The Blog| A little rejiggering …

As some readers will recall, for some time I have been running a parallel blog — previously named “Observations and Updates” — at which I post shorter pieces reflecting on events as they occur.   The reason is that I have wanted to preserve the “above the fold” space on this blog for longer, more thoughtful pieces that discuss the issues that I believe are fundamental to Alaska oil & gas.

The parallel blog increasingly has taken on a life of its own, however.  For example, that is where I have dealt with the rumors that started earlier this week that I am considering a run for Governor.

(For the record, this is what I said when asked … “If the Governor doesn’t bring the budget down to sustainable levels some fiscal conservative is going to do it. Because I talk about the issue often, I suppose my name has become associated with the potential. I don’t want to do it and remain hopeful the Governor will offer a sustainable budget in December … but there is a tradition of Virginia Law School trained lawyers doing that sort of thing. Angus King in Maine, and Lowell Weicker in Connecticut, both UVa Law graduates, ran as independents for Governor and won.”)

That also is where, notwithstanding the phrase in bold above,  I dealt with being disinvited to speak at an event sponsored by the Anchorage Republican Women’s Club when those rumors started.

And, there will be a new post up there later this morning dealing with the impromptu — but nevertheless intense — debate I and others had late yesterday afternoon with Andrew Halcro about the need to cut the state budget (oddly, after admitting that it was creating an unsupportable economic bubble, Andrew then defended continuing to grow state spending).

For those interested, previously an index to those briefer pieces was listed on this page a few screen lengths down the right hand side, but not prominently or obviously.  As a result, my sense is that some readers of this page, that otherwise would find the shorter pieces also interesting, have been missing them.

So, this morning I have rejiggered (that is a technical term, of course) this blog a little to display the index to the posts on the parallel blog a little more prominently on this page (the index is now at the top right, on the initial screen).  I also have retitled the parallel blog to something a bit more catchy (and probably more descriptive).  It is now “Short Takes & Out Takes”.

Interested readers (hahaha, all three of you) can click on the title to the box to be taken to the parallel blog, or the headline of any specific story, to be taken to that story.

And now, back to our regular programming …