Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced his vice presidential running mate yesterday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, 44.
Casey Mayville reports for Government Technology, “Elected governor in 2006, Palin became Alaska’s first female governor, as well as its youngest. She will be the first politician from Alaska to run on a national ticket in a campaign for vice president.”
“Palin has made efforts to expand the use of technology in Alaska. In 2007, Palin announced a new online training program for workforce development. The Work Ready/College Ready program helped to assess skills and offered training courses,” Mayville reports. “‘The skills needed to enter many vocations are similar to the skills needed to get into college,’ explained Palin at the time. ‘Work Ready/College Ready lets students know what level of skill they need for the occupations they’re interested in, how well they match up in those skill levels and it provides training to reach their goals.'”
Full article here.
More about Alaska’s “Work Ready/College Ready” program that was announced by Sarah Palin last August via GovTech here.
Carrie Tait reports for The Financial Post,” Ms. Palin, 44, is a lifetime NRA member who is in charge of a conservative state. She’s bullish on drilling offshore and opening up more of the contentious Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to exploration and production. ‘People are realizing, too, there’s been some deception, I think, from some on what ANWR is all about. Of the 20 million acres up there, we’re looking at 2,000 acres as a footprint,’ she said in the interview. ‘With new technology, with directional drilling, maybe that footprint [will] shrink even more.'”
MacDailyNews Note: CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo talks with Sarah Palin about ANWR drilling, which also touches on technology, in an 11:41 video interview here.
Stefanie Olsen reports for CNET, “Mead Treadwell, a technology-focused venture capitalist and chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, a federal advisory commission to President Bush and Congress on Arctic research issues, said he met Palin when she was the mayor of Wasilla, a small town in Alaska. Treadwell said that she has long been open-minded about the need for technology to solve problems.”
“‘We’re a natural energy economy and you can’t drill on- or offshore without bringing the best technology, like 3D seismic technology to find areas for drilling, directional drilling to exploit it, and satellites. She’s supportive of new tech,’ Treadwell said,” Olsen reports.
“Palin’s father-in-law was at one time staff officer at the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation, the state’s seed capital fund for technology. According to Treadwell, she was critical of her incumbent Republican rival Frank Murkowski in 2006 when he shut the foundation down. In her inaugural address as governor, she emphasized the value of research into science and technology,” Olsen reports.
“Despite Alaska’s absence of a big tech industry, the state’s chief industries, oil and gas, as well as some telecommunications, require cutting-edge technology. Treadwell said that in discussions with Palin about balancing development vs. the environment, she typically points to technology as a solution,” Olsen reports.
Full article here.
While we’re still exploring exactly which tech devices Palin uses currently, Bridget Carey reported yesterday for The Miami Herald of “the BlackBerry-wielding Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who had bloggers buzzing early Friday about her tech-centric lifestyle. She’s also three years younger than Obama.”
MacDailyNews Take: Send Palin an iPhone immediately, Apple!
As for Obama’s V.P. pick, Joseph Biden, 65, Carey reports, “The technology issue isn’t so much of his wired lifestyle as it is about his past stances on technology issues like Internet freedom and privacy. Biden has spoken out against peer-to-peer networks that allow the sharing of music and other copyrighted material. On the topic of Internet privacy, he is in favor of allowing communications companies to hand over a user’s personal information to the government, but with the intention to crack down on child porn and piracy.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Michael R.,” “Dennis,” and “Jen” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: If anyone has links to articles and/or photos of Palin and technology (listening to her iPod, using a Mac, or even a ratty old Dell) or any of the other candidates – Biden, McCain, and/or Obama – please send them to the MacDailyNews Webmaster (link below) for inclusion in this or future articles.
Let’s see. She ran on a platform in support of the bridge to nowhere until it was cancelled then she was against it. She pushed through a big tax increase on the oil companies including a windfall profit tax. Alaska is supposedly full of these rugged individualists except that they are a welfare state surviving on Federal tax dollars and taxes on big oil. She wants to drill ANWR and McCain is against it, but maybe he’ll flip flop on that issue too. Fox is actually touting her having international experience because Alaska is close to Russia. Jon Stewart put it well when he said that this means that since Alaska is close to the North Pole she must be on good terms with Santa Claus. Absurd.
It is rather scary how McCain picked this woman. It seems that he only decided on her about a week ago. She was not vetted or researched. McCain only met her for about 15 minutes before the announcement. This is absurdly silly. Support for this woman is simple partisanship. If Senator Obama had picked this woman the right wingers would be in a lather. It reminds me of when Schwarzenegger was running for governor here in California. There were stories about his participation in group sex parties. The right wing radio crowd here which had been in a tizzy over Clinton now were saying that this meant that Schwarzenegger was more experienced and better prepared. McCain says she was the best person for this position. I can only imagine how Romney and Giuliani et al feel about that. What an insult. What a slap in the face to the experienced people who have worked in public service all their lives.
twilightmoon,
i’m not referring to your objective of voting for the person who best represents your interests and beliefs. in fact i applauded you for that, because that is how it should be.
you’re back tracking on calling obama the “white dood” and the subsequent conversation we had when you stated that “you’re just mocking the issue.” which issue are you mocking?
when i stated people of mixed race aren’t perceived or judged by who raised them but by the color of their skin you stated that you do and to do otherwise is bogus and racist. in essence you viewed obama as the “white dood” because he was raised by his white mother, you said i was korean because i was raised by my korean mother. when asked what i would be if i was raised by both my parent if my father hadn’t passed away you said human, and wished we would stop referring to ourselves by black, white, or whatever.
i started out by saying your argument is laughable, when you mock you choose to make fun of a subject. you’re backtracking from the issue of race, racial identity, and perceptions of racial identity, which you injected into your earlier rhetoric. you’re trying to make light of your perceptions of obama’s racial identity because i called you out on it by stating that you negate your own positions and make contradictory statements.
please explain how you’re trying to “kinda mock the whole issue.” is mocking the issue calling obama the “white dood” while at the same time wishing we all would move pass perceptions (internally and externally) of race and ethnic identity?
to go further and state that 90+% of black people are going to vote for obama doesn’t take into account that a majority of those voters will be voting for him because they feel that he best represents their beliefs and interest, it just so happens that he’s black. this same argument holds up if 90+% of white people don’t vote for him. in the end the electorate will, and should, vote for the person they best identify with.
to say that ‘the issue [of] race is not an issue except to people who it’s an issue to” counters you own statements of seeing each other as humans. if you truly see past the color of obama’s skin then why refer to him as the “white dood”? by referring to him in this way you’re clearly showing that at some level his racial identity and cultural upbringing is an issue.
i am in no way calling you a racist. i truly believe you will vote for the candidate that best represents your interests and beliefs. what i did do is share my experience as someone who is bi-racial and i questioned the logic of your statements.
what exactly are you trying to accomplish by making mocking the issue? you’re statement really does come across as a little c.y.a therefore you’re backtracking.
john konopka,
the washington post has an article addressing how romney and pawlenty feel about the situation. i quote
“Though it was high in shock value, the Palin pick left bruised feelings among the short-list contenders who were not picked — and infuriated some Republican officials who privately said McCain had gone out on a limb, unnecessarily, without laying the groundwork for such an unknown. Two senior Republican officials close to Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty said they had both been rudely strung along and now “feel manipulated.”
“They now know that they were used as decoys, well after McCain had decided not to pick them,” one Republican involved in the process said.” (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/29/palin_pick_leaves_bruised_feel.html)
james73: “i was raised by both my parent if my father hadn’t passed away you said human, and wished we would stop referring to ourselves by black, white, or whatever.”
Basically being black, calling someone black or African American or whatever terms are preferred is fine. The issue is judging someone based on their skin color, making fun of someone or excluding them from things etc.
When I call Obama a white dood, my point is that he’s at least as white as he is black so the fact that it’s a major issue in the campaign itself is sad.
“i am in no way calling you a racist. i truly believe you will vote for the candidate that best represents your interests and beliefs. what i did do is share my experience as someone who is bi-racial and i questioned the logic of your statements.”
It concerns me that ~90% of blacks will vote for Obama, it’s the OJ trial all over again. I wish we could get past this and have people judged by their actions, their character and their accomplishments rather than skin pigment.
If I agreed with Obamas positions on politics I’d vote for him gladly. He does not, he wont get my vote.
“what exactly are you trying to accomplish by making mocking the issue? you’re statement really does come across as a little c.y.a therefore you’re backtracking.”
How am I covering my ass? I think the issue itself is silly, and sad at the same time. I pointed it out with some humor, maybe it wasn’t the funniest joke you ever heard, but that’s what I was trying to do. I don’t see why I have to cover my ass for anything.
James73: “Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty said they had both been rudely strung along and now “feel manipulated.”
Politics is not called poli (many) tics (blood sucking worms) for no reason, it’s a rough trade.
If this story is true I do feel for those that McCain didn’t pick, I’m sure it had to hurt, but they are big boys and they will handle it. I’m sure they are smart and experienced enough to know that this is part of how the game works.
@twilightmoon,
“You could be right, but I hardly think living in Germany gets you a good pulse on the feelings of average Americans.”
So what you’re saying is that living outside of the US does not qualify me and other US expats as average Americans? I pay taxes like you, vote like you, have to pay my bills like you. I make it a point to inform myself on as much of what goes on at home, as most expatriates do. I’d go so far as to say that I probably have a better pulse on the feelings of average Americans than you do.
By living outside of the US, I actually have the advantage over many US citizens that I see my country from a much less isolationist, more objective point of view. The majority of Americans only know what’s going on in their back yard. I don’t know if you’ve ever spent time in the military, but the US military community is and always has been a very good indicator of what the mood of the country is. They have the same issues, problems, fears and hopes as non-US military affiliated Americans, so I think I have a very good grasp of what the mood of the country is.
Thanks for playing, though.
@Military Police
Many people, not just scientists, are capable of making sound observations. Theories qualifying as science are based on more than observations. A scientific theory is an explanation of a set of observations with a testable hypothesis. This is the scientific method. Creation science is not science, because the explanation (theory) is not testable.
twilightmoon,
actually, if you look politics up in apple dictionary you find
ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French politique ‘political,’ via Latin from Greek politikos, from politēs ‘citizen,’ from polis ‘city.’
once again, your attempt to be funny wasn’t funny.
you’re having to cover your ass because i’m asking you to justify your statements, your intent, and the reasoning behind your logic. you made contradictory statements, made an attempt to be sardonic which fell on deaf ears. i do agree with you that referring to obama as the white dood was sad and silly though. silly in that the statement was made, sad because is contradictory to your desire to move beyond the focus of race in the presidential election.
by further explaining your position you expand on the reasoning behind your logic and statements. thank you very much, but please, oh please, don’t bring up oj. by doing so you buy into the belief that the majority of black folks in this country didn’t think oj did it. while this notion was pushed in the media, in private black folks know that he did, black folks were just happy to finally see a black man who could afford to pay for the legal bill, and he was able to railroad the legal system the same way that rich white men have been able to for years. bringing up oj really has nothing to do with the success of the obama candidacy. there are many black folks who question obama’s commitment to issues the black community hold near and dear.
I’m actually quite surprised the number of republican Mac users out there or at least on this site. I thought I heard once that Mac users tend to be more liberal, weird. Although, republicans have also been able to gather their troops better than any other party, hence the ability of the worst president in United States history being reelected twice.
Seriously though, why do Americans hate other Americans so much? It seems to be the South and the Midwest vs everyone else. How did this happen? I’ve always thought we were the United States of America. United we stand, divided we fall. I think that sums up all of our ills currently facing our country.
She’s hot but I could never handle that screechy perky born again voice. Seems like the do goody, gleam in the eye, teach creationism in school, screw with your life with a smile on her face type. Who wants to lay odds she is a windoze user to boot?
A cynical move by the McCain camp to be “different”, like Obama.
Pathetic.
The Dems/Libs hate Sarah Palin because she is more in tune with real American women (and all real Americans), not just those pockets of deluded Socialists in Cambridge, MA, Berkeley, CA, and at NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS.
The Dems/Libs hate small towns (witness their petty, small, knee-jerk reaction to Palin), real people, and are elitist out-of-touch idealists whose ideas routinely fail in the real world.
We spent enough money building and then tearing down your blighted public housing, Libs.
We do not want a nanny state.
We do not want you to take from the producers to redistribute to the non-producers in wasteful ways that don’t help the non-producers become producers.
Enough. Palin is not just the next VP, she’s the next President after McCain.
The Libs know it and that’s why they hate her.
“A cynical move by the McCain camp to be “different”, like Obama.”
So the Democrats are being cynical in picking Obama?
James73: ” in private black folks know that he did, black folks were just happy to finally see a black man who could afford to pay for the legal bill, and he was able to railroad the legal system the same way that rich white men have been able to for year”
Wow thats even worse than thinking he’s innocent. That’s much worse and shameful. OJ and Obama are similar only in the nature of how the black community reacted to each, lining up behind the black. The reality, simply based on numbers, is that whites males elect president.
I’m done trying to “cover my ass” or whatever you call it you didn’t like my humor fine, I have explained myself enough. I can hardly expect that everyone will see humor in the same things that I do, particularly someone such as you with vastly different life experiences, different sensitivities and nearly opposite political views.
All I can say at this point is if my attempt at humor offended you, then I’m sorry.
The political joke? C’mon you really have to pick on that one? That’s a pretty mild one, now you’re just reaching to find areas you can sternly wave a finger at me, it’s getting old!
Get some fun out of life!
gzero,
Your views are not irrelevant, I just think living in Germany or anywhere in Europe gives you a different perspective than Americans have. You said that yourself.
What are we arguing about exactly?
btw I was in Air Force ROTC in college for awhile then was hospitalized a little over a year later for manic depression, which sadly disqualifies myself for military service. If I could have been I would have, but that was not in the cards for me.
I do have tremendous respect for those that do serve in any branch of the military tho.
I just heard on the radio this morning that Palin’s 17 year old daughter is pregnant and plans to marry the father, and that Palin asked for privacy from the media.
It will be interesting to see if the liberal media will show the same respect towards Palin’s daughter that they showed to Chelsea.
Doubt it.
The pregnancy of Palin’s daughter is a non-story.
After all, it’s not like she’s the daughter of some Democrat, where they’d just vacuum “the problem” away and never mention it.
The Palins are handling it the right way. Honestly, with no murder for convenience, just total support for a young woman who isn’t perfect, just like everyone else.
Apparently the Palins, who are flat-earth, Neo-Con folks who believe in talking snakes and a 4,000 year old earth have yet to discover the rubber. It seems the promise ring and church ceremony didn’t protect their daughter from hormones, a boyfriend and a bed.
Yep, the family values party brings us a VP candidate that has a knocked up daughter but opposes sex education. Heckuvajob, Brownie.
Democrats must be VERY careful not to take a false step here. The way they did with the “mayor of a small town while totally ignoring her governorship” response to her selection.
Some have said that the Obama campaign is behind the rumor-mongering about Sarah, Bristol and Trig.
Any sense that Democrats are pushing this non-story will almost certainly turn both Sarah and Bristol Palin into sympathetic figures — and that spells trouble for her detractors.
@twilightmoon and Kirsten
I guess that abstinence only sex education really works well for you right wingers!
NoPCZone, twodales et al.,
Sarah Palin is Christian and pro-life, but also a supporter of birth control: she’s a member of Feminists For Life (FFL), an anti-abortion, pro-contraception organization. In 2002, she wrote a letter to FFL stating that she had “adamantly supported our cause since I first understood, as a child, the atrocity of abortion.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1837523_1837531_1837538,00.html
Rheinhard: ” but given her radical anti-choice stand “
I don’t know what Rheinhard’s stand is on human life, but given his radical pro babymurdering stand…
That term is such bullshit, seriously you assholes who use it need to stop.
Have some fucking respect for people who value the sanctity of life and believe it starts at conception, even if you disagree. If you cannot do that then just shut the fuck up. – twilightmoon
So, twilightmoon, for YEARS now people who favor choice have been called babykiller by the radical religious right, while people in favor of turning women and doctors into criminals for making very difficult choices while at the same time demanding there be no effective sex-education and that using contraceptives is the same as abortion are just good, lovely god-fearing people! I’ll show people who “value life” respect as soon as they show some to me!!
Seriosuly, fuck you, you lying asshole. You aren’t pro-choice in the slightest if you could fly off the handle at such an innocuous comment.
These people demand that women be reduced to nothing more than enslaved baby-manufacturing plants for the godbag husbands, and I’m the radical?? Screw you, you godbag Bible-thumping troglodyte.
I want to see fewer abortions, as do ALL *real* pro-choice people, but I want to do it the sensible way, by making sure teens understand the truth about sex (not just “abstinence only” nonsense which any teen recognizes as condescending bullshit), and making sure sensible contraception options are available if people (being people) make an informed decision to have sex. The enemy (by enemy I mean the Christian far-right) want to make it impossible even for adults to purchase LEGAL contraceptive products, by doing things like allowing Jesus-freak pharmacists to deny filling legitimate prescriptions if it offends their “religious” sensibilities! Hey douchebag, if your “religious” sensibilities keep you from doing your job, how about doing us all a favor and get another goddam job, huh??
And I guess today we see the effectiveness of the American Taliban’s insistence on “abstinence only” – Palin’s own 17 yr. old daughter is over 5 months pregnant!! Apparently she is going to keep the baby (good for her, I am fully in support of women being able to CHOOSE what they want to do, just opposed to the Talibangelicals who insist on DENYING that choice to others). Of course this choice is a lot easier for her, being well-supported by a wealthy and politically powerful family.
But what about troubled teens who may be even younger than her, and don’t enjoy such support? What about the teen who is in a poor house with a single parent making minimum wage and gets no health care? Who is now faced with the choice of giving up almost all hope of bettering herself through education and who has no access to prenatal health care? As far as godbags like twilightmoon are concerned she should be forced to have the baby (preferably at gunpoint), but once the kid is born it’s own its own! After all, things like social and medical services for the poor are just “socialism” right?
I really want to see Gov. Palin asked what her view is on vaccination for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). You do know, after all, that a lot of Talibangelicals don’t even want young girls to get VACCINATED against this dangerous virus (which can cause uterine cancer!!) becuase they think the possibility of getting one more sexually transmitted disease is GOOD!! (The scarier sex is, the less kids will have of it, right?? These people want to drive America back to the Dark Ages, and I am not obligated to have the slightest respect for them, or for twilightmoon, until they cant at least join us in the 20th century, let alone the 21st!!
Hey, I’ve been out of town for awhile. Did I miss anything?
Looks like twilightmoon has it under control……
@Rheinhard
GREAT RANT, keep it coming.