Free Republic

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - While walking with his dogs near his house in Soldotna, a snap of a twig prompted Greg Brush to glance over his shoulder. When he turned, he saw a bear charging full speed at him from less than 20 yards away. Backpedaling, Brush was able to fire his gun once or twice. It was enough. The bear dropped dead. "Came with zero warning," Brush told the Anchorage Daily News of the Aug. 2 bear encounter. "No woof, no popping of the teeth, no standing up, nothing like what you think."

For those who haven’t read my bio, my background is in collective bargaining and employee relations. I cut my teeth on the union side as an understudy to an old-time liberal Democrat trade unionist. His mantra was, “Before they do anything, make sure they think about what you’ll do about it.” After a stint in the private sector, I went to work for the State government representing the employer in dealing with labor unions. That is actually very common in both public and private sector labor relations since the union side is the best place to get good, hands on...

Security: An Iranian mullah once said "a world without America and Zionism" was a real possibility. Our sellout of Eastern Europe and missile defense brings that dream closer to reality. It would take only one warhead."Is it possible for us to witness a world without America and Zionism?" Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked at a "World Without Zionism" conference in Tehran in 2005. "But you had best know that this slogan and this goal are attainable, and surely can be achieved." He added that Iran had a strategic "war preparation plan" for what it called "the destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization." A...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former President George W. Bush "seemed to feel considerable unease" with John McCain as the Republican presidential nominee, according to ex-speechwriter Matt Latimer in his tell-all memoir on his days in the White House. In Latimer's new book, "Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor," set to hit bookstores on September 22, he reveals Bush's reactions to the economic collapse, the presidential campaign, and other memorable events. GQ published an excerpt from the memoir in its October issue. Latimer said Bush liked Mitt Romney best and that he was "clearly not impressed with the McCain operation." Latimer...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I have been asked if we got sound bites of McCain this morning on the Today Show. Let me quickly look here at it sound bite roster. I don't believe so. Let's see. We don't have any McCain. What did McCain say on the Today Show? What did he say? Hmm? Hmm? Hm-hm. Hm-hm. He threw Palin under the bus? Well, that's because Obama gave him a big compliment last night. McCain was out there giving a thumbs up. Marty in Virginia Beach, you're next on the EIB Network. Hi. CALLER: Hi. One of the things that...

In the tales about vampires, it was learned how they create the "undead" and how they can be eliminated by a stake through the heart. It would appear that in the case of Sarah Palin, the passionate left has created an undead; she keeps coming back. In Gail Collins' column, "Levi's very public revenge," she continues to sink her fangs into her constant target by using tacky images of an individual and a family situation. But, know what? She describes people and situations we meet and know every day. The fine family nonachievers who flunk out of school, the ones...

Many Republicans have great affection for Sarah Palin for her style, grit, charisma, tenacity and cool shoes. But now we find that she also has a certain self-assured political demeanor — an intangible — that grants her power. The former Alaska governor is "head of the table" material, a quality shared by such heavyweights as Winston Churchill and Sen. Edward Kennedy, says Jeffrey Lord of The American Spectator. "Wherever I sit is the head of the table," Mr. Churchill once remarked to a hostess concerned about seating arrangements. "A year after her emergence on the national scene, it is crystal...

Over at the DailyKos they're having a poll about who they would rather have president under their nightmare scenario of the tea party putting one of the two in office. The only choices are: "President Sarah Louise Palin" or "President Michele Marie Bachman" - Be still my heart. I voted SP, but I really wanted to vote Palin/Bachmann '12 and '16 and Bachmann/Liz Cheney '20 and '24, Liz Cheney '28 ...

Minot Air Force Base is preparing to activate a new B-52 bomber squadron that will send 10 more B-52s to the North Dakota base. The new unit will be the fourth B-52 squadron in the Air Force. Minot base already has one squadron and Barksdale Air Force Base has the other two B-52 units. The Air Force has not said whether the planes will be transferred from Barksdale or taken from backup aircraft. Air Force officials say adding the new squadron at Minot is part of plans to put a stronger emphasis on nuclear mission training for B-52 units.

What lies ahead for the enigmatic and iconic Sarah Palin, who recently passed her first anniversary as a major pop-culture figure? A little more than 12 months to the day, John McCain tapped the little-known Palin to be his running mate, lifting her into national prominence. Palin has become a fixture in the pop-culture landscape. On Wednesday, I did a Google search of "Sarah Palin" and found 18.2 million items. With the exception of President Obama, who drew 75 million Google entries, has any individual dominated water-cooler chats as much as Palin throughout the past year? The question has become...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2009 – Global climate change is a hotly debated topic, and the U.S. government is looking to Alaska to assess how it may affect the nation. White House and federal agency officials participating in the new Ocean Policy Task Force traveled throughout Alaska and the Arctic from Aug. 17 to 21 to observe activities in the region and meet with local leaders and industry representatives. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen, who took part in the trip, discussed in a Sept. 1 “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable how the increasingly accessible and active Arctic region has significant security,...

A massive green cabbage captured the Guinness World Record at the Alaska State Fair on Wednesday, crushing a record set in 1989 by nearly two pounds. The whopper submitted by Wasilla resident Steve Hubacek tipped the scales at 125.9 pounds, said Dean Phipps, marketing director for the fair. The cabbage's head measured about 21 inches across, and its leaves spanned about 5 feet. "I was there when they put it on," he said. "When they put it on everybody took a couple steps back and went like, 'Oh, my gosh.' They all had versions of that and then they started...

Nearly a year after the presidential race came to an end, it's a subject Arizona Sen. John McCain still can't avoid: Sarah Palin. Appearing on the Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien Wednesday, the former presidential candidate was asked, as he has been several times before, whether he was shocked Palin chose to resign her post as governor of Alaska two months ago. "Yeah I was because she didn't call me ahead of time," McCain said to laughter in the audience. "We all have families, we all have challenges, we all have issues in our lives. She did have huge legal...

For the first time in my life, I feel sympathy ofr Sarah Palin.Levi Johnston — you will remember him from his featured role as the father of Bristol’s baby at the Republican convention — has written an article for the new issue of Vanity Fair. It’s his take on the Palin home life, which Johnston says was “much different from what many people expect of a normal family.”Given the fact that Johnston is a 19-year-old high school dropout whose mother was arrested last year on six felony drug counts, it is conceivable that he is not the perfect arbiter of...

In the October issue of Vanity Fair, Levi Johnston tells his story--not of his relationship with Bristol, or her campaign for abstinence, or of life, in general, as a traveling spectator of the McCain/Palin campaign--but of Sarah Palin herself, what she's like at home, what she does, says, and how she treats people. And it is not pretty. Not by a long shot. It's a five-page first-person account, told by Johnston, of the way Palin is. Johnston certainly has an axe to grind: since the end of the campaign, it's become clear that Johnston does not like Sarah Palin very...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be delivering a keynote speech in Hong Kong, China, later this month, Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton told FOX News. BY SERAFIN GOMEZ Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be delivering a keynote speech in Hong Kong, China, later this month, Palin spokeswoman Meg Stapleton told FOX News. Palin will be speaking to a forum organized by CLSA, a Hong Kong-based brokerage firm, and will address the company's clients and delegates at the 16th Investors' Forum, held Sept. 21-25.

EL PASO, Texas (CNN) — As the Tea Party Express makes its way across the country, Sarah Palin has emerged as a favorite daughter of the movement, and organizers have invited her to join the tour — or at least come to the final stop in the nation's capital. The bus is scheduled to end its nationwide journey in Washington on Saturday, September 12. "We've been in touch with her people, letting her know the response that we've gotten. She's very supportive of the movement," says Joe Wierzbicki, one of the organizers traveling on the Tea Party Express.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's grandchild, said the former Republican vice presidential candidate wanted to adopt his child so that people wouldn't know her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Johnston said Palin had a plan to deal with Bristol's pregnancy. "Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging — she wouldn't give it up. She would say, 'So, are you gonna let me adopt him?' We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good,...

Levi Johnston, not content with just a GQ spread, heads to Condé Nast sibling Vanity Fair to offer a first person account: "Me and Mrs. Palin." The magazine posted a couple excerpts early this morning, including Johnston's account of how Palin considered keeping Bristol's pregnancy a secret. Sarah told me she had a great idea: we would keep it a secret — nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything. Sarah kept mentioning...

Politico conducted an interview recently with David Frum, former speechwriter for George W. Bush and a vigorous critic of Governor Palin, about the progress of his new project, the New Majority, a website that is allegedly "dedicated to the modernization and renewal of the Republican party and the conservative movement." In the interview, Frum effectively concedes that his New Majority project thus far has had little success in accomplishing its stated goals. "[T]he Internet is proving to be a little more complicated than Frum first thought it would be, he says. He admits to shortcomings in his Web acumen, and...

The last 45 of my 66 years I’ve spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska. I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here’s the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it…It’s not about persona, style, rhetoric, it’s about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I’m about to mention here. 1- Democrats forget when Palin was the Darling of the Democrats, because as soon as Palin took the Governor’s office away from a fellow Republican and tough SOB, Frank Murkowski, she tore into the Republican’s “Corrupt...

NEWTOK --The ground shakes whenever a new hunk of shoreline falls into the river outside Tillie Tommy's window. Like "somebody trying to jack up the house," she says. Her doorstep sits a short walk from the water's edge, where the swelling Ninglick River is gobbling more than 70 feet of coast a year -- one muddy splash at a time. At the current rate, the erosion will chomp its way to her house in as soon as three years. A few years after that, it'll be the school.

CALDWELL, Idaho – While the national media wonder what Sarah Palin’s doing and what she’ll do next, she’s holed up working on her book, her father said Friday. “Sarah’s been out of town for almost a month now,” said Chuck Heath,who is on a campaign swing through Idaho for GOP congressional candidate Vaughn Ward. “I don’t know exactly where she is, but she’s writing her book. She e-mails me quite frequently. She asks, ‘Oh, what happened on June 13, 1978?’ This is material for her book.” Palin, the former Alaska governor whose turn as John McCain’s running mate last year...

"There will be death panels if we do nothing," Stossel said of Medicare, using the phrase that former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin made famous in relation to the health-reform bill, which does not directly affect Medicare.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Federal Elections Commission has found that former Gov. Sarah Palin's political action committee gave excessive contributions to two well-known Republicans. The problem is highlighted in a letter sent to SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford. Crawford told The Anchorage Daily News that the problem has been fixed. He said SarahPAC has sorted out the $5,000 contributions to Sens. John McCain and Lisa Murkowski, and the campaigns have already refunded $200 each. Crawford blamed the problems on election software used to deal with required disclosures. . . . . . Crawford said SarahPAC has redesignated the $5,000 going...

Alaskans for Parental Rights is looking forward to having former Governor Sarah Palin join us this evening for the kick-off event for our initiative to protect the right of parents to be involved in the abortion decisions of their teenage daughters. Media reports in the last 24 hours have quoted the Governor’s spokeswoman as saying that Mrs. Palin never committed to attend the event, and that she will not be present this evening. We have been in regular communications with the Governor’s staff over the last several weeks. We were assured that Governor Palin was personally aware of this evening’s...

Organizers of an Anchorage event that has been billing Sarah Palin for weeks as a star speaker were left scrambling Wednesday after learning that the former governor won't be there for tonight's event and claims to have never been asked. It would be at least the fourth time in recent months that an anticipated Palin speech has fallen through after Palin and her camp disputed they had ever confirmed it. That includes the brouhaha over whether she'd speak at the annual congressional Republican fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C., this summer.

During Mitt Romney's failed bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, he demonstrated a potent knack for wooing the conservative commentariat. While not every big name fell for him, a bevy did, including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Hugh Hewitt, and the editors of the National Review. But if our former governor runs again in 2012, will his right-wing charms still beguile? Maybe not. Consider Romney's evolving treatment at the hands of Limbaugh, the biggest star in the right-wing media firmament. Before John McCain locked up the nomination, Limbaugh did his voluble best to push Romney as an alternative. After Romney's...

U. S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski will hold a town hall meeting in Wasilla this Friday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Menard Sports Center. The subject of the meeting is the national debate about the future of health care legislation currently being written in Congress.

Warming oceans could cause Earth's axis to tilt in the coming century, a new study suggests. The effect was previously thought to be negligible, but researchers now say the shift will be large enough that it should be taken into account when interpreting how the Earth wobbles.

Senator McCain in an interview with George Stephanopolis this morning supported Sarah Panel's concern over the end of life provisions in the Democratic health bills.

Kenosha County Republicans appear to favor Scott Walker for governor next year, and they like Sarah Palin for president in 2012. That’s the word, anyway, from an unscientific straw poll that the county GOP organization took over the course of five days last week at the Kenosha County Fair.

At a town-hall meeting in Grand Junction this week, President Obama backed down from his proposal for a government-run health insurance company after CU-Boulder student Zach Lahn asked him how private insurance companies would realistically be able to compete. In his reply, Obama pretty much pussied out: “All I’m saying is…that the public option, whether we have it or don’t have it, is not the entirety of health care reform.” Fair enough, it isn’t, but it’s pretty central to it. And with weak rhetoric like that, it’s pretty clear that the “public option” is not going to be on the...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- When Sherry Johnston left a Palmer courtroom Wednesday, there were lingering questions: What will her sentence be? Where is Levi? And what's with the pink handcuffs? Turns out there's a story behind those pink handcuffs that puts Sherry Johnston six degrees of separation from one of the most infamous sheriffs in the land. Shortly after Johnston pled guilty to possessing the painkiller OxyContin with the intent of delivering it she prepared to head back to jail. That's where Court Services Officer Pierre Burkett comes in, sporting of all things pink handcuffs. Both Johnston and her attorney, Rex...

Kathy Griffin went the cougar route for her date to the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday night. The star brought Levi Johnston, the teenage ex-fiance of Bristol Palin, daughter of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. The couple held hands as they walked down the red carpet at the event, set to be hosted by the Jonas Brothers. So why did Johnston, 19, decide to come with Griffin, 48? “She’s beautiful and funny,” he told Access Hollywood. “She’s the star of the night.” “Miley (Cyrus), try to top this!” Griffin added.

Defense: The Air Force airborne laser program successfully completes a simulated kill from a plane able to find, track and destroy a live ballistic missile. We can shoot down enemy missiles. Instead, we're shooting down the laser program.The Aug. 10 effort was the third such test — sort of like a sniper sighting the target with the red dot of a laser without actually pulling the trigger. In early June, the airborne laser (ABL) program engaged two un-instrumented missiles. This was the first in-flight test against an instrumented target missile. A modified Boeing 747-400F aircraft took off from Edwards Air...

PALMER: Destructive thieves take everything that's not nailed down and then some at headquarters. Daniel Skriloff, an Alaska wildfire fighter, had just come off the line, battling the oppressive heat and smoke of the 12,000-acre Hardluck Creek blaze near Fairbanks, when he got the bad news. Back at the Palmer-based headquarters for the Pioneer Peak Hotshots, thieves -- as part of a storm of theft and destruction -- broke into and stole his Subaru Legacy from the gated parking lot. "It sucks," said the third-year firefighter, who was back in Palmer dealing with insurance forms on Tuesday. "You name it,...

WASILLA, Alaska -- A group of elite firefighters got a disturbing welcome home Tuesday: while they were out protecting Alaskans from wildfires, they became crime victims as well. They're called the Pioneer Peak Hotshots, a Type I crew that's usually right in the thick of things when major wildfires break out. But when they returned after two weeks on the fire line near Fairbanks, they faced a man-made disaster. Vandals had broken into and completely trashed their headquarters while they were gone. "They basically went through the entire room -- there were some state computers and state equipment in here...

Palmer, Alaska (AP) -- The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned on marrying has reached a plea deal in her drug case. Sherry Johnston pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin. Five other felony counts were dropped. Johnston was placed in pink handcuffs and taken to a correctional facility where she'll be held until her Nov. 20 sentencing.

Today's Wall Street Journal contains some puzzling news for all Americans who are impacted by high energy prices and who share the goal of moving us toward energy independence. For years, states rich with an abundance of oil and natural gas have been begging Washington, DC politicians for the right to develop their own natural resources on federal lands and off shore. Such development would mean good paying jobs here in the United States (with health benefits) and the resulting royalties and taxes would provide money for federal coffers that would potentially off-set the need for higher income taxes, reduce...

NOME, Alaska, Aug. 17, 2009 – Medical personnel from the Army and Air National Guard and Coast Guard traveled 6,600 miles in three days to visit three Alaska communities as part of Operation Arctic Crossroads. Air Force Capt. Rhonda Ellison, a veterinarian with the Alabama Air National Guard, gives a rabies shot to a dog in the village of Koyuk, Alaska. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jon-Paul Rios  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The three services, along with active-duty Air Force personnel, will provide medical, dental and optometry services to residents of nine remote villages...

Four Democratic senators want to put off the proposed cap & trade legislation. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad both of North Dakota are urging the Senate to delay legislation that puts caps on greenhouse gas emissions and instead, pass a narrow bill that sets requirements on the use of renewable energy. Senators Lincoln and Dorgan are up for re-election in 2010 and are from states that would be hurt economically from a cap and trade bill similar to the one passed by the House in June. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...

Dear Friends, Our dear friend Dr. Jerry Prevo, pastor of Anchorage Baptist Temple, has asked for our help in stopping an ordinance from becoming law. The Anchorage (Alaska) City Assembly passed an ordinance that would add "sexual orientation" to the city's non-discrimination and civil rights law. If signed into law by the Mayor, this ordinance will force individuals and small businesses to accept and accommodate all forms of "sexual orientation" including homosexuals, transgenders, and cross dressing. We have seen in other cities where, due to these laws, a Christian photographer was fined for not photographing a lesbian commitment ceremony, the...

I join millions of Americans in expressing appreciation for the Senate Finance Committee’s decision to remove the provision in the pending health care bill that authorizes end-of-life consultations (Section 1233 of HR 3200). It’s gratifying that the voice of the people is getting through to Congress; however, that provision was not the only disturbing detail in this legislation; it was just one of the more obvious ones. As I noted in my statement last week, nationalized health care inevitably leads to rationing. There is simply no way to cover everyone and hold down the costs at the same time. The...

Last Sunday a fourth brown bear for the year was killed in a defense of life and property (DLP) shooting, and there is no mistaking that it was the former, not the latter, that was on the line for the man who shot it.

<p>A man walked into a Midtown bank last week, gave his name and account number to the teller and showed his ID. It was his real name and it was his own account. The ID had his picture.</p> <p>Then he handed over a piece of paper -- a receipt -- with a note scribbled on the back.</p>

Yesterday President Obama responded to my statement that Democratic health care proposals would lead to rationed care; that the sick, the elderly, and the disabled would suffer the most under such rationing; and that under such a system these “unproductive” members of society could face the prospect of government bureaucrats determining whether they deserve health care. The President made light of these concerns. He said: “Let me just be specific about some things that I’ve been hearing lately that we just need to dispose of here. The rumor that’s been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the...

Sarah Palin, the wife of a popular Arctic snowmachine racer who also once served as Alaska's first female governor, seems to find her own popularity plummeting. According to numbers atop a new poll by CNN/Opinion Research the popular hockey mom's favorable rating in a survey of at least 1,136 adult Americans has plunged seven points since May. A significant drop. She went from 46% favorable down to 39% a few days after she experienced premature resignation and left office 17 months early to save Alaska from more partisan attacks on her. And, who knows, maybe plan some future political activity...

A judge has ruled that the Alaska governor's office can use private e-mail accounts to conduct state business, as former Gov. Sarah Palin sometimes did. Judge Rules in Palin Email Case

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ignited a firestorm over the weekend by calling the health-care reforms pushed by President Barack Obama "downright evil" for proposals that could usher in rationing, and turn federal health boards into "death panels" that would decide whether the elderly and the disabled, like her infant Down's syndrome son, Trig, were "worthy of health-care." Palin's provocative statements, however, have brought fresh scrutiny of the dangers of the proposed "Heath Benefits Advisory Committee," if it were to adopt guidelines of a "Complete Lives System" advocated by Obama's policy advisor on health care reform, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel. Many...