$96/hour

To live here:


Wow.

The irony...

My wife always finds these depressing tales. This one is also ironic, reaffirming my belief that Alaska has some serious issues. Too much sunlight or too much darkness or too much isolation. Something.

An Alaska lottery held to raise money for a group that helps sexual abuse victims had a surprise winner: a convicted sex offender.

Alec Ahsoak, who according to the state sex offender registry was convicted in 1993 and 2000 for sexual abuse of a minor, came forward Saturday with the winning ticket for the $500,000 Lucky Time Pull Tabs jackpot.

Proceeds of the lottery help Standing Together Against Rape in Anchorage, a nonprofit group that offers support to sexual assault victims among other services.

"It's not how we had envisioned the story going," Nancy Haag, the group's executive director, told CNN Radio.

No kidding? Also...

Alaska has the highest per capita number of rape cases in the United States, according to FBI statistics.

Not quite the vision I received watching Northern Exposure...

The Best Job in the Bloody World

I was tipped off to this by NPR this morning. If I had been blogging about travel or scuba-diving or something I might have a chance to actually get the job:

Wanted: one "island caretaker", must be able to swim and willing to move to Hamilton Island in Australia's tropical Whitsundays to begin 1 July. Flexible hours, six-month salary of $150,000 (£75,000), non-negotiable.

Caretaking duties do not, island bosses insist, extend to litter-picking and sieving leaves and other detritus from the pool. Instead, the eventual incumbent will be paid to explore the crannies – both on land and underwater – of the Great Barrier Reef's 600 islands, reporting back through a fortnightly internet diary with photos and video.

That's right. Approximately $100,000 dollars to swim, sail and blog for six months in the Great Barrier Reef.

The BBC reports:

The job is being advertised around the world. Candidates have until 22 February to submit an online video application.

In May, 10 shortlisted candidates and one wildcard, voted for by visitors to the Tourism Queensland website, will be invited to the islands for a four-day final interview process. The successful candidate will start the new job on 1 July.

Mr Hayes says he is expecting thousands of applications: "I'm having to beat my staff off with a stick at the moment because most of them want to apply too."

Sounds just awful, doesn't it? Application information can be found here.

Fake attack

What a lunatic, to think she could pull this off. Just read the whole thing at Hot Air. Or Michelle Malkin. It's fun to read conservative reactions to this hoax. Man, if this chick had mental problems before, she's only going to have them worse after this fire-storm...