As America gravitates toward an increasingly strong central government, the disparity of the regulatory system is becoming increasingly blatant. This is not the view of a few, it is the concern of... — Updated 3/11/2023 Full story

If you have paid any attention to the news lately, you are aware that the National Debt exceeds $30 trillion dollars and our Gross Domestic Product is a little over $26 trillion, so we are... — Updated 2/2/2023 Full story

At long last the new year is here! Behind us are the floods, blizzards, pandemics, elections, and the vast array of distractions that have clouded our skies. It is time to get down to business.... — Updated 1/18/2023 Full story

It is always wise to count our blessings, especially halfway between election day and Christmas. I juxtapose those dates because the seasonal background noise is seamless. Election day blends into... — Updated 12/1/2022 Full story

Politically, the United States has been on a long slow drift to the left ever since Franklin Roosevelt threatened to expand the Supreme Court in 1937 in order to get his progressive agenda back on... — Updated 10/6/2022 Full story

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency, citing section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, announced its intention to prohibit the use of the Bristol Bay watershed for discharging dredged or fill... — Updated 6/30/2022

Those of us who watch such things are well aware that Senator Murkowski has been the strong vocal lead in the Senate when it comes to sounding the alarm that the country is at substantial risk due... — Updated 6/30/2022 Full story

When I first heard the term "greenwashed," I naturally assumed that it referred to the endless stream of misrepresentations that the American Environmental Industry dumps on a gullible public as par... — Updated 5/12/2022 Full story

On April 12, 2013, Governor Sean Parnell signed into law Senate Bill 1, "An Act establishing May 10 of each year as Alaska Mining Day; and providing for an effective date" (Chapter 6, SLA 2013),... — Updated 5/5/2022

This past week the Biden Administration released a document ineptly entitled "Fundamental Principles for Domestic Mining Reform." It would have been more accurately called "Eleven Ways to End... — Updated 3/10/2022 Full story

In today's topsy-turvy world, perhaps the question we all should be asking is, in the unforgettable opening words of Admiral James Stockdale during the 1992 Vice Presidential debate, "Who am I, why... — Updated 3/4/2022 Full story

In 1951, Life Magazine (remember "Life"?) dubbed the New York Times the "Old Gray Lady" "by way of acknowledging its special marks: starch conservatism and circumspection." How things have changed!... — Updated 2/3/2022 Full story

If global warming and the associated risk of climate change is due, at least in part, to anthropomorphic causes, it stands to reason that there are too many anthropoids (specifically, humanoids)... — Updated 12/16/2021 Full story

If there is one thing that most Americans can probably agree on, I think, it is that Joe Biden is the worst President we have had since Donald Trump. Since they both had a lot of things on their... — Updated 10/28/2021 Full story

Decennially, the question of whether Alaska shall have a constitutional convention must appear on the ballot. Alaskans have voted on this issue five times since 1972 and defeated it soundly each... — Updated 10/28/2021 Full story

Following the model set by other successful generals such as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight Eisenhower, after having essentially won the War in Europe, went on to... — Updated 9/30/2021 Full story

Southeast Alaska is at a unique crossroads in its management of the Tongass National Forest. How will reimposition of the 2001 Roadless Rule impact development of natural resources like geothermal,... — Updated 9/23/2021

In a recent case that crossed my desk, I was confronted by what seems to have been an easily avoided problem relating to the estate of a long-time, well-known, very sophisticated Alaska miner. Since... — Updated 8/26/2021 Full story

Over the past quadrennial, there has been a great deal of conversation about "truth." Especially in the political arena. Ostensibly, the number of "lies" that have emanated from the mouth of the... — Updated 7/29/2021 Full story

Although new cases of COVID-19 are still appearing throughout the nation in general and Alaska in particular, at the moment they are hovering at the 40-per-day level apparently. The vaccine is worki... — Updated 6/24/2021 Full story

I always tend to look at the world through the wrong end of the telescope. For instance, many people regard the so-called political divisions in our country as being a problem, but for me, it is an... — Updated 5/27/2021 Full story

In February, the Alaska Miners Association (AMA) released its annual report on the Economic Benefits of Alaska's Mining Industry. That report highlighted the fact that 4,700 direct and 9,600 indirec... — Updated 4/1/2021 Full story

Without a doubt, 2020 was somewhat less than a perfect year. If you didn't like the way it started out, with an impeachment and a pandemic dominating the news, you might not have liked the way it... — Updated 2/25/2021 Full story

It has often been said that one should never watch sausages or laws being made. There are good reasons for saying that, especially in our quasi-democratic environment. For just cause we have... — Updated 2/11/2021 Full story

With 2020 in the rearview mirror, now is a good time to reflect on and prognosticate about Alaska and things mining. First, with regard to things past, from the impeachment to the election, 2020... — Updated 1/14/2021 Full story