Jerm’s Insanity

I’ve rarely gotten political in my blog, i figure all 5 of my readers pretty much know about my politics, but events of late just tend to drive me batty.  In particular, the Sarah Palin choice for McCain’s running mate.  Even without knowing anything about her it seemed like a case of pure political vote snatching.  After all, if the Dems have the black vote through Obama, the Reps will try to grab the female vote with Palin.  Conversely, my money says that if Hilliary had won the nomination Colin Powell would have been McCain’s Choice.

Anyway, the more I hear about this “Bulldog with Lipstick” the more I cringe.  People with more time on their hands and political savvy have compiled the details for me, so i pass them on to you.

• Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is “God’s task.” She’s even admitted she hasn’t thought about the war much—just last year she was quoted saying, “I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq.” ^{1, 2}
• Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence Party. Six months ago, Palin told members of the group—who advocate for a vote on secession from the union—to “keep up the good work” and “wished the party luck on what she called its ‘inspiring convention.’” ³
• Palin wants to teach creationism in public schools. She hasn’t made clear whether she thinks evolution is a fact.⁴
• Palin doesn’t believe that humans contribute to global warming. Speaking about climate change, she said, “I’m not one though who would attribute it to being manmade.” ⁵
• Palin has close ties to Big Oil. Her inauguration was even sponsored by BP. ⁶
• Palin is extremely anti-choice. She doesn’t even support abortion in the case of rape or incest. ⁷
• Palin opposes comprehensive sex-ed in public schools. She’s said she will only support abstinence-only approaches. ⁸
• As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. Palin asked the library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate language in them—shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time, “news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving “full support” to the mayor.” ⁹
• She DID support the Bridge to Nowhere (before she opposed it). Palin claimed that she said “thanks, but no thanks” to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But in 2006, Palin supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should take advantage of earmarks “while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.” ¹⁰

She and those aroudn her are already stretching the truth, if out outright lying about matters of record.

And this Daily Show Clip is priceless.

Am I the only one who’s frightened?

Update:  An enlightening letter from an involved resident from Palin’s mayoral city

And i wept. I don’t do that often. Nevermind that this was a very special friend. Nevermind how close to my heart she and her dad are or were (they were). That all contributed, and made me sad, but that phrase gripped me, and made it all the more real. “My dad died.” *thud*

There was no sugar coating it: “he passed away, he left us, etc…” No, my friend was always very to-the-point — very clinical, very grounded, realistic. It was raw, and no-nonsense… “my dad died.” What a horrible thing to have to say, and yet we will all, unless we beat them to it, will say it at some point. That’s scary. It’s life. It’s the way the world works, but it’s still scary. My frind is my age, her dad younger than mine. He was in his 50s. Scary.

“My dad died.” Thank you for being so honest. I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I don’t want to. He was such a good man. He was, is, your dad.

Always, and i mean ALWAYS, wash your hands thoroughly between cutting up jalapeños and going to the bathroom.

SURE people have told me that before, and I’ve had poor experiences with rubbing my eyes, but wow. Just… wow. I think i’ve learned my lesson.

Congratulations Bill and Chrissie! Making me feel even older, my little brother having a kid, they (mostly she) made this cute little guy! Born last friday (4/20/07), 7lb 2oz. This picture taken within 24 hours of his coming into this world.

Here’s a conspiracy theory of a different sort. What if it weren’t the neocon establishment, Big Business, and Big Oil that were the great deceivers in the whole global warming debate? What if all the media-professed numbers were wrong? What if the nay-sayers have it right?

I’m not a scientist, but i consider myself a science buff. I listen a lot. I read a lot. I’m very interested in a multitude of scientific disciplines, but i leave the work to the people who really know their stuff and help to quench my fascination with what they come up with. So of course I’ve been very interested in the whole human included global warming/climate change debate. I’ve always fallen somewhere in the middle, opinion wise. Do i think we should be more careful about how we treat the environment? Absolutely. However i’va also been of the opinion that the earth’s climate does fluctuate and how do we know that this isn’t just a natural fluctuation? According to the video, we do know.

The title for this entry was borrowed from the video that i’m going to post a link to. It’s a long video, but worth watching. The Cliff’s Notes version goes something like this:

• Yes, the Earth is getting warmer, but it’s not our doing, nor is it the first warming, nor is it the warmest.. warming.
• Yes we dump lots of CO2 into the air, but it’s statistically insignificant compared to how much nature puts out
• Historically, CO2 levels DO correlate with global temperature, but close inspection of the data reveal that CO2 levels follow the temperature changes, not cause them.
• Global temperatures show a much better causal correlation with solar activity.
• Many scientists dissent with the popular conception of climate change, but the movement has gotten so powerful that they’re afraid to speak up due to backlash experienced by those who have.
• People have become religious in their global warming beliefs, and won’t even listen to opposing evidence.

There’s a lot if information in the video about where these numbers and ideas came from, plus a whole lot more. It’s very compelling stuff. The zealots will call it right-wing propaganda, but there’s a lot of social consciousness content in the video that should make you think twice about that. It’s certainly given me a lot more to thing about. I’m interested in hearing people poke holes in it.

I seriously recommend giving it a go. Just in case you missed it earlier, here is the link to the video.