You’ve probably never heard of Changpeng Zhao, or CZ as he calls himself. He’s one of the richest persons in the world, with a net worth estimated by Reuters of $33 billion.1 He’s the co-founder and former CEO of Binance, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange. He’s also a scofflaw, and now a convicted felon. His…
A few readers have criticized WC and the Magpie Principle because, by definition, the Magpie Principle rarely involves doing any in-depth analysis on the potpourri of topics WC writes about. Mostly, that’s fair criticism, but occasionally an issue gets WC worked up enough that, after WC calms down enough to write coherently – to the…
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy isn’t just stupid, although he has long since retired the Sean Parnell Award for Pig-headed Ignorance. He’s also corrupt, in the sense that even when he knows something is illegal, he’ll proceed with it and defend it. While pretty much everything about his disastrous terms in office has demonstrated both the…
It’s April 15. Tax Day. There’s nothing funny about it, although the late Jeff MacNelly’s great cartoon from 48 (!) years ago comes pretty close. It’s worth close study. A federal individual tax return is like a colonoscopy: nauseating, painful, tedious, highly invasive and disgusting. Except that when a colonoscopy is over, it’s over. When…
Scofflaw and supremely selfish thug Ammon Bundy has an outstanding arrest warrant in Ada County, Idaho. It goes back to his failure to appear for a hearing on contempt of court charges in 2022. Rather than face the charges, the miserable excuse for a human being ran away and hid. Of course, he had other…
Long time readers will recall: a BUCIP is a Big, Ugly, Complicated and Intractable Problem. It’s pronounced “bew-kip” and, so far as WC knows, the term originated with WC. Alaska is beset with BUCIPs, but the worst one is the ongoing fight over subsistence and the use of fish and game natural resources. It’s been…
Everyone knows about King Midas. After he saved one of the god Dionysius’s favorite satyrs, the god granted him a wish. Midas wished that everything he touched turned to gold. It worked, and Midas was delighted until he tried to eat or drink. Donald Trump has a reverse Midas touch: everything he gets near turns…
In 2010, one EPA estimate of the Pebble deposit was $700 billion, or $700 million per year for 100 years State of Alaska v. United States, Case No. 24-396, Complaint, Para. 61 WC isn’t very good at arithmetic, but when you multiply $700 million by 100 you get $70 billion, not $700 billion. It’s also…
Mixed rain and snow is falling as WC writes this blog post. WC has lost track, but this probably Third Winter, following First and Second False Spring. Still, there’s more daylight, even in these middle latitudes, and some of the more excitable flora are starting to green up. And, of course, March is over, meaning…
The Arctic Ringed Seal is one of five subspecies of the Ringed Seal, a circumpolar sea mammal dependent on sea ice and snow drifts on top of the sea ice. The Arctic Ringed Seal is threatened across its entire range as polar sea ice vanishes. The females pup – give birth and nurse their new…
WC’s former profession was law. WC spent 45-plus years in the private practice of law. For at least the last 15 years of WC’s active practice, WC was constantly warned that computers, and specifically artificial intelligence, would be replacing lawyers any day now. Those voices have gotten louder as AI has expanded its reach to…
After the Dems impeached Donald Trump twice, both times with absolutely damning evidence, the Republicans were desperate to return the favor, and searched desperately for any reasonable excuse to impeach Biden. In May 2023, U.S. Rep. James R. Comer (R, Kentucky), Chair of the House Oversight Committee, picked up rumors of an FBI source with…
Alleged human being Wayne LaPierre got tagged by a New York jury for $5.4 million in benefits that he improperly received from the NRA. He’d reimbursed the NRA for about $1 million before he quit as Executive Vice President of the gun nuts club, so he still owes about $4.5 million, plus interest at the…
Maybe Eagle River is just too close to Wasilla? Maybe it’s something in the air in Wasilla that blows across Knik Arm and infects Eagle River residents? Whatever the cause, sometimes citizens of Eagle River – part of the Municipality of Anchorage – act an awful lot like Sarah Palin’s neighbors. Exhibit A would be…
Do little kids still play marbles? It’s an ancient game, traceable back to the Indus River civilizations, mentioned in Ovid’s poems and played around the world. There’s still an international tournament in England. The basic idea is for the players to each put 2-3 marbles each in a circle, and then take turns trying to…
WC received an email from U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson (R, Idaho) recently, boasting that he had co-sponsored a bill to “repeal the unfair Death Tax.” Quoting from the press release, you can see that he seems to be pretty worked up about it. The unfair Death Tax crushes Idaho family farms, ranches, and businesses,” said Rep.…
WC does try to track international events to some extent, and particularly in Great Britain. But somehow WC was entirely unaware of a massive, nasty scandal that’s unfolding there. While WC’s readers are doubtlessly better informed than WC and already are aware of this story, on the off chance that some readers aren’t, or informed…
Most readers are likely familiar with the plot of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: Juliet, to avoid marriage to a man she doesn’t love (and committing a bigamy she cannot disclose), takes a potion that makes her seem dead. Romeo, finding her cataleptic, thinks she is dead and takes poison and dies. Juliet, waking from the…
In the late 1980s, Alaska suffered one of its worst recessions, trapped between a commercial and residential real estate bubble and a collapse in crude oil prices. Fully half of Alaska’s financial institutions failed. The shockwaves echoed through the state’s economy for years afterwards. In this sometime series, WC will have a look at some…
Warning to readers: This is a necessarily gruesome post. For a long time, WC has held most firearm-packing citizens in disdain. An appalling percentage of them are “shooters,” vandals and fools who shoot signs, buildings and non-game critters for the sick pleasure of the experience. Those who are not heavily armed vandals don’t make any…
Ex-Representative George Santos infamously invented his resumé. Very little of it turned out to be true. But George Santos is at least a real person. He’s a genuine sociopathic liar, but there’s a (sur)real person there. It turns out that the bankrupt cryptocurrency hedge fund called HyperVerse took the next logical step: it’s Chief Executive…
Nasrudin was caught in the act of theft and sentenced to die. Hauled up before the king, he was asked by the Royal Presence: “Is there any reason at all why I shouldn’t have your head off right now?” To which he replied: “Oh, King, live forever! Know that I, the mullah Nasrudin, am the…
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson568 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Speaker Johnson: WC notes that, as Speaker, you have brought to the floor of the House and adopted a resolution to investigate impeachment of President Joe Biden. WC thinks you recognize that there’s no evidence – none, zilch – linking the President to…
Insider trading is illegal. It happens when folks on the inside of a publicly traded company, who possess information not available to the public, sell or buy shares in that company, taking advantage of stuff they know and others don’t. An example would be if the head of the Corporate Law Department at Apple, knowing…
In the late 1980s, Alaska suffered one of its worst recessions, trapped between a commercial and residential real estate bubble and a collapse in crude oil prices. Fully half of Alaska’s financial institutions failed. The shockwaves echoed through the state’s economy for years afterwards. In this sometime series, WC will have a look at some…
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Spoken by the Wizard, played by Frank Morgan, in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, after Dorothy’s dog, Toto, has pulled back the curtain concealing the Wizard. Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor has a problem, a lot of problems, actually. He’s in charge of law…
Trump and his campaign are cheering the decision by Colorado Superior Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace finding that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment doesn’t bar Trump from being a candidate for President. The MAGA folks might want to re-think that. Readers may recall that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted after the…
The Federal Trade Commission – the FTC – has brought an enforcement action against a company you’ve never heard of, Kochava. It’s based in Sandpoint, Idaho, and might be one of the the largest data brokers on the planet. It boasts it has bucketloads of personal data on more than 300 million Americans. What data? …
St. Luke’s Health Care Systems obtained a jury verdict for defamation against Ammon Bundy for $17 million. Three St. Luke’s employees have a money judgment for an additional $24 million. St. Luke’s is setting about collecting its judgment. The thing about fraudsters is, that by definition, they are unlikely to admit that, “Yeah, I sold…
In the late 1980s, Alaska suffered one of its worst recessions, trapped between a commercial and residential real estate bubble and a collapse in crude oil prices. Fully half of Alaska’s financial institutions failed. The shockwaves echoed through the state’s economy for years afterwards. In this sometime series, WC will have a look at some…
Wickersham's Conscience 
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