Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 6:17PM 
Steel: The Daily Ramblings of a Steelhead Addict Who Fishes on the Fly is worth a visit. Mike is interested in three things: Steelhead, the casts that reach them, and the flies that take them. Three fine focus areas Mikey! Fine indeed.
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 9:17AM According to the Alaska TV news station KTUU where Palin “appeared occasionally as a television sportscaster,” Palin was so determined to defeat a Clean Water ballot measure this summer that she broke the law to oppose it:
It is against the law for the governor to officially advocate for or
against a ballot measure; however, Palin took what she calls "personal
privilege" to discuss one of this year's most contentious initiatives.
Via: Firedoglake LINK
Friday, August 29, 2008 at 7:27PM 
Or as we like to say at the family meat plant, politics and sausage, you don't want to know what goes into it.
Measure 4, the ballot initiative primarily designed to stop the Pebble Mine and that just went down to defeat, was funded primarily by a shadowy Republican pro business group called, American's for Job Security.
Source watch's description of American's for Job Security,
Americans for Job Security (AJS) is a Republican "sham front group that would be better called Corporations Influencing Elections ... masquerading as a non-profit to conceal its funders and the scope of its electioneering activities," the Center for Responsive Politics wrote in April 2007. Incorporated October 1997 in Virginia, AJS was described by the Center as "pro-Republican", "pro-business", and "established to directly counter labor's influence".
It is alleged that AJS was founded by Marc F. Racicot "with a $1 million donation" from the American Insurance Association. Racicot headed George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign and is a former Republican National Committee chairman.
The prevailing wisdom is that Bob Gilliam, a prominent conservative, who owns a 10,000 sq. ft. log home 30 miles from the proposed Pebble mine, used his ties to AJS to funnel funds to the pro 4 effort.
Anchorage political consultant Art Hackney, a creative guy who normally sings the praises of right-wing Republicans and pro-development campaigns, is the front man for the pro-initiative effort.
The services of Hackney, who is no greenie, and nearly the entire advertising campaign in support of the initiative are probably being bankrolled by Bob Gillam, the Anchorage financier who opposes the proposed Pebble Mine.
Via: The Newsminer LINK
Sarah Palin, Alaska's Republican Governor and John McCain's V.P. choice, publicly announced her opposition to Measure 4 and helped put the wood to the Measure in the final days of the campaign. As you can see in the image above, the anti Measure 4 forces used Palin in a full page Vote No on 4 ad.
Our polls were showing us ahead until Palin came out, and then they
just nose-dived," said Bruce Switzer, a technical adviser to the "Yes"
vote campaign.
Via: KTUU LINK
