And the digging continues!!!

It now seems that Sarah Palin's firing of the Alaska State Highway Patrol commander wasn't her first such incident. In 1997 Sarah Palin faced possible recall as the mayor of the city of Wasilla, Alaska, after she fired the chief of police and Liberian for not "supporting her efforts to govern. "Not fully supporting her efforts to govern" seem to have meant "supporting her opponent, John Stein, in the 1996 election."

Chief of police Irl Stambaugh sued for breach of contract. Three years later a judge ruled in Palin's favor, not ruling on the ethics of the firing, but that under Alaska state law police chiefs serve at the behest of the mayor unless otherwise specified by city ordinance.

The recall was apparently never followed through on. Anyone see a pattern here?

It'll never happen

His Democratic opponents derided him as too old for the presidency. They called him "granny." They even suggested that he might be senile.

Yet despite lingering questions about his age and his health, and largely on his reputation as a war hero, (sound familiar??) William Henry Harrison was elected the ninth President of the United States, taking the oath of office on March 4, 1841.

One month later, he was dead.

Senator John McCain and his "beauty queen entourage" are heading to Mississippi today to check on emergency preparations in the path of hurricane Gustav!!!

Unless McCain is going to get out and direct traffic or drive a bus full of evacuees, than I say stay the hell out of the way and let the professionals work.

48 hours later - What was McCain thinking??

It's been 48 hours since the surprise announcement of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the Republican nominee for vice president of the United States. Millions of people are shocked at John McCain's decision.

Members of the Republican party are out in force trying to convince people that Palin's experience running first a city then a state is far more experience that Obama's experience of terms in the Illinois State Senate and the U.S. Senate. One person even went so far on FoxNews to state that she has foreign policy experience because of the proximity of Russia to Alaska!!!

So what have I learned about Sarah Palin in the last 48 hours. She is;

1. Pro death penalty.

2. Pro gun and a lifetime member of the NRA.

3. Anti abortion even in the event of rape or incest.

4. Pro abstinence only education.

5, Pro drilling, especially in Alaska.

She has been quoted as saying that she didn't really know what the job of vice president entailed. When asked abut the Iraq war and "the surge", she is quoted as saying, "I've been too focused on state government. I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq." On Global warming she is quoted as saying, "I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made." On abortion she is quoted as saying, "even if my teenage daughter were impregnated by a rapist, she would chose life."

She is under legislative investigation in Alaska for the possible misuse of power in the firing of the director of the highway patrol because he wouldn't fire a trooper who happened to be going through a nasty divorce from her sister.

What happens should McCain die unexpectedly? Do we want this self proclaimed "hockey mom" running the United States? What does this say about McCain's decision making process? Will he panic under pressure and make what he likes to call a "maverick decision." We already know he likes war.

Can't keep up!!!

I can hardly keep up with the news from the 2008 presidential campaign. This morning (Friday)John McCain announced that his vice presidential running mate is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. So far I have learned that she has been the Governor of Alaska for about 1 1/2 years and was the mayor of a town of 8900 people for two terms before that.


She was born in Idaho on 2-11-1964 but has lived most of her life in Alaska. She was once on the Alaska State championship basketball team where she earned the nickname "Sara Barracuda." She won the "Miss Wisilla" title and competed for the "Miss Alaska" title. She graduated from the University of Idaho with a major in journalism and a minor in political science. She is married to an oil worker/fisherman and has five children, the youngest is less than a year old.




The Republican National Convention is slated to start next Monday. It could be delayed based on what hurricane Gustav decides to do. Should be an interesting convention to watch.

Barak rocks DNC

I went to dinner Thursday evening with a group of friends that get together every month or so from my old place of employment. We drink beer, eat pizza, and catch up on whats going on from those still employed there. A great time was had by all.

I rushed home to try and find a replay of Barak Obama's acceptance speech. At about midnight, I found a complete replay of his introduction, a short clip on his life, and finally the entire speech from beginning to end.

I thought his speech was great. He finally seemed to come out swinging at John McCain after enduring 4-6 weeks of McCain's nasty attacks. He also laid out his ideals and pursuits for his presidency. He rounded out his speech with the following assessment;

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It’s a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

Happy Birthday Sean Connery

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Sean Connery who turned 78 years old on August 25th. Thomas Sean Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Sean has one son, Jason, from his first marriage to Diane Cilento, an Austrailian actress. He is currently married to French artist Micheline Roquebrune.

Sean is an award winning actor, director and once placed third in the 1953 Mr. Universe bodybuilding contest. His break in the business came when he first played James Bond in the move Dr. No in 1962. He eventually starred in six James Bond movies.

I'm sure everyone has their favorite Sean Connery movie. I had to add several photos since my wife Karen is a huge fan. So, Happy Birthday to Sean Connery.

Historic day at the DNC

Yesterday was an historic day for America at the Democratic National Convention. For the first time in history an African-American was selected as the nominee for President of the United States by a major political party. Senator Barak Obama was selected as the democratic presidential nominee. Not a big surprise, but historic non the less.

Senator Joe Biden accepted the nomination as the Democratic nominee for vice president. He gave a well rounded acceptance speech.

The highlight of the evening in my opinion was the speech given by former President Bill Clinton. I always thought he was a very good public speaker. Karen and I saw him at a campaign rally in a park in Ontario, Ca.

His speech included a couple of good quotes including, "People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our (the U.S.) example than by the example of our power", and "Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world. Ready to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be President of the United States." (My emphasis)

Thursday evening Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech from Petco Field. He has his work cut out for him in trying to top the excellent speeches already given by his wife Michelle and Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Gustav heading for the gulf coast

Emergency preparations are already being made for the possibility of Gustav hitting New Orleans as a hurricane. It's impact may even be felt in the Republican National Convention slated to start next Monday. Looks like deja vu all over again. Lets hope not.

San Onofre Update

AP Associated Press
Aug. 27, 2008 10:56 PM

Judge: Nudists allowed at San Onofre State Beach

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP) -- Nude sunbathers can continue to let it all hang out along a secluded stretch of San Onofre State Beach, unless someone objects.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Fell ruled Wednesday that state parks officials can cite sunbathers and swimmers in the buff only if a private citizen complains.

It's the same policy that has been in place since 1979, but complaints of lewd behavior prompted a crackdown by state parks officials earlier this year. They announced they would outlaw nudity as of Sept. 2.

State parks district superintendent Ken Kramer told the Los Angeles Times that even though they "don't agree" with the court's decision, they plan to follow the judge's directive.

DNC - Day two

Tonight at the Democratic National Convention Hillary Clinton gave her long awaited speech. In my opinion it was a great speech. I think she went a long way to dispel the rumors of a party divided.

The speech included catch phrases, that I'm sure we'll hear again, such as, "No way, no how, no McCain", and "we don't need four more years of the last eight years." It ended with, "that is our mission Democrats. Lets elect Barak Obama and Joe Biden for that future worthy of our great country."

Tomorrow night Senator Joe Biden and President Clinton are scheduled to speak.

I was recently told that my blog is a bit "slanted."

So my response to that is:

YUP!!!

Democratic National Convention

I watched a good portion of the Democratic National Convention yesterday. The first part was kinda boring with speeches from the different committees. I found that Jessie Jackson Jr is quite an articulate speaker and I'm sure we'll hear more from him in the future.

I watched a great speech from Nancy Keenan, who spoke on behalf of NARAL, Pro-Choice America. I found that NARAL stands for the National Abortion Rights Action League.

In her speech she said, "As a former elected official from Montana, I am proud to say that my party—the Democratic Party—is a party of many faiths and backgrounds united behind these core moral values: we support and defend a woman’s right to choose safe, legal abortion."

"We believe we can and should do more to prevent unintended pregnancy, which would reduce the need for abortion. We stand for the teaching of honest, realistic, sex education. We stand for the right to choose contraception. We stand with women who choose adoption. We stand with women who choose to continue their pregnancies, and we will support them in the responsibilities of raising a child."

As you can see the convention is all work and no play for the various delegates!!

Senator Ted Kennedy surprised everyone in the convention by giving a speech. He pretty much passed on the torch of leadership of the Democratic Party to the next generation.

Michelle Obama gave a very heart warming and quite impressive speech. She spoke a lot about how both she and Barak Obama came from humble beginning and through hard work and education are living the "American Dream" that is available to everyone in this country.

At the end of Michelle Obama's speech they showed Barak Obama on a big screen television from Kansas City. The Obama daughters spoke to their dad through a microphone saying hi and asking where he was. It was cute.

Tonight Hillary Clinton is scheduled to speak. The media is continuing to try to portray the Democratic Party as split and expecting fireworks from Hillary's speech. I don't see that happening. We'll see.

Weekend roundup

I had quite a nice weekend thank you for asking. Friday evening I went to an Angels baseball game with my son Josh. The game was between my beloved Minnesota Twins and the Anaheim Angels. I'm proud to say we kicked some Angels ass, winning the game 9-0. Josh had bought me the tickets for Father's Day. We had very nice evening.

Saturday Karen had to work a little overtime. She now works in the Workman's comp./benifits area for the school district and since school started this week she has been real busy with open enrolment for the district employee's benefits. So, I took Karen to lunch and we went to Togos. For those of you not familiar with Togos, it is a sandwich shop similar to Subway. They make great sandwiches. Karen had her usual turkey/avocado and I had tuna.

Sunday I went to my favorite beach with my good friends Jack and Jon. It was a beautiful day except for a little wind. The beach was quite crowded.

The State of California is trying to close down this portion of San Onofre beach as it is clothing optional. The Friends of San Onofre and the Naturalist Action Committee are in a court battle to stop it and a reporter and camera woman from the New York Times were on the beach interviewing people and taking photos. So far there is a stay on enforcement of the nudity laws until the issue is settled.

For those of you who may have never had the experience of going to a nude beach, it is no different than a regular beach except the people don't have clothes on. There are people there playing volleyball and walking their dogs. There are people going into the ocean to swim or surf, and there are couples, families, groups, and singles of all ages, colors, and sizes. Yesterday was the first time I witnessed a couple becoming amorous and a regular went over and politely asked them to stop.

The first twenty minutes of being nude are probably the most uncomfortable. But soon you realize that people aren't pointing their fingers at you and laughing, or even paying much attention to you at all. After that it's a piece of cake. But why you may ask? It is quite liberating I think. It's especially nice going into the ocean and swimming nude. If anyone has ever had the urge to go to a nude beach and needs someone to hold their hand the first time, I'll be glad to take you for a day. You may even want to go on a weekday the first time as the beach is not nearly as crowded during the week. Who knows, it could change your life!!!

Housing slump

We've all been reading about the housing slump and thinking how terrible it was for those who have lost their homes because of it. Well it was brought closer to home for me this week when my good friend Jack told me about a web site called Zillow.com. You can search your address and find out what the current value is for your home.

To my chagrin, I learned that my house is currently worth $269,500. Yesterday it was worth $271,000. It dropped $1,500 in one day!!! Worst of all, my house was worth $416,000 in January of 2006. The good news is that we only paid $99,900 for it twenty-one years ago.

So if you have an interest in what your house is currently worth, and a strong heart, take a look at zillow.com. It was quite an eye opener for me.

I didn't know that???

Did you know that U.S. Olympic athletes receive prize money for their medals? U.S. Olympic athletes receive $25,000 for each gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze medals. The prize money is received from the U.S. Olympic Committee.

I didn't know that!!!! Gives a whole new meaning to the eight gold medals that Phelps won.

Happy Birthday Barbara Eden

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Barbara Eden who turns 74 years old today. Barbara Jean Morehead was born in Tucson, Az. and moved to San Francisco at a young age. Barbara went to Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco where she was a cheerleader. She was selected Miss San Francisco in 1951. She worked as a chorus girl at a night club called Ciro's for six months and was named "Miss Hot Rod of 1956" and "Miss Silent Service of 1958".

Barbara started out with guest rolls on such favorites as "I Love Lucy", "Gunsmoke", "The Andy Griffith Show", and "Father Knows Best".

Her most famous role was as Jeannie in the hit series, "I Dream of Jeannie." She held that role from 1965 to 1970.



Her career didn't stop with "I Dream of Jeannie". She went on to star in the movie and later sitcom, "Harper Valley PTA." The series ran for 29 episodes from 1981 to 1982. She also had five episodes with her "I Dream of Jeannie" co-star, Larry Hagman, on Dallas.

Barbara is also a singer and has performed on Broadway in such hits as "The Sound of Music, "Annie Get Your Gun" and "South Pacific".

So, Happy Birthday to Barbara Eden!!!

Obama & Biden

It's official. Senator Obama has chosen Senator Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential running mate. I think it's a great choice. Joe Biden is a sharp guy who will bring a great deal of experience to the ticket.

It was said that Obama was to alert his supporters with his decision with a text message. Apparently that text message came out some time early this morning.