August 2008 News History Archives

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August 31, 2008 News URL: #August-31-2008-News
20080831 Sunday

- 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

- 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

- 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

- 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

- 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