And in other news from Alaska....

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

A lot of us have sat dumbstruck this year as Alaska has come to the forefront in this political cycle. Potential re-election of Ted-the-Felon? Don Young, potential felon, back to Congress? Spunky?

Makes one wonder about the state itself.

So here is today's Alaska tale. It's from Anchorage. (As an aside, Anchorage is Alaska's largest city, and the only Alaskan city with a population above 100,000 as of the last census. It is not the state capitol: that distinction belongs to Juneau, which, by the way, is only accessible by by ferry boat, sea plane, or aircraft.)

Anchorage is a reasonably sized city, and they have problems with scofflaws who run up a large amount of traffic fines and then don't pay. In a lot of places, like Philadelphia, you can face A LOT of problems. For example, your car can get booted, and the PPA won't remove the boot until you pay the fines. The PPA is efficient and effective. I've heard someone even made a TV reality show about the Authority.

Point is though, that the PPA goes after the scofflaw and the scofflaw's VEHICLE.

Welcome to Anchorage, where the authorities go after the scofflaw INDEPENDENT of whose vehicle the scofflaw is driving. So let's say that you drive a garbage truck. For your job. And you're out collecting garbage (which all of us who have ever lived through a garbage strike appreciate), but you get snagged in a random inspection.

The city then keeps the garbage truck, and all you have to do is find someone to pick you up. Then, the employer/vehicle owner is stuck with towing, parking and storage fees.

From the Anchorage Police Department:

We used to actually arrest people for unpaid tickets, and that just clogged up the jails.

I'm letting this pass without comment.