>> ^visionep:

If I didn't know better I would call this fake.
Everyone knows that Finland is a land of ice and snow. They can't have beaches with people relaxing in shorts and no shirts.
Helsinki is at a similar parallel to Juneau Alaska.


Ice and snow? Are you a geographer or a meteorologist? That's quite an ignorant assumption. I haven't been there, but I live in Canada and people often assume that it never gets warm enough to take off my parka. The southern tip of Finland is still north from my parallel, but they have water slide parks and long summer days. Look up vesiliukumäki!

Yeah, you would think that Finland is all about polar bears and reindeer, but right now it's actually so hot that people are practically boiling out here!

>> ^visionep:

If I didn't know better I would call this fake.
Everyone knows that Finland is a land of ice and snow. They can't have beaches with people relaxing in shorts and no shirts.
Helsinki is at a similar parallel to Juneau Alaska.

If I didn't know better I would call this fake.

Everyone knows that Finland is a land of ice and snow. They can't have beaches with people relaxing in shorts and no shirts.

Helsinki is at a similar parallel to Juneau Alaska.

Yeah, "enjoy" can be a relative term. I wasn't doing any serious research or anything--it just came to me. Literally. A friend forwarded the link in e-mail and I figured sifters might like it too.

To me, the sight of the pure desolation of the place illustrates what an empty argument it is--real, exaggerated or otherwise. I mean, it doesn't even matter if it's literally true--to me, anybody who presents that argument is beneath contempt and impossible to take seriously about anything. Except, yeah, F*ing VP candidate!</rant>


In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
Well, I cannot really say I enjoyed this. I mean, the mere thought of Palin possibly becoming the vp is more than any reasonably thinking person could take, isn't it? But I had been wondering (having access to maps, unlike Ms Palin and Miss Teen South Carolina) what she would actually be able to see "from her home", but was too lazy to dig into it. So, thanks for doing my research for me. Are you from Alaska or did you just happen to come across this vid or did you seriously do some research?

In reply to this comment by wazant:
NP. Glad you enjoyed it!


In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
Thanks for posting this. I know it doesn't really matter, but I had been wondering what/how much/from where one would actually have a view of Russia from Alaska (realising one couldn't possibly see it from either Wasilla, Juneau or Anchorage).

Well, I cannot really say I enjoyed this. I mean, the mere thought of Palin possibly becoming the vp is more than any reasonably thinking person could take, isn't it? But I had been wondering (having access to maps, unlike Ms Palin and Miss Teen South Carolina) what she would actually be able to see "from her home", but was too lazy to dig into it. So, thanks for doing my research for me. Are you from Alaska or did you just happen to come across this vid or did you seriously do some research?

In reply to this comment by wazant:
NP. Glad you enjoyed it!


In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
Thanks for posting this. I know it doesn't really matter, but I had been wondering what/how much/from where one would actually have a view of Russia from Alaska (realising one couldn't possibly see it from either Wasilla, Juneau or Anchorage).

NP. Glad you enjoyed it!


In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
Thanks for posting this. I know it doesn't really matter, but I had been wondering what/how much/from where one would actually have a view of Russia from Alaska (realising one couldn't possibly see it from either Wasilla, Juneau or Anchorage).

Thanks for posting this. I know it doesn't really matter, but I had been wondering what/how much/from where one would actually have a view of Russia from Alaska (realising one couldn't possibly see it from either Wasilla, Juneau or Anchorage).

Here's the e-mail being sent out to the MoveOn-a-nites:

"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=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=2


4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&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=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&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=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&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=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=7

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-7654869-irR0vsx&t=8"

In a statement first released August 9, 2007, over 1,500 professionals urge Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted. They cite new scientific evidence that fluoridation, long promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective and has serious health risks. (http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html)

Signers include a Nobel Prize winner, three members of the prestigious 2006 National Research Council (NRC) panel that reported on fluoride’s toxicology, two officers in the Union representing professionals at EPA headquarters, the President of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment, and hundreds of medical, dental, academic, scientific and environmental professionals, worldwide.

Signer Dr. Arvid Carlsson, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Medicine, says, “Fluoridation is against all principles of modern pharmacology. It's really obsolete.”

An Online Action Petition to Congress in support of the Professionals' Statement is available on FAN's web site, www.fluorideaction.org/congress .

“The NRC report dramatically changed scientific understanding of fluoride's health risks," says Paul Connett, PhD, Executive Director, Fluoride Action Network. "Government officials who continue to promote fluoridation must testify under oath as to why they are ignoring the powerful evidence of harm in the NRC report,” he added.

The Professionals’ Statement also references:

-- The new American Dental Association policy recommending infant formula NOT be prepared with fluoridated water.
-- The CDC’s concession that the predominant benefit of fluoride is topical not systemic.
-- CDC data showing that dental fluorosis, caused by fluoride over-exposure, now impacts one third of American children.
-- Major research indicating little difference in decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities.
-- A Harvard study indicating a possible link between fluoridation and bone cancer.
-- The silicofluoride chemicals used for fluoridation are contaminated industrial waste and have never been FDA- approved for human ingestion.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a DC watchdog, revealed that a Harvard professor concealed the fluoridation/bone cancer connection for three years. EWG President Ken Cook states, “It is time for the US to recognize that fluoridation has serious risks that far outweigh any minor benefits, and unlike many other environmental issues, it's as easy to end as turning off a valve at the water plant.”

Further, researchers reporting in the Oct 6 2007 British Medical Journal indicate that fluoridation, touted as a safe cavity preventive, never was proven safe or effective and may be unethical. (1)

In New York State, Cobeskill stopped 54 years of fluoridation in 2007, the Central Bridge Water District stopped fluoridation in 2006, Homer in 2005, Canton in 2003. Oneida rejected fluoridation in 2002. Ithaca rejected fluoridation in 2002. Johnstown rejected it in 1999. Before that several towns in Nassau County stopped fluoridation. Suffolk County rejected fluoridation in the 1990's.

On October 2, 2007 Juneau Alaska voters rejected fluoridation despite the American Dental Association's $150,000 political campaign to return fluoride into the water supply after the legislative body voted it out.

Many communities rejected or stopped fluoridation over the years. See: http://www.fluoridealert.org/communities.htm


SOURCE: Fluoride Action Network http://www.FluorideAction.Net


References:

(1) “Adding fluoride to water supplies,” British Medical Journal, KK Cheng, Iain Chalmers, Trevor A. Sheldon, October 6, 2007