The Juneau Video Edit

Lidia17 contacted me right after I posted Hooker Boots on Ice earlier this month and asked me if I would like her to develop a tighter edit of my favorite SP video, the Hike Around Juneau of February 13, 2008. Of course I replied that that would be most excellent! Since I have never been interested enough in digital YouTube video technology to install editing software on my computer and learn how to use it, I am very grateful to be able to present Lidia17's new edit here. She has entitled it Hiking in Juneau with Sarah Palin, and it's a doozy! I still prefer not to embed any video material in my blog just because it slows down the loading of the homepage, so you have to click the link above to see this new edit. For the time being at least, this is the only way to view it, as Lidia17 has it currently set on private at YouTube. Without further blabbering from me, please click the link and be prepared to be impressed. Thank you, Lidia17!

The Palin Future

This is my story and I'm sticking to it. I have said several things for years that have intertwined into a sizable knot for our beloved Republicans. First of all, the main reason Perry ran for and secured a third term as governor was that the country was on a very strong anti-Texan-as-President binge after the Shrub fiasco of two terms. That fervor against my state has subsided somewhat, now leaving Rick Perry in second place at Intrade behind the Mittenator, even before Perry has declared his intent. Just a moment ago, it took me about two seconds to locate this blog post and photo to enhance my prophecy. Here is the story to which I am stuck.

I do not believe there is a chance in hell that Sarah Palin will seriously challenge Rick Perry for the Presidency. I do think they could wind up together as our next nightmare, with her most likely at the bottom of the ticket. I do not think the Republican power brokers will allow her to be the top of the ticket paired with any candidate. Bachmann or Mittens could be the top, and I think either could possibly beat President Obama, but neither could do so as easily as Perry. The only wild card is Jon Huntsman, but I think his Mormonism will stop him in his tracks with the CINO's. If they decide they can tolerate a Mormon (which I seriously doubt), it will most likely be Mitt just because it is his turn, he has never worked with Obama, and he is more experienced, at least in the eyes of many. If I had to bet on the odds of whose chances for the Presidency today, I would pick Perry, Obama, Mittens, Bachmann, Huntsman, and Palin, in that order, with the chances of the first three running very close and the latter three dropping off rapidly.

With Trump chewing on his shoes and dumping his opportunity to drive the Camaro Pace Car, I have to put all my bananas in the Bachmann basket. She is the only one who can truly save us all at this point. How can she do that? Catfight! Catfight! Catfight! Bachmann can go to a debate and simply say, "But she's not here", and receive applause of approval. She can go on all the channels upon which Sarah is afraid to open her mouth. Sarah can act like a real politician. The difference is that Michele is not acting; she is a real politician.

One question I cannot answer at this point is whether or not Bachmann would be asked to be a VP candidate, and if so, by whom. There was a good article at Politicususa about Bachmann and Mittens. I am not sure that I agree with all of it, but this is certainly an article worth reading on the subject. My opinion is that this is a moot point until the dust settles over Palin and Perry, because I think they are a far more likely, and dangerous, and despicable, pair. If Mittens or Huntsman secures the Republican nomination, then the power brokers behind the CINO's are very likely to try to secure a rerun of 2008, as in Palin or Bachmann for VP. I have not mentioned Tim Pawlenty because I have never thought he has a prayer. He just does not have the looks or charisma. Yes, I know that is a terrible attitude, and I truly despise the fact that this concept even exists in our national politics, but it most certainly dominates our TV sets. This is one of the worst effects television has had on our culture, and there is not much we can do about it now. Ditto Santorum. He is nutty enough for any Tea Party crammed to the rafters with CINO's, but fortunately for us, he shares Pawlenty's political weakness, so that is one less nutcase for us to worry about.

Let me change channels here to discuss my old obsession. The two photos in Blind Allegiance have convinced me once and for all, as if I needed any further proof, that Gryphen has been correct from the beginning in his concept of the Two Babies. There is no question of whether there are or were more than one baby playing the part of Trig Palin. The questions are how many and why? Of course Tripp should not be left out of the inquiry, either, until the facts of the case have been finally proven. I am quite simply flabbergasted that no one outside the usual blogs has even mentioned the definitive photos printed in the book! There is one more question I would love to finally put to bed. How many of Ruffles ears are ruffled? I know the right ear is, but I am a bit unsure about the left, and how likely is either possibility, anyway?

I was thrilled last night to simply be able to channel surf a bit without seeing Bristol's despicable mug on my TV even once. I am not sure how long I intend to hold my breath on that issue, since her book is selling well at Amazon, as I would have expected. Just seeing that overpaid sleazebucket makes me want to barf just as much as it does you, but as always, I shall leave most of the Bristol blabbering to the other blogs. I am much more interested in the larger political and socioeconomic picture than I am in following how many plastic surgeries or houses Bristlebutt buys with her ill-gotten booty.

Circling back to the political race, one thing I agree with Joe McGinniss about is the September dating of the final potboiler for Palin. Although he may be somewhat just plugging his book release of the same month, September is a key player. The upcoming debate schedule includes: July 10 in Las Vegas, August 11 in Iowa, and three in September. Although some have predicted that Palin will enter the race on July 4, I don't think so. I think she will do so on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. A key element here is that the second upcoming debate is in Iowa, that hotbed of crazy conservatism that without Palin officially in the race, Bachmann will easily take by storm. Will Sarah stand idly by and let Michele do that? That is the question. Will Sarah step out of her chicken suit to debate Michele in Iowa? That is the second question. The first September debate is on 9/12/11 in Tampa and sponsored by CNN and the Tea Party Express. Do you see how that could be a real draw for Palin, yet she may want to avoid the CNN debate to compete in the Reagan, Reagan, all Reagan debate at his library two days later. (Note: the Reagan Library debate has since been moved up a week earlier to September 7, but the concept presented still applies.) Of course she may not be too thrilled with the fact that that one is televised from the enemy camp, NBC, instead of Fixed News. Ten days later on 9/22, the debaters return to Florida for the Fox debate in Orlando.

Can't you just feel the turmoil spinning throughout her cavernous little mind? If she decides to step up to the microphone and mix it up with Bachmann Turnip Overripe in August, yes, she could announce on July Fourth, or she could wait until the closing bell for the debate sign-up sheet. If Sarah wants to capitalize on the 9/11 Anniversary, she could skip the August debate and then catch the first one in September. However, by doing that, she would be letting Bachmann easily own Iowa. I do not expect her to enter all these debates, and she may continue to wear her chicken suit right to the very end. Nevertheless, I do expect her to officially run for President, even if only for a very brief period so she can add it to her resume. The big, tall Texas wildcard is her only nemesis other than Bachmann, and they are distinctly two different nemeses. Perry is her partner in leadership in cahoots with the same billionaire oilmen. They may run together, but they will not run against each other. Bachmann is the kind of political foe most feared by Palin. Perry and Palin are two of a kind in one way, but Bachmann and Palin are two of a kind in a much different way. Ladieeeees and gentlemen, let The Catfight of the Century begin!

Fast Times at Lakefront High

It is currently 101 in the shade of my front porch. I am not out on the lake because I never go out on the weekends. That is, after all, the point of retiring on the lake. You never again have to compete with the yahoos for parking space at the ramp or listen to the excuse for music that blares from the speakers of their daddy's $40,000 wakeboard boat. Of course 90% of those overpriced specialty towboats will never see a towee rise into the air and do a flip or a 360 like they always show in the brochure photos, but the spoiled brats always feel as if they deserve a specialized wakeboard boat to show off to the girls in bikinis who line up for a ride. Well, enough of the curmudgeon rant about whippersnappers, or as I prefer to call them, white punks on dope. What an excellent album title that was, back when we bought albums at the record store instead of stealing music from the artists on the internet. Kudos to The Tubes for that glorious title!

The boat pictured is an F32 by Dave's Custom Boats, a brand covered on Page 337-8 of my 2010 book, Ker-Splash 2. Note the four pipes exiting the stern of this green monster. They lead to a pair of big-block, breathed-upon, as we used to say in the old days, engines. There must be some reason that three axles are on this trailer!

Dave's Custom Boats is just one of countless little-known boat manufacturers covered in the book. Don't be put off by the Volume 2 designation added to this book. All of the pertinent content of Volume 1 has been included in Volume 2. The naming of this book was a bit tricky. The first book, published in 2002, was entitled KER-SPLASH: Recreational Power Boaters Guide, an appropriate title for that book. Ker-Splash 2 is a whole lot more than just a second edition of the first book. The subtitle had to be changed to better reflect the state of the boating industry in 2010, as it had so drastically changed from that of 2002. There are no photos in the first book, but lots of them in the second. Every manufacturer's address and corporate alliance has been updated in the second edition, leaving much of the first edition woefully out of date. The second edition is printed in a larger format, too, so the book is considerably bigger in content than its simple page count might indicate.

Many readers have been coming here to NIAFS looking for information on several rare, specific boats. These particularly include several '90's jewels as the Four Winns Unlimiteds. the Bayliner Reflexx and Jazz mini-jets, and the Wellcraft Scarab Jet 19. No one else is paying attention to these sweetly satisfying boats from the '90's. If you want to read more about these and others like them, you just need to buy your own copy of Ker-Splash 2. The $19.95 Amazon price is a bargain! Where else are you going to get this information? The book brings together data and entertaining info on many, many, of these rare powerboat brands. If you just want a quick reference, and you do not own a Kindle, just download the free Kindle PC and then pay a measly $5 for this wonderful reference book. It is true that there is no substitute for owning the real thing, a print copy, for many reasons, but the Kindle PC version is a cheap alternative. The Kindle version does not display the image quality or the quick index of the print version, but what do you expect for $5? The few competing books available contain far less information at a much higher price! What are you waiting for? Summer is here and it's hot!

Hooker Boots on Ice

Yes, I know this title is snarky, but I just could not resist it. For those of you who have been taken back a bit by my acidic tongue in recent posts, I only hope you will one day realize that I am actually a very nice guy. My goal for the last three years has been to slap the American voters awake. I don't want to just stop the political career of Sarah Palin; I want to stop the entire madness of this media-fueled Second Civil War that continually delays far more important issues. We need to unite against global warming, peak oil, and income inequality, just to name three. We all know this list could be much longer, but what are we doing? Arguing and slap-fighting over the endless Palin silliness as if our lives depended on it! Wait a minute? It does. She is the ringleader of the madness, so let's work our way down from the top.

Many of you have asked that I try to answer some of the now legendary, some would say offensive, others would say a long time coming, yet others would say rhetorical nonsense, and of course the ever popular egotistical slap-fights, 96 Questions. Yes, you are all correct in your descriptions of the questions: some are completely rhetorical; some you can already answer for yourselves, although you may be a bit timid concerning certain personal attitudes; and many just state things that many of us have pondered over these three agonizing years. There are two truths that will never be missing from anything I write. Every piece will be intended as both entertainment and information, hence the Nonfiction in a Fictional Style concept. You could call me the Sam Kinison of bloggers or the William F. Buckley, Jr., of entertainment, whichever suits you. What you think of me is always meant to be secondary to what you think about my message. I love America in a way that Ann Coulter never could. Was it Bill Hicks or President Obama who said that everybody is mad at me, so I must be doing something right?

Only a few of the 96 Questions are appropriate for a direct answer in a blog post. Number 6: Why do we so rarely see the February '08 video of Sarah walking around Juneau? is one of my favorite of these questions. I do not wish to slow down the loading of my blog with embedded video material, but here is a link to the February 13, 2008, Walk Around Juneau. Going back to the 2008 RNC, my wife spotted the future of Babygate immediately, but it took a few months for me to become totally in agreement with her position. The Walk Around Juneau video convinced me immediately as soon as I saw it the first time more than two years ago. I have found all the massive amount of still-photo analysis to be quite redundant ever since. The photo shown with this post is from exactly one month later on 3/12/08, if I have the photo dated correctly. If some of you know otherwise, I am sure you will let me know and I shall immediately either select another photo or change the date. You can see that Sarah is leaning forward slightly and is not seven months pregnant. I selected this particular photo from my files because this is a few days after the fake pregnancy was begun. The video clip represents a time a month earlier, when as far as I know, there was no discussion, or maybe even thought, of a planned fake pregnancy.

I do not know the direct answer to my Question #6. I can only guess that more people seem to be interested in the video with Janet Napolitano shot approximately one month later for several reasons. The most commonly stated seems to be that Sarah leans forward from a sitting position in that clip and she is always standing in this one. Another variable is that the Juneau clip is a month earlier, so Sarah was one month less pregnant at that time. It could be that people are attracted to it because of its closer proximity in time to her pregnancy announcement. My last comment is that it may just be because the Juneau clip contains several minutes of material that is somewhat irrelevant to the pregnancy case.

If you have not done so already, please stop reading now, click the link and view the video so we can talk about it together. I have no experience with video editing software, so the commercials and extraneous material have been left intact. The whole thing takes about ten minutes. Note that reader Lidia17 has created a somewhat shorter, and much better, special edit of the Hike Around Juneau video of 2/13/08. You will like this one much better, but in case you question the edits and slight modifications of the special version, you are welcome to compare it to the original.

The first thing you should notice is that snow and ice are everywhere, and yes, Sarah is wearing knee-high black leather boots with tall, skinny heels. You will have to sit through a little introduction to Juneau before Sarah even appears on the screen, but trust me: it's worth the wait! The on-camera video host greets her at the door and hands her a cup of hot coffee, which you will see that she holds in her hand for the remainder of the hike. I like this video because it was shot prior to any future conception, or should I say, misconception, of Babygate. I have watched this video many times, and the only possible six-month-pregnant person I see in this movie is the guy hosting it. She never winces, stumbles, slows down, looks carefully at her feet, or most importantly, does the pregnant woman duck waddle. She even almost collides with a fellow Juneau pedestrian without skipping a beat! Hot fox in hooker boots, yes; pregnant, no.