketing firms, one from out-of-state, to come up with the three words Big Wild Life? A contest for schoolchildren with a prize of $1,000 would have resulted in a better choice. Our state flag is a good example. Think of the money saved for our city's strained budget. (by someone else, 2/13, Our state flag was designed by a jr. high school kid in a contest)

I would like to submit an alternative slogan for Anchorage, without charging anyone for it: "Where you can call in late for work because there is a moose blocking your car." (by ME, 2/13)

Big Wild Life? I think they had one too many at Chilkoot Charlie's. (by someone else, 2/14, Chilkoot Charlie’s is a local pub)

…"Larger than life" says it all, and I could come up with a dozen more, but no one asked me… (by someone else, 2/17)

Whose idea was it to get rid of a great slogan like "Wild About Anchorage" and replace it with "Big Wild Life"? Is it the same person who came up with New Coke? (by ME, 2/18)

218. Family at the playground

2007-02-13T11:28:00.000-09:00

Some folks who live in the Goldenview part of the Hillside area in Anchorage, Alaska, just built this playground in their yard recently for their 3 and 4 year-old boys. The next morning, the mom woke up to this scene--of four juvenile black bears playing on the new equipment Somewhere in the trees was the mother bear.
Later that same day, a large bull moose moseyed around in the wood chips, inspecting the area. It appears they may need to erect a 12-foot fence around the area before letting any children out

217. Big Wild Life

2007-02-06T21:42:00.000-09:00

Anchorage has a new slogan: "Big Wild Life". They spent thousands of dollars for an advertising agency to come up with a replacement for the old (and superior IMO) slogan "Wild about Anchorage". The local talk station had people call in with suggestions for alternatives. I suggested "Where you can call in late for work because there's a moose blocking your car". They said that is too long to fit on a licence plate.

216. I lost my pickles!

2007-01-16T15:08:00.000-09:00

I LOVE half-sour pickles. The really big ones. Also, they are pretty low calorie. (Don't bother telling me about sodium!) Unfortunately, they are impossible to find outside of the NYC area. (I once went to Canter's Deli - the famous one in LA - and asked for a half sour pickle. They gave me half a sour one.) Since I was in NYC for a couple of weeks, I bought some to take back with me. (Mazer's Deli in Little Neck has the best.) Last time I did this, I put the pickles in a bag I checked and the juice leaked over the whole bag. This time I carried the container in my jacket pocket. Yes, they separated my jacket for hand inspection, but OKed it. I got my pickles on the first plane, through the connection in Seattle, and to Anchorage. I do remember taking it off the plane in AK. Then I lost it somewhere in the airport. My annoyance at myself for losing them is balanced by wondering the reaction of whoever finds the container of pickles with a label from a deli in Queens.

215. Driving in snow

2007-01-10T17:01:00.000-09:00

I never had to drive in snow before. In NY, I just took public transportation everywhere. In Portland, the schools would close the few days there was snow, and I could take the bus if I needed to get anywhere. In Deering, you could not get away from the snow, but I did not have to drive anywhere, and those that did used snowmachines. (Boy, can those snowmachines get around!!)

Everyone gets studded tires. Not everyone got them in time for the snow (I did) and many places that change the tires were open 24/7 for a while after the first snow. (Did people not see it coming?)

214. Please vote!!

2006-12-31T17:21:00.000-09:00

OK, I admit this is not an earth-shaking issue, but my roommates and I disagree on whether Max looks better hairy or naked. Please leave your opinion. Thanks!!

213. Anchorage

2006-12-05T13:34:00.000-09:00

I call this photograph "Christmas tree, broken garage door, and the Chugiach Mountains".

212. Haiku Winners (and some of mine)

2006-11-22T18:24:00.000-09:00

The Anchorage Press runs a haiku contest every year. I did not win :-( . Here are some of the winners I liked:

****************************
One catagory thay had was on the PDF:

Plasma screen TV
Brand new refrigerator
Glad we have eight kids

- Jason Brandeis (who doesn't really have any kids)

***************************

Another category was on Susan Butcher:

Thousand cold miles
yet sleds couldn't deliver
a cancer vaccine

- Matt Miller

a lonely dog howls
where is my owner at now?
mushing aurora

- Wes Schacht

************************************

One category was "Stupid Tourist Question":

At the airport the
tourists wonder: How long has
Ted Stevens been dead?

- Rick Sinnott
(Anchorage's airport is "Ted Stephens International Airport", although Stephens is not dead yet.)

I entered this category, but did not win. Mine:

Pulls out his wallet
Confused, asks "Do you take A-
Merican money?"

Looks up at the sky,
frowns, then asks "When do you turn
On the Northern Lights?"

(According to the paper, a lot of people wrote ones about when or how we turn on the Northern Lights. Another question a few people wrote about was someone asking what their elevation was right at the ocean shore.)

*******************************************

Winning haiku about gangs in Alaska:

Pants below your waist
And snow banks over your knees
Hard to be cool - Bro!

- Christopher Waalkes

************************************************

One category was "Alaska Girls". The winner and the 2nd place had different takes:

My girls in winter
Eat fresh snow from their mittens
And smell like damp wool

- Mara Severin, whose daughters are 5 and 1

A-town girls at dawn
Who else wears micro-minis
When it's eight below?

- Andrea Graves

211. Barrow loses the sun (only temporarily)

2006-11-18T18:17:00.000-09:00

Barrow, the northernmost point of North America, had sunrise today at 12:47 pm and sunset at 1:33 pm. The sun will rise next on January 24.

There is a movie coming out in about a year called "30 days of Night" based on the comic book series by the same name. It is about a group of vampires that move to Barrow and terrorize the town.

210. Fresh air

2006-11-17T22:16:00.000-09:00

A few years ago, in the fall, some radio announcer in Fairbanks made an announcement reminding people to go get the air changed in their tires. He said they needed to remove the summer air and put in winter air, or the pressure would be wrong. Car service places reported that people actually did come in to get the air changed in their tires.

209. Give Moose a Brake!

2006-11-02T22:50:00.000-09:00

I almost hit a moose while driving. If a moose is going to wander around in the middle of DeBarr Rd. (busy road!) he really should wear reflectors.

208. Be nice!

2006-10-31T09:52:00.000-09:00

From an ettiquete guide for an online class sytem I'm training in:

"Never use derogatory comments, including those regarding race, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, political persuasion, body type, physical or mental health, or access issues."

(Can I assume we can make derogatory comments about national origin or socio-economic status?)

207. Daylight Savings Time

2006-10-28T17:18:00.000-08:00

Daylight savings time ends tonight. I think next year it ends the first weekend in November istead of the last weekend in October, like it does now. (Too bad - I like the trivia question "Which is the longest month of the year?" The answer is October, because it is an hour longer than the other 31 day months.)

Should Alaska bother with daylight savings time? When it is still light at midnight, there is no need to "save" daylight. A state initiative to do away with it will probably be on the ballot in 2008. We really do not need to bother with it. The only arguments for it here is that (a) it will be too confusing for us and the rest of the country to figure out the time difference is it varies depending on the time of year (b) in he summer we would have 5 hours difference between Us and the East Coast, making it more inconvienent to talk to people there.

Alaska should not allbe one time zone. Alaska is a pretty large area. Also, it extends pretty far north, where theoretically the time zones get skinnier. In Nome (pretty far west), during standard time, noon comes around 3 pm.

I think Israel already switched to Standard Time. They swich on the weekend between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kipper, right? My i-pod thinks they are still on DST. (The i-pod lets you set a bunch of clocks. I'm not sure what the limit is. I have one set for Anchorage where I am, one set for Portland where my daughter is although she is actually in Eugene which is not one of the choices and is in the same time zone as Portland, one set for NYC where I have friends and family, and one set for Jerusalem so that when the news gives up to theminute news I know what minute that is.)

As long as I'm on the topic, here is my favorite daylight savings time story, pirated from the Darwin Awards website.

*************************************************************

5 September 1999, Jerusalem

In most parts of the world, the switch away from Daylight Saving Time proceeds smoothly. But the time change raised havoc with Palestinian terrorists this year.

Israel insisted on a premature switch from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time to accommodate a week of pre-sunrise prayers. Palestinians refused to live on "Zionist Time." Two weeks of scheduling havoc ensued. Nobody knew the "correct" time.

At precisely 5:30pm on Sunday, two coordinated car bombs exploded in different cities, killing three terrorists who were transporting the bombs. It was initially believed that the devices had been detonated prematurely by klutzy amateurs. A closer look revealed the truth behind the explosions.

The bombs had been prepared in a Palestine-controlled area, and set to detonate on Daylight Saving Time. But the confused drivers had already switched to Standard Time. When they picked up the bombs, they neglected to ask whose watch was used to set the timing mechanism. As a result, the cars were still en-route when the explosives detonated, delivering the terrorists to their untimely demises.

206. Deering Update

2006-10-26T23:42:00.000-08:00

I spoke with some people in Deering. Here is an update.

They are building a new water tank. This way they can begin the winter with twice as much water and not run out.

Over the summer they had contractors improve the school building. It was not finished in time for the shool year, so classes were meeting in the teachers' houses. It has been finished since, and all the students are back in the school. I don't remember what all was planned, but I do know that now there are bleachers in the gym.

Every household in Deering is getting 100 gallons of heating oil as a present from Hugo Chavez. I'm not sure why - I think Chavez is trying to show that Bush is not in tune with the needs of Americans. I think every village that is at least 80% Native can get the oil. Consider that (a) heating oil is about $7 a gallon in Deering, (b) jobs are scare in Deering, (c) households need a lot of heating oil in the winter. Four villages decided to refuse the oil. (To be honest, if I was one of the people living in Deering who did not have my heating oil included in my rent to the school district, I'd take the oil.)

It has not yet snowed in Deering. (It did snow today in Anchorage.)

205. $$$$$

2006-09-21T17:32:00.000-08:00

.
Alaska has the lowest state income tax in the country. Someone reading this is probably from a state with zero income tax and is thinking that we can't be lower than that. Well, we are!!! Aaska, rather than charge people tax, PAYS people to live here! Yes, we have a NEGATIVE state income tax.
.
This is called the PFD, which stands for "Permanant Fund Dividend". (There are probably people who call it a "PFD dividend." They are the same ones who say "PIN number" and "ATM machine".) It is very democratic; everyone gets the same amount. It goes to every human who has been in the state for the whole past calendar year. (This excludes me since I moved to Alaska last September.
.
I don't know the formula they use, but this year everyone gets $1,106.96. (BTW, I do NOT think it was necessary for ABC to interupt "Grey's Anatomy" to tell us the amount.)
.
Just as there is money, there are lots of places inviting you to spend it. Alaska Airlines is announcing a "Paradise for Dreamers" (note the initials) trip to Hawaii from Alaska. Car dealers have ads suggrsting you use the check for a down payment on a car.
.
And of course there is controversy. A letter in the paper a while ago suggested that the amount of the check should be subtracted from welfare payments. There was letter in the paer recently suggesting that parts of children's PFDs should be put aside for college, with another letter saying that some parents rely on these checks to buy their children necessities like food and shoes, and then a third letter said that food and shoes were necessities which was a parent's obligation to provide and it was wrong to use the children's PFD checks for that.
.
In Deering some parents let their children blow the money on whatever they like while other parents felt they were entitled to keep the money because they did spend more than that much money for the children. As a treacher, I got to hear some kids complain about that. The same thing happend with the NANA checks. (The North Alaskan Native Alliance is a corporation that the Natives there all get stock in and they get payments once a year.)

204. Igloo dress

2006-09-20T15:11:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Alaska, our representative at the Mrs. America pagent, wore an igloo dress at the competition.

203. Letter to the Editor

2006-09-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

There is a Yiddish expression -- "owner of a head of cabbage" -- used to describe someone who doesn't have very much. Whoever came up with the saying must not have met Alaska State Fair cabbage weigh-off winner Brenna Dinkel (" 'Bruce' is ugly, but heftiness is what counts," Sept. 2).

(printed in today's Anchorage Daily News)

202. Math formula

2006-09-09T00:36:00.000-08:00