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_AUGUST 2008 NEWS_
YEAR 2008 CALENDAR Printable 2008 Calendar August 2008 News History July 2008 News June 2008 News May 2008 News April 2008 News March 2008 News February 2008 News January 2008 News |
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-
Sarah
Palin -
John
McCain -
Ted
Stevens - Money
-
Politics
-
Government
-
Alaska
-
Transportation
-
Construction
- History
-
Ohio
-
2008
Election
"Palin
backed 'bridge to nowhere' in 2006." ... "In her
nationally televised speech accepting the job as [2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate] John McCain's running mate, Alaska [Republican
Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin said she "championed reform to end the abuses
of earmark spending by Congress" and opposed federal funding for a controversial
bridge to a sparsely populated island." ... "[However] While running for
governor in 2006, though, Palin backed federal funding for the infamous
bridge, which McCain helped make a symbol of pork barrel excess." ... "And
as mayor of the small town of Wasilla [Alaska] from 1996 to 2002, Palin
also hired a Washington lobbying firm that helped secure $8 million in
congressionally directed spending projects, known as earmarks, according
to public spending records compiled by the watchdog group Citizens Against
Government Waste and lobbying documents." ... "Wasilla's lobbying firm
was headed by Steven Silver — a former chief of staff to Alaska [Republican
Senator] Sen. Ted Stevens, a key proponent of the bridge project." ...
""We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are
on the table like the bridge, and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this
project or any other into something that's so negative," Palin said in
August 2006, according to the Ketchikan Daily News."" -By
Ken Dilanian -USATODAY
-
Sarah
Palin -
John
McCain -
Federal
- Money
-
Alaska
-
Transportation
-
Construction
-
2008
Election
"Palin
touts stance on 'Bridge to Nowhere,' doesn't note flip-flop."
... "When [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain
introduced [Alaska Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin as his running
mate Friday, her reputation as a tough-minded budget-cutter was front and
center." ... ""I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to
nowhere," Palin told the cheering McCain crowd, referring to [Alaska's]
Ketchikan's Gravina Island bridge." ... "But Palin was for the Bridge to
Nowhere before she was against it." ... "The Alaska governor campaigned
in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she
felt their pain when politicians called them "nowhere." They're still feeling
pain today in Ketchikan [Alaska], over Palin's subsequent decision to use
the bridge funds for other projects -- and over the timing of her announcement,
which they say came in a pre-dawn press release that seemed aimed at national
[Eastern] news deadlines." ... ""I think that's when the campaign for national
office began," said Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein on Saturday." ... "Alaska's
congressional delegation endured withering criticism for earmarking $223
million for Ketchikan and a similar amount for a crossing of Knik Arm at
Anchorage [Alaska]." ... "Congress eventually removed the earmark language
but the money still went to Alaska, leaving it up to the administration
of then-[Alaska Republican Governor ]Gov. Frank Murkowski to decide whether
to go ahead with the bridges or spend the money on something else." ...
"In September, 2006, Palin showed up in Ketchikan on her gubernatorial
campaign and said the bridge was essential for the town's prosperity."
-By Tom Kizzia -ADN.com
-
McCain
-
Palin
-
Alaska
-
Newspaper
- History
-
2008
Election
"McCain
Camp Didn't Search Palin's Hometown Paper Archives."
... "The [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain
campaign has gone to great lengths to present the selection of [Alaska
Republican] Sarah Palin as one made after a careful, meticulous vetting
process. But evidence continues to suggest that the Arizona Republican
made his VP choice with surprising haste." ... "On Saturday, a Democrat
tasked with opposition research contacted the Huffington Post with this
piece of information: as of this weekend, the McCain campaign had not gone
through old newspaper articles from the Valley Frontiersman, Palin's hometown
newspaper." ... "How does he know? The paper's (massive) archives are not
online. And when he went to research past content, he was told he was the
first to inquire." ... ""No one else had requested access before," said
the source. "It's unbelievable. We were the only people to do that, which
means the McCain camp didn't."" -By
Sam
Stein -HuffingtonPost.com
-
Sarah
Palin -
John
McCain - Political
-
Investigation
- Attorney
-
Government
-
Transportation
-
Construction
- Money
-
Alaska
- Oil
-
Global
-
Climate
-
2008
Election
"What
McCain Didn't Know About Sarah Palin." ... "They've
[the 2008 Election Republican Presidential campaign of John McCain] bragged
that [Alaska Republican Governor Sarah] Palin opposed the famous "Bridge
to Nowhere," only to learn that Palin
supported the project and even told residents of Ketchikan [Alaska]
that they weren't "nowhere" to her. After the national outcry, she decided
to spend the funds allocated to the bridge for something else. Actually,
maybe it's more fair to say that coincident with the national outcry, she
changed her mind. The story shows her political judgment, but it is not
a reformer's credential." ... "Likewise, though she cut taxes as mayor
of Wassila [Alaska], she raised the sales tax, making her hardly a tax
cutter." ... "She denied pressuring the state's chief of public safety
to fire her sister-in-law's husband even though there's mounting evidence
that the impetus did indeed come from her. Ostensibly to clear her name,
Palin asked
her attorney general to open an independent investigation—the legislature
had already been investigating. (I am told that the campaign was aware
of the ethics complaint filed against her but accepts Palin's account.)"
... "McCain's campaign seemed unaware that she supported a windfalls profits
tax on oil companies and that she is more skeptical about human contributions
to global warming than McCain is." ... "They did not know that she took
trips as the mayor of Wasilla to beg for earmarks." ... "They did not know
that she told a television interviewer this summer that she did not fully
understand what it is that a vice president does." -By
Marc Ambinder
-TheAtlantic.com
-
John
McCain -
Joe
Biden -
Barack
Obama -
Hillary
Clinton -
Hurricane
Katrina -
Weather
-
Emergency
-
Investigation
- Legislation
-
Politics
-
History
-
Federal
-
NY
-
New
Orleans -
Louisiana
-
Communications
- Funds
-
Children
-
Transportation
-
2008
Election
"McCain
To Katrina Victims In 2005: You're On Your Own."
... "It doesn’t really come as a surprise to those of us who have watched
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain over the
years that he's about to make a campaign
stop in New Orleans [Louisiana] after Hurricane Gustav hits this week.
After all, he's been exploiting the troops for years, what's a few hurricane
victims after that?" ... "What does seem odd is that McCain thinks Gulf
Coast residents will forget how he, [Republican President] George W. Bush
and the then-Republican Congress turned their backs on them so many times
in the months after Katrina thundered ashore in 2005." ... "Too bad he
spent the months to follow leading the Republican charge against every
Senate bill that would have actually helped Katrina victims or mandated
investigations on how the Bush administration could have blown disaster
response so thoroughly." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic Vice Presidential
nominee Joe Biden jumped immediately to the aid of hurricane victims in
the week after the 2005 disaster, authoring S.Amdt.
1661 "…to provide emergency funding for victims of Hurricane Katrina.""
... "Biden's legislation would have provided many things including money
to purchase interoperable communications equipment to help first-responders
dealing with the disaster, $10 million "to find, unite, and transport children
impacted by Hurricane Katrina to their parents, legal guardian, or next
of kin" and funding to assist victims of domestic violence in affected
areas." ... "But with John McCain's help, the Republican-led Senate shot
down the funding on a 41-56
vote with McCain voting against, while Biden and Democratic Presidential
nominee Barack Obama voted for the funding." ... "When [New York Democratic]
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY[ Democratic-New York]) proposed the creation
of a Congressional Commission to "examine the Federal, State, and local
response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.. and make immediate
corrective measures to improve such responses in the future," John McCain
was once again exactly where [Republican President] George W. Bush wanted
him to be: On the "nay" side of a straight party-line vote (44-54)
that killed that legislation." ... "And lest you think it was McCain taking
a stand against what might become a Democratic witch hunt on the failures
of his bosses in the White House, the bill called for a wholly bipartisan
panel, stating
specifically of the 10-member group that "not more than 5 members of
the Commission shall be from the same political party."" ... "Unlike McCain,
Barack Obama was one of the cosponsors of that bill and both he and Biden
voted for immediate oversight on the bungled Katrina response." ... "But
that's not all." -By Bob
Geiger
_2008
News News Reference August
2008 News
August 30, 2008 News URL: #August-30-2008-News
20080830
Saturday
-
Sarah
Palin -
John
McCain - Political
-
Investigation
-
Safety
-
Alaska
-
2008
Election
"'Troopergate'
inquiry hangs over campaign: Inquiry: Ex-commissioner
brings up undisclosed e-mails that he says mentioned trooper." ... "Alaska's
former commissioner of public safety says [Alaska Republican Governor]
Gov. Sarah Palin, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John
McCain's pick to be vice president, personally talked with him on two occasions
about a state trooper who was locked in a bitter custody battle with the
governor's sister." ... "In a phone conversation Friday night, Walt Monegan,
who was Alaska's top cop until Palin fired him July 11, told the Daily
News that the governor also had e-mailed him two or three times about her
ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, though the e-mails didn't mention
Wooten by name." ... "Monegan claims his refusal to fire Wooten was a major
reason that Palin dismissed him. Wooten had been suspended for five days
previously, based largely on complaints that Palin's family had initiated
before Palin was governor." ... "The events surrounding Monegan's dismissal
currently are under investigation by the state's legislature. Palin has
acknowledged that a member of her staff phoned a trooper lieutenant in
an effort that could have been perceived as pressure to have Wooten dismissed
and that her husband and other officials also had contacted Monegan about
Wooten." ... "She has insisted, however, that she did not authorize the
phone call and was not aware of it. She has said she doesn't believe any
of the contacts amounted to pressuring Monegan." ... "Monegan, however,
said that Palin raised the subject of Wooten with him herself on two occasions
after becoming governor -- once on the phone soon after she took office
and once in person not long after that." ... "Monegan also said that the
governor's husband, Todd, talked to him several times about Wooten and
that three top officials in her administration contacted him." ... "Monegan
also disclosed for the first time that Palin sent him two or three e-mails
that referenced her ex-brother-in-law and his status with troopers. Monegan
declined to provide the e-mails because of the ongoing investigation."
... "Monegan said he believes his firing was directly related to the fact
Wooten stayed on the job. "It was a significant factor if not the factor,"
Monegan said." ... "Palin's replacement for Monegan, Chuck Kopp, was forced
to resign just two weeks after he was appointed because of a sexual harassment
complaint that had been filed against him when he was the chief of police
in Kenai [Alaska]." -By Lisa Demer
-ADN.com
-
Sarah
Palin -
Alaska
-
Newspapers
- US
-
Iraq
-
Military
- Politics
-
McCain
-
2008
Election
"2
Top Alaska Newspapers Question Palin's Fitness."
... "For the past 24 hours, the pages and web sites of the two leading
papers up there have raised all sorts of issues surrounding [2008 Election
Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah] Palin, from her ethics problems
to general lack of readiness for this big step up." ... "A reporter for
the Anchorage daily, Gregg Erickson, even did an online chat with the Washington
Post, in which he revealed that Palin's approval rating in the state
was not the much-touted 80%, but 65% and sinking -- and that among journalists
who followed her it might be in the "teens." He added: "I have a hard time
seeing how her qualifications stack up against the duties and responsibilities
of being president.... I expect her to stick with simple truths. When asked
about continued American troop presence in Iraq, she said she knows only
one thing about that (I paraphrase): no one has attacked the American homeland
since [Republican President] George Bush took the war to Iraq."" ... "Dermot
Cole, a columnist for the Fairbanks paper, observed that he thinks highly
of Palin as a person but "in no way does her year-and-a-half as governor
of Alaska qualify her to be vice president or president of the United States."
... ""One of the strange things Friday was that so many commentators and
politicians did not know how to pronounce her name and had no clue about
what she has actually done in Alaska....I may be proven wrong, but the
decision announced by McCain strikes me as reckless. She is not prepared
to be the next president should something happen to McCain."" -By
Greg Mitchell
-HuffingtonPost.com
_2008
News News Reference August
2008 News
August 29, 2008 News URL: #August-29-2008-News
20080829
Friday
-
Sarah
Palin -
Ted
Stevens - Political
-
Ad
-
2006
Election -
2008
Election -
Alaska
"Palin
Ad Starring Ted Stevens Already Scrubbed From Palin's Campaign Website."
... "This morning, an ad from [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential
Candidate] Sarah Palin's 2006 [Election for Alaska's Governor] gubernatorial
campaign featuring an endorsement from scandal-plagued Alaska [Republican]
Senator Ted Stevens was available on Palin's campaign Web site." ... "...but
now the Stevens ad has already been scrubbed." ... "Luckily, the ad featuring
Stevens and Palin is still available for your viewing pleasure!" -By
Greg Sargent -TPMElectionCentral
.TalkingPointsMemo
WATCH:
"Stevens Endorses Palin for Governor."
-
Sarah
Palin -
John
McCain - Law
-
Politics
-
Safety
-
Alaska
-
2008
Election
"Exclusive:
Chief Fired by Palin Speaks Out." ... "The July firing
of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan by [Alaska Republican
Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin, who was announced as [2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's running mate on
Friday, has unearthed a stream of soap-opera-like details about Palin,
her husband, her family and top state appointees. The controversy has also
cut against Palin's reputation for holding an ethical line and standing
up to colleagues in the Republican Party over matters of principle." ...
"Monegan, 57, a respected former chief of the Anchorage [Alaska] Police
Department, said in an interview with The Washington Post's James V.
Grimaldi on Friday that the governor repeatedly brought up the topic
of her ex-brother-in-law, Michael Wooten, after Monegan became the
state's commissioner of public safety in December 2006. Palin's husband,
Todd,
met with Monegan and presented a dossier of information about Wooten, who
was going through a bitter custody battle with Palin's sister,
Molly.
Monegan also said Sarah Palin sent him e-mails on the subject, but Monegan
declined to disclose them, saying he planned to give them to a legislative
investigator looking into the matter." ... "Palin initially denied that
she or anyone in her administration had ever pressured Monegan to fire
the trooper, but this summer acknowledged more than a half a dozen contacts
over the matter, including one phone call from a Palin administration official
to a state police lieutenant." -WashingtonPost
-
John
McCain -
Sarah
Palin - Law
-
Politics
-
Safety
-
Alaska
-
Arizona
-
2008
Election
"McCain's
VP Pick Palin Facing Ethics Investigation." ... "...
[T]he 44-year-old [Alaska Republican Governor Sarah] Palin, who was selected
as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator]
Sen. John McCain's running mate today, is now the focus of her own
state ethics investigation as part of the so-called "Troopergate" scandal,
a bizarre controversy involving the firing of a state police chief and
his reluctance to fire an Alaska state trooper, Palin's former brother-in-law
who has been involved in a bitter custody fight with her younger sister."
... "Just two weeks ago, Palin revealed
an audio recording of an aide pressuring the state's Public Safety
Department to fire trooper Mike Wooten, the Anchorage Daily News
reported." ... "Palin also acknowledged that her staff had contacted Public
Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan about two dozen times about Wooten.
Monegan himself was fired July 11 (the dismissal was "out
of the blue," he told reporters) and he later said that he was
pressured by Palin's staff and family to get rid of Wooten, a trooper
based in Palmer, Alaska." ... "(To counter the "Troopergate" tag, the alternative-weekly
Anchorage Press has dubbed the firing scandal "Wootengate")"
... "In July, Palin came under a state ethics investigation and critics
have said Palin's claim that she did not know of the political pressure
being placed on Monegan was a "little
too convenient."" -By Derek Kravitz
-WashingtonPost
-
Sarah
Palin -
John
McCain -
Hillary
Clinton -
Women
- Politics
-
Alaska
-
Los
Angeles -
California
-
Arizona
-
New
York -
2008
Election
"Palin:
Hillary Clinton's "Whining" Turned Me Off." ... "When
Alaska [Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin arrived backstage for our
NEWSWEEK Women & Leadership Event in Los Angeles [California] last
March, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain had
just wrapped up the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] nomination. Palin
had yet to endorse McCain--she liked [former 2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate] Mitt Romney--and as we waited in the green room, I urged her
to "feel free" to make some news on stage. She grinned broadly--looking
back, I guess it was a grin of the Cheshire Cat variety--and thanked me
for the offer." ... "Once onstage, together with Arizona [Democratic Governor]
Gov. Janet Napolitano, Palin talked about what women expect from women
leaders; how she took charge in Alaska during a political scandal that
threatened to unseat the state's entire Republican power structure, and
her feelings about [former 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate
and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Clinton. (She said she felt kind of
bad she couldn't support a woman, but she didn't like Clinton's "whining.")"
-By Karen Breslau -Newsweek
/article via -HuffingtonPost.com
-
Sarah
Palin -
John
McCain -
Alaska
-
Ariz
-
2008
Election
"Palin
dissed veep job." ... "Count Alaska [Republican Governor]
Gov. Sarah Palin as one of the most surprised that she was chocen as unning
mate for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator]
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona])." ... "In an interview
just a month ago, she dissed the job, saying it didn’t seem “productive.”"
... "In fact, she said she didn’t know what the vice president does." ...
"Palin replied: “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still
can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly
that the VP does every day?["]" ... "Before Palin’s election in December
2006 as the state’s first woman governor, she served two terms on the city
council of Wasilla, Alaska (population 6,700), and two terms as the mayor/manager
of Wasilla." -By Mike Allen
-Politico.com
-
Sarah
Palin - Science
-
Politics
-
Global
-
Climate
-
Atmosphere
-
2008
Election -
John
McCain -
Alaska
-
Arizona
"Palin
Not Convinced on Global Warming." ... "Some scientists
believe Alaska will be among the first to feel the impact of global warming,
but [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin
told voters there she wasn't sure climate change wasn't simply part of
a natural warming cycle." ... ""I will not pretend to have all the answers,"
Palin said about global warming, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Her spokesman clarified at the time that "she's not totally convinced one
way or the other. Science will tell us . . . She thinks the jury's still
out."" ... "Palin shared her views in the run-up to the 2006 governor's
race, at an Alaska Federation of Natives convention, where delegates passed
a resolution calling for a mandatory reduction in pollution affecting the
atmosphere." ... "Answering a question from the Daily News, Palin cautioned
against "overreaction."" ... "Those were among the comments that brought
condemnation today from Greenpeace to her selection as [2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's running
mate on the Republican ticket. The environmental group's Alaska Global
Warming Campaigner, Melanie Duchin, described Palin as "one of the most
anti-environment records of any governor in the United States." -By
Matthew Mosk and Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost
-
John
McCain -
Sarah
Palin - Science
-
Education
-
Politics
-
Law
-
History
-
2008
Election -
Alaska
-
Tennessee
"McCain's
VP Wants Creationism Taught in School." ... "[2008
Election] Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin wants creationism
taught in science classes." ... "In a 2006 gubernatorial debate, the soon-to-be
governor of Alaska said of evolution and creation education, "Teach both.
You know, don't be afraid of education. Healthy debate is so important,
and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.""
... "Asked by the Anchorage
Daily News whether she believed in evolution, Palin declined to
answer, but said that "I don't think there should be a prohibition against
debate if it comes up in class."" ... ""I'm not going to pretend I know
how all this came to be," she said." ... "The battle between evolution
and creationism -- specifically, Christian creationism -- in U.S. classrooms
dates back to the 1925 Scopes trial, when a Tennessee court banned the
teaching of evolution. Since then, state and federal courts have repeatedly
rejected so-called creation science in public schools, calling it religion
rather than science." ... "The latest courtroom defeat came in the 2005
Kitzmiller
v. Dover case, when the superficially religion-neutral theory of intelligent
design was classified as religious creationism. The Supreme Court ruled
in 1987 that teaching creationism violated the separation of church and
state." ... "Nevertheless, pro-creationism education initiatives driven
by Christian conservatives have flourished, and defenders of evolution
-- and, more broadly, scientific integrity -- worry that Palin's pick will
give momentum to this church-over-state push." ... ""It's unfortunate McCain
would pick someone who shares those particular anti-science views, but
it's not a surprise," said Barbara Forrest, a Southeastern Lousiana University
philosophy professor and prominent critic of creationist science. "She's
a choice that pleases the religious right. And the religious right has
been the chief force against teaching evolution."" -By
Brandon Keim -Wired
-
Sarah
Palin -
Alaska
- Lawmakers
-
Investigation
-
Global
-
Climate
-
Ice
- Environment
-
Species
-
2008
Election
"Palin
candidacy raises eyebrows in Alaska." ... "State
lawmakers have launched a $100,000 investigation to determine if [2008
Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah]
Palin dismissed Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan last month because
Monegan wouldn't fire a state trooper involved in a messy custody battle
with her sister." ... "She also is under fire from environmentalists for
opposing the [Republican President] Bush administration's decision in May
to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species
Act because global warming is melting the polar ice cap." ... "Dermot Cole,
a longtime columnist for Alaska's second-largest newspaper, the Fairbanks
Daily News-Miner, called McCain's choice of Palin reckless and questioned
her credentials." ... ""Sarah Palin's chief qualification for being elected
governor was that she was not Frank Murkowski," Cole said of her enormously
unpopular predecessor, who lost favor with Alaskans in part because of
unpopular budget cuts. "She was not elected because she was a conservative.
She was not elected because of her grasp of issues or because of her track
record as the mayor of Wasilla [Alaska]."" -By Dan
Joling with contributions by Sharon Theimer and H. Josef Hebert
-AP via -Chron
-
Sarah
Palin -
John
McCain - Politics
-
People
-
Family
-
Drugs
- Health
-
Federal
- US
-
Foreign
-
Military
- Terrorism
-
Alaska
-
Idaho
-
2008
Election
"On
Sarah Palin." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate] John McCain has selected Alaska [Republican] Governor Sarah
Palin as his running mate. [Governor] Gov. Palin was first elected to the
position in 2006 and previously served as the mayor of Wasilla (pop. 5,470)
[Alaska]. She also served on the town's city council. She has a degree
from the University of Idaho where she minored in political science. That
is the extent of her political experience." ... "Her biography is fascinating.
She is only 44 years-old. She eloped with her highschool sweetheart, a
Yup'ik Eskimo. They have five children named: Track 18, Bristol, 17, Willow,
13, Piper, 7, and Trig (who was born on April 18th). Trig has Down's Syndrome.
The Palins knew that Trig had an extra chromosome but decided to go ahead
with the pregnancy." ... "She has admitted to smoking the ganja [marijuana]
but says she didn't enjoy it. She was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska
contest." ... "I am not aware of Palin having any knowledge or experience
with foreign affairs, terrorism, the armed forces, or the federal bureaucracy."
... "Considering [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John
McCain's age and history with cancer, this pick has extra importance. It's
hard to envision Gov. Palin becoming president on short notice. It also
undermines McCain's focus on foreign policy and experience." -By
BooMan
Tribune
-
John
McCain -
Sarah
Palin - Science
-
Politics
-
Oil
-
Money
-
Wildlife
- History
-
Global
-
Climate
-
Ice
- Law
-
Alaska
-
Arizona
-
2008
Election - US
-
Canada
"McCain
VP Pick No Friend to Polar Bears." ... "Alaska [Republican]
Governor Sarah Palin has ignored research showing that polar bear populations
are declining in the quest to plumb new sources of energy, according to
scientists, and environmental groups who fought to put the bears on the
endangered species list." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
to be his vice presidential candidate Friday. Palin is only the second
woman to be on a major party's ticket as VP -- the first was Geraldine
Ferraro, who ran with Democrati Walter Mondale in 1984." ... "The 44-year-old
Palin, a beauty pageant winner and former mayor of a small town in Alaska,
is an advocate of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
She has infuriated environmentalists for her support of the aerial
shooting of wolves as a way to build up herds of moose and caribou. She's
also sued the Interior Department for putting
polar bears on the endangered species list." ... "In the lawsuit, filed
this month in federal district court in the District of Columbia, Palin
argues that the government's move to list polar bears as endangered is
not based on sound science, and restricts oil and natural gas development.
The Interior Department had put the bears on the list in response to a
lawsuit filed by environmental groups, who argued that the bears are being
threatened by global warming." ... "In an interview on the conservative
CNN talk show hosted by Glenn Beck earlier this year, Palin said that she
was worried that environmentalists are using the Endangered Species Act
to block the extraction of oil and gas." ... ""In fact, the number of polar
bears has risen dramatically over the past 30 years," she said. "Our fear
(is) that extreme environmentalists will use this tool, the ESA, to eventually
curtail or halt the North Slope production of very rich resources that
America needs."" ... "But biologists who have studied polar bear populations
counter that the facts simply do not support Palin's assertion that polar
bear populations are on the rise." ... ""Polar bear populations have not
been increasing for the past 30 years, and that's a well-known fact," said
Ian Stirling, an emeritus scientist with Canada's Department of the Environment
and an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta in an interview.
Stirling has studied polar bears for 37 years -- the longest of anyone."
... "In fact, the polar bear population has actually declined by 20 percent
in Alaska's Southern Beaufort Sea since the mid-1980s, he says, referring
to peer-reviewed research that he's conducted with other scientists for
the US Geological Survey. The reason: Loss of their habitat in the form
of melting ice." -By Sarah Lai Stirland
-Wired
-
Sarah
Palin -
John
McCain -
Investigation
- Legislature
-
Alaska
-
Colorado
-
2008
Election
"Choice
stuns state politicians." ... "[2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate] John McCain's choice of Alaska [Republican Governor]
Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate stunned and divided
Alaska political leaders on Friday. Supporters said she was a shrewd choice,
but others argued Palin has no business being a heartbeat away from the
presidency." ... "State Senate President Lyda Green said she thought it
was a joke when someone called her at 6 a.m. to give her the news." ...
""She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice
president or president?" said Green, a Republican from Palin's hometown
of Wasilla [Alaska]. "Look at what she's done to this state. What would
she do to the nation?"" ... "... Anchorage [Alaska] Democratic state [Senator]
Sen. Hollis French said it's a huge mistake by McCain and "reflects very,
very badly on his judgment." French said Palin's experience running the
state for less than two years hasn't prepared her for this." ... "Alaska
Democratic Party chairwoman Patti Higgins, attending her party's national
convention in Denver [Colorado], said she was shocked to hear the news
this morning." ... ""In this very competitive election for them to go pick
somebody who is ... under a cloud of suspicion, who is under investigation
for abuse of power. It just sounds like a pretty slow start to me," Higgins
said." ... "The state Legislature is investigating whether Palin and her
staff broke state law by pressuring the public safety department to fire
a state trooper who was in a custody battle with her sister." ... ""We
need a vice president who can step in if, God forbid, something happened
to John McCain," Higgins said. "I don't think she's someone who is ready
for that 3 a.m. phone call."" -By Sean Cockerham and
Wesley Loy with contributions by Lisa Demer, Tom Kizzia and Elizabeth Bluemink
-ADN.com
_2008
News News Reference August
2008 News
August 28, 2008 News URL: #August-28-2008-News
20080828
Thursday
-
Cindy
McCain -
John
McCain -
Barack
Obama -
2008
Election -
Phoenix
-
Arizona
-
Family
"Cindy
McCain's Half Sister: "I'm Voting for Barack Obama"."
... "Cindy McCain's half sister is planning on voting for [2008
Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama, she tells
-+Usmagazine.com." ... ""I'm not voting for McCain," Kathleen Hensley Portalski
tells Us. "I have a different political standpoint." ... ""I'm voting
for Obama," the Phoenix [Arizona's capital] resident says. "I think his
proposals to improve the country are more positive and I'm not a big war
believer."" ... "Portalski, 65, and the potential first lady, 54, have
the same father: Jim Hensley, the founder of the beer distributor Hensley
and Co. that Cindy McCain now chairs." ... "In an interview with NPR News'
All
Things Considered last week, Portalski said she felt
"like a non-person" after Cindy McCain described herself as an "only child.""
... "Portalski's mother is Hensley's first wife; Cindy McCain's mother,
Marguerite Hensley, also had another daughter from her first marriage."
-UsMagazine.com
-
US
-
KBR
- Corporation
-
Jordan
-
Nepal
- Workers
-
Human
-
Rights
- Iraq
-
Military
-
California
"KBR,
Partner in Iraq Contract Sued in Human Trafficking Case."
... "Agnieszka Fryszman, a partner at Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll,
said 13 Nepali men, between the ages of 18 and 27, were recruited in Nepal
to work as kitchen staff in hotels and restaurants in Amman, Jordan. But
once the men arrived in Jordan, their passports were seized and they were
told they were being sent to a military facility in Iraq, Fryszman said."
... "As the men were driven in cars to Iraq, they were stopped by insurgents.
Twelve were kidnapped and later executed, Fryszman said. The thirteenth
man survived and worked in a warehouse in Iraq for 15 months before returning
to Nepal." ... "The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in California on
behalf of the workers' families and the survivor, claims that the trafficking
scheme was engineered by KBR and its Jordanian subcontractor, Daoud &
Partners, according to Fryszman." -By Dana Hedgpeth
-WashingtonPost
-
KBR
- Lawsuit
-
Human
-
Rights
- Iraq
-
Nepal
- Workers
-
US
-
Company
-
Military
"KBR
Suit Alleges 'Forced Labor' and 'Slavery'." ... "We've
now looked through the lawsuit against KBR that we
told you about this morning. The complaint
(pdf) alleges that the company -- the biggest U.S. [United States] contractor
in Iraq during the period at issue -- engaged in a human trafficking scheme
whereby 12 Nepali men were brought to Iraq to work and were prevented from
leaving. The men were then kidnapped by insurgents, and all but one were
executed." ... "In sum: "Defendants' actions as set forth above constitute
the torts of trafficking in persons, involuntary servitude, forced labor,
and slavery."" ... "This is hardly the first time that KBR has been in
hot water, of course. As we noted
back in June, the company "was criticized
in March for making troops sick by failing to provide clean water. And
top military officials have given
false statements to Congress to quell controversy over the company."
In addition, at least two female former KBR employees in Iraq have
alleged that they were raped or sexually assaulted by co-workers, and
that KBR was less than aggressive in investigating their claims." -By
Zachary Roth -TPMMuckracker
.TalkingPointsMemo
-
Global
-
Climate
-
Ice
- Science
-
History
"Arctic
ice shrinks to second-lowest level ever." ... "Arctic
sea ice, which melts partly during