Move your money

I read about "Move Your Money" site on the Huffington Post. Go and see the little film and again vote with your $$$$.

I can't help it.

I can't help myself, I have to get this off my chest.
Sarah Palin has said that she wants our President to boycott the Climate Change conference because of some emails that totally blow the entire field of climate science out of the water. But wait what did she do when she actually had any responsibility and would be held to account for her opinions and action:

Sarah Palin GOVERNOR

STATE OF ALASKA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR JUNEAU

September 14th, 2007

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 238

I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the State of Alaska, under the authority of art. III, secs. 1 and 24 of the Alaska Constitution establish the Alaska Climate Change Sub-Cabinet to advise the Office of the Governor on the preparation and implementation of an Alaska climate change strategy.

BACKGROUND AND FINDINGS

Scientific evidence shows many areas of Alaska are experiencing a warming trend. Many experts predict that Alaska, along with our northern latitude neighbors, will continue to warm at a faster pace than any other state, and the warming will continue for decades. Climate change is not just an environmental issue. It is also a social, cultural, and economic issue important to all Alaskans. As a result of this warming, coastal erosion, thawing permafrost, retreating sea ice, record forest fires, and other changes are affecting, and will continue to affect, the lifestyles and livelihoods of Alaskans. Alaska needs a strategy to identify and mitigate potential impacts of climate change and to guide its efforts in evaluating and addressing known or suspected causes of climate change. Alaska's climate change strategy must be built on sound science and the best available facts and must recognize Alaska's interest in economic growth and the development of its resources. Commercializing Alaska's great natural gas reserves through a new pipeline will improve the nation's energy security while providing a clean, low carbon fuel to help the nation reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions.

PURPOSE AND DUTIES

The purpose of the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet is to advise the Office of the Governor on the preparation and implementation of an Alaska climate change strategy. This strategy should include building the state's knowledge of the actual and foreseeable effects of climate warming in Alaska, developing appropriate measures and policies to prepare communities in Alaska for the anticipated impacts from climate change, and providing guidance regarding Alaska's participation in regional and national efforts addressing the causes and effects of climate change.
In view of its purpose, the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet shall develop recommendations on the following:

1. the assembly of scientific research, modeling, and mapping information in ways that will help the public and policymakers understand the actual and projected effects of climate change in Alaska, including the time frames in which those effects are likely to take place;
2. the prioritization of climate change research in Alaska to best meet the needs of the public and policymakers;
3. the most effective means of informing, and generating a dialogue with the public regarding climate change in Alaska;
4. the early assessment and development of an action plan addressing climate change impacts on coastal and other vulnerable communities in Alaska;
5. the policies and measures to reduce the likelihood or magnitude of damage to infrastructure in Alaska from the effects of climate change;
6. the policies and measures addressing foreseeable changes to the marine environment; the quantity, quality, and location of fish and game in Alaska; and the productivity of forests and agricultural lands in Alaska due to climate change;
7. the evaluation and response to the risks of new, or an increase in the frequency or severity of, disease and pests due to climate change in Alaska;
8. the identification of federal and state mechanisms for financing climate change activities in Alaska, including research and adaptation projects;
9. the potential benefits of Alaska participating in regional, national, and international climate policy agreements and greenhouse gas registries;
10. the opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Alaska sources, including the expanded use of alternative fuels, energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, land use management, and transportation planning;
11. aggressive efforts toward development of an Alaska natural gas pipeline to commercialize clean burning, low carbon natural gas reserves
12. the opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the operations of Alaska state government;
13. the opportunities for Alaska to participate in carbon-trading markets, including the offering of carbon sequestration;
14. the identification of economic opportunities for Alaska that might emerge as a result of the growing response to this global challenge;
15. other policies and measures that the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet considers would help achieve the purpose of this Order

This Order takes effect immediately.

DATED at Juneau, Alaska, this 14th day of September, 2007.

She isn't real. I am sure of it. She just can't be.

SO PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW!!!!! AGAIN!!!!

Via Sam Stein at the Huffington Post who reports on this story. Read those and mine below is just a further rant.


I am self-employed, my wife works two part-time jobs. No employer based insurance is available to us. Last year, after years of not having any insurance my wife let me sign her up on my catastrophic health insurance plan. I still have to convince her every month to pay the bill.

I was looking at new plans for me and the kid and was able to add her for what appeared to be about $100 or so. Signed up on-line, got a quote and sent in the paperwork. The policy comes back being about an extra $150 to add her. (She has actually used health care in the past and this is counted against people when they sign up for insurance.) Bite the bullet, got to be responsible. So we started paying the monthly payment of around $500 for a policy that has a $5000.00 deductible and and bunch of really fine print. It isn't health care, it really is insurance against the dreaded day when you hear from the doctor, "I have some bad news...." And then it might be useless.

Now apparently we are not paying enough to meet Wall Street's expectation for their profits.

Aetna President Mark Bertolini laid out how the company planned to raise prices to improve the company's profit margin. He said the firm had "implemented a combination of underwriting enhancements, pricing actions and plan design changes, intended to ensure that each customer is priced to an appropriate margin."

They are making a profit, just not enough. (What is that called again? Oh yes, I think it is "greed") So Aetna will be raising rates and kicking out clients who use health care. Nice. These people are so sure they are going to win this health care reform issue, they are people who are such bullies, who have the entire Republican Party and 3/4 of the Democrats in their pocket, they can just lay a big stinking pile of crap right on the American public, and then expect us to thank them.

No reform needed here. The best medical care in the world!!! And good public policy. Let the marketplace decide who deserves health care, no government "death panels" needed. It just happens by the magical power of the free markets.

I am not sure if I am going to try and convince the wife to pay that bill again.

What is that Parnell up to?

What is that Parnell up to? The governor's office is entirely too quiet. It is kinda boring. Maybe he could hire Meg back. That would get things rolling.

PFD

Thinking about the Permanent Fund Dividend.

Each year when the Gov. announces the amount the Permanent Fund Dividend that each of us Alaskans will be getting, I am struck by the unmet needs that exist in our state and the possibilities of what we collectively could be doing with that money. The oil that generates the money isn't ours, the resource doesn't belong to the current citizens of the State of Alaska, it belongs to future citizens as well.

I grew up in Texas. The burbs of Dallas. Texas has a Permanent Fund too. But in their Constitution they set up a Permanent Unviversity Fund. The University of Texas System and the Teas A&M system are both in part supported by the money generated by this fund.

These two Universties are top notch institutions, education and research. The endowment the PUF has created will keep these universities going long after the wealth from the resources has been exhausted. Future generations will have access to education and will economically benefit from the research produced by these institutions. We will all get to pay off our credit cards, pay from some oil for the heater, or use all kids PFD's and buy a snow machine.

A study on the impact of a strong University system reports,

"For every $1 dollar the state invests in UT System higher education, that dollar serves as a catalyst for, and ultimately results in, an additional $24 dollars of gross work-life incremental earnings that go into the Texas economy."

I can't find any research on the impact of the PFD, but I am sure that is big as well, but too what end?

Good Luck Sarah

It seems obvious that Sarah Palin reached the limits of her executive capabilities as mayor of Wasilla. Her further advancement was just ambition, a confluenece of political disasters (Gov. Murkowski, Knowles, McCain) and just dumb luck.  

Politically she was a master of capitalizing on the events of the day.  We have to give her that. Unfortunately, or more correctly, fortunately she lacked any substance to back up the bluster. It was always about playing the politics and promoting the brand.

Alaska can move on now and she can further her new career as a celebrity-politician. And unless there is revelation of a scandal or she takes up the offer from Playboy and wipes out the modicum of credibility that she retains, she will continue to drag the Republican Party further right and further into obscurity. 

Good luck Sarah.

Old Time Religion

Someone explain this one to me:

• 742 American adults surveyed on use of torture against suspected terrorists
  
• 54 percent of those who go to services at least weekly say it's often or sometimes OK
  
• In survey, people unaffiliated with any religious group were least likely to back torture

Kenai Peninsula Borough- Broken Brains Lead to Broken Budgets

The condensed version of the story is:

Dave Cary was elected as the mayor of the the Kenai Peninsula Borough as a "cut taxes and reduce the budget" candidate. (Strangely he also claimed as mayor to have the ability to protect your gun rights. I don't think he was pandering at all with that addition to his platform.)  He won.

Previous to that election the voters of the Kenai Peninsula had repealed a sales tax in a vote put on the ballot by the Alliance of Concerned Taxpayers (ACT). 

The mayor is now planning to reduce property taxes on us over taxed Alaskans.  

Which leads to the great republican plan of underfunding government to destroy it. The borough is facing a budget shortfall. The mayor has said everything is being scrutinized for cuts. Education is not being spared and he has proposed a reduction in the school districts budget. The outcomes of that will be great. Less education is what we need now in this world. That will help the growth and quality of life for people left on the Peninsula. 

The impact on my kid's education is already being felt. Due to this budget turmoil, his school has had to delay and possibly not hire a replacement teacher. This is in a K-12 school with a teaching staff of 4. By this time of the year good teachers that are looking for new schools probably have jobs lined up for next year.  We will still hope that our second or third choice turns out to be an adequate educator for our children. Thanks a bunch Dave and Alliance for Concerned Taxpayers. You are really making the Peninsula a great place for families. 

Much in this post needs further exploration, such as:

Who are these ACT people?

What is a lifelong educator, our mayor,  doing minimizing education?

Many of his supporters have fingered teacher unions as the culprit. Does Dave get a retirement fought for by unions?

How does a borough mayor protect your gun rights?

Who voted for Carey and are they the Senior Citizens who live here 5 months a year and are always showing up for the subsidized lunch program?

Why don't grandma and grandpa want their grandkids the best education they can get? 

How does our tax burden compared to other boroughs and counties?

What is it like to live in a progressive state?

 

Texas and Alaska Untie!

I think Texas as well as Alaska Secessionist better watch out. 

As a child growing up in Texas, back in the 1970's I can remember the secessionist spouting off about how horrible the Union  was treating Texas. I was not real sure what their gripe was or is now. It is unfocused, and seems to be about their feelings when Democrats get into power. I think it reminds them of Reconstruction or something. They just hate loosing so much that they are going to take their ball and go home. 

A quick search on the internet doesn't really turn up an actual political party espousing splitting from the Union. There is the Texas and Southern Independence Party that wants to re-establish the Confederate States, but this wouldn't work for Texas. They really don't like or trust Oklahoma. OU recruits too many of the good football players. But there is the Texas Republican Party. Although dissolving the Union doesn't show up in their party platform, which is a scary document. The whole Texas Republican website is scary to me with stuff like this:

I did not know we were supposed to use the Bible to rate our political party. I mistakenly thought that was what the Constitution was for. My mistake.

I hate to brag AGAIN about Alaska kicking Texas' butt again, but Alaska has Texas beat in this area too.  We have the Alaska Independence Party. Our governor's husband was a member once. There are also rumors that she is a AIP "Manchurian Candidate." I can't wait for that episode of the Wasilla Hillbillies. The party is libertarian, with reservations. Like we want roads and keep that Permanent Fund money coming but privatize everything else.  They are always are around during the elections both when Republicans are in office as well as Democrats.  They definitely get points for perseverance. 

Histories of the World

Been lazy on updating the blog. I spend time pissing people off on the Alaska Standard site. Too much fun.
But my sister sent this viral email to me that I had to respond in kind to. The original email is followed by my response:

For those that don't know about history ... Here is a condensed version:

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals, and
2. Conservatives.

Liberals developed the concept of mass prodictOnce beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement. The hunters were effective and soon they had slaughtered most of the game in but there was so many of the soon

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girlie-men. Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.
Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have highertestosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood, and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair ! to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, mostly Bud. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, members of the military, airline pilots and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history:

It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it.

A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to tick them off.
And there you have it. Let your next action reveal your true self

My "angry" response:
The true history is that the original conservative went extinct eons ago. Many of the “conservatives” today don’t believe this because they deny the science of evolution. This should ensure their extinction as a class, but fortunately for these conservatives, the liberals continue take pity on them and share the medical and technical advances that are possible through the understanding this basic science fact. Every year a lot of conservatives line up for the newest evolution of flu shot that the liberal establishment continues to produce.

The deal was that the conservatives continued to hunt until they had depleted much of the game around their caves. They got through the lean times because of the gathering, mostly done by their woman. Studies show that a majority of the calories consumed in hunter/gatherer cultures come from gathering activities. So the men would sit around in their dark, dank caves and moan and grunt about how good the “good old days” were. They would scream about how their life was being ruined by so and so as they got sotted from their fermented berries or fishheads or whatever they could catch a buzz from. All the while the women were out working. This pattern of behavior continues in many “conservative” households.

It was during this roaming around looking for food with a baby stuck on each breast and dragging 4 other dirty children, digging up roots and picking berries for their man’s fermented muck, that these women ran into communities of liberals. They were entranced with the warm homes, the plentiful food, the public education, the public trails and sanitation. They were amazed that the women would have smaller families and have the option to breed or not. They would return to the cave and have their drunken man collapse on the gathered food, tell them it was god’s will to have another child and then fall asleep after he had impregnated her for the 14th time.

In these communities they found real beer too. Not the stuff that their men were drinking back from that hole in ground in the cave. The cultivation of grains happened through the application of principles of evolution. It took science and experimentation to mass produce beer. Some woman took some of this excess beer back to the caves, with the grains to make it. The conservative tribe changed the beer into a light watery substance they called “Butt Wiper” because of the gastric effects typically occurring the next morning. Of course this is now Budwieser. The liberals continued to produce beer of quality and substance. This understanding and cultural legacy of good beer eventually led to the legalization of homebrewing by the great President Carter in 1979, which then spurred the development of the microbreweries that has raised the quality of beer worldwide.

But I digress. Over time many of the women and some conservatives’ children would spend vacations in the liberal villages. Many never went back to the cave and the liberal communities flourished while the conservatives’ numbers dwindled. Eventually the conservatives became just a bunch of old white men sitting around complaining about the high taxes in the liberal communities and how the dykes and socialists were destroying their cave communities.

Ski Day

I went skiing with the usual folks and found Tracy's camera in my coat pocket. So I took some pictures. 

Healthcare, Again

Updated below-

I saw this post over at that "evil" Daily Kos site. Long story short, the United States healthcare sucks. We all know it. It is dragging this country down. 

Then I read this post over at the Alaska Standard. The author is upset because Family Planning moneys are included in the Stimulus Bill that is making its way through Congress. The guy lifted the entire thing from the Heritage Foundations blog. That is plagiarism, but his point seems to be that liberals are trying to reach into his man-gina and rip the babies right out of him. Family planning is health care. Maybe it shouldn't be in a stimulus bill, but in the short run, healthcare money will get spent and will get spent quickly. Evidence that video above. If we want money in the economy this is the place. There is no pleasing these conservatives, so we should just stop trying!

UPDATE:

I have never had an update before! But this is too funny. Over at the Alaska Standard that I cited above, they have removed the plagiarized post after I called them out on it. But they left a clip of Nancy Pelosi and the comments section. Now the author has posted the "original" text in the comments and included citations for his sources and claimed that they were in the original post. I don't know why he would remove the text then. I think he might be lying!!! Such fear of being seen as weak, or wrong.

 I am sure that I have been lazy and lifted text and not cited it correctly. That would be wrong, and a mistake. If it I found out, and someone gave a shit, I am sure I would correct it. Admit the mistake and work at doing better. It would at least mean someone was reading this. 

The richest part of the whole exchange is the author tries to call me out and put me down by referring to me as "Mrs. Freshwrestler." Ouch! Using the feminine as a slander in a post that has to do to do with reproductive rights is pretty inDICKative of his level of intellectual development.  

More update- Obama had the funds removed from the bill to please the conservatives. Please , don't please the conservatives. They lost. THEY LOST. WE WON. That money better show up somewhere and soon.

Nerd?

At least you did't get fired like your dad.

Farewell Former President Bush,
You got that going for you when the family gets together. "Shut up Old Man, at least I didn't fired." Your library will be bigger and have more stuff. And no matter what Papa Bush says, after you, there is no way in hell we will have another Bush in the Whitehouse. "Sorry Jeb, I shit all over the place. They ain't going to let you in." Then laugh in his pompous face. Sweet.

I will try to visit you when I get back to Dallas. Maybe we can get together and finally have that beer. I'll buy, alot. Oh hell, let's beer and shots. We will get the Secret Service to drive us around. You aren't to far from Addison, so let's go to Chili's. It must be a relief to slip that pretense of sobriety, just like Reagan was able to let go of that illusion of lucidity after he got done.

I have a few questions about the some the things that happened over the past 8 years, but I will just wait for your book. I read Clinton's recently. Crap, there were a bunch of words in that one. I am sure yours will be considerably shorter. Kinda like a Readers Digest Condensed Book. Are you going to write it yourself or find a subcontractor? I bet you won't get anybody at Haliburton to do that now that you are spending your own money. Is Dick going to edit it before you publish it? That would be a good idea, knida like when he showed up to help you testify in Congress. But really I do look forward to following your activities; the speeches, the trials, the library at SMU, the businesses you will start with your friends. It will be interesting to see how you evlove after all that presidenting. It should look good on your resume.

I do know that we will miss you. All those silly guys on late night tv are going to have find someones else to kick around. And Obama is already changing things, Jazz instead of Country, cigarettes instead of bourbon, transparency instead of secrets, but it is just window dressing, and it is only the first week. Dick will find him soon enough, take him to the bunker and set him straight. I am pretty sure of that.

Goodbye George,
Mark

Go Away

Dear People from the Outside,

I would cordially like to ask you to leave our Governor alone. No more interviews, no more websites about her, no more magazine covers. Don't speculate about her, don't google her, don't listen to her, don't even look up here for 2 more years. After 2 years, we will gladly send her out to fulfill her destiny as the cute befuddled conservative on "The View."

You see, she has a an actual job to do. She is a Governor in a state that requires a strong executive. And Sarah has a little problem focusing. She can't bear down and do her job if everyone is wanting a "ubetcha" and wink from her. We now suspect that she is a little limited and we need her and Todd really focused to deal with the issues at hand up here in Alaska. Sarah confuses her job with her personal life. So when you admire her for her political moxie, her fine family values, her "hot grandma" status, she thinks that is her job. To be beloved, to campaign constantly, to talk without saying much. But all this takes time and preparation, which takes away from her real job. And just like little Bristol during the campaign, she is getting behind in her responsibilities.

I may not really like the woman, or her recent activities, but as governor, I do want her to succeed. To study problems and issues and come up with solutions and policies that will address the needs of this State and it's citizens. There really is much to be done and an amazing amount of opportunity for her and this state. So if you want her to be viable for that position on the View, let her do her job, and stop giving her so many compliments for just showing up.

Thanks