Open Thread – Home!
13 07 2009
Well, we made it back safe and sound. A little sunburned, a little mosquito bitten and a whole lot relaxed. We spent the weekend on a sailboat in Prince William Sound and had a great time. I took a bunch of pictures, and will post some on the open thread tomorrow night.
Here’s one for now. This is a beautiful waterfall in Passage Canal, right outside of Whittier. I’ve always seen it from afar but never actually went over there to check it out. It was absolutely gorgeous and in the middle of a huge kittiwake rookery. For you non-birders, think of it as a giant seagull hangout. You can see a few of them in the picture, but there were hundreds of them. They know how to pick a piece of real estate, let me tell you.
The water was deep enough right offshore that we were able to pull in close enough to feel the spray, and detect that the rookery was quite…odiforous.
Tomorrow we’re back to politicsa as usual. I do need to get through several hundred emails, and a thousand or more comments, of course, but Mudflats will be slowly getting up to speed tomorrow. I hope the weekend went smoothly for everyone, and that the open threads worked out well. Right now I’m dog tired, and heading up the stairs as soon as I click Publish.
See you tomorrow.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:20 PM
The WaPo op/ed by Palin consists of shallow talking points interspersed with the usual Palin snark. Truly an embarrassing post by the XGINO. As Lori mentioned in #292, a good bit of her post sounds awfully similar to the A&M College Media post.
Prediction: She will be hammered on this piece by other writers who really understand the issues of “Cap and Trade.” She did herself no favors with her own “chattering” in this superficial offering.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:34 PM
Most of the comments at WaPo are ‘guessing games’ as to who really wrote the op/ed….from Kristol to Stapleton, but my guess is the Dude.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/13/AR2009071302852.html
July 13th, 2009 at 10:42 PM
Closetmudpup…. after reading your # 286 post I can see that you have a better understanding of the issues than Buttercup…. will You please be Gov ?
BTW….. Letterman is not letting up. Instead of those old clips where he did the ” Great Moments in Presidential History” with ‘ W ‘… Palin takes over now.
It was something like (paraphrasing ) “Greatest Endorsement.. yada… yada ?”
It was a two-fer. Palins endorsement by Mccain over the weekend. McCain saying ” Absolutely she is qualified to be President!!”
So you would endorse her for 2012..??. ugh… ugh… stammer.. stammer
(glazed over look … deer in the headlights..)
I think he REALLY enjoyed THAT joke.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:44 PM
Jay Says:
July 13th, 2009 at 9:31 PM
Rachel Maddow had a piece tonight (at the end of the show) about Palin’s reasons for quitting. We’ve heard most of of this before, but Maddow does an excellent job of illuminating the trajectory of the governor’s ethics scandals.
————————————————–
Thank you so much for that. Every time I see that Maddow woman, I want to pick her up and throw into the deep end of the gene pool. She’s brilliant.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:49 PM
honestyinGov
Amazing isn’t it – the amount of material she has provided in just 10½ months? lol
I’ll be around tomorrow – see you then.
July 13th, 2009 at 11:16 PM
The college student’s opinion piece was published in the Texas A&M Battalion on July 6th.
The people that Sarah may have stayed with in Texas (Roberts, owner of a pipeline construction company and Roberts Ranch in Giddings) are ardent involved alum of Texas A&M. She could easily have been sent that for reading material.
The Heritage Foundation did a series of analyses on June 23,24,25, 26 and July 8 about Cap and Trade and the Waxman-Markey bill.
Sarah twittered on July 29:
“I dont support Waxman-Markey bill; I’ll work w/AK Senators & others to address concerns, lacks flexibility needed to protect enviro & develp”
3:53 PM Jun 29th from TwitterBerry
The Heartland Institute is offering “research and analysis”. This is where Sarah got her opinions on polar bears and global climate change.
http://www.heartland.org/custom/semod_policybot/pdf/24979.pdf
Both the student’s article and Sarah’s seem to be drawn from writings from these sources and are not original ideas or concepts.
That Obama quote has been repeated on many right-wing blogs. So maybe they both read the same blogs!
“Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Businesses would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that cost onto consumers.”
Senator Barack Obama
Speaking on his energy policies
San Francisco Chronicle
January 17, 2008
July 13th, 2009 at 11:19 PM
Study up on that Kyoto Treaty, Governor.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:29 AM
@288 lovemydogs Says:
(also @honestyingov #126:)
My power was out for over 12 hours last night/this morning and I just got home from work.
My husband spoke with Andy Bassich in Eagle today and the word is they “think” they will have the gravel to start on pads for foundations tomorrow–yay! Apparently there has been a lot of bureaucratic red tape/paperwork with the state that had to be worked through.
They have enough skilled carpenters to start on the cabins as soon as the gravel is moved.
We will be going up sometime in Aug to volunteer/help the people who did not lose their houses but had to strip out flooring, drywall, electrical, etc due to flooding.
On our local NPR news the word on Eagle was that people who had a second home in Eagle do not qualify for any relief funds as these are considered vacation homes and not primary residences. However, they are doing a fundraiser for a family with children who were acting as caretakers and now have no home. Hopefully they can raise enough funds to build them a place to liver this winter.
Sorry this took so long. The electric company you know.
================
@ lovemydogs & honesty:
You guys are the greatest!
Yes, the gravel thing has been a conundrum. I was asked to comment about it on Anon Bloggers, but didn’t know enough yet to tell anyone anything. The state, I think, has been giving the run-around, and consequently nothing has happened. But FEMA came in and said they would negotiate a contract for the gravel, and apparently that is what’s being done.
What is upsetting me the most is that some people are slipping through the cracks. There are folks here who do not deserve to be left out in the cold. The family lovemydogs mentions is one. But the people I really want to help are Andy Bassich and his SO!!! Andy has been our saving grace since breakup began ….. he had the idea to build these cabins, and the idea grew into a vision that was embraced by both state and federal governments! This has never, ever been done before in the history of the US! Eagle is making history here, using local knowledge and know-how to decide how to best recover from a disaster.
Andy deserves a gold medal. But guess what? He is getting nothing. He is getting paid for his work right now, but getting nothing from the State of Alaska or FEMA. Because he has a small cabin (primary residence) in Eagle, and his cabin downriver, although it is his place of business (mushing and subsistence tourism), doesn’t qualify for any disaster assistance.
Andy Bassich deserves help from somewhere! This guy came up with the idea to get Eagle’s homeless people through the coming winter, and he has been there every day to coordinate the new volunteers and make sure the work is getting done every day. And …… he’s had to worry about the gravel.
Please, help me figure out how to help Andy!
Lovemydogs, I can’t wait to meet you in August! So glad you got in touch with Andy. Bless ya!
July 14th, 2009 at 4:27 AM
I don’t agree with the arguments or conclusions of the WashPost article bearing Palin’s byline, but the piece IS well-written. That said, I look forward to an article in the Columbia Journalism Review on the ethics or lack thereof of publishing an article which has obviously been plagiarized by the politician author.
The Washington Post, first sponsoring private dinners for journalists, lobbyists and politicians, and now publishing a polished and articulate article solely attributed to the word salad queen of the political world, is dragging the beleaguered profession of journalism to hitherto unexplored depths.
I am incredibly disappointed in the publication and have lost confidence in the veracity of its content. My sympathies to the many professional and ethical reporters who work there.
(Are all you Alaskans exhausted from doing the Snoopy happy dance non-stop since Plalin’s resignation announcement?)
July 14th, 2009 at 6:11 AM
PennLawyer, thanks for this thoughtful post. I hope you posted this at the WaPo.
Obviously, it’s not written by Palin. The bigger question for me is, who is pulling her strings? Who is the puppet master here? I think the fact that Palin called Cheney before she quit, and the fact that she (according to some pieces I read last Fall) chatted with him even before being picked for the McCain ticket is really telling….and odd.
I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I think there is a lot more to this story than we know. I think Palin is the perfect empty vessel for the GOP. Someone is feeding her lines and pulling the strings. Is this another Cheney secret mission to have Palin continue to be the “pitbull with lipstick” for the GOP.
Something about this whole Palin show is….errrr…..odd.
July 14th, 2009 at 8:25 AM
For whomever was wondering about the legislators for Eagle–Sen. Albert Kookesh and Rep. Woodie Salmon (find their info linked off of: http://www.ltgov.state.ak.us/elections/distcom.php )
July 15th, 2009 at 10:21 AM
#159, July 13th, 2009 at 12:11 PM, austintx Says: “And just who owns IzzyLene Consulting ?? Brand new since the PAC was set up ?? Hm-m-m-m………”"
IzzyLene is a nickname for the daughter of Meg Stapleton and Eric Steenburgh, Isabella Helene, born about two years ago. Hence, IzzyLene Consulting.