Sarah Palin's Board of Game - The games continue under Parnell

I received an e-mail from the representative of Defenders of Wildlife in Alaska:

Aerial gunning kills too many wolves in Alaska as it is, but a new policy could allow for aerial gunning as a way to manage bear populations.

This week, the Board of Game (BOG) will be meeting in Wasilla to consider many important proposals that will impact our wolves, bears and other wildlife.

One of the major issues the BOG will consider is accepting a six-year management plan for wolves and bears. Under this policy bears could be managed by aerial gunning and baiting would be implemented to kill wolves.

What:
Alaska Board of Game Hearing
When:
Friday, March 4th – Thursday, March 10th
Public Comment Period:
Friday, March 4th- Saturday, March 5th
Where:
Lake Lucille Inn
1300 West Lake Lucille Drive
Wasilla, AK 99654

Wolves and bears could be in serious trouble if some of the BOG proposals are passed. Proposal 103 seeks to reauthorize the Intensive Management Plan for wolf and black bear control in Unit 16 for an additional 6 years. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently amended the proposal to include a brown bear predation control "experiment" which could allow for more of these animals to be killed.

"Predation control" is a convenient excuse to protect and promote the interests of trophy hunters. It's a very profitable business and the Board of Game is full of people appointed by Sarah Palin who have very "special interests." They call themselves "conservationists," but they're nothing of the sort.

In March 2009, I wrote a post about it:

The Board of Game has many members connected to the powerful Alaska Outdoors Council, which places strong emphasis on sport and commercial hunting.

"We are an association of clubs and individual members. Together with our sister organizations – the Alaska Fish & Wildlife Conservation Fund, the Alaska Trust Fund, and the Hunter Heritage Foundation of Alaska - we work through advocacy, education and research to promote responsible outdoor recreation, conserve our natural resources, and protect Alaskans’ rights to enjoy our great outdoors.

The AOC is the official State Association of the National Rifle Association. We work hand in hand with the NRA, doing at the state level, what the NRA does on the national level, to protect your Second Amendment Rights, promote gun safety and encourage participation in the shooting sports."

The AOC has very narrow views:

• Oppose laws that give a preference to users based on residency, culture or ethnic background
• Attempts by individuals or organizations to obtain tribal government control over lands in Alaska must be recognized and proclaimed as a threat to a) effective management of fish, game and other resources; and b) equitable allocation of fish and game stocks.
• Oppose federal recognition of Indian country in Alaska.
• Oppose the use of public funds to promote Indian country recognition.

Not only do they advocate "predator control" in order to guarantee plentiful prey for the trophy hunters, but they also want the Alaska Natives, who are the true conservationists, out of the way.

Things were bad enough for wildlife in Alaska under Sarah Palin and the farce about "conservation" continues under Parnell.

If any of the readers from Alaska can make it to Wasilla for the meetings, please bear in mind that the public comment period is very limited:

Public comment starts Friday morning and ends Saturday. In order to speak, you must show up by 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 5th.

Please read all posts about the Board of Game and Wildlife on Palingates.

Open thread - Wednesday

Today is the day! We have the chance to meet JD (Just Dog) and see the home where he lives a happy life with his loving companions, our very own Pallottine and his better half, Annette.



This is JD's territory:







Thank you Pallottine, for sharing gorgeous JD and your home with us. JD looks lovely, whether he has his winter coat on or not. I hope it's getting warmer and sunnier in your neck of the woods!

Sarah Palin's Religiongate

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion" or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to peaceably assemble, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Although the First Amendment only explicitly applies to the Congress, the Supreme Court has interpreted it as applying to the executive and judicial branches. Additionally, in the 20th century, the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies the limitations of the First Amendment to each state, including any local government within a state.

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the establishment of a national religion by the Congress or the preference of one religion over another, non-religion over religion, or religion over non-religion. Originally, the First Amendment only applied to the federal government.

Subsequently, under the incorporation doctrine, certain selected provisions were applied to states. It was not, however, until the middle and later years of the twentieth century that the Supreme Court began to interpret the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses in such a manner as to restrict the promotion of religion by state governments.

So it was a misunderstanding of the Fourtheenth Amendment that led Sarah Palin to blur the line between church and state...

Although she didn't try to establish a state religion, her boundaries were somewhat loose.



Religiongate is very complex and it would be impossible to review in one single post. Sarah Palin has played down the role of her religious allegiances during the VP run, but in many of her speeches since she left the state of Alaska behind she has mentioned God as the one entity involved in her decision-making processes. Her secret Twitter account, @mckinely777 appears to have some biblical significance. [Other evidence of the importance of 777 may be found HERE, HERE and HERE]. Coincidence? Sarah Palin doesn't believe in coincidences...

There is a strong Dominionist movement in the country and the Bush administration made inroads into many sectors of society, in particular education. Many states now have creationism as part of the school curriculum, for example. The aim seems to be to get them young so when they grow into voters, some ideas have taken root.

Although I don't believe Sarah Palin can be elected president, there are too many variables and also precedents in dodgy presidential elections. Should she make it all the way to the White House, we may see her showing her true colours regarding her church and religious allegiances, a very frightening thought. Another administration furthering the Dominionist agenda could inflict irreparable damage on another generation on future voters.

(H/T to SI Johnson for the 777 find)

Good articles HERE and HERE

A very revealing book by Leah Burton may be pre-ordered HERE (H/T to Ripley).

Please read all Religiongate posts on Palingates.

Open thread - Tuesday

mrsgunka sends me lots of funnies and this is a lovely one to share. These compilations of things children say or write are forwarded around the world and put a smile on many a face...

1. This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles. (Kelly, 6)

2. Oyster's balls are called pearls. (Jerry, 6)

3. If you are surrounded by ocean, you are an island. If you don't
have ocean all around you, you are incontinent. (Kylie, 6)

4. Sharks are ugly and mean and have big teeth, just like Emily
Richardson. She's not my friend any more. (?? 7)

5. A dolphin breathes through an asshole on the top of its head. (Billy, 8)

6. My uncle goes out in his boat with two other men and a woman and
pots and comes back with crabs. (Millie, 6)

7. Mermaids live in the ocean. I like mermaids. They are beautiful
and I like their shiny tails, but how on earth do mermaids get
pregnant? Like, really? (Hellen, 6)

8. I'm not going to write about the ocean. My brother is always
crying, my dad keeps yelling at my mom and my big sister just got
pregnant, so I can't think of anything to write. (Amy, 6)

9. When you go swimming in the ocean, it is very cold and it makes my
Willie small. (Kevin, 6)

10. Divers have to be safe when they go under water. Divers can't go
down alone so they have to go down on each other. (Becky, 8)

11. On vacation my mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was
going very fast. She says she won't do it again because water shot up
her big fat ass. (Julie, 7)

12. My dad was a sailor on the ocean. He knows all about the ocean.
What he doesn't know is why he quit being a sailor and married my mom.
(James, 7)

Thank you, mrsgunka, it's good to share a laugh.

I found this video and I think it complements the children's little gems perfectly.



(The opening photo features my great nephew, Thomas)

More bits and pieces about Sarah Palin

Let's start the new month with some more bits and pieces about Sarah Palin. February wasn't kind to her. Will March bring better tidings?

Sarah Palin is definitely not having a very good time lately. Manly Todd didn't win the Iron Dog, she was called a "froot loop" by Jamie Oliver and a google search this morning didn't reveal favourable articles about her.

The governor of Iowa made a statement that could sound like he supports Sarah Palin, but it seems he's more interested in the entertainment value of a Palin/Bachmann circus.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad voiced excitement about Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann’s potential presidential bids and what they could mean for the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

"If Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann participate, this could break all records and could get to be really really wide open and very interesting."

Iowa's governor may be keen on a cat fight between Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann, but the polls don't bode well for Sarah Palin.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin is finding little support in Iowa, according to a recent poll.

A newly released Des Moines Register Iowa Poll finds support for a Palin candidacy waning, with Ms. Palin losing support amongst Iowa Republican likely voters.

Tea Party polls don't appear to confirm the notion of Sarah Palin as queen of the teabaggers.

Herman Cain and Ron Paul won a pair of tea party straw polls Sunday, a show of strength among grassroots activists for the long-shot presidential hopefuls.

Sarah Palin took fourth place in the poll at 10%

Karl Rove wasn't very charitable to Sarah Palin when he gave an interview to the New York Times magazine.

One week before the 2010 midterm elections, Rove took aim at Sarah Palin, questioning the wisdom of her appearance on a reality show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, if she really wanted to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate. Palin lacked the “gravitas” to be president, went a subhead in the U.K.’s DailyTelegraph.

Rove’s backhands weren’t accidental, nor was he the victim of outrageous tabloid reporting. When I bring up his statements about Palin during our interview, Rove says only that he wished he’d made his comments on Fox News instead—before going into a withering impersonation of Palin, recalling a scene from her TV show in which she’s fishing.

"Did you see that?" he says, adopting a high, snivelling Palin accent: "Holly crap! That fish hit my thigh! It hurts!

In the meantime, a Sarah Palin supporter in Alaska confirmed something we have noticed a long time ago, her supporters are not nice people and tend to take her figures of speech literally.

Anchorage citizen activist Andree McLeod has obtained a six-month protective order against a woman who threatened her life over her public records requests for former Gov. Sarah Palin's official e-mails.

"Where does this b*tch get off thinking the public should shell out for her revenge for the Palin family. I've heard enough from this, and I would like to use stronger words to express my feeling for Andre (sic). Well... I think Andre (sic) has used up to (sic) much oxygen. So I have my scope cross hair on her head! She better watch out, the request may have been her last!"

"Yes, I know I made threats. I really hate that women (sic)," she wrote.

The Alaska PD decided that the threat should be investigated only after the shooting of Rep Gabby Giffords. They made the connection to Sarah Palin's crosshairs, despite her denials...

UK's Daily Mail picked up two Wonkette's stories about Sarah Palin's Twitter and Facebook "fake" accounts.

It's in her home state, it's America's highest peak and she's even climbed part of it.

But Sarah Palin seemingly cannot spell Mount McKinley.

Only a week after a blog claimed she has a private Facebook account, the same website now says Mrs Palin has a secret Twitter account, too - the misspelt @mckinely777.

Blog Wonkette used a private email address mistakenly released in the manuscript to track down a Facebook account under the name of 'Sarah Lou', which used that address.

The account is used to 'like' many of Sarah Palin's official Facebook messages, and also to comment on her daughter Bristol's wall.

Well, at least one person likes Sarah Palin...