Inauguration day

I got up at 5:30 mountain time to start watching coverage of the inauguration. The crowd is unbelievable considering that it's 19 degrees (f). Watching it in high-definition really adds a LOT to this type of programming.

The presidential car looks like a monster in terms of security. All of the windows are quite visibly bullet-proof glass. It appears there is a visible gun-port on either side of the car.

There have to be more than a MILLION people there. I've been to DC a couple of times and the mall is FULL!

But the best part of all of it - eight years of Bush/Cheney are OVER at noon today. I tagged the post as "You can't fix stupid" but today is an exception. The fix is in at noon.

Caribou Barbie (Palin) gets OWNED in Canada

From AP:
TORONTO - Sarah Palin unwittingly took a prank call Saturday from a Canadian comedian posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and telling her she would make a good president someday.

"Maybe in eight years," replies a laughing Palin.

The Republican vice presidential nominee discusses politics, the perils of hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney, and Sarkozy's "beautiful wife," in a recording of the six-minute call released Saturday and set to air Monday on a Quebec radio station.

Palin campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt confirmed she had received the prank call.

"Governor Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy and other celebrities, in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie," she said.

The call was made by a well-known Montreal comedy duo Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel. Known as the Masked Avengers, the two are notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state.

Audette, posing as Sarkozy, speaks in an exaggerated French accent and drops ample hints that the conversation is a joke. But Palin seemingly does not pick up on them.

He tells Palin one of his favorite pastimes is hunting, also a passion of the 44-year-old Alaska governor.

"I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun," the fake Sarkozy says.

He proposes they go hunting together by helicopter, something he says he has never done.

"Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done," Palin counters. "We can kill two birds with one stone that way."

The comedian jokes that they shouldn't bring Cheney along on the hunt, referring to the 2006 incident in which the vice-president shot and injured a friend while hunting quail.

"I'll be a careful shot," responds Palin.

Playing off the governor's much-mocked comment in an early television interview that she had insights into foreign policy because "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska," the caller tells her: "You know we have a lot in common also, because ... from my house I can see Belgium."

She replies: "Well, see, we're right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with, yes."

When Audette refers to Canadian singer Steph Carse as Canada's prime minister, Palin replies: "Well, he's doing fine and yeah, when you come into a position underestimated it gives you an opportunity to prove the pundits and the critics wrong. You work that much harder." Canada's prime minister is Stephen Harper.

Palin praises Sarkozy throughout the call and also mentions his wife Carla Bruni, a model-turned-songwriter.

"You know, I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally and your beautiful wife," Palin says. "Oh my goodness, you've added a lot of energy to your country with that beautiful family of yours."

The Sarkozy impersonator tells Palin his wife is "so hot in bed" and then informs her that Bruni has written a song for her about Joe the Plumber entitled "Du rouge a levres sur une cochonne" — which translates as "Lipstick on a Pig."

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama derided his Republican challenger John McCain's call for change in Washington as "lipstick on a pig," days after Palin made a lipstick joke at the Republican convention. The McCain-Palin campaign then released an ad implying Obama was calling Palin a pig with that remark.

The caller asks Palin if Joe the Plumber is her husband and adds: "We have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France. It's called Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit."

He also tells the Alaska governor that he loved the "documentary" made about her and referred to a pornographic film with a Palin look-alike made by Hustler founder Larry Flynt.

She answers tentatively, "Ohh, good, thank you, yes."

The callers then reveal the prank and identify themselves and their radio station.

"Ohhh, have we been pranked?" Palin asks before handing the phone to an aide who ends the call.

Obama's campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs, commenting on the prank, said: "I'm glad we check out our calls before we hand the phone to Barack Obama."

Candidates ignoring coming Social Security crisis, critics say

Ummm....

The above is a CNN headline!

Since 1984 or before we've collectively known of a coming Social (in)Security crisis. Every presidential election we get this big publicity handjob about about Social Security, Healthcare, the national debt, blablabla. It's the same crap 24 years later - and 24 years from now I bet USD$100 (value as of 23 Oct 2008) none of it will have changed.

Palin on Saturday Night Live - no surprise on the west coast

Because the Central and Eastern time zones get a differently timed feed (2 hours ahead of us) pretty much all of the Palin woman's appearance on SNL was leaked on the web. I watched anyway just to see it - it was the first time I'd been home near my HD set to really see the difference between Tina Fey and Caribou Barbie. DAMN CLOSE.

I watched the other bits on either YouTube or NBC.com - there is no substitute for the local over the air broadcast (uncompressed by cable or satellite) in 1080i.

I'll keep watching SNL until the end just in case anything got held back on the web.

It is STUPID that even though the New York City local television station signals are landing on my satellite dish, I can't pay for them to be displayed due to a stupid federal law.

Saturday, October 11th - my voting day

My early voting ballot is here. Tomorrow I'm going to sit down and (most likely) vote a straight Democratic ticket - with the exception that no incumbent in the City of Scottsdale is going to get my vote. By Monday morning I will have mailed it.

Joe Arpaio again as Sheriff? You've got to be kidding. That guy shouldn't be running *anything* much less a law-enforcement agency. His ads on local cable (which thankfully I only see at the gym) show him receiving the Arizona Republic and then throwing it in the trash immediately - referring to it as the LIBERAL MEDIA?

WTF? The AZ Republic(an) is LIBERAL? He must be smoking something he seized to have that idea.

He may well get re-elected but it won't be because of me.

The economy is just... well, crap. I sold all my retirement funds and stock positions in 2003 when I moved to Uruguay and I have to say - right now I'm feeling pretty OK with that decision. A greedy American Express financial adviser had already lost 1/3 of the value so why not?

I may buy back into the market just before the election - I think that will be the all-time-low for a lot of stocks.

The negativity of the McSame campaign shocks me (but only a little). When you don't have anything to be FOR, or its so volatile how much the candidate is erratically changing his mind - he really doesn't have much option but to go negative. If TJ Maxx in Seattle (I doubt they have locations in Juneau, AK or Anchorage, AK) sold Prada - Palin would have bought it there. (On the other hand anyone who shopped TJ Maxx has had their credit card details stolen due to the abject stupidity of the management of that retail chain!)

Palin - OMFG what a self-righteous bitch. Her silly pentecostal religion is going to bite her in the ass (two words about Pentecostals in high places: 'John Ashcroft') - along with the outcome of the investigation into her interference as governor w/r/t/ the job of that state trooper who divorced a family member. If McCain was smart (not really possible due to the pre-embalming process he appears to have undergone, VERY visible on HDTV) he'd quietly dump Palin and get Tina Fey from Saturday Night Live as his running mate. Looks the same and would do far less harm.

At the root of it - neither candidate will do a damn thing. It's not in their personal or party best interests. Since 1988, again in 1992, again in 1996, again in 2000 and again in 2004 - we heard a bunch of crap from both sides about how healthcare and social security would be fixed. Not going to happen in my lifetime. Hell, I was at my doctor's office this morning and they had their usual posting up about whether lunch would be catered by one of the Big Pharmaceutical companies. Apparently today - YES, it would be. Seems to be the case everytime I'm there.

America 2008 is a very fucked up place. Will it get "fixed"? I don't know. The Roman Empire eventually collapsed and "fixed" a lot of its problems. It's the only "fix" I see in sight. Meanwhile out of fear I continue to pay taxes and look forward to retiring offshore.

HDTV is a bitch

Palin is tan from the top hairline down to the chin.

Pasty-white and freckles below.

Biden - Palin debate comments -----

First of all - Gwen Ifill hosting this is all good but... Much better to have Whoopi Goldberg. No disrespect to Gwen but Whoopi would have been better.

All well and good to talk about healthcare, job creation, etc...

Both are 100% full of shit.

None of it will ever happen.

from APPROVED to DECLINED - the message loud and clear from the House of Representatives

After today's news out of Washington, I was originally speechless. Then I got mad and started writing. My writing style is rather, well, blunt.

My biggest wonder is about getting paid by my clients. But this is a cyclical wonder that happens every 15 days. Either it continues or it stops, right? I work as hard as I can. I don't have a 401(k), I'm not invested in the market - but this stuff worries me. I have aging family about to retire and the value of their 401(k) may put that off - but they may have no choice but to start traveling that road due to lack of employment.

I'm also not sure if globalization is about to be redefined. To the average joe six pack globalization means "Gee, wow, ya mean there's a TGI Fridays in Buenos Aires? Cool!" To the economist - they start to lose me at "intertwined" - not because I don't understand it but because it's SO OBVIOUS. Intertwined? No fuckin' kidding. And then the first time they say "probable" - well then I've really tuned out now haven't I?

What I'm wondering is more along the lines of - are we finally seeing a scripted-in-English slow motion (but picking up speed) localized for our country version of a Latin American collapse? Argentina in 2002? Brazil's hyperinflation in the 1970's? Will the US dollar drop so much in the coming weeks that the Zimbabwe dollar (currently at trillions of them to buy USD$1) actually gain ground, with no intervention of the Zimbabwe government?

I haven't been this freaked out about the economy since I was ten years old, living in Kenosha, WI. Unemployment peaked in Kenosha at about ... 33% if I recall correctly? It was exactly tied with Flint, Michigan. Kenosha sort of recovered, Flint not so much. That was all about the auto industry. It was an impending sea change in the economy and no one knew what was coming out the other end, or when it would end or in what form.

We found out. It was - would you like fries with that OR would you like to get real tech-savvy real fast? There wasn't much in between. And oh did we get addicted. No, not to drugs or alcohol (well... nevermind). We got addicted to the word APPROVED. Better than a food pellet. Some of the machines still show it in blue LED letters in that speak-and-spell font. Some show it completely drawn in, on a black-on-grey LCD. And you damn right well gave that machine the once-over before you shared your card with it, we wised up about tossing those reciepts willy-nilly so that someone else did not assume our APPROVal.

The bankers figured it out although we have to keep kicking 'em in the balls to protect privacy - but they kept those approvals coming because they knew we were hooked. Nobody cared HOW the approvals happened but oh we wanted more. We were ENTITLED at varying levels due to the magic of a thing called a FICO score. Step right up and get approved! You'll probably get approved even with a low score but just skip over that fine print with the boring "legal" disclosures (they'd usually trail off into some fast hard to catch mumbling at that point) and then perk back up with "BUT JUST SIGN HERE, YOU'RE APPROVED!"

And now it's the money shot. We set ourselves up to have that 110-pound 6'1" naked hooker pop out of the cake - except there was a surprise. She used to weigh 510 pounds and hasn't had the skin removal surgery yet, she hasn't quite figured out not to eat much if any fatty food with her Alli tablets so she came out of the cake leaving an oily $4.50 a gallon trail. (Oh, except in Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and parts 'round there... they line up for a tank of that oily $4.50 a gallon trail!) And oh baby - she's got some medical debt. Her FICO score is more fucked up than the skin on her thighs! By god that cost and that risk is going to get spread across all the users of the system - willing and unwilling.

So we come back to - what is globalization? Just maybe it's not that bright shiny future the marketers pitch. What if, just maybe, it bears NO resemblance to a Cisco commercial? And as approvals are slowing down - snowballing even - what's going to happen now? It's like being ten years old all over again and the biggest industry of your small town just evaporated, never to return - except on a national level.

Oh, it'll rebound somehow in some form - but at what level? The standard of living expected in the mid-70's took quite a bit more effort in the mid-80's and even more in the mid-90's. There are only 24 hours in a day. I hear that in some households there are two parents that both make a real good wage - but that's an ever-smaller demographic. Used to be maybe 20% of the pie chart looked like that. But there's just a sliver left. Your chances of getting a taste aren't high.

So what form could globalization take? A lot of empty unkempt buildings all over urban America - just like major urban areas abroad (and in Detroit)? Evidence that there had once been pavement and road maintenance with odd brief perfectly paved stretches near houses with high walls and electric fences? Four generations under one roof as the norm with as many bars on the windows as one can have but still let light in? Armed private security playing a higher role than police. Could be much of urban America in the near future.

And today the news out of Washington was DECLINED. Oh yeah, the president with the 27-ish percent approval rating (no, the other kind of approval - it has nothing to do with his black Amex co-signed by the Saudis) went on TV to back some legislation HE WROTE HIMSELF, to hear him tell it. His own party and its supporters freaked out. The opposition party called bullshit (as well they should) - everytime that slick fucker in the White House goes on TV several months later it comes out that part or all of it was some preposterous lie to benefit his own agenda.

Could this be where all that APPROVED led us? We pay our elected officials and their employees untold sums of money in salaries, pensions, entitlements - and the result was DECLINED, in the form of no action?

Both sides pointed fingers. Because there's a new synonym for bipartisanship - it's 'bullshit'. Politics has degenerated to, quite simply, having to be RIGHT. That doesn't mean right-wing or left-wing, it means that we have to vote our position because it's the morally superior groupthink correct thing to do among our peer group (political party). After all, it doesn't matter if they get a goddamn thing done because they still get the big salary and the perks. They just have to do their time.

I predict that these highly paid politicians are going to start leaving Washington as if the session is over. Why the hell not? Most of their constituents would be furious about a big hand-out to these same friendly Wall Street bankers - but wouldn't it be a shame if suddenly - there just wasn't a quorum for doing business? As a slick politician who's more concerned about being RIGHT which are you going to pick?

Meanwhile there's heated activity going on inside the huge remaining banks. Most of the mortgage paper is worth just as much as if it were used as toilet paper. Now lets go after the credit cards. There's a trend picking up steam to look at every member of John Q Public and review his avaible credit vs. his FICO score. The new marching orders are to slow down all those APPROVED's.

I hate that any tax money be spent to bail out these wall-street wonks - but at least it CONTROLs it IF our pompous politicians can get past being morally right and actually do something QUITE FORIEGN to any of them: compromise. Because if we don't, wall street is going to implode in an uncontrolled way that will see a lot of golden-parachute deployments over posh Caribbean islands named Saint-Something-or-Other. It'll leave the American people having to kick the APPROVED "drug" cold-turkey but why should they care? It would be a win for the Wall Street slime who shoveled out the approvals. It will be a win for the politicians who have to be morally right. The "Joe Six-Pack demographic" will perceive "they stuck it to the bastards," - and they will realize too late the bastards stuck it to THEM.

The outcome of today's DECLINED message out of the House of Representatives has already reverbrated once around the world. It's going to keep spiraling downwards with every 24-hour cycle. No one knows how far down that will be.

These overpaid out-of-control elected officials need to hear loud and clear: stay in Washington and pass an acceptable compromise that stops the spiral. The historical precedents are there. It may seem impossible in an election year but the two sides have to put aside their differences.

Going to Fry's on Black Monday '08 - or re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic

EVERY other experience I have had with Fry's is that you will wait 20 or 30 minutes to find a sales rep who's not tied up - this time it was under FIVE. Perhaps under FOUR! The checkout line took an equal amount of time.

It took more time at the supermarket!

USA's do-nothing federal government again, does nothing - spectacularly

Proving again that it's safer to be "right" than take any action at all, lawmakers did nothing AGAIN for the US people. We're dropping straight past recession due to do-nothing policies and politics. So much for a "compromise" bill to reward the failures of wall street.

So let's see... I have bread here at home and I'll have to check the TV listings for circuses. Yes, that's it, I'll ignore it all with bread and circuses.

Evening in America

Tonight we saw Bush the Big Liar on TV telling us how "urgent" it was for Congress to bail out wall street.

Um, so sorry - presidents only go on TV during events like the Cuban Missile Crisis or things of that ilk. If he's a republican president and not a "tool" he should be staying at home looking at his investment bank statements and crying in his beer - period. I don't care that some in his party feel the big wall street banks should get a bail-out on the US taxpayers' dime!

Government cash plus bank money = SOCIALISM!

The last time George Jr. was on TV was to tell us how Al Qaeda was linked to 9/11 and how we had to piss away billions in Iraq - and that was all proven many times over to be a BIG FAT LIE.

So he's on TV, (probably) lying his ass off about the "urgency" of the "bailout." Seven tenths of one TRILLION dollars is the amount he's on CNN begging for - excuse me if I'm a little jaded because we haven't seen the equivalent of a Tammy Faye Bakker and an air-conditioned dog house.

Personally, I am only in support of a wall street "gift" from the government (because thats what it will be) if it includes comprehensive birth control provisions for Sarah Palin's kids and federally mandated open records laws applicable to all states - but enforced first in Alaska.

the WRONG time to join a gym (but it was a good idea anyway)

Ok, so I need to do lots of cardio each week. The buzz from a good workout lasts into the next day and OH BOY do I need that.

Of course - what's wrong with being at a gym every night - the TV's that face the cardio machines. I.E. it's all politics all the time.

I can't believe how far the right wing's standards have fallen. Ok, we're going to put a woman on the ticket. No matter her fifteen-year-old daughter is knocked-up and her eighteen year old son's scheduled for a shotgun wedding. UNREAL.

McSame's campaign then proceeds to insult the nation's intelligence with that B.S. demand for an apology about a lipstick on a pig metaphor. In reality polls show that most every sighted heterosexual male watching her speech at the convention was thinking "I could hit that."

(For those [few] readers who are still hung up on the lipstick on a pig thing -
(a) just stop reading and
(b) 'hit that' is not about domestic violence - ask a non-home-schooled 15 year old if you've never heard the term)

A friend commented to me that this election has to be extra-confusing for Mormons. From their point of view: On the one side you have a black man (apologies to Seinfeld) - not that there's anything wrong with that (since 1978 that is). On the other side you have a woman with a family who is *away* from her family most of the time and not currently pregnant (although she could be). Incredible. Which to choose?!

On the flip side of it - hell, by default I'll vote for Obama. Hillary Clinton just is too toxic to be on the democrat ticket - just too unpopular. But I'm not thrilled about Joe Biden either - he's been in Washington since 1973.

So both sides have a big dose of "more of the same" and someone really new to the whole scene. Both sides are promising the same bullshit I've heard during every presidential election in my adult life - we're finally going to fix healthcare, we're finally going to fix social security, it goes on and on.

Meanwhile, it's government by and for the corporation. I'll go through the motions and vote but I really don't believe either side will change much of anything. It's not in the best interest of the lobbyists.

For *sure* I'll be making more use of my smartphone and slingbox to avoid the "news" channels until after yet another "no good choice" US presidential election is finally over.

McSame's son tied to a bank failure in the western USA

Silver City Bank, well known in Nevada and less so in other Western states - failed today. Andrew McSame (er, McCain) was a member of the board of directors of both Silver City Bank and Silver City Bancorp.

Reason? The big mortgage implosion that's part in parcel of the non-recession (say McSame supporters) happening in the US economy.

No recession? Not so much. Six months ago when I would go to Costco to get gas during rush hour (5:45-6:45) I'd have to wait 15 minutes or more to get to a pump. Today I can drive right up to a pump and get my membership-priced gas with no wait. No recession, my culo.

The truth about the schizophrenic socialism in the US Government

The two big quasi-government mortgage banks got put under government control today.

A commenter on a commercial blog (rhymes with *onsumerist, but I won't publicize them because I completely disagree with their heavy-handed one-sided management) put it the best way I ever could (if I thought about it):

Words are attributed to ARP on the gawkermedia.com blog where they'll probably delete his post:

I'm so sick of this neoconservative approach of private profits and public losses. And yet, they talk about the "market" "capitalism" and all the other buzzwords to scare you into thinking that socialism is just around the corner. Socialism has been here for a while, just not in the way they've scared you into thinking. Our version of socialism [is] just for the wealthy and "can't fail" corporations, so regular [people] get zero benefit from it like other countries do (e.g. health care, education, infrastructure, etc). So my opinion is that we either become partially socialist a la Canada, UK, etc. or we become more capitalist and let shitty businesses fail.

more about Sarah Palin you really should know

She DID support the Bridge to Nowhere (before she opposed it). Here's a picture of her with a T-shirt supporting the project. Palin claimed that she said "thanks, but no thanks" to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But in 2006, Palin supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should take advantage of earmarks "while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."

Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is "God's task." She's even admitted she hasn't thought about the war much—just last year she was quoted saying, "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq."

Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence Party. Six months ago, Palin told members of the group—who advocate for a vote on secession from the union—to "keep up the good work" and "wished the party luck on what she called its 'inspiring convention.'"

Palin wants to teach creationism in public schools. She hasn't made clear whether she thinks evolution is a fact.

Palin doesn't believe that humans contribute to global warming. Speaking about climate change, she said, "I'm not one though who would attribute it to being manmade."

Palin has close ties to Big Oil. Her inauguration was even sponsored by BP.

Palin is extremely anti-choice. She doesn't even support abortion in the case of rape or incest.

Palin opposes comprehensive sex-ed in public schools. She's said she will only support abstinence-only approaches.

As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. Palin asked the library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate language in them—shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time, "news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

RNC convention ruins coverage of hurricane

I'm far more curious about seeing what happened in Louisiana and east Texas as a result of Hurricane Gustav than I am about knowing *anything* about the Republican National Committee convention.

Now that the coverage is combined I'm going to have to wait for newspaper and magazine coverage that separate the two. I wish some bright spark at CNN would figure out that a lot of us don't want to see ANY part of the RNC convention and use one of their channels just for that and the other for coverage of Gustav.

OMFG - McCain's other possible choices

Meg Whitman - former CEO of eBay.
* I can see that one now. The IRS would be taking Paypal and ONLY Paypal. Military/government surplus? eBay would become the exclusive seller.

Carly Fiorina - of HP fame.
* She could make for less government, that's for sure. We could reduce the head-count at the FBI and hire a big team of pretexters to get information.

McCain-Palin - the "maverick" meets the loony right wing

This is what you need to know about the admittedly very telegenic Sarah Palin, the surprise candidate for republican VP. I don't always agree with some of the things that the MoveOn.org lobbyists send me but this one is worth re-distributing because I agree with it.

Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

* She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.(1)
* Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.(2)
* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. (3)
* Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.(4)
* She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.(5)
* She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.(6)
* How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position. (7)

This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Citations:
1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-3142163-phDl8qx&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-3142163-phDl8qx&t=2

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-3142163-phDl8qx&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-3142163-phDl8qx&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-3142163-phDl8qx&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-3142163-phDl8qx&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-3142163-phDl8qx&t=7

7. "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-3142163-phDl8qx&t=8

America's airlines plead with consumers to write Congress re: fuel prices

Today the lobbyists for US-based airlines have issued a B.S. plea that they expect consumers to forward to the US Congress in order to possibly have an effect on their fuel prices.

Um, get #$!@!! real?!

The airlines have been blaming the federal government whenever convenient for delays and whatever customer service abomination their employees have been able to dream up.

In response to all of the CEO's that signed the letter:
Robert Forinaro - AirTran Airlines
Bill Ayer - Alaska Airlines
Gerard Arpey - American Airlines
Lawrence Kellner - Continental Airlines
Richard Anderson - Delta Airlines
Mark Dunkerley - Hawaiian Airlines
Dave Berger - JetBlue Airlines
Timothy Hoeksema - Midwest Airlines
Douglas Steenland - Northwest Airlines (ESPECIALLY to Northworst Airlines!!)
Gary Kelly - Southwest Airlines (you maybe don't deserve it but if you put your name on the same letter as these assholes you've got it coming)
Glenn Tilton - United Airlines
Douglas Parker - US Airways

SCREW all y'all. I'm not writing JACK on your behalf to anyone. YOUR executive offices have made the decision to reduce customer service and blame-it-on-anyone-else. You reap what you sow. Build bridges with your customers instead of extorting and screwing them - why the #$!!! should we lobby for free on your behalf?!

Buh-bye now.
-Tim

Ultra-conservative ex-senator Jesse Helms dead at 86: GOOD RIDDANCE!

From the New York times article, "He fought bitterly against Federal aid for AIDS research and treatment, saying the disease resulted from “unnatural” and “disgusting” homosexual behavior."

He died early this Friday, July 4th 2008. Good riddance.