Last night was awful...
BUT with good reward! Ms. Scout has officially cut her first tooth! I tried to take a picture, but eh....no luck. Just know that there are pics of toothies in the works....
Ranch pics and video
 |
| Ranch 2008 |
Here's some video of Hailee running horses for the first time.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6832859340525237616
and Hailee riding Shorty
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9172711844234431591
Playing with Papa
Here's a cute vid of Scout playing with her Papa. We visited The Ranch in my hometown this past weekend. It was a great time! I'll post the link to more pics when I get them uploaded.
Baby's got a brand new pad....
You can visit Scout now at 12345 Living Room Blvd.! She's all grown up and has her own garden.
Copperhead Road....Scout style.
Here's our prodigy baby...playing Copperhead Road on the stacking cups and dancing to boot! :D Pretty much the funniest thing ever.
When did that happen?
When did ordering a drink at Starbucks become a chance to get mocked, chatted up, or down right confused?! I just want a freakin' frappacino. Not a relationship!
I've never wanted to tip my barista...until today. He simply asked "what can i get started for you, today?" Then, the total, the drink and a "have a nice day."
It was great. I didn't have to talk about the weather. I didn't have to talk about "what trouble i've been up to lately." I didn't have to talk about coffee cake or sandwiches. I wasn't told "oh no, we don't make those anymore. HAHA. JUST KIDDING"
Just the drink, please and thank you.
EDIT:
J went to Starbucks and got the same annoying kid that took my order a couple of weeks ago...
SB guy: "Two drinks? That'll be a million bucks."
J: "uh. ok. here's my card."
SB guy: "ok. do you want a receipt?"
J: "um. no. that's ok."
SB guy: "sure you don't want to make sure I'm not charging you a million bucks?"
J: "uh. that's ok. I trust you."
AND THE BEST IS SAVED FOR LAST
SB guy: "ok. your drinks will be out in a minute. Feel free to sit there and throw things at me."
holy moly...now we are going to have to lose bets to go to Starbucks.
I've never wanted to tip my barista...until today. He simply asked "what can i get started for you, today?" Then, the total, the drink and a "have a nice day."
It was great. I didn't have to talk about the weather. I didn't have to talk about "what trouble i've been up to lately." I didn't have to talk about coffee cake or sandwiches. I wasn't told "oh no, we don't make those anymore. HAHA. JUST KIDDING"
Just the drink, please and thank you.
EDIT:
J went to Starbucks and got the same annoying kid that took my order a couple of weeks ago...
SB guy: "Two drinks? That'll be a million bucks."
J: "uh. ok. here's my card."
SB guy: "ok. do you want a receipt?"
J: "um. no. that's ok."
SB guy: "sure you don't want to make sure I'm not charging you a million bucks?"
J: "uh. that's ok. I trust you."
AND THE BEST IS SAVED FOR LAST
SB guy: "ok. your drinks will be out in a minute. Feel free to sit there and throw things at me."
holy moly...now we are going to have to lose bets to go to Starbucks.
I <3 my husband...
Man, life is pretty grand here in the H house. Don't get me wrong...we have our daily struggles and moments just like every other household. But, I have to hand it to my hard-working husband. He has been putting in a lot of hard hours at work the past couple of months and I wanted to give him a public (well, sorta) pat on the back. Not only is he the sole (veggie-)bacon bringer, but he's a great dad and husband when he gets home. He's never too tired or too busy to give Scout her bath, read a book, sing a song, play instruments or roll around on the floor. And THAT is a great man.
I found some good ol' pics online...here's one from one of our first "dates." J and I had JUST had our first date the night before this picture was taken. J and I met in June of '05 when we worked together at ExpertVillage.com. I'd worked there maybe a week or two and he had stopped by my office to ask me if I wanted to go grab a pizza/beer and see his friend's band play on a Wednesday night after work. I gratefully accepted (a little giddy at this point, and probably jumped for joy on the inside when he asked).
Our first date...I met him at his apartment that he shared with Jason (and Jason's brother and various others that summer) and he gave me the grand tour of the ultimate (but deceptively clean) bachelor-pad. We sat on the couch (I remember absolutely beaming with awkwardness and smiling a lot), talking about movies and his impressive (if somewhat intimidating) DVD collection...including his love of everything John Cusack. We went (I drove) to The Parlor in Austin and shared some pizza and a pitcher before most of his friends showed up at the GoldenBear show. I remember feeling intimidated, but happy that he was interested enough to introduce me to his friends. I remember that tingly feeling in my chest when he HAD to lean close and yell in my ear if I wanted another drink and pure elation as his hand held mine while rocking out to "Santa Rosa" and other GB hits. There were after date pics taken and after post-date errands, it came as quite a surprise when this soft-spoken guy leaned in for our first kiss. I hadn't been that happy in a long time, and to this day I conjure up these feelings of bliss.
A month later I received this IM on my computer on a Monday morning: 7/29/05
jbher1979: you probably won't get this till Monday, but I'm sitting here on Friday night @ 2am and all I can think about is how incredibly in love with you I am.....you make me soooo happy that words cannot even describe it.
(hope this doesn't embarrass him)
So, to J! The best husband in the world.
PS, I just realized that this blog post likely triggered a google alert to J's co-workers. Don't give him too hard of a time on Monday :)
I found some good ol' pics online...here's one from one of our first "dates." J and I had JUST had our first date the night before this picture was taken. J and I met in June of '05 when we worked together at ExpertVillage.com. I'd worked there maybe a week or two and he had stopped by my office to ask me if I wanted to go grab a pizza/beer and see his friend's band play on a Wednesday night after work. I gratefully accepted (a little giddy at this point, and probably jumped for joy on the inside when he asked).
Our first date...I met him at his apartment that he shared with Jason (and Jason's brother and various others that summer) and he gave me the grand tour of the ultimate (but deceptively clean) bachelor-pad. We sat on the couch (I remember absolutely beaming with awkwardness and smiling a lot), talking about movies and his impressive (if somewhat intimidating) DVD collection...including his love of everything John Cusack. We went (I drove) to The Parlor in Austin and shared some pizza and a pitcher before most of his friends showed up at the GoldenBear show. I remember feeling intimidated, but happy that he was interested enough to introduce me to his friends. I remember that tingly feeling in my chest when he HAD to lean close and yell in my ear if I wanted another drink and pure elation as his hand held mine while rocking out to "Santa Rosa" and other GB hits. There were after date pics taken and after post-date errands, it came as quite a surprise when this soft-spoken guy leaned in for our first kiss. I hadn't been that happy in a long time, and to this day I conjure up these feelings of bliss.
A month later I received this IM on my computer on a Monday morning: 7/29/05
jbher1979: you probably won't get this till Monday, but I'm sitting here on Friday night @ 2am and all I can think about is how incredibly in love with you I am.....you make me soooo happy that words cannot even describe it.
(hope this doesn't embarrass him)
So, to J! The best husband in the world.
PS, I just realized that this blog post likely triggered a google alert to J's co-workers. Don't give him too hard of a time on Monday :)
our first San Antonio Zoo trip
Mom and dad came down for a fun-filled weekend and we "road tripped it" to San Antonio to visit some family members. ;) OK, ok...so not exactly family. But, we did have fun looking at all the animals...especially the monkeys, lemurs, hippos and a friendly little ocelot.
Then, today, we went on a walk to the playground in our neighborhood. Here's Scout's first sliding experience.
My moment of enlightenment...
Upon my first few days as a mother, I was flooded with help from family, friends, and a wonderful nursing staff at NAMC. So when we headed home from the hospital, I was confident, excited and ready to begin this new chapter in my life. I was flooded with the "I can't believe this beautiful baby is mine" thoughts.
The day that J was due to return to work, my mom (who'd been in town helping us with late night feedings, laundry, cleaning, cooking, errands, and getting me back on my feet after a difficult C-section) was also due to return home (9 hours away). Momentarily, I was freaked out. Paralyzed. I couldn't believe I was responsible for such a tiny little thing! What was I going to do? How could I do this without my security net? But alone, in our first private moments together...with no nurses, no doctors, no daddy, no grandmas, no family, no friends...I knew. I realized my purpose in life at this very moment was to love this child and that that love would only continue to grow with each late night feeding, each sleepless hour, every coo, every smile and every touch. At that moment (and every moment since then), I couldn't imagine my life without her in it.
Scout's nicknames...
Scout lived up to one of her infamous nicknames today..."munchie..."
I caught her licking the couch.
haha. what a life.
What's new in the world of baby?
Bath time with "Bubbles," the blue hippo!
What's new in your world?
Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 3, 11:48 PM ET
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.
Some examples:
PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."
PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."
THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.
PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."
THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.
Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.
He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.
MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.
THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.
MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.
THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.
FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."
THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.
___
Associated Press Writer Jim Drinkard in Washington contributed to this report.
AND a cute picture of the baby to justify your reading of this post. :D
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.
Some examples:
PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."
PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."
THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.
PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."
THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.
Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.
He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.
MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.
THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.
MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.
THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.
FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."
THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.
___
Associated Press Writer Jim Drinkard in Washington contributed to this report.
AND a cute picture of the baby to justify your reading of this post. :D
Warning, I'm getting political on the blog.
Usually, I reserve this blog for cute pictures of our baby and updates with what's going on with us, but, I wanted to forward this on to whoever may read it. This is an interesting email that I got from a friend that presents a basic run-down of Palin's policy and "experience." If nothing else, skip down to the bottom and read the quotes from people who ACTUALLY live in Alaska and are familiar with Palin. As a woman, I am insulted by this choice, and you should be too.
Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.
Huh?
Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:
* She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1
* Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3
* Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
* She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
* She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
* How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7
This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.
We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:
She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK
She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK
As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK
Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK
She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK
I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK
So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.
In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.
In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.
Thanks for all you do.
–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=1
3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=2
4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=3
5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=4
6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=5
"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=6
"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=7
7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=8
Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.
Huh?
Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:
* She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1
* Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
* She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3
* Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
* She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
* She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
* How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7
This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.
We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:
She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK
She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK
As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK
Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK
She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK
I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK
So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.
In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.
In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.
Thanks for all you do.
–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=1
3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=2
4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=3
5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=4
6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=5
"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=6
"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=7
7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-10229154-zOASDNx&t=8
6 months old!
WELL...our little bug is 6 months old now! She is a whopping 16 lbs. 6 ounces and almost 27 inches long! She's growing and changing every day; more and more it seems lately. She is "singing," zirberting, and making word noises...any day now she'll be giving us all our marching orders! She is dying to crawl and is no longer dragging her tummy on the floor. She has this move that we call "the polar bear" where she gets on all fours on my/j's chest and then pounces us (like polar bears do when they try to break the ice). It's pretty much the funniest thing ever. She is enjoying her books and settling into a night time routine, tho we wish we could get past the one time she wakes up in the night.
A cute story for ya: when we were at the doctor's office for her check up, the doctor had given her an exam and was about to leave the room. He shook J's hand, and then mine and then Scout (mocking our behavior) stuck her right hand up for the doctor to shake. He was floored, and we all burst out laughing. He shook her hand and she thought it was hilarious. So watch what you do....because SHE is! :D
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