Rep. Les Gara on Palin, The Stimulus, and Renewable Energy for Alaska
By Rep. Les Gara Alaska has the highest energy prices in the nation. The solution to the problem isn’t rejecting funds that could (if we choose) be dedicated to build wind, hydro and other renewable energy production. Urban Alaska is facing a dangerous short-term shortage of natural gas. Rural Alaska is facing a shortage of affordable, reliable energy. The nation is trying to grapple with an over-reliance on foreign oil. The Governor’s decision doesn’t help the national goal of domestic energy production to minimize our reliance on energy from rogue countries, or countries that are leading to world instability. It…
The Palin Administration’s $64,000 Question.
So, what’s the $64,000 question? Ethics watchdog Linda Kellen Biegel just asked it, apparently. She made a State of Alaska records request to find out what kind of communication has been going on between the governor’s office, right-wing shock jock Eddie Burke, and Anchorage Daily News gossip columnist Sheila Toomey. After Bill McAllister, Palin’s communication director said in a state press release that he “hoped there would be backlash” against those filing ethics complaints, there started to be….well…backlash against those filing ethics complaints. Go figure. And it started to manifest in interesting ways. See HERE and HERE. Was there direct…
Tuesday Catch Up – Down With Nukes, Bedbugs and Flaming Hyperbolic Outrage.
It’s Not Just You Many Alaskans are wondering how on earth they could have voted for Sarah Palin the first time. Don’t feel bad. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin can thank Washington lobbyist and political consultant Rick Davis, chief executive officer of John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, for being the ultimate pick to become the Republican vice presidential candidate. “It was all his doing. He was completely snowed by Palin,” a source close to Mr. McCain confided to this columnist over the weekend. “He was totally taken by her.” See, it can happen to anyone. Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite The…
Palin Backer Wanted to Pay the Clintons to be Friends With Sarah.
John Coale, husband of Fox’s Greta Van Susteren, who is oddly bipartisan and likes getting to know powerful female politicians and promoting their careers in a way that borders on the creepy, tried to be a matchmaker to the stars. He figured if Sarah Palin used the legally allowed $5000 from her PAC money to pay off some of Hillary Clinton’s campaign debt, then Democrats and Independents would like her more, and wouldn’t pick on her so much. Apparently, after he sobered up and still thought it was a good idea, he came to Alaska with his wife to see Todd Palin…
High School Student Sues Governor Over Stimulus Money
I found this bit of news quite interesting. At this point, most 18-year olds would be coasting through their last weeks in high school. But Casey Edwards is taking Governor Mark Sanford all the way to the state Supreme Court over the governor’s refusal to accept federal stimulus money – some $700 million in aid for South Carolina’s schools. “The fact that we’re going to turn down money when we desperately need it, really bothered me,” Edwards said. Over the past year, Edwards and her friends have been working to improve impoverished schools along South Carolina’s I-95 – a stretch…
Palin Gets the Aluminum! But Will She “Get Motivated?”
Trying to get kids to use seat belts can be a daunting task. Even when mine were small and told me they had seatbelts on, I always used the “trust but verify” rule. When driving together as a family, we’d have a carload of four. And one day wefigured out an ingenious solution. Putting on seat belts became a contest. When the key was turned, that was the starting gun. Then whoever was first with the seat belt got the “gold medal.” Second place was the silver and third was the bronze. This system worked well, but it always left one…
Name That Book!
I solicited book name ideas in my original post, but it seems that I wasn’t clear enough, so hopefully the title of this new post will redeem me, and give you all some fun. What is your idea for the title of Palin’s new memoir? Please don’t post anything in the comments of this thread except your book name ideas. I’ll go through and pick out the ones I think are best from that thread and this one, and we’ll have a vote for the best, like we did for the ice cream flavor. In case you missed that one,…
Monday Morning Cleavage!
Here’s an interesting little story. There is cleavage in the story, but the point of the story isn’t really about cleavage. I figured I’d just get that out of the way right off the bat and come back to it later to illustrate a point. The players in this little story are Mike Nizich, Governor Palin’s Chief of Staff; Annette Kreitzer, Commissioner of the Department of Administration, and citizen watchdog Andree MacLeod. Andree McLeod has filed several ethics complaints against the Governor in the past few months. She’s also filed a public records request that asks the state to turn over a…