Alaska News and Views-It's About Energy  

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  Katcha KLOO Wednesday Rant

  Syrin

  Date / Time: 11/12/2009 1:00 AM UTC

  Category: Politics

  Call-in Number: (718) 508-9024

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  Alaska News and Views

  Upcoming Episodes

  11/16/2009 5:00 AM UTC - It's About Energy- Katcha KLOO Sunday Show

  11/19/2009 1:00 AM UTC - Katcha KLOO Wednesday Rant

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• Featured Episode

  Hold Palin Accountable Rally

  Syrin

  Date / Time: 9/27/2008 8:00 PM UTC

  Category: Politics Conservative

  
  

  Honesty, integrity and accountability has no ideological boundary. Saturday, September 27th from Noon until 2pm Anchorage Park Strip Downtown between I Street and L Street by the Veterans' Memorial Bring yourselves, your friends, your signs, and your moral outrage! Why this rally? To demand that the Governor uphold her promise to Alaskans to cooperate with the investigation set in place by the Legislative council, to demand the immediate resignation of the Attorney General Talis Colberg, who illegally told Todd and state employees to ignore subpoenas. And we demand that the McCain campaign remove their abusive lawyers from their unlawful intrusion into the Alaska Department of Law.

  <embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/BTRPlayer.swf?displayheight=&file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2fSyrin%2fplay_list.xml?show_id=293870&autostart=false&shuffle=false&volume=80&corner=rounded&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=215&height=108" width="215" height="108" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false"></embed>

• On Demand Episodes           20767          

  Date / Time: 9/29/2008 11:16 PM UTC

  Palin should step down - Country First

   

  To express reservations about Sarah's qualifications  as mayor, governor and now to be vice president - and possibly president - is to risk being labeled a hater, bitter, having an axe to grind. Oh my fav, helping Obama win- McCain should have thought of that in his first short sided, lustful, hastily made decision. 
  
  I am guilty of being a critic early on, because Sarah does not represent me in her political views, some of her social views, I'm still trying to figure out www.alaskaprochoice.org, and her administrative ethic has been less than adequate. Sarah is far from being a good, well rounded conservative. However, she is telling all of you that she's a reformer, cut taxes, a solid conservative. If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.
  
  I'm passionately a critic of Palin who attacks her personally. Perhaps, because I know Sarah and live in Wasilla, Alaska. I don't deserve some of the backlash I have received. But circumstances have changed since Palin was introduced as just a hockey mom with lipstick - what a difference a financial crisis makes - and a more complicated picture has emerged.
  My state has 3 electorial votes, they all are going to McCain. I can vote for who every I want, or not at all.
  
  As we've seen and heard more from John McCain's running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a big problem. Quick study, hot or not, she doesn't know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion. How she made it this far is complicated with ethical improprieties. Sarah accomplished this with the help of the media, not doing their job. Why? Because her policies are not conservative.
  
  Palin didn't make a mess cracking the glass ceiling. She simply floated through it.
  
  Palin's recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, confident candidate who adds absolutely nothing to the debate about the important issues that we are facing as a nation. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League- Over Her Head. I do thank Senator McCain for helping reveal the absurdity of Sarah Palin.
  
  http://townhall.com/columnists/KathleenParker/2008/09/26/the_palin_problem
  • Tags:
  • sarah palin
  • resign
  • family
  • america
  No Comments

• Date / Time: 9/29/2008 6:03 AM UTC

  Toe the line and than what?

  I can't help but to be saddened to see a American hero like Senator John McCain dragged through the mud for making a hasty political choice. This decision is the most telling to me. It showed that he is willing to gamble with America's future, without blinking. That does not show forethought and reason in his first decision made.  I truly believe he would have won and brought many together with anyone else. He chose Palin and gained what?
  Senator Mccain needs Palin to withdraw for "family reasons" ASAP, and find a competent candidate as his pick.
  
  Tip: Without a on going investigation for abuse of power and ethics charges pending would be preferred.
  
  We are being asked by the Republican Party  to "Toe the Line". Why? What does Sarah bring besides excitement!?! Does she help John McCain in her interviews and explanations of his accomplishments? Does Sarah provide a crucial element, confidenence in your government? 
  
  ~just askin

  Meaning

  To conform to a perceived standard or political program.

  Origin

   

  The earlier meaning of 'to toe the line' was to position one's toes next to a marked line in order to be ready to start a race, or some other undertaking. In the 19th century, we wouldn't have been limited to lines when it came to placing our feet, but would have had a choice of what to toe - a mark, scratch, crack or trig [a line or small trench].
  
  Going back to the original, literal 'toeing' of a line; there are many circumstances where one might place one's toes up to a line - the start of a sporting event, standing in formation on parade, etc, etc. So, which is the source of the phrase?

  One explanation that is often repeated is that the phrase derives from the British House of Commons. Arguments in the House are often heated. To deter members of opposing parties from attacking each other, two parallel red lines are marked, two sword-lengths apart, on the floor of the house. MPs are expected to stay behind these lines when a speech is in progress.

  • Tags:
  • republican party
  • GOP
  • Sarah Palin
  • Toe the Line
  No Comments

• Original Air Date: 9/27/2008 8:00 PM UTC

  Hold Palin Accountable Rally

  Honesty, integrity and accountability has no ideological boundary. Saturday, September 27th from Noon until 2pm Anchorage Park Strip Downtown between I Street and L Street by the Veterans' Memorial Bring yourselves, your friends, your signs, and your moral outrage! Why this rally? To demand that the Governor uphold her promise to Alaskans to cooperate with the investigation set in place by the Legislative council, to demand the immediate resignation of the Attorney General Talis Colberg, who illegally told Todd and state employees to ignore subpoenas. And we demand that the McCain campaign remove their abusive lawyers from their unlawful intrusion into the Alaska Department of Law.
  <embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/BTRPlayer.swf?displayheight=&file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2fSyrin%2fplay_list.xml?show_id=293870&autostart=false&shuffle=false&volume=80&corner=rounded&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=215&height=108" width="215" height="108" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false"></embed>
  • Tags:
  • sarah palin
  • abuse of power
  • unethical
  • incompetent
  • resign
  Comments (10)

• Date / Time: 9/25/2008 1:55 AM UTC

  Sarah-Our energy expert....(Updated)

  John McCain has claimed that Governor Sarah Palin  "knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America." That's quite a compliment. Sarah is a self serving incompetent fool. You have heard us speak from Wasilla, Alaska here on BTR on oil and gas issues and Sarah Palin's lack of credibility in that area and others.

  However this week in Michigan, Palin took what was an easy question from a friendly supporter at a town hall meeting and turned it into an absolutely incoherent answer.

  When asked by a supporter how she could ensure that the resource derived from expanded domestic oil & gas drilling would be kept at home to benefit consumers in the United States, Palin showed just how much she really knows about energy. 

  "Oil and coal? Of course, it's a fungible commodity and they don't flag, you know, the molecules, where it's going and where it's not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It's got to flow into our domestic markets first."

  For those of us who have watched Palin for years this gibberish is understandable, especially given her propensity for grabbing on to sound bites. This time however, she combined a mash of unrelated sound bites into one big garbled answer.

  First, the bit about the flagging of the molecules came from recent legislative discussions regarding the governor's natural gas pipeline proposal. In legislative testimony, the explanation of the flagging of the molecules had to do with Alaska's natural gas that was being proposed to be shipped into a Canadian hub. The concern from lawmakers is that our gas wouldn't make it to domestic midwest markets, instead ending up being used in Canada.

  The explanation from TransCanada was that natural gas is fungible and although they can't flag molecules to ensure the exact Alaska molecules of gas get to Chicago, the gas will get there in the agreed upon quantities.

  Second, the sound bite of "hungry markets" is one of Palin's classic glittering generalities. She has used this line before to talk about the demand for Alaska's natural gas. The problem is that she has yet to put together a coherent plan on how to get Alaska's natural gas to market.

  In her State of the State speech in January of 2008, this is what she said about her gas pipeline proposal: "AGIA cleared the path for our gas to feed hungry local markets and to help secure the country with a safe, stable, and domestic supply of clean energy."

  In reality her gas pipeline plan did little more than grant a Canadaina company $500 million in taxpayer money to push paperwork and wait until Exxon, BP and ConocoPhillips decide to write the checks to pay for the pipeline.  

  Third, the comments about her belief that Congress won't allow export bans to the point where Americans don't have access to domestically produced energy supplies makes you stop and ask if she actually knows what an export ban is.

  How in the world does an export ban on a product create a shortage for the producing market? If Congress were to impose  export bans on domestically produced energy, by the nature of an export ban, Americans would have access to all of the domestically produced energy.       

  But this isn't the first time that Palin has shown a serious inability to grasp basic energy related issues.

  On Monday September 15, Palin was a call in guest on the Bob & Mark Show, a local radio program. One of the hosts, Bob Lester, said Palin needed to look into the fact that Enstar had recently announced they were raising their natural gas rates by 22% this winter. Alaskans in rural areas would be bankrupt, Lester stated.

  Palin agreed and stated that the public needed to make sure companies like Enstar are held accountable. Palin's response is meaningless.

  Enstar is a gas transportation company that simply provides the infrastructure to deliver the gas. Their rates are established by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and the 22% increase is a result of the increased cost of purchasing the gas from Cook Inlet suppliers.

  This increase is not a revenue increase for Enstar, it simply covers the increased cost and is a pass through to the consumer. These costs are based on a matrix of long term contracts, some of which are tied to the price of a barrel of oil. As we know, the average price of a barrel of oil has risen almost $50 per barrel over the last year, hence the increase.

  In addition, Enstars rates have no impact on rural Alaska because they don't transport natural gas out of southcentral Alaska. In fact their is no natural gas usage in rural Alaskan communities.

  To see the CNN video of Palin's comments:

  http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/09/22/sarah-palin-gibberish-we-can-believe-in/

  • Tags:
  • sarah palin
  • fraud
  • unethical
  • incompetent
  No Comments

• Date / Time: 9/24/2008 2:03 AM UTC

  ALASKA WOMEN REJECT PALIN SCANDALS SMEAR ALASKA'S GOOD NAME

  
  From Wasilla, Alaska 99687
  
  Watch this Alaskan from the rally in Anchorage.
  
  • Tags:
  • abuse of power
  • sarah palin
  • wasilla
  • investigated
  No Comments

• Date / Time: 9/22/2008 1:40 AM UTC

  As we were saying............ Alaska Pipeline to Nowhere

  

  Khue Bui for Newsweek

  Risky Business: Palin's pipeline may never get built

  By Mark Hosenball | NEWSWEEK

  Published Sep 20, 2008

  From the magazine issue dated Sep 29, 2008

   

  The principal achievement of Sarah Palin's term as Alaska's governor, a natural-gas pipeline project backed by $500 million in state tax money, might never be built unless Canadian authorities can strike a deal with some of the country's angry Indian tribes. Approximately half of the proposed pipeline would run through Canada; native tribes who live along its route complain they haven't been consulted about it and are threatening to sue unless they are compensated. Representatives of the canadian tribes, known as First Nations, say Palin and other pipeline proponents are treating them with disrespect. The tribes' lawyers warn that the courts are on their side and say the Indians have the power to delay the pipeline for years—or even kill it entirely by filing endless lawsuits.

  Palin's advisers say they considered these risks before they committed state funds to the project earlier this year. The state hired Canadian lawyers, who produced a lengthy report warning about possible lawsuits and cautioning that First Nations in Canada's Yukon Territory could be among the "most litigious." The report estimated that the Indians could delay the pipeline for up to seven years. But Jeffrey Rath, a lawyer for First Nations, says this timetable is "wildly optimistic." He notes that one of his clients, the 250-member Prophet River First Nation, litigated an unrelated land claim for 11 years before recently settling. Liz Logan, chief of a First Nations umbrella group in British Columbia, told NEWSWEEK that TransCanada, the company Palin's administration selected to pursue the project, has "very much downplayed the extent of the legal difficulties they face in Canada." One of Canada's top pipeline experts, Professor Andre Plourde of the University of Alberta, agrees that the seven-year timetable proposed by Palin's lawyers for sorting out First Nations claims is "optimistic indeed."

  Kurt Gibson, one of Alaska's top officials overseeing the pipe-line project, says it is "premature" in the process to start consulting with Canadian Indians. "This is what I would call a commercial dance of the fireflies," he says, meaning that the two sides are each jostling for economic advantage. But Robert C. Freedman, a lawyer for the Dene Tha' First Nation, says that if authorities keep putting off dealing with the natives, "it's going to be a pipeline to nowhere when it crosses into Canada." In an interview with NEWSWEEK, Patrick Galvin, Palin's revenue commissioner, conceded that "there are risks associated with this project … Nobody has said that this project is absolutely going to happen, guaranteed."

  • Tags:
  • alaska resources
  • palin
  • unethical
  • socialist
  No Comments

• Date / Time: 9/19/2008 11:16 PM UTC

  WSJ: McCain economic statements 'unpresidential'

  
  Friday, September 19, 2008
  John Aravosis (DC) · 9/19/2008 01:25:00 PM ET · 
  
  

  The Wall Street Journal:

  John McCain has made it clear this week he doesn't understand what's happening on Wall Street any better than Barack Obama does. But on Thursday, he took his populist riffing up a notch and found his scapegoat for financial panic -- Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission....
  
  Mr. McCain clearly wants to distance himself from the Bush Administration. But this assault on Mr. Cox is both false and deeply unfair. It's also un-Presidential....
  
  In a crisis, voters want steady, calm leadership, not easy, misleading answers that will do nothing to help. Mr. McCain is sounding like a candidate searching for a political foil rather than a genuine solution.
  
  • Tags:
  • mccain
  • dishonest
  No Comments

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