Quote:
Originally posted by Tim Murphy:
My father had friends who shot wolves from ski planes on open ice. I don't think it very sporting, in fact it appalls me, but certainly they landed and brought home the carcasses, and claimed the substantial bounty offered at the time. I believe wolf hunting is now banned.
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No, that's the thing, Tim. It's not. In fact it's been encouraged since Gov. Palin took office.
Earlier in the thread I pointed out the following:
I'm much more upset at the idea that Sarah Palin has been instrumental in getting The State of Alaska to allow aerial hunting of wolves and brown bears. I'm upset that she thinks grown men with rifles shooting defenseless animals while hovering above them in small planes and helicopters is sporting behaviour.
I'm much more upset that she was offering a $150.00 bounty for each wolf killed because wolves are the natural predators of caribou and moose and she apparently believes that man is the only animal which should be allowed to kill caribou and moose. I'm upset that she refused to quit allowing the bounty to be paid in spite of various lawsuits and the fact that the majority of Alaskan citizens opposed it until The Supreme Court of Alaska stepped in and disallowed it for her. I'm upset that The Alaska Board and Game Commission is still attempting to reinstate the bounty and that the Alaska Board and Game Commission is appointed and controlled by, you guessed it, the Governor of Alaska.
Eaf, who lives in Alaska pointed out the article I cited was incorrect - that the people of Alaska were very much in favor of continuing the aerial shooting of wolves and bears -
A ballot initiative to stop the aerial (same-day) shooting of bears and wolves failed by popular vote just a few days ago, so obviously a majority of the population is okay with it. We are a red state, after all.
-eaf
I cannot post the links to the articles about Gov. Palin because for some reason they stretch the width of the thread too widely but I'd be glad to supply them by email if you wish to confirm the above.
Like Governor Palin I am opposed to gay marriage and very much in favor of equal employment rights. She vetoed a bill denying health insurance to same-sexed partners of Alyeskan employees.
Which she did under duress and only after a ruling from The State Supreme Court ordered her office to do. She publically disagreed with the ruling and supported a democratic advisory vote from the public about creating a constitutional amendment on the matter.
While the previous administration did not implement same-sex benefits, Palin complied with a state Supreme Court order and signed them into law.[28] She disagreed with the Supreme Court ruling[29] and supported a democratic advisory vote from the public on whether there should be a constitutional amendment on the matter.[30]
Palin's first veto was used to block legislation that would have barred the state from granting benefits to the partners of gay state employees. In effect, her veto granted State of Alaska benefits to same-sex couples. The veto occurred after Palin consulted with Alaska's attorney general on the constitutionality of the legislation.[29]
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.co...on-gay-ri.html
In other words, she was looking for a loophole to get her out of it and the attorney general told her there wasn't any. If you call that
supportive I respectfully have to disagree with you.
I suggest that Spherians show a little deference to the people who elected her to govern a landmass one third the size of the continental US, where Little Diomede is 800 yards from Russia.
True enough - and while we're taking that into consideration I'd suggest that you take into account that while the landmass is large, the population is small. In fact, it is the third to the last state in order of population. Only North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming are less populated -
edited to remove D.C., which, as someone pointed out to me, is not a state. We do, however, pay taxes, even without benefit of representation - which makes us count - at least to those of us who live and work here.)
Elected officials represent
people not
landmass. It's not the size of the state which matters, it's what's inside the state that counts.
Just to put it into perspective, Sarah Palin represents 683,478
people, while Gov. Schwarzenegger represents 36,553,215. That's almost 36 MILLION more people that he bears responsibility for. To say nothing of how many more votes he probably amassed to acquire to win the office - or how many more people support him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._by_population
How many of you pouring derision on this choice have been to The Great Land, have seen the Alaska Pipeline, have hiked in brown bear country?
I hardly see where anyone, with the exception of possibly Anne, has been derisive. In fact, I've been sticking up for Gov. Palin in places. Virtually everything which has been said in this thread, outside of the pregnancy rumors, has been firmly rooted in facts which are proven and readily available. I fail to see how reporting a truth is "pouring derision" on anyone.
You people are SO provincial.
'Tis ok, tho, if Gov. Palin gets her way no one will be hiking in brown bear country for very long. Then we'll all be forced into provincialness.
If nothing changes, state lands used by the bears near the 114,400-acre sanctuary in Southwest Alaska will be open to hunting as of July 1, clearing the way for a fall hunt.
Opponents say it's not sporting to hunt the McNeil River bears, which are accustomed to humans and routinely come to within 10 or 15 feet of small groups of bear viewers allowed into the sanctuary each summer. Supporters say the bears are fair game when they wander outside the sanctuary.
The Game Board, which is appointed by the governor to regulate hunting in Alaska, voted to open the state lands to brown bear hunting at the request of hunters.
McNeil, created by the state 40 years ago, is arguably the best place in the world to view brown bears. That's because two things make McNeil exceptional; how close the bears will safely come to humans and how many there are at the sanctuary.
http://dwb.adn.com/news/alaska/wildl...-8527665c.html
Lo
[This message has been edited by Laura Heidy-Halberstein (edited August 31, 2008).]