Comments (19)

BlueInTexas wrote on August 6, 2007 1:05 PM:

Man, have you see "Deadliest Catch" ?

Ben's probably in the pilot house, but if not, he's working his ass off. Good for him

TheraP wrote on August 6, 2007 1:07 PM:

Does that mean he's fleeing the country?

nffcnnr wrote on August 6, 2007 1:08 PM:

Better catching the fishes than sleepin' withe 'em.
Security code: "weight" as in, ballast

Mark Richards wrote on August 6, 2007 1:19 PM:

Time to give up fish.

Nelly Bly wrote on August 6, 2007 1:39 PM:

I liked this bit:

"Ted Stevens spent the week in Washington, D.C. On Thursday, he voted in favor of a Senate ethics-reform bill. On Friday, he sponsored a resolution to protect the Arctic waters from overfishing should global warming make harvest possible there."

Stevens is a Republican and they scoff at the notion of global warming but just in case they are wrong, Stevens is going to protect the Arctic from the fishing industry.

I'm not an expert but if global warming makes harvesting fish in the Arctic possible, won't Alaska have bigger troubles than overfishing?

Anonymous wrote on August 6, 2007 2:14 PM:

fortunate children like Odai & Qusai Hussein finally got caught too...
just the raping in Alaska was financial

Cali4nian wrote on August 6, 2007 2:37 PM:

Isn't dad going to help him out with the legal bills?

bwindrip wrote on August 6, 2007 2:56 PM:

Laura,

This is more of the same shenanigans. Ben's ties to the fishing industry are at the root of his legal problems, so...

...which company or captain is going to be paying him exorbitant sums of money to hide out in the wheelhouse and "consult"?

bwindrip wrote on August 6, 2007 3:01 PM:

"On Friday, he sponsored a resolution to protect the Arctic waters from overfishing should global warming make harvest possible there."

Meaning he wants to protect the Arctic waters from overfishing by seafood interests outside of Alaska.

Stephen Taufen wrote on August 6, 2007 3:21 PM:

No, Ben's not on a crab boat for the Deadliest Catch ... despite puff PR of the Seattle Times article (they really do need better sources!)... but rather the M/V ARCTIC SEAL, we believe. That's vessel ID # D594237, a 121 foot transport vessel owned by Bering Marine Corp. slash Alaska Marine Lines Inc. slash actually owned by LYNDEN INCORPORATED. Lynden's a big old Alaskan freight company where a lot of really great people work, and some miraculous transportation takes place.

Trouble is, though, it's main man Jim Jansen, was on the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board with Ben as Chair. Just how Jansen's time was available (we never heard of him being in the meetings where Ben and the UFA/USA boys doled out processor to Ben kickbacks), or how he was to contribute to fish marketing grant selection has never been really explained. Jansen though does fly around Ben and Ted and the others on his corporate jet, we hear.

And we've heard Jansen and the boys were worried about some automobile or pickup they gave Benito outright - worried the Feds would catch up to that well documented vehicle transaction.

But for now, Benito has a job out of Dutch Harbor helping run this landing craft/combustibles transport in Western Alaska waters. Some say that surely his salary is inflated to account for the premium required for paying legal fees.

Well, that's what the Tundra Telegraph says, anyway... And Laura's right - the end of the story is where it's at!

Groundswell Fisheries Movement

Utah Eagle wrote on August 6, 2007 4:29 PM:

Maybe his ousted CIRI CEO friend Carl Marrs can somehow find Ben another consulting contract. Hmmm....Let's see. How about Alaska Hovercraft? Remember... Ben was a Licensed Hovercraft Captain around 96-97. And, Big Daddy Ted sponsored legislation in 1995-96 that enabled these CIRI owned military surplus hovercraft to be used in U.S. coastal waters. And, Ben was an operator for Alaska Hovercraft during this timeframe. Ooops, maybe a consultant. Ahhh...semantics. Coincidentally, also during this 96-97 timeframe, Ben received consulting fees of $20,000 from VECO and $10,000 from Alaska Hovercraft's parent company Lyndon.

Now supposedly, CIRI had zero cost basis in over a dozen of these tremendous hovercrafts that were in this Alaska Hovercraft partnership. As you can imagine, no meaningful proceeds were listed in the CIRI financials in 2003 from the sale/transfer of these military surplus craft. But, like Gomer Pyle...surprise surprise! The new owners just one year later, listed these craft for over two million dollars apiece!!! On over a dozen of these hovercrafts we are talking some serious scoots.

Apparently, CIRI must have used the appraised military surplus value rather than the market price. With Ben's hovercraft background and his consulting experience those CIRI shareholders sure could have used somebody to fetch a better price. In the future, maybe Mr. Jansen should again employ Ben because like Ted Stevens, Ben flies straight as an arrow.

Vigilant wrote on August 6, 2007 4:41 PM:

Check out his photo -- the guy's wearing a Looney Tunes tie! Apropos, no?

anon wrote on August 6, 2007 6:08 PM:

Yup, I was just going to pitch in, having working on AK fishing boats in a previous life, that summer fishing/transport jobs are notorious laundries. Got a bunch of coke money you and your pals made in Mexico? Hey, fish the halibut season in Bristol Bay and holy bejesus you can catch a shit load of fish. Really, an unbelievable number of fish will jump right in your boat. And since you can use any boat for a four day halibut season, you can use the same boat you were using in Baja. It's kinda a pain, since you have to generate a few receipts from some guys on a tender (who have a taste for coke in their downtime, donnchaknow) who you see once a year. And, damn, shit happens in AK waters, so you'll need to pay your crew some serious cash if you make a big haul. And so on. It's not the way of every AK fisherman but laundries and fronts are a surprisingly common thing, esp. in remote areas like Dutch Harbor and Bristol Bay. Who's gonna call you on it? Everyone's happy and, with the fish dwindling, the seasons are short enough to make "work" into a nice little two week vacation away from nosy TPM reporters.

Herb wrote on August 6, 2007 9:37 PM:

You can make decent money on boats in Alaska, but nothing like those CORRUPT "CONSULTING FEES."

And, finally, I'd like to note... for the record, he's wearin' a LOONEY TUNES NECKTIE in the picture above, featuring some of my CHILD's favorite cartoon characters...

I'm not judging him for his "style," I just think there's a good joke to be found in there, somewhere. Workin' on it, Herb.

anon wrote on August 7, 2007 3:44 AM:

HS, he IS wearing a Looney Tunes tie. Eat that Cultural Studies.

If you just scrolled to the bottom first, no, this is not comment spam. Ben Stevens, Ted Stevens son is wearing a Looney Tunes tie in the picture above. What next? Pelosi and Reid in short-shorts, with My Little Pony stenciled in Gothic Blackface on the butt?

Dahoz wrote on August 7, 2007 12:17 PM:

Somewhere Mel Blanc is rolling over in his grave...

Nomehome wrote on August 7, 2007 1:43 PM:

Ted Stevens is know for wearing an Increadible Hulk tie on the Senate floor...looks like Ben is folowing in his footsteps.

parrot wrote on August 7, 2007 3:57 PM:

Well, that sucks! Now he can't sit at home grazing on TPM!

bobalaska wrote on August 16, 2007 4:54 PM:

According to the Anchorage Daily News,
(http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/9203466p-9119924c.html)
Ben Stevens had been hired as a crewman aboard a work boat supporting Shell's planned Arctic Ocean exploratory drilling campaign.

In today's Anchorage Daily News, a lead article
(http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/story/9224330p-9140311c.html)
states that "Shell's ambitious plan to drill exploratory oil wells in the remote Beaufort Sea might be doomed -- at least for this year -- after a federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered further delay for the project.

It's a costly setback for the Dutch oil giant, which has a fleet of drilling ships and support vessels poised and waiting in Alaska and Canadian ports."

It looks like Ben might be coming back ashore, after all.