The EPA now takes water samples from Alaska mines with a SWAT Team

The EPA is now part of an Alaska Environmental Crimes Task Force that is armed to the hilt to investigate "environmental crimes" by Alaska miners. Apparently, a dirty water discharge has now risen to the level of the use of deadly force against the offending miner.

Miners in Chicken were surprised during late August by groups comprising four to eight armed EPA agents carrying Glock .40 S&W cal side arms in full battle rattle with signs in big letters loudly proclaiming POLICE who stormed into several mines near Chicken in a full out assault to . . . take water samples. The EPA gestapo, and that’s all one can term such a heavy handed goon squad were there to take water samples to see if the miners were in compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Something in past years that was done by one or two unarmed State of Alaska DEC personnel along with a representative of the EPA without rancor.

If the situation were not so serious, and the threat to the miners so real, this could almost be laughed off as a joke. However, armed goons with .40 cal Glocks in full battle rattle are not a joke. This event marks a new level of federal oversight on Alaska’s federal lands. Lands which the management of were supposed to be the responsibility of the State of Alaska under the terms of Alaska’s Statehood Compact. This event is an outrage and sets an extremely dangerous precedent for future regulation activities by the various federal agencies in Alaska.

Why were they there?

In a conference call with State officials including members of Alaska’s congressional delegation, the EPA stated that they had received information from the Alaska State Troopers that there was rampant drug and human trafficking in . . . Chicken, Alaska. Now, that is funny.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski opined that the situation was made up to allow the EPA (and DEC) to act as they did.

The AST’s spokesperson Megan Peters basically denied the EPA’s allegations as to receiving any information from the Troopers regarding anything at Chicken.

Why was there no court involved to protect the miners, if the EPA felt armed force was justified?

A member of the Alaska DEC was along to intimidate the locals at Chicken. The DEC agent was also armed. Now, DEC personnel are armed?!

What is going on here, Governor Sean Parnell?

The only police agency that should have had any armed presence was the Alaska State Troopers. They have jurisdiction statewide. Why were no Troopers part of that armed affront to Alaska’s sovereignty?

Chicken, Alaska is a historic mining town off the Taylor Highway has a resident population of 17 that grows to several dozen seasonally with the mining season. The mines are accessible by road, making it easy for the federal wanna be cold stone killer infantry wanna be Gestapo goon squad. Had this been a "raid" conducted at off the road, remote mines, there is a likelihood that they would have been met with armed resistance, as many mines maintain arms for self-defense and predators–both two legged and four.

The Alaska Environmental Crimes Task Force is made up of members of the Alaska State Troopers, the EPA, the FBI, the Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Only one mine checked had a water sample that "looked" over the particulate limit.

Where is Governor Parnell on this issue?

As with the Jim Wilde incident on the Yukon River in 2010, silent.

What next, armored personnel carriers and machine guns to make certain your garbage sack is tied?

Better watch out for the Apache gun ships and Predator drones with Hellfire missiles if your car is running a bit rich and there is any smoke out the tail pipe.

We need a governor who will stand up for Alaskans and Alaska against the heavy hand of the Obama Administration.

Sen. Begich certainly will certainly not act to curtail this danger to the citizens of Alaska.

Bill Walker is running for governor, and Mead Treadwell is running for the U.S. Senate. Maybe, they will work to protect Alaska’s sovereignty and Alaskans from a DC mentality that clearly believes in armed force rather than a rule of law and due process.

For more information:

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130903/gold-miners-near-chicken-cry-foul-over-heavy-handed-epa-raids

Senator Begich responds to my letter about S. 744 Illegal Alien Amnesty

Follows is Senator Mark Begich's response to my letter regarding my opposition to S.744.
Read his letter, then read my post in this blog which follows post.  I believe our Congress suffers a complete disconnect with the desires of the American people.  Begich is up for reelection in 2014.  He is trying to rebrand himself as a blue dog Dem.  He is not a conservative anything.  His response shows an absolute disregard for the law, the federal government's constitutional obligations regarding border security and national security.--LDW

"July 11, 2013

 

Dear Mr. Wood:

Thank you for contacting me about S.744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. 

As you may know, S.744 passed the Senate on June 27 with strong bipartisan support. I know we disagree, but I voted for this bill because it includes the right mix of increased border security, enforcement on employers, and a clear path to citizenship for immigrants who have played by the rules. 

There is a lot of misinformation out there about what this bill would do, and I appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight. This bill does not provide amnesty to illegal aliens, which is automatic citizenship for people who are in our country illegally.  This bill is far from a free pass.  To begin with, potential immigrants must pass a background check, pay any back taxes, and pay penalty fees. The bill also contains specific triggers which ensure that illegal immigrants cannot receive green cards until at least 10 years after the enactment of the bill and clear measures on border security are in place, making the total pathway to citizenship at least 13 years. 

S.744 takes unprecedented steps to secure our border and make sure illegal immigrants can't get jobs.  This bill contains funding for more fencing and security equipment, along with an additional 20,000 Border Patrol agents.  This surge more than doubles the current force and allows the Border Patrol access to the tools they need to do their jobs more effectively.  In addition, S.744 will keep illegal immigrants from getting jobs in the first place by requiring employers to use an employment verification system known as E-Verify.

Finally, this legislation cracks down on those who overstay their welcome in our country.  With 40 percent of illegal immigrants resulting from visa overstays, the bill requires the federal government to begin the removal process for 90 percent of visa overstays and will hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable for failing to enforce the law. 

Thank you again for contacting me on immigration reform.  Please feel free to contact me again on this or any other subject. 

Sincerely,
Mark Begich
U.S. Senator"

Subject: S. 744 Amnesty for illegals

Senator Murkowski and Senator Begich:

Illegal: not according to or authorized by law; not sanctioned by official rules; unlawful, illicit.

Senator Begich and Senator Murkowski, would you let me crap on your lawn, leave garbage strewn about your property, pee on your flowerbed, use your property as a corridor to run drugs into the neighborhood?

Would you allow me to kick down your door anytime of the day or night, enter your house unannounced and take up residence in a bedroom, vacant or not?

Would you like it if you were forced to feed me, to provide for my medical care, to educate my kids by edict from an elected body that decided to use your tax monies contrary to the uses set forth in the Constitution?

Would you like it if you were required to stand idly by and to allow me to take jobs away from your children.

Would you stand idly by and allow me to commit crimes of violence in your house without fear of repercussion?

How do you think those who have been complying with our laws and awaiting years for their turn for citizenship feel? You and the other 66 so called senators of the United States Senate have slapped them in the face.

Against the testimony opposing this literal illegal amnesty by the Border Patrol and ICE, you have voted to allow criminals into this country.

With S. 744, you, like this President, have chosen to allow the violent criminal free reign.

You have violated your oaths by compromising the borders and sovereignty of the United States.

You have violated your oaths of by imparting privilege to those who have broken our laws, who have come into our house without our permission, some of whom have repeatedly harmed, maimed, killed our citizens, who have taken the jobs of Americans, who now demand the benefits of citizenship, who fill our prisons, because of their violence and disrespect for our law.

We are a nation of laws. You have chosen to ignore that fact.

You both owe a very public explanation to the people of Alaska as to why you voted the way that you did.

The solution to the illegal immigrant problem was so easy, it is incredible that so many allegedly intelligent people could be so wrong in their putting special interests above the interests of the country at large. Illegals need jobs. They come here for jobs. They work to send money back to their home country. They are not here to become citizens, they are here as migrant workers. If the jobs dry up, they go home.

The way that the illegal problem can be dealt with effectively is simple. Make it a felony to hire an illegal. Simply enforce the law. The illegals will go home, because of no work.

Oh, wait. Such a solution implies that the federal government would enforce such a law when it refuses to do its constitutional mandate to secure our borders.

Yet, the federal government that collects every conversation and e-mail in the U.S. cannot come up with a simply system to allow migrant workers into the U.S. and to track them while here. Just too hard for you all. Maybe, you should seek help from Russia. I guarantee they know where their people are at any time of the day and night. Or, the Israelis whose migrant workers are hostile to Israel.

Abortion created this problem, that and the liberal desire to pit one group against another so that they can pander and stay in power. RINOs have allowed this paradox to continue. The paradox is the fact that illegals are migrants, and here only because we have allowed 53 million Americans to be killed in the womb and after birth–creating a need for labor. Labor which the third world was all too willing to provide.

Instead of opening immigration to persecuted Christians in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Sudan, Mali, wherever there is Islam, there is persecution and death for Christians. Even in the West, Christians are persecuted. However, the last thing you liberals want is more people of European or even African origins who believe in God in this country.

What is the sector with the greatest increase in single parent families and abortion? Hispanics. Not those who are citizens, either.

Most of the Hispanic illegals are largely Catholic, hard working, good people. However, that does not forgive or excuse that they broke our laws.

Do you not realize what their cheap labor does to the economy? How wages are driven down, how legitimate companies are put at a disadvantage? You think that situation will change of the House adopts the tenets of S.744?

Given their average level of education, do you think that their ability to be successful in the U.S. will be enhanced by citizenship, or is this going to be a generational drag on the U.S. economy? Will one generation, forced on welfare to supplement low income will continue in that vein until the entire family are welfare recipients, as happened with the Hmong and other immigrant groups brought in legally?

Do you think that they will just become Americans, and set their loyalty to Mexico or wherever aside? Do they now? No, they do not. They are whatever first. Otherwise, why would there be any argument over the American flag flying over an American school on Cinco de Mayo?

On the one hand one can see why the Senate tried to deal with this issue. Unfortunately, the Senate ignored the impact of not making the border secure and creating a workable migrant worker program as part and parcel of S.744. Without secure borders and a workable, secure migrant worker program, we would either have to close the borders, or eventually cede the southwestern U.S. to Mexico.

How can our young get entry level jobs to build a resume and work to achieve a better life?

Illegals send money home, about $26 billion every year. If that was the only impact, that would be one thing. However, illegals suck up benefits and impose an unreasonable and costly burden upon the people and economy of this country. They can go home. They cost Alaska at least $35 million every year.

Have you noticed? There is now a Mexican Consulate in Anchorage on C Street. Wonder why? Just wander around the malls or the Valley stores and you know.

My company has worked Outside and I have seen the illegals by the thousands.

Leaving the border open is treason. Migrant workers are not the only ones coming across the border, jihadis have been passed through without concern by you in D.C.

Yes, we are all immigrants.

My family were immigrants. Wood came in 1748. My mother’s family in 1656. My mother’s maiden name was Washington. They earned their citizenship by blood in the Great American Revolution. George Washington is an uncle and great-step grandfather.

The Apache and Cherokee in my line were also immigrants of a different sort, and, they, too fought to preserve their way of life. As will we all, if this insanity and disconnect in D.C. with We the People is not corrected.

In voting for S. 744, you are not in tune with the majority of Alaskans or Americans. We understand the threat. These illegals do not act as Americans, they fly foreign flags, celebrate foreign holidays, they speak their native language, and they do not assimilate. They mock our law.

Your votes mock our law.

In 2014 and 2016 we have elections.

We still have a rule of law. For now, no thanks to your pandering and failure to live up to your oaths.

S.744 is treason.

　

Are we really closer to a natural gas pipeline? Nah.

http://www.examiner.com/article/closer-to-a-natural-gas-pipeline

In an Anchorage Daily News op-ed piece on May 11, 2012, Governor Sean Parnell extolled that his Administration was closer than ever to a large diameter natural gas pipeline being built, because of the settlement with Exxon over the Pt. Thompson development. One has to wonder just what this guy is on in terms of meds? He must be on the same psychotropic, hallucinogenic medications that the Legislature is on.


Otherwise, how could one reconcile the Legislature’s seemingly mindless following of Rep. Mike Hawker’s and House Speaker’s Mike Chennault’s incredible determination to wipe the 2002 vote and mandate of 138,000 Alaskans off the record, to remove same from State Statute, and to prove that the State will expend hundreds of millions to demonstrate that LNG from Russia can be imported cheaper to south central than their pipedream. This in the face of $14/tcf-$17/tcf LNG delivered in Japan.

What is it about the all-Alaska natural gas pipeline option that causes it to never be spoken of by our Governor and by our Legislature, never considered as a viable option, never mentioned by the Press, yet, demonstrated by the market as being incredibly prescient, given that this option was voted on and passed—you know, mandated—by the vote of 138,000 Alaskans way back in 2002? The only Republican candidate to champion this option was Bill Walker with his run for Governor in 2010.

Governor Parnell has asked nicely for TransCanada and the Producers to consider the LNG option to Valdez under AGIA. TransCanada and Exxon said sure, and now, studies will be made to determine the viability of that option through December of this year, and beyond. Is that not all that Governor Frank Murkowski’s so called contract achieved? A promise to “study”?

In the meantime, prices in Japan are $14/tcf-$17/tcf for LNG delivered to Japan. The cost of Alaska LNG delivered to Japan estimated by the Wood-Mac report for AGPA was $8.50/tcf. The proposed all-Alaska natural gas pipeline to Valdez championed by Bill Walker’s run for governor in 2010 called for a 3bcf per day pipeline from the North Slope to Valdez with 250mcf being taken off at Glennallen and delivered by a spur line to the Enstar Hub at Palmer. That left 2.75bcf per day for delivery to world markets. Under Walker’s proposal, the gas liquids would have been retained in Alaska for use to build a petrochemical industry and to provide alternative fuels for the Bush.

Every day, the governor has his head up his posterior, the Legislature is entranced by Hawker’s and Chennault’s Pied Piper routine, the State denies itself $15,125,000 at a sale price of $14/tcf delivered. Over the course of a year that is $5.52billion. Kiss another $5.52B good-bye by December 31 of this year.

The oil companies down south are moving, developing, and continuing to explore based upon $2.02/tcf of methane. Methane that may be exported, which will compete with Alaska gas and may even displace our gas in Asian markets, given our governor’s and our Legislature’s inability to see the handwriting on the proverbial wall.

Japan is shutting down its nukes, and Alaska has a market for our natural gas, if we want it. Two delegations from Japan have come to talk with the State, the first rebuffed by our Governor just after the 2011 earthquake.

Our DNR Commissioner met with the most recent Japanese delegation, our Lt. Gov. had dinner with them, but . . . nothing. Our DNR Commissioner goes to the PRC to investigate the LNG market, but not to Japan. After 41+ years of trade in LNG to Japan, Alaska is unwilling to discuss the potential with the Japanese.

Unlike our governor and his administration, Senator Lisa Murkowski is trying to do just that with her recent meetings with the Japanese Prime Minister and members of the Japanese Diet. Murkowski is trying to sell Japan on Alaska LNG, but is wasting her time in the face of a hostile Parnell Administration.

What's wrong with this picture, Alaska?

The Legislature with CB9 and CS9 have told the people to stick it with our 2002 vote, that our vote meant nothing. We have been proven right in the market, but our State leaders have shown their contempt for our will by completely ignoring what we mandated.

This governor and our Legislature have ignored us, when we were right all along.

Yet, now, Governor Sean Parnell extols that Alaska is closer than ever before to getting a pipeline??!!!!

Unlike the Gov, Sen. Lisa Murkowski is trying to sell LNG to Japan

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) raised the prospect of Japan buying Alaska natural gas to overcome the shortfall in power generation with the shutdown of 51 of Japan’s 53 nuclear reactors after the 9.0 earthquake off of the coast of Japan last year. Sen. Murkowski spoke with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at a State Department Dinner hosted by Sec. of State Hilliary Clinton. Sen. Murkowski is the Vice-Chair of the U.S. Japan Interparliamentary Group. Sen. Murkowski has used this opportunity and her position to discuss the prospect of using Alaska natural gas in Japan in her discussions with her Japanese counterparts in meetings over the last week.

Senator Murkowski is meeting today with the acting secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan.

Senator Murkowski has also asked President Obama to support the export of Alaska natural gas to Japan and to write a letter to the Japanese Prime Minister expressing his support Japan’s purchase of Alaska natural gas.

Sen. Murkowski seems to be doing something that our Governor and his administration have not bothered with. Sen. Murkowski is attempting to do the Governor’s job of selling Alaska’s natural gas to a viable customer who needs a reliable, long term supply of LNG.

Unlike Governor Sean Parnell, has refused to meet with two Japanese delegations sent to Alaska seeking to discuss the purchase of Alaska natural gas. The week after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, a Japanese business delegation came to Alaska to meet with Governor Sean Parnell. Parnell refused to meet with them. The week of Feburary 27th , a Japanese delegation again travelled to Alaska and attempted to meet with leaders of the State government. Two members of the Japanese delegation met with Dan Sullivan, Commissioner, Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR). Nothing was disclosed by Sullivan regarding the discussions other than to say that the meetings were of an “introductory nature” rather than defining any business goals. Bloomberg was reporting that Japan was sending delegations to Louisiana and Texas to discuss the possibility of buying U.S. natural gas to meet their energy shortfalls from the shutdowns of their nuclear power plants. Meanwhile, the only meetings the Japanese were able to hold in Alaska were with the Commissioner, DNR, that produced nothing of any consequence. On February 29, 2012, Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell had dinner with the Japanese delegation. Nothing has been disclosed since regarding any outcomes of those meetings with State officials.

Alaska has a 41 year history of exporting natural gas to Japan from Nikkiski. This is a history and partnership that can be used to Alaska’s benefit in marketing our gas to Japan. Yet, Governor has ignored this opportunity and advantage. Keiretsu and face are major components of the Japanese business deal. If one has good keiretsu (business associations, dealings, reputation) and good face (character, reliability, solid, honest), then one is in a very good position to do business in Japan. Alaska has such a relationship with Tokyo Power and Light, the customer for Alaska’s natural gas over the last 41 years. Yet, our governor and our Legislature ignore this fact and act as if Alaska has no interest in Japan as a market. When Dan Sullivan went to Asia recently to inquire about the viability of a market for Alaska natural gas in Asia, he did not go to Japan. Like the all-Alaska natural gas pipeline to Valdez championed by Bill Walker during his gubernatorial campaign supported by both the Alaska Gas Development Authority and the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority (ANGDA), the idea of selling gas to the one reliable, long term customer that needs it, Tokyo Power and Light, is ignored by the Parnell Administration.

One can only wonder what could cause the Governor and the Legislature to ignore a certain customer with a very real need? Japan has been paying as much as $17 per thousand cubic feet of LNG delivered to Japan. Domestic U.S. price of natural gas was recently $2.02 per thousand cubic feet. There is no domestic market for Alaska natural gas in the lower-48.

The portent of the return of 300,000 barrels of North Slope Crude oil to the oil terminal at Valdez by the Alaska Explorer 11 April, 2012 should be a wake up call that Alaska is facing much larger problems than just a competitive natural gas market. Alaska’s literal fiscal future is at stake with oil flowing through a pipeline that may have to be shut down, not because of a lack of oil on the North Slope, but because of a glutted domestic market for oil.

Alaska will become a much quieter place in the near future if our Governor cannot bring himself to kill AGIA, to end the fiscal idiocy of committing another $200 million to a pipeline concept that cannot make money, and commit the State to build the all-Alaska natural gas pipeline to Valdez. Negotiating the best price for our gas and a long term commitment with Tokyo Power and Light and Mitsubishi would give Alaska the anchor customer necessary to finance the project.

Governor Parnell and this Legislature have done an incredible job of ignoring reality. That reality is about to bite all of us in the proverbial . . . posterior. Alaska’s future is growing dim and distant, with its youth and young adults the beneficiaries of a lack of foresight and concern that is incredible in the face of the information available to those in leadership positions.

Thank you, Sen. Lisa Murkowski for trying to the right thing for Alaskans in the face of a Governor and a Legislature that continue to ignore the obvious.

DADT and the aftermath

The Senate decided to ignore the needs of the troops, the needs of our wounded in hospitals across the country, and the impact upon the services by forcing homosexual priorities upon the services. Why was the military chosen for this gay agenda goal? The military can be ordered to comply with no recourse for the individual soldier who is opposed, other than to resign.
There is no civil rights issue in this. Where is the prejudice against the homosexual soldier who does not openly flaunt their sexual proclivities?
What of the legal, religious, moral and morale issues associated with dealing with openly homosexual soldiers in one’s unit? Those issues are ignored. The secular state has decreed what is to be, and the military will obey . . . or else, the Joint Chiefs and others will be replaced with more amiable types who are more concerned about their careers than the troops’ concerns.
Art. 125 UCMJ
“(a) Any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration , however slight, is sufficient to complete the offense.
(b) Any person found guilty of sodomy shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
Apparently, Art. 125 will be ignored from this point forward. Now, it will be every goat and sheep for themselves.
Yes, I recognize the contributions of homosexuals in the military. I remember that the most highly decorated enlisted airman in the USAF to serve in the Republic of Viet Nam was homosexual. Did his homosexuality make him brave? No, but his personal courage, his devotion to duty, to his country, and to his comrades gave him the ability to do what he did. He was a man who served honorably, nothing more, nothing less.
What is the problem, then with homosexuals serving openly in the military? Well, the idea of a homosexual in one’s unit, sharing one’s shower, the same latrine, the same dressing area, living area may make some uncomfortable. However, that is not the worst. The worst comes in two forms.
One is the second layer of DADT repeal. The political correctness will now be imposed. Penalties will be imposed for insulting homosexuals. Hate speech will become the lever to make a small minority much more powerful. The need to redress inequities in rank and position that do not now exist will be played out to the detriment of those more qualified. All of sudden, how good a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine will matter not. It will be “Congress says there must be X number of homosexual 1st LTs this promotion cycle, or we don’t get the new whiz bang Taliban thumper deluxe!”
A primary goal of the homosexual agenda will be to eliminate “hate speech” by military chaplains. The Bible says what it says. How that will be reconciled will resemble the Canadian solution. Censor the Bible . . . and the Koran.
Working one’s butt off to be the best that one can be will not count. I will bet you that whose butt the general has will. Sexual politics of the male female variety are one thing, but male on male or female on female will open up a whole new dimension to this age old problem. What was once the venue of rumor will now be in your face.
The playful slap on the back, shoulder or butt that is common amongst male soldiers at times will now be regarded from a new perspective.
Yes, sex will play a new role in the military.
Then, there is the second issue. The morality and religious convictions of those troops whose religion dictate the rejection of the homosexual lifestyle. These individuals will have the unfair choice of not accepting the lifestyle and giving up their military career, or to accept knowing that they are accepting something that is an anathema to their religion.
The figures given in the Pentagon’s so called study were flawed, and those who did the study knew it. Only a small fraction of the Army personnel sent the survey responded. The majority response was by USAF and Navy personnel. The two ground combat arms, the Army and the Marines, were not in favor of any change to DADT. The impact upon combat units will not be favorable with the imposed change.
This is not a matter of civil rights where the color of one’s skin was concerned. With prejudice in treatment and advancement were visible. This is now a matter of individuals who had before the repeal the same right to promotion and benefits and who were not otherwise prejudiced by their conduct, so long as they did not proclaim their sexual preference openly, the same as any heterosexual soldier, airman, sailor or Marine. Now, things will change.
Only by fiat of the secular state can one be forced to choose between religion and one’s military service.
Uncle Sam’s military will never be the same. Now, there is another layer of privilege based upon sexual preference. Just what our soldiers needed instead of new equipment, better weapons, and better support after they get home, more political correctness that puts soldiering second and CYA first.
Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich, this vote of yours will be remembered come reelection.