Homocon

I found this news item both heart-warming and disturbing at the same time: Alaska villages reject Venezuela oil.

"As a citizen of this country, you can have your own opinion of our president and our country. But I don't want a foreigner coming in here and bashing us," said Justine Gunderson, administrator for the tribal council in the Aleut village of Nelson Lagoon. "Even though we're in economically dire straits, it was the right choice to make."

The article is heart-warming, because it's always good to hear people stand up for their own country and repudiate a braying socialist ass when they hear one. Disturbing, however, because the plight of Alaskan citizens in far-flung reaches of the state are outlined in stark relief.

"For years, Alaska natives have accused the state and federal governments of sending too little money to their tiny, far-flung communities, where fuel and grocery prices are bloated by the high costs of delivery by plane and barge . . . "It seems like a very strange irony that we produce the oil and yet every year there seems to be a chronic problem in getting the fuel to people that need it," said John Manly (a spokesman for Gov. Frank Murkowski)."

Granted, no one is forcing people to live where barges and transports can't get through, but isn't Alaska the intended home of the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, the pork-barrel project alleged to cost over $200 million, the likes of which galvanized bloggers into action to support the passage of a spending transparency act?

In 2005 alone, Representative Don Young finagled over $900 million in Federal Funds for Alaska's coffers, yet his state's citizens still can't even heat their own homes. Does absolutely no one in Congress understand that conservatives get pissed about $200 million spent on a stunningly unnecessary bridge, but wouldn't raise nearly such a fuss about $200 million spent on making sure Alaska's citizens have affordable and reliable access to heating oil for their homes? Is the situation so dire for Alaska's small villages because the people who live in these remote areas are too few to require pandering come election time?

I swear, with the way our Congress mismanages and misappropriates its taxpayers' money, there are times when the House and the Senate remind me of the PLO.

But talk is cheap. If you'd like to contact the Aleut Village of Nelson Lagoon and ask how you can help the these steadfast American citizens prepare for the upcoming Alaskan winter, the contact information is listed below. While they won't accept financial help from Hugo Jackass, they will accept help from you. Justine Gunderson is the administrator for the tribal council, and the one quoted in the article I linked above:

Village Corporation - Nelson Lagoon Corporation
PO Box 13
Nelson Lagoon, AK 99571
Phone 907-989-2204
Fax 907-989-2233

Village Council - Native Village of Nelson Lagoon
P.O. Box 13-N.L.G.
Nelson Lagoon, AK 99571
Phone 907-989-2204
Fax 907-989-2233