My New Look

Well, Kiko and I spent most of yesterday at the Renaissance Faire down in Hollistser yesterday. We have a friend, Jessie, who has been going for the past 30 years and is a huge devotee of it. Not wanting to be big party poopers, we decided to join in the fun and outfitted ourselves appropriately. Feel free to leave comments about how authentic we look and what a fine peasant I make.

There are a few other photos up here as well, for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy.

Post Schedule

Quite a while ago I posted a schedule for blog posts. Unfortunately I haven't been following it very well - ok, not at all. Anyway I've decided to make another attempt at this. Despite my somewhat haphazard approach to things, I love lists and schedules. It makes you look efficient even if you aren't! This is a slightly revised version of my first schedule. You'll notice that Tuesday says OPEN. That is for 2 reasons. One, the person who posts on Monday - I won't name names - tends to post late in the day so I'm giving him extra time. The other, real reason, is that I had no more ideas. So if anyone wants to volunteer to post on Tuesdays, please let me know. You don't have to have a topic - you can say anything you want. Trust me, only non-family members are reading - you can really say anything you want and your secret will be safe!

Please note that this schedule is not intended to deter anyone else from posting. You are free to post anytime you feel like it. If you've forgotten how, I'm happy to help! Oh, I just realized I'd better print this schedule out or I'm going to forget about it. Also it would be really, really, really nice if people sent me information for Family Friday. I'd like to post things that other family members are doing. For example, We took a weekend jaunt to Mars or We won the lottery last night (if you have, please send me your address, I'd love to visit you!) If no one sends me anything I'll just post about my life and believe me, it's boring.

Sunday: Silent Sunday
Monday: Stephen
Tuesday: OPEN
Wednesday: Poetry Day
Thursday: Mystery Thursday
Friday: Family Friday (Oh that is so clever, I was going to say Family Updates & Family Friday just came to me. Sometimes I can't stand myself I'm so clever.)
Saturday: Your Tax Dollar At Work (I'm liking this)

Robin, the lonely blog mistress

Check this out

Truly folks, you should add this blog to your reading - Folia Salviarum. It can be quite entertaining!

Recommendation from Robin, the lonely blog mistress

Silent Sunday

Your Tax Dollars At Work - Pt 4

I'm a little reluctant to continue this series but I'm growing quite fond of it so here goes. Following are some Senate resolutions from last week:


12. S.RES.601 : A resolution designating October 19 through October 25, 2008, as "National Save for Retirement Week".
Sponsor: Sen Smith, Gordon H. [OR] (introduced 6/25/2008) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 9/18/2008 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Resolution agreed to in Senate without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.


13. S.RES.623 : A resolution recognizing the importance of the role of the Lander Trail in the settlement of the American West on the 150th anniversary of the Lander Trail.
Sponsor: Sen Enzi, Michael B. [WY] (introduced 7/24/2008) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 9/18/2008 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Resolution agreed to in Senate without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.


14. S.RES.650 : A resolution recognizing the importance of National Neighbor Day, National Good Neighbor Day, and National Neighborhood Day.
Sponsor: Sen Reed, Jack [RI] (introduced 8/1/2008) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 9/18/2008 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Resolution agreed to in Senate without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

Really Incredible

I'm rather ignorant about politics - something I have no problem admitting. However it is nice to find someone even more ignorant than I am! Unfortunately she doesn't seem to be aware of her ignorance. You all get that if you vote for McCain there is a possibility this woman could be President?

Genghis Khan

I imagine that most of you have heard of this guy - Genghis Khan - right? I had but I've never read much about him. Recently I read two books by Conn Iggulden: Genghis Birth of an Empire and Genghis Lords of the Bow. These are the first two of a, I think, three-part fictional series on Genghis Khan. Unfortunately the third one won't be out in the US until March 2009 (if I were in England I could be reading it now)! These were very good stories and now I want to read more about him. You are wondering why I'm bothering to tell you this, right? Well, someone has to post on this blog!!

Actually I thought it was very interesting reading about him. The map shows the extent of his conquests. He conquered more contiguous territory than anyone else in history. He created a huge empire out of disparate mongol tribes and held them together through the force of his personality (and a little bit of killing). What is fascinating to me is that he actually did create an empire. When he was nine years old his father was poisoned and he, his mother and brothers were cast out of their tribe and left to die. That he survived this and went on to become the ruler of an empire is really amazing.

Most of what we know about Genghis Khan comes from The Secret History of the Mongols which was written shortly after his death in 1227. It is the next book on my reading list (although I'm getting it from the library not Amazon, you'll see why if you click the link)! The portrait to the right is from the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. Actually no one knows what he really looked like. Personally this portrait doesn't support my vision - it doesn't look very menacing!


Robin, the lonely blog mistress

We Deserve It Dividend

I received the following from one of our Northwest neighbors who bribed me to suggested I post it. Oh, dear, I've forgotten how I was supposed to describe him. Let's see I think it was as a wealthy, not very good-looking politician who wants all of California's money. I don't know, does that sound right? Anyway I don't understand economics but I'm in favor of anything that would give me $297,500!


Robin, the lonely (but soon to be wealthy) blog mistress

=========================================================

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a *We Deserve It Dividend*.

Of course, it would *NOT* be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

• Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
• Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
• Put away money for college – it'll be there
• Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
• Buy a new car – create jobs
• Invest in the market – capital drives growth
• Pay for your parent's medical insurance – health care improves
• Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ("vote buy") economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't. Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work."
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Silent Sunday

Your Tax Dollars At Work - Pt 3

I was going to wait until next week for part 3 but this was to much. The following bill was introduced in Congress this week: H.R. 6975, To require aliens to attest that they will not advocate installing a Sharia law system in the United States as a condition for admission, and for other purposes. It would also require the deportation on any alien currently residing in the US who advocates installing a Sharia law system.

The bill is called The Jihad Prevention Act and was introduced by Representative Thomas Tancredo, a Republican from Littleton, CO.

I found this on The Washington Watch.com blog - pretty much a blog that does exactly what its name suggests! People can vote on bills which is kind of interesting because you get an idea of public opinion. The vote on this particular bill was 40% in favor, 60% opposed.

Here is another blog I found called The Rick Honcho & Dr. Katie Show. If you'd like a clear, unbiased view of the bill (that is sarcasm folks) check them out. Actually this is a pretty horrendous blog but I just had to include it because I was so astonished. Check out the Flag of Islam over White House post.

Now that I've introduced this, I'll give you a few random thoughts from my slightly odd brain. First of all if you were really coming to the US to install a Sharia law system are you going to be so stupid as to admit it when immigration asks you? I kind of think not. Secondly, I was under the impression this was a country where you were allowed to have differing opinions. Apparently that doesn't apply to immigrants? So if you are in the US on a visa you have to support everything that the government says? Now suppose that I, an "official" American citizen want to install a Sharia law system. Is that ok?

Admittedly I'm probably asking kind of stupid questions. This just brings up something that I really feel very strongly about though. This is one world - random divisions of countries are stupid. Throughout history how many wars have been fought over land and nationalist fervor (thanks for the phrase Jill)? I think that people should be allowed to live wherever they want and believe whatever they want. I'm opposed to immigration restrictions and stupid laws that ask asinine questions.

I'd tell you more stuff that I believe but it is probably naive, idealistic and would be impossible to implement. To give you a hint though! -- in my world there would be no war or money or poverty. Now admittedly this would probably require a change in human nature that isn't going to happen. My plan to deal with anyone who disagrees with me (did I mention I favor an absolute monarchy with me as queen?) is to put them on a rocketship & send them to Mars. Then if they come back they would be aliens wouldn't they!!

I realize I'm being a little silly, but I think spending time and money - your money and mine by the way - debating this kind of stuff in Congress when there are so many really important issues that should be dealt with is irresponsible.

Robin, the lonely blog mistress

Your Tax Dollars At Work - Pt 2

Ok, same legislative day as I noted in yesterdays post. I really love this one. Again, start from the bottom & read up. Now I'm certainly in favor of condemning television programming that indoctrinates hatred and violence toward anyone - actually I'd condemn most television programming but that's another post. What I don't understand is why it took 40 minutes of debate. Also I don't understand the purpose of this. Again I very well may be missing something terribly important but if so, someone should explain it to me. I'm paying for these guys to debate this stuff, as are you!

They can pass this nice resolution but it has no force or applicability. Why are they taking time to do this? And in case you're wondering, the vote on this was 409-yes, 1-no. So one of our illustrious representatives is in favor of using television programming for indoctrination? The lone no vote was from Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. Perhaps he meant something else by voting no but I think he should have made it clear. His web site states that: Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. He is in favor of limited government intervention. Maybe he agrees that this was pointless legislation and that is why he voted no. If so, I think they should put that in the record.

Considered under suspension of the rules.

Ms. Jackson-Lee moved to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution.

H. Res. 1069:

condemning the use of television programming by Hamas to indoctrinate hatred, violence, and anti-Semitism toward Israel in young Palestinian children

1:14 P.M. -

At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.

12:54 P.M. -

DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H. Res. 1069.

Your Tax Dollars At Work, Pt 1

One of the things I do for work is monitor healthcare legislation. I find it fascinating to read the daily files of our legislators. On this particular day they were in session from 10:30 am to 10:01 pm. It is not at all clear to me that they did anything productive. For example: (You have to start at the bottom & read up - I'm not sure why but it's the government so I guess that explains it.) They spent 80 minutes debating 2 resolutions to rename post offices. Now perhaps I'm missing something but this doesn't seem like an effective use of time to me. Especially when I'm paying for it. You'll note I called this post Pt 1. I think this could be a very long series - tomorrow I'll have a really neat one for you!

LEGISLATIVE DAY OF SEPTEMBER 9, 2008
110TH CONGRESS - SECOND SESSION

Considered under suspension of the rules.

Mr. Clay moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.

H.R. 6169:

to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 15455 Manchester Road in Ballwin, Missouri, as the "Specialist Peter J. Navarro Post Office Building"

2:14 P.M. -

At the conclusion of debate, the chair put the question on the motion to suspend the rules. Mr. Ehlers objected to the Yea - Nay vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Further proceedings on the motion were postponed. The point of no quorum was withdrawn.

2:07 P.M. -

DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6169.

Considered under suspension of the rules.

Mr. Davis (IL) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.

H.R. 6168:

to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 112 South 5th Street in Saint Charles, Missouri, as the "Lance Corporal Drew W. Weaver Post Office Building"

At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.

2:01 P.M. -

DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6168.

Just to reiterate, I'm pretty ignorant politically so perhaps I'm totally misunderstanding all this. If so, please enlighten me! Otherwise I'm going to write a letter soon asking for a rebate on my taxes.

If you're interested, you can go to the website of the Office of the Clerk and click on a highlighted day on the calendar. That will take you to the proceedings for that day.

Highway 1 & Goat Rock Beach

I drove up highway 1 the other day. Now this is something that many of you may not be aware of - it is VERY curvy. After a short distance I was getting nauseous (I have carsick issues). Anyway unless anyone wants to hear about how I feel when I get carsick I'll get on with the post. It is really a beautiful (although curvy) drive. When you think about it, it's pretty cool that we - well those of us in the SF Bay Area - can drive a short distance and have such spectacular views. Personally I found the Tower of London more beautiful but the views from highway 1 would definitely be in my top 10 list.

I stopped at Goat Rock Beach - I'm quite fascinated with the name of this beach - I don't know why, it just intrigues me. According to Wikipedia, the origin of the name is disputed. Supposedly in the early 20th century some goatherds used the flattop of the rock for grazing goats. I didn't see any goats and I looked pretty carefully. However, I did take some nice pictures that I thought I'd share with the loyal readers of the Texeira blog. FYI - the giant rock in the picture is goat rock. The rock with the hole in it is called Arched Rock. The picture at the bottom right showing rocks on the ground - I decided they looked like Stonehengey ruins. . .

I found this little news snippet on The Associated Press website:

Accusations that a soccer player was using witchcraft during a match in eastern Congo sparked a riot that killed 13 people, a U.N.-funded radio station reported Monday.

Most of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 16, Radio Okapi said. They were suffocated as panicked crowds ran for the exits during the mayhem Sunday in Butembo in eastern Congo's North Kivu province.

Radio Okapi said police tried to control the violence at Matokeo stadium by firing into the air to protect their commander, who was hit in the head and wounded by fans.

The two local clubs involved were Socozaki and Nyuki System, the radio said.

Dozens of teenagers marched through Butembo's dirt streets Monday in protest, and the regional governor, Julien Mpaluku, paid a visit to the hospital.

Mpaluku said the government was investigating.

He made no mention of witchcraft, but confirmed that soldiers had fired into the air to calm angry crowds. The shooting prompted panic instead, which became fatal "when the crowds all tried to leave at the same time."

"Most of the dead were children, only two or three were adults," Mpaluku said.

And for those of you who think this kind of thing only happens in "those countries," how about this news story from Australia just today?

Not enough? Is Philadelphia close enough for you? Here's a story from Friday.

Why do we keep doing this? As a species we have made incredible advances in industry, technology, medicine, psychology, astronomy, economics, anthropology, etc. The list goes on and on. And yet, we still resort to violence to solve our problems. We have made so little progress in that area. And when we look back at those people who have tried to move us forward in that realm, most of them have been killed. 

I'm thinking of moving to Saturn.

Silent Sunday

The Adventures of Pippin & Mellifera

Cute update: Pippin is so smart! A lot of times after I take a shower he comes in and cuddles with me. Lately he hasn't been doing it, I think he has been a little annoyed because Mellifera has been needing a lot of cuddling. Anyway when I went in to take my shower earlier I told him when I finished he could come and cuddle. When I came out of the bathroom he was standing on the top step looking at me & ran into my room to cuddle! He clearly understood everything I had said! He didn't stay long though - sometimes he'll cuddle with me for 15-20 minutes. While that may not sound like a lot it is a lengthy time for a cat to allow a human to lay their head on their stomach and say goofy weird stuff and sing off-key songs! Ok, back to the movie!

Pippin & Mellifera love to play outside. The other day we were out for quite a while & I took a lot of pictures. Instead of making you look at all the pictures I made a cute movie with them!! There is music so be sure & turn your sound on. I'm thinking that my career as a filmmaker may be taking off. I could be famous someday - probably for making really bad cat movies!

Facebook

I'm sure you've all heard of Facebook. It's a social networking site where people post really boring stuff about themselves. Whoops, I meant interesting stuff! Anyway, I, unbelievable as you may find it, have a Facebook profile. You'll notice the description I used contained two key words: social and networking. That means you are supposed to have friends. I only have eight friends. This makes me very sad and lonely and pathetic. I hasten to add that they are eight fascinating friends and it is actually like having 16. Yeah right.

Anyway - - I'm posting this to encourage everyone reading (unless you've already done so) to join Facebook and become my friend. It will make me very happy!

Obama Video

Nice video - take a look.

PostSecret

This is interesting - called PostSecret, it is a project started in 2004 by Frank Warren. People send him their secrets on a postcard and so far there have been four books of the postcards published. It is kind of a funny idea at first but when you think about it, it is actually a pretty astounding thing. We all keep secrets for many reasons. And I wonder a lot lately why we do it. I guess there are a lot of reasons to keep a secret: shame and fear being the two main ones that come to mind. The funny thing is that usually the secret isn't as big a deal as you think. I think we all tend to believe that our secret is different - it is bigger and worse than all the rest. Mostly I think they are funny or sad. I'm kind of meandering here - I was just quite taken with the idea of this project.

I like the title - PostSecret. I'm not sure what Frank Warren had in mind when he called it that but I really like it. Often telling your secret, whether you do so on an anonymous postcard, in therapy or just blurt it out to a total stranger, can be very freeing. Life PostSecret can be different. Maintaining a secret can be a lot of work, I speak from experience.

The thing that struck me in writing this is that we build so many walls to keep other people out and keeping a secret is just another way of doing that. Yet we all, I think, want to be close to other people, to feel like we're understood and understand someone else. I don't know - people are strange. I've given away quite a few secrets in the last 10 months and mostly I guess, maybe, it is a good thing. I'm down to, I don't know 10-15 that I'm determined to hold onto though!

Here are a few secrets from the PostSecret project:

1. Everyone thinks I drink coffee. It's really grape kool-aid.
2. I've always wanted to rob a bank.
3. As a kid I believed I was destined for greatness. I still do.
   
4. I rescheduled a business conference so I wouldn't miss my dogs birthday.
   
5. I like to pretend I don't know things that I really know.
6. I like to watch Dr. Phil while drunk.
   
7. I am more worried about aging than I am about dying.
8. All I ever wanted was to feel as though I'm enough.
9. Sometimes I think other people are reading my thoughts.
   
10. I'm afraid I'm only comfortable when I'm alone.
    
11. I dance in vacant elevators.
    
12. Everyone who knew me before 9/11 believes I am dead.
13. I want my last year back.
    
14. Sometimes I keep one eye open after I've gone to sleep in case my stuffed animals come to life.
    
15. I am still struggling with what I've become.
16. I give decaf to customers who are rude to me.
    
17. I want to be an outlaw biker.
    
18. I hate working as a janitor for arrogant rich people so I clean their keyboard with a toilet bowl brush.
    
19. Everyday is a compromise.
20. I am a firefighter. I am afraid the day might come when I'm not as brave as I am supposed to be.
    

Just for fun: None of the secrets above are mine in the sense that I sent them to PostSecret. However I share five of them with the contributors. Any guesses? How about you, do you share any?

So what's your secret? Say it out loud. Tell somebody. Send a postcard. Better yet, post it as a comment - you can do it anonymously! Or you can tell me. I love secrets. You might be surprised at how much better you feel. Then again, you might not (be surprised or feel better!).

A Letter About Sarah Palin

My apologies for the incredibly long post, but I think that this election is the most important election we have had in this country since I've been old enough to vote, perhaps ever. Once John McCain announced his choice for his running mate and Ms. Palin made her remarks at the Republic National  Convention, she has pretty much been cloistered away by the Republican leadership. Why? If she is on the ticket because John McCain thinks she would be the best Vice President ever, you would think he would want her out there so that the American people can get to know her, right? That hasn't happened, however, and there is a really good reason. This woman is at least as scary as John McCain, and that's saying quite a bit. Below is an open letter from a woman in Alaska by the name of Anne Kilkenny. Anne lives in Wasilla (the town of which Ms. Palin was mayor) and has quite a lot to say about the new Republican vice presidential candidate. I think her letter is very even-handed given the experience she has had with her, and truly was motivated by the desire to see a free and open exchange of information, which is, after all, what our society is founded upon. You can see for yourself what you think. I have left off the e-mail for Ms. Palin, as she asked that it not be posted on websites (lots of kooks out there). While I don't think any of the readers of this blog are kooks, and I have seen this letter posted on many websites, I am doing my best to respect the spirit of her request. So with that introduction, here is the letter from Anne Kilkenny.

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart. Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 years later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated" her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn't like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit, exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance—but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork".

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as  "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.

 

CLAIM VS FACT

• Hockey mom: true for a few years
  
• PTA mom: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
  
• NRA supporter: absolutely true
  
• Social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
  
• Pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
  
• Pro-life: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation
  
• Experienced: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
  
• Political maverick: not at all
  
• Gutsy: absolutely!
  
• Open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
  
• Has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
  
• A Greenie: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
  
• Fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
  
• Pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.
  
• Pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents
  
• Pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla's history.
  
• Pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.
  

 

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny, Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that's life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS

I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin's selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90's.

Anne Kilkenny

I PASSED!

Ok, I know it isn't my day to post, but I had to share my good news - I passed my math class!!! This is actually pretty astonishing news -- I was kind of worried that I wouldn't. I won't give you details on scores - it would make me look lazy - but I passed!!

For those of you who don't know details or why I'm so excited, let me explain. I've been attempting, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, for a good number of years to finish my BA degree. At this point I've taken everything I need except math. Unfortunately I didn't do well enough on the entry-level math test to take a class that counts toward the degree. This meant that I have to take 2 remedial math classes before I can take the final class I need for my degree.

Frankly math scares me. I look at problems and my mind shuts down (no jokes please) and I panic. You can see why I was worried that I wouldn't pass this class. But I did!! Now I have to take one more remedial class then I can take the final class I need for my degree. If all goes well, by this time next year I'll be a college graduate. Several years later than I'd anticipated but . . .

I have high hopes that once I have a degree, Jill will move me up the scale so that I'm above the turtle! (long story for another day)

Silent Sunday

We're walking on October 12th in San Jose - it isn't to late to join us or make a contribution!

Blog Action Day

I'm sure you all noticed the Blog Action Day icon on the side. In case you didn't click to find out about it, I thought I'd provide an explanation. Blog Action Day is October 15th and the purpose is to focus blog discussions on a particular topic. This year's topic is poverty. I signed OUR blog up and on October 15th will do a post about poverty. At this point I have no idea what I'll say so any ideas are welcome!

Right now there are 3,580 sites registered with an audience exceeding 7 million. If you have a blog of your own, I'd encourage you to register and join the conversation on October 15th!

Texeira's Around the World

I found an interesting site called World Names Profiler. You put in your last name and it gives you information on where people with the same name are located. The first 3 times I put in Texeira I received an error message. I was getting a bit worried! Finally it worked though and produced the following information:

The country with the most Texeira's is France (I found this odd): 11.05 FPM (frequency per million - I have no way to explain what that means). The US comes in at 4.57 FPM.

The region with the most is Hawaii with 284.07 FPM. The city with the most is High Wycombe, South East, Great Britain. There was no number associated with the city but I take that as a definite sign that I should return to England very soon! I also think that as there are so many other Texeira's there that everyone who shares the name Texeira should contribute funds for my trip. Well it was worth a shot.

Anyway this is kind of an interesting site. I'm not sure how accurate the data is but it is kind of fun to pop your name in and see what comes up!

This is Cute!

I just had to put this picture up. I was ready to go to bed last night and looked at my bed only to find it occupied. Now if your first thought was that I should move them, you obviously aren't a big cat lover & you don't know me very well! My first thought was, oh how cute, I have to take a picture. Then I wondered if I should sleep in the living room. I finally decided I could squeeze in on the other side which is what I did. This annoyed Pippin though and he moved. Anyway I thought they were adorable!

Beads & Stitching

A couple of months ago I joined the 2008 Bead Journal Project. This is a year long commitment to make a beaded journal page each month. This is the second year of the project and I had spent a good many months admiring the work of participants in the 2007 project. It starts this month so I have to get busy on my project although I'm a little nervous.

Anyway the point of this, aside from filling the blogosphere with another post is to point you toward my new blog! This is strictly a stitching blog so many of you may not be interested but I thought I'd share anyway. Right now I only have an introductory post but I'm going to post pictures of my bead journal projects and other things that I'm working on. I'm also planning to post pictures of some of Jill's work - which is quite excellent by the way (not that I'm bragging!).

My blog is called One More Stitch - take a look if you feel like it! Also if you're interested, look at the Bead Journal Project link. At the bottom of the page there is a link to the 2007 project and you can look at member pages that show work they did last year. I think it's pretty amazing!

What Year Is This?

Ok, you all need to take a look at this post from iReport.com. I cannot believe that people are making such a big deal out of Palin's daughter being pregnant. I really don't know if it is hypocrisy or what but I just find it incredible. I usually don't pay much attention to stuff like this but this (probably for the obvious reason) hit a nerve. And if you don't know the obvious reason, I'm happy to share. I was an unmarried 18-year-old (more years ago than I care to remember). I don't think it meant my parents were unfit or should have the information inserted in their resume. If there are people out there, and obviously there are, who believe they have so much control over their kids that nothing like this can happen in their family, I'd suggest they - well I'll go with the trite wake up and smell the coffee. When I got pregnant, and I'm pretty sure this applies to most people, the last thing I was thinking about was whether my parents would think this was a good idea.

I'm not voting for McCain (note Sunday's post) and I don't know if Sarah Palin was the best choice or not. But I don't think that her daughter should be used against her. She is supporting her daughter at a difficult time. That is what good parents do and that is really all that matters.

A couple more things I'd like to note. Some of the comments I read said that Palin shouldn't be out campaigning but should be home taking care of her children. I don't believe I've ever heard anyone say that about a male candidate. I'm starting to think this is 1948, not 2008.

And second a word of warning for people who say, my kid will never do that. Prepare yourself, that's probably the exact thing your kid is going to do in the future.

Robin, the lonely blog mistress