Journeys Into the Realms

Palin Lies About Troopergate Report

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:59:48 -0600

Palin Makes Troopergate Assertions that Are Flatly False

“Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing,” Palin said, “any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.”

uh, whaaaa? Is she talking about an alternate universe??

From the report itself (downloadable directly from the state of Alaska here)

FINDINGS:
Finding Number One
For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides
The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.
Finding Number Two
I find that, although Walt Monegan’s refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin’s firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.
Finding Number Three
Harbor Adjustment Service of Anchorage, and its owner Ms. Murleen Wilkes, handled Trooper Michael Wooten’s workers’ compensation claim property and in the normal course of business like any other claim processed by Harbor Adjustment Service and Ms. Wilkes. Further, Trooper Wooten received all the workers’ compensation benefits to which he was entitled.
Finding Number Four
The Attorney General’s office has failed to substantially comply with my August 6, 2008 written request to Governor Sarah Palin for infomration about the case in the form of emails.

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Uhm, Palin, It's Gen McKiernan...

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:11:50 -0600

Palin Gets Afghanistan Commander's Name, Strategy Wrong

(This is all snipped from the Huffington Post, please go there and read the original article. I've snipped this extended bit just in case the link eventually dies)

Palin thinks our commander in Afghanistan is someone named "McClellan." It is, I believe, McKiernan. And Palin is DEAD WRONG. He absolutely said that tribal involvement in Afghanistan COIN strategy would not work.

McKiernan: "I do think there's a role for traditional tribal authorities and tribal structure in Afghanistan, in the rural areas especially, to play in a community-based sense of security, of connection with the government, and of environmental considerations. But I think that has to be led, that tribal engagement, it has to be led by the Afghan government. I specifically tell my chain of command in ISAF [International Security Assistance Force, the name for NATO's mission in Afghanistan] that I don't want the military to be engaging the tribes to do that. It has to be through the Afghan government to do that. But of course, there's danger in that. There's always, "Is this particular tribe, is it being reached out to for all the right reasons?" That has to be watched very closely."

McKiernan: "First of all, please don't think that I'm saying there's no room for tribal engagement in Afghanistan, because I think it's very necessary. But I think it's much more complex environment of tribal linkages, and intertribal complexity than there is in Iraq. It's not as simple as taking the Sunni Awakening and doing the Pashtun Awakening in Afghanistan. It's much more complex than that."

UPDATE: Ilan Goldenberg sums up the foreign policy portion of the debate:

Palin mispronounced our commander in Afghanistan, Dave McKiernan's name and also claimed that he supported the idea of using the Iraq surge as a model for Afghanistan even though just yesterday he said he did not.

In response to a question on Iran and Pakistan Palin answered by starting to talk about Iraq. Similar to McCain's obsession on Iraq with complete neglect for all other national security priorities.

Palin promised that the Middle East peace process would be a top priority for a McCain administration. But McCain's own advisors last week said that it wouldn't.

Palin was unable to distinguish any specific difference between Bush and McCain on any foreign policy issues. Joe Biden made that point very clearly.

Sarah Palin seems to rely quite heavily on her notes and on a very limited set of talking points. She has been dodging questions all night long.

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The Shape of Things to Come (in Music)

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:55:34 -0700

Obviously, Trent gets it. Every opportunity he gets to experiment with a release, he does it a little bit better. This may not be the exact future of music/merchandise distribution, but I'm willing to put a bet on longnow that this page will be seen as the precursor to how it is done.

The future lets you listen, the future doesn't rape you, and most importantly, I don't see a place for a large monolithic RIAA. I see that someone will accomplish the real mission of the RIAA -- shut down mass production counterfeiters, but I think the current RIAA will have to be scrapped and rebuilt from scratch. (The same possibly extends to the IFPI)

I'm proud for Trent. He's got the cajones and the brains to figure it out. It gives me hope that the music industry isn't absolutely beyond salvation -- Hopefully the industry will listen.

And While I'm handing out music industry warm fuzzies, give a couple to Terry McBride & MC Lars. I still don't know about Radiohead.

20080303-bdyhr4qbyhnnjph7m2fdeshdrw.jpg

[From Ghosts - Order Options]

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Northrop Wins (this round)!

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:16:27 -0700

Proposed Tankers Head to Head (by www.DefenseNews.com)

As shown in this comparison, the KC45 is still 60% american made, with all non-US sourced parts from EU partners….so, a 25% difference in how “US made” the Northrop KC35 is vs the Boeing 767. The extra capacity, fly-by-wire, and single airframe (the 767 variant is a melding of different 767 variants) more than offset the “25% more american made” advantage for the 767. I think the Northrop KC45 is a better aircraft for the price and it appears that the USAF agrees. I just hope the AF decision holds up under scrutiny, especially after all the attempts by Boeing to scuttle and rig the competition.(via Defense News)

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Personal List of ME/CFS & Fibro Resources

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:57:02 -0700

This is by no means a complete, exhaustive list, but it covers most of the places I tend to keep up with. This is a "living" list, so if anyone has suggestions for me, I'm all ears!

General Info/Discussion:
ME/CFS News
Co-Cure ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia
Sleepydust
About.com ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia Homepage

Current Research Summaries & Medical Info:

Phoenix Rising**

"Official" ME/CFS & Fibro Organizations:

International Association for ME/CFS
CFIDS Association of America**
ME Association (UK)

US Governmental Webpages:
NIH Fibromyalgia Homepage
NIH ME/CFS Homepage

CDC ME/CFS Homepage**
CDC Fibromyalgia Homepage (under arthritis for some reason)

CFS Advisory Committee (CFSAC)
CFSAC Meeting Minutes**

Email lists

ME/CFS News** (many official notices from the NIH/CDC/CFSAC get posted to this list)
CFIDS-L - Action for ME/CFS
Fibromyalgia News
Co-Cure ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia **
CFSAC Listserv

**=recommended by adin

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Raise a Glass of Sweet Tea....

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:53:43 -0700

Raise a Glass of Sweet Tea....

http://andrealin.vox.com/library/post...

...today, in honor of Pete Powdrell, the founder of Mr. Powdrell's BBQ in Albuquerque's north valley. At 86 years of age and a lifetime of fabulous smoked brisket and collard greens, Mr. Powdrell died yesterday at home.

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Larry Lessig is Right on the Money, Love

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:49:32 -0700

Larry Lessig is Right on the Money, Love

http://reckon.vox.com/library/post/la...

Larry Lessig gets TEDsters to their feet, whooping and whistling, following this elegant presentation of "three stories and an argument." The Net's most adored lawyer brings together John Philip Sousa, celestial copyrights, and the "ASCAP cartel" to build a case for creative freedom. He pins down...

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My Comment on the CBS News Vet Suicide Rate Expose

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:58:20 -0700

I'm a vet, and I can say that the treatment of vets by the VA and federal government is abysmal. The VA help system is so full of twists, turns, conflicting information, conflicting departments that I'm surprised that the number of vets on the streets and/or dead isn't even *higher*. I just received my disability rating of 170%, after a year of watching the VA foreclose on my house and living off of help from my and my wife's family (the AF wasn't paying me while it tried to figure out how to pay me as an IMA reservist on active duty in the process of being medically retired). Even though I'm housebound, I don't know that I'm going to receive any aid from the VA itself since disability is subtracted from retirement (if you have less than 20 years active service), and the "combined rating reduction system" will probably push my "payable" disability rating below the 160% required to receive additional assistance via the "special military compensation" tables. This just illustrates the byzantine system that has been set up to provide the illusion that vets are being cared for -- while in reality much effort is expended to keep from having to actually take care of (i.e. *pay* or provide assistance) veterans in need. I know that many have it worse than I do -- especially since I've gotten assistance from my incredible wife and the D.A.V. -- but I now understand how vets actually do end up on the street or end up committing suicide. Without an advocate I *would* be dead, probably by suicide. The story here is not just that vets with mental health issues aren't getting taken care of; it's that vets are being stigmatized and actively *driven* to acts of desperation even if they were previously mentally healthy. This is one of our country's biggest hidden shames -- our greatest advocates are actively being driven to acts of desperation by the very people that are there to help them

My comment on the CBS New story:Vets' Suicide Rate "Stunning", Armen Keteyian: Analysis Reveals What Some Are Calling "Hidden Epidemic" - CBS News

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Still Holding our breath....

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 16:51:55 -0700

Well, turns out that my rating is actually *170%*, not 130, like we thought (good news, right?). We still haven't heard anything other than they finished my rating on 1 Nov, so we're still waiting to hear if "concurrent payments" applies to me (would reduce my VA disability to almost nothing), "Rating Reduction" (reduces your payable rating % based on overlapping conditions) and if "Special Compensation" applies to me.

So basically, we have no idea how much the VA owes us in backpay, how much they're going to pay me monthly, and when its going to start.

So we're holding our breath a little longer, since they could be paying us anywhere from $0-$5k/month.

Yeah, we did go to the VA and try asking. The rep just shrugged his shoulders and said it's "VA math" and that we should know something within 30 days.

AUUUGGGGHH!

OK, I feel better. well, sorta. :P

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Finally...We can breathe again!

nobody@vox.com(adin) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:10:49 -0700

It took 14 months, much scrimping and hard work by JenniB, but it appears to have finally paid off. We just got the letter that I'm 100% (actually 130%, to be technical) disabled.

The rating means that they'll pay us retroactively to Sept. 06 and that we no longer will have to worry/stretch/beg.

Until the US implodes (which might happen considering the direction we're going), we won't have to worry about money to survive...we'll be just fine, for the rest of my life.

Now we get to start thinking about putting resources towards suing the VA for their illegal foreclosure on our house. I'm willing to either get the house back (doubtful, but they haven't sold it yet), or be recompensed for our loss and remove the foreclosure from my credit report.

And there's that little lawsuit with Northrop Grumman.....and possibly getting my VA rating stretched from 130% to 150%.

There's that ME/CFS thing. There's all that work that needs to be done, trying to get my body in as good a condition as I can. There's rapier and the SCA. There's going back to school (or Jen picking up her masters/PhD). There's the music creation and production. There's the desktop fab and my top secret bluetooth headset design. I can go on and on.

But all that is for a different day.

Today, I'll keep my bloodied toes in the air, snuggle with Jen, and just BE for a while, enjoying the absence of abject poverty. We might even celebrate with some really unhealthy NYPD Pizza Co pizzas and calzones.

It's enough. :)

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