Sarah Palin’s Alternate Universe

As I’m sure everyone knows by now, the official report finds that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110 (a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.

The report by investigator Steve Branchflower was made public late this afternoon [October 10, 20008] by a bipartisan 12-0 vote of the Legislative Council, which authorized the investigation.

Branchflower’s report contains four findings. The first concludes that Palin violated the state’s executive branch ethics act, which says 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.”

[…]

“Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda … to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired,” Branchflower’s report says.

“Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional. It is an individual responsibility imposed by law, and any effort to benefit a personal interest through official action is a violation of that trust. … The term ‘benefit’ is very broadly defined, and includes anything that is to the person’s advantage or personal self-interest.”

Anchorage Daily News

Sarah Palin’s response:

“Well, I’m very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there,” the governor said from her car on the way to a campaign stop in Philadelphia.

Anchorage Daily News

Um, whut? She’s either totally clueless and completely out of touch with reality, or she’s flat out lying, in which case she must also be clueless and out of touch if she thinks she can get away with it.

Watch Rachel Maddow shred Palin, tell it like it is and, once and for all, call a liar a liar:

Defining “Prepaid”

I am absolutely livid! I just got off the phone with my cell phone company, and my head feels like I’ve been beating it against concrete.

I should begin by explaining that I have prepaid service with no contract. Last time I paid my bill was for service from May 11th to June 11th. If I decide to discontinue service after that, no action is required. If I don’t purchase another month of service on or before June 11th, the service will be suspended on the 12th and terminated in thirty days. No harm, no foul; neither of us owes the other and we go our separate ways.

A little while ago, I called to find out about having a specific feature removed because I’ve had no use for it over the past two months. Since I have prepaid service, I should be able to do this and pay the reduced amount on June 11th, right? Pretty simple, huh?

So why the hell did I just spend the last hour on the phone explaining the concept of prepaid service and resisting the urge to swear and call people names?

A Question Of Ethics

I value honesty and integrity above all things. When blogging, I do my best to be straightforward and direct. For instance, if I am addressing or writing about an individual, I will name the person. If I am responding to something specific from another blog, I will link to the post in question. Sometimes, I come across things on other blogs that trigger a thought or idea, and inspire me to write about something unrelated to the topic I’m reading at that time. Even then, I feel it is appropriate to credit the author for the inspiration.

I do not engage in the dishonest games I occasionally come across on other blogs. For example: making up stories and inventing “anonymous” sources to try and make a point (not the same as writing fiction and calling it that), creating multiple accounts and using them to “high-five” myself in comments or give the appearance of having more than one contributor to my blog or making posts or comments that are clearly passive-aggressive shots at unnamed individuals. This type of behavior damages credibility, something I value far too much to jeopardize by playing such childish games.

Credibility – the issue that inspired this post.

Mountain Dew or Clorox – What’ll It Be?

As you may already know, I am strongly opposed to abstinence-only “education”. For those who need clarification, this does not mean that I oppose teaching abstinence; just abstinence only until marriage without any comprehensive sex education to back it up.

It doesn’t work. Instead of being horny but equipped to deal with it, the kids on the receiving end of this “education” just end up horny and ignorant. As a Texan, I can tell you that it’s a dangerous combination.

And now we have yet another example of the kind of nonsense that is circulated among teenagers and accepted as fact in the absence of comprehensive sex education: